Bangladesh: Army to defend constitutionality

The chiefs of the three services on Monday categorically said the armed forces would not intervene in governance and pledged to defend the constitutionality in any situation.

Army chief General Iqbal Karim Bhuiyan, navy chief Vice Admiral Muhammad Farid Habib and air force chief Air Marshal SM Ziaur Rahman told the parliamentary standing committee on ministry of defence that they were oath-bound to stand by the constitution and the elected government at any cost and in any situation.

The 10-member parliamentary watchdog thanked the three services chiefs for their pro-constitution stance and loyalty to the government, M Idris Ali, the committee chief, told newsmen after the meeting at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban.

The commitment from the military top brass came three weeks after opposition chief Khaleda Zia made comments on a probable military role should the country plunged into anarchy.

BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia had said in Bogra on Mar 24 that the military ‘will not sit back and watch’ if the country slipped into anarchy. Later the party denied that Khaleda had provoked the military and accused the media of not properly reporting her address.

`The three chiefs have categorically said that the armed forces will not interfere in governance even if there is political turmoil,’ Idris Ali said.

`We are under oath to stand by the government and the constitution; we will in no way deviate from professionalism,’ the chairman quoted the army chief General Iqbal Karim Bhuiyan as telling the standing committee meeting.

The committee has also discussed the law and order.

`We have unanimously condemned the statement of Khaleda Zia who had provoked the army to take over by overthrowing the elected government,’ said Idris Ali.

Committee member and Jatiya Party chief HM Ersahd, who took power in a military coup in 1982, said the armed forces should not get involved in governance and politics.

The Jatiya Party chief said it was not Jamaat-e-Islami which would protect Islam. Some of its actions were against Islam, said Ershad who made Islam the state religion in 1988 through a constitutional amendment.

In response, Idris Ali said, `Who has given Hefajat the authority to protect Islam? It is only Allah who protects Islam. If anyone thinks Islam is being harmed he lacks in his belief in Islam’.

Awami League lawmaker Abdul Mannan, who represented the prime minister and defence minister Sheikh Hasina, came down hard on Ershad without naming him.

Standing committee members Nurul Mazid Mahmud Humayun and Manzoor Qader Qureishee also attended the meeting. (Source)

Pahela Baishakh celebrated with pledge to resist war criminals

Pahela Baishakh, the first day of Bangla New Year 1420, was celebrated Sunday across the country amid traditional fanfare and festivities, with a call to resist the evil forces, including war criminals of the 1971 independence war.

People from all walks of life greeted the rising sun heralding the advent of the New Year.

People thronged the streets, parks, and other open spaces in the capital and elsewhere joining the nation’s most colourful traditional festival.

Cultural and musical groups ushered in the new Bangla year with songs, dance numbers, poetry recitals, etc.

The festivities began in Dhaka as usual with Chhayanaut, one of the country’s leading performing arts training institutions, holding a musical programme during the sunrise at Ramna Batamul, with thousands of men, women, and children joining the audience amid a heightened security against the background of continued political violence and volatility.

The artistes of Chhayanaut, which has been holding the programme since 1965, wearing red and green sarees symbolising the national flag, started this year’s New Year programme by rendering a classical music composition in Raga Bhairaba, followed by the Tagore song ‘Eso he Baishakh, eso eso’.

After the end of the Chhayanaut programme at around 9:45am, people went to join the Mangal Sobhajatra, or welfare parade, a key feature of the Pahela Baishakh festival.  

Dhaka University fine arts students and youngsters took out a huge Mangal Sobhajatra in the capital this New Year, praying for victory of the benevolent forces against the evil.

The theme of this year’s Pahela Baishakh was ‘Rajakar-mukto Bangladesh, Muktijuddha Onisshesh’ [A Razakar-free Bangladesh, Continued Liberation War].

The Sobhajatra organisers expressed their solidarity with the Shahbagh protesters, who have been continuing with their movement since February 5 in demand of the capital punishment of all war criminals of 1971.

The Shahbgah protesters held a rally in the evening, marking Pahela Baishakh. They also formed a human chain with the theme ‘Baishakher Ongikar Rukhte Hobe Razakar’ [The Pledge of This Baishakh is to resist the Razakars].

The protesters later took out a candle-light procession.

Many people were seen eating panta bhat [boiled rice kept in water overnight] with fried hilsa, lentil soup, and smoked chilli – the traditional Pahela Baishakh morning breakfast – in numerous places of public congregation across the capital city.

Traders in both rural and urban areas opened new ledgers, called Hal Khata, for the newly commenced year, after settling accounts of the year that just had ended. Hal Khata is an age-old business tradition of the Bangali nation.

People in Dhaka also gathered on the Manik Mia Avenue to watch a mammoth Alpana [a painted floral motif] drawn overnight by several hundred artists under a joint initiative of the mobile operator Airtel and the daily Prothom Alo to welcome the new Bangla year.

Besides, the musical group Surerdhara and Channel I television organised jointly a cultural show at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the city’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagor area.

Most of the Pahela Baishakh celebration programmes were hosted this year by corporate entities, mainly multinational companies and mobile operators. Television channels covered most of the programmes live.

The ethnic communities living in the Chittagong Hill Tracts held their New Year celebrations of Baisuk, Sangrai, and Biju, collectively called Baisabi.

The day was a public holiday. State-owned and private radio and television channels aired special programmes and newspapers brought out supplements to mark the festival.

The Bangali people living in the Pashchim Banga and Tripura stated of India also celebrated Pahela Baishakh.

The government took special security measures for this year’s Pahela Baishakh celebrations against the background of a drawn-out political confrontation and violence. Some 12,500 members of the police and the Rapid Action Battalion were deployed in the capital to ensure safety and security of the New Year revellers.

In 2001, the nation suffered the shell shock killing of at least 10 people in a powerful bomb explosion at Ramna Batamul when Pahela Baishakh celebrations were going on.

New Age correspondents in Barisal, Chittgong, Khulna, Rajshahi, Jessore, Sylhet, and other district headquarters reported that Pahela Boishakh was celebrated peacefully in the cities and towns amid colourful festivities.

Bangladesh missions abroad also marked the day with due enthusiasm and celebrations. (Source)

Pahela Baishakh celebrated with pledge to resist war criminals

Pahela Baishakh, the first day of Bangla New Year 1420, was celebrated Sunday across the country amid traditional fanfare and festivities, with a call to resist the evil forces, including war criminals of the 1971 independence war.

People from all walks of life greeted the rising sun heralding the advent of the New Year.

People thronged the streets, parks, and other open spaces in the capital and elsewhere joining the nation’s most colourful traditional festival.

Cultural and musical groups ushered in the new Bangla year with songs, dance numbers, poetry recitals, etc.

The festivities began in Dhaka as usual with Chhayanaut, one of the country’s leading performing arts training institutions, holding a musical programme during the sunrise at Ramna Batamul, with thousands of men, women, and children joining the audience amid a heightened security against the background of continued political violence and volatility.

The artistes of Chhayanaut, which has been holding the programme since 1965, wearing red and green sarees symbolising the national flag, started this year’s New Year programme by rendering a classical music composition in Raga Bhairaba, followed by the Tagore song ‘Eso he Baishakh, eso eso’.

After the end of the Chhayanaut programme at around 9:45am, people went to join the Mangal Sobhajatra, or welfare parade, a key feature of the Pahela Baishakh festival.  

Dhaka University fine arts students and youngsters took out a huge Mangal Sobhajatra in the capital this New Year, praying for victory of the benevolent forces against the evil.

The theme of this year’s Pahela Baishakh was ‘Rajakar-mukto Bangladesh, Muktijuddha Onisshesh’ [A Razakar-free Bangladesh, Continued Liberation War].

The Sobhajatra organisers expressed their solidarity with the Shahbagh protesters, who have been continuing with their movement since February 5 in demand of the capital punishment of all war criminals of 1971.

The Shahbgah protesters held a rally in the evening, marking Pahela Baishakh. They also formed a human chain with the theme ‘Baishakher Ongikar Rukhte Hobe Razakar’ [The Pledge of This Baishakh is to resist the Razakars].

The protesters later took out a candle-light procession.

Many people were seen eating panta bhat [boiled rice kept in water overnight] with fried hilsa, lentil soup, and smoked chilli – the traditional Pahela Baishakh morning breakfast – in numerous places of public congregation across the capital city.

Traders in both rural and urban areas opened new ledgers, called Hal Khata, for the newly commenced year, after settling accounts of the year that just had ended. Hal Khata is an age-old business tradition of the Bangali nation.

People in Dhaka also gathered on the Manik Mia Avenue to watch a mammoth Alpana [a painted floral motif] drawn overnight by several hundred artists under a joint initiative of the mobile operator Airtel and the daily Prothom Alo to welcome the new Bangla year.

Besides, the musical group Surerdhara and Channel I television organised jointly a cultural show at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the city’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagor area.

Most of the Pahela Baishakh celebration programmes were hosted this year by corporate entities, mainly multinational companies and mobile operators. Television channels covered most of the programmes live.

The ethnic communities living in the Chittagong Hill Tracts held their New Year celebrations of Baisuk, Sangrai, and Biju, collectively called Baisabi.

The day was a public holiday. State-owned and private radio and television channels aired special programmes and newspapers brought out supplements to mark the festival.

The Bangali people living in the Pashchim Banga and Tripura stated of India also celebrated Pahela Baishakh.

The government took special security measures for this year’s Pahela Baishakh celebrations against the background of a drawn-out political confrontation and violence. Some 12,500 members of the police and the Rapid Action Battalion were deployed in the capital to ensure safety and security of the New Year revellers.

In 2001, the nation suffered the shell shock killing of at least 10 people in a powerful bomb explosion at Ramna Batamul when Pahela Baishakh celebrations were going on.

New Age correspondents in Barisal, Chittgong, Khulna, Rajshahi, Jessore, Sylhet, and other district headquarters reported that Pahela Boishakh was celebrated peacefully in the cities and towns amid colourful festivities.

Bangladesh missions abroad also marked the day with due enthusiasm and celebrations. (Source)

Myanmar’s attempt to term Rohingyas as Bengalis has no legal basis, FM

Foreign minister Dipu Moni has said the OIC must urge Myanmar authorities to revisit the disputed 1982 Citizenship Act so that the Rohingya Muslims could get back their nationality rights and live as Myanmar citizens in safety and with dignity.

‘The current official attempt in Myanmar to term the Rohingyas as “Bengali or Bangladeshi immigrants” in a general sweep does not have any historical or legal basis,’ she said while addressing the foreign minister-level OIC Contact Group meeting at the OIC headquarters in Jeddah on Sunday.

Dipu said the Rohingya nationality question has some added urgency in view of the national population census in Myanmar slated for next year.

‘The issue of safe and sustainable return of Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh to Myanmar as well as the large number of Rohingya Muslims in an irregular situation also remains an outstanding concern for us.’

In 2011, Dipu said the two governments had started a process of verification of a small number of registered refugees in Bangladesh for their possible voluntary repatriation to Myanmar.

But the outbreak of sectarian violence in the Rakhine State in June 2012 stalled the process mid-way.

‘We wish to resume this exercise as early as possible through bilateral consultations with Myanmar,’  she said.

Dipu sought the OIC’s support to address some immediate and short-term priorities for improving the situation on the ground which include convincing the Myanmar authorities, and particularly the Rohingya and Rakhine communities, that the OIC’s offer of humanitarian assistance is meant for all distressed and displaced people in the Rakhine State.

Secondly, she said the shelter and health conditions in the Rohingya makeshift camps are likely to get worsened with the onset of monsoon. The OIC should urge the Myanmar authorities to allow adequate access to UNHCR to set up flood-resilient shelters in the Rohingya camps ahead of monsoon.

Thirdly, Dipu said the international community should encourage the Myanmar government to create an environment conducive to dialogue between the Muslims and Buddhists in the Rakhine State and other sectarian flashpoints.

The foreign minister said the OIC could possibly offer to play the role of a facilitator for holding inter-communal and inter-faith dialogues to reinforce mutual respect and understanding.

Fourthly, she said the OIC should continue to urge the Myanmar government to create better economic opportunities for the Muslim minorities in Myanmar.

Lastly, Dipu said there is a rising trend of irregular movements at sea by Rohingyas from the coasts of Myanmar and Bangladesh, mostly towards Malaysia and Thailand.

A large number of Rohingyas, including women and children, are reportedly falling prey to the trafficking and people smuggling networks operating in the region.

‘We need to enhance further cooperation among the concerned regional countries to prevent such irregular movements and provide necessary support to the victims,’ she said.

Dipu said the situation in Myanmar is evolving fast and the situation of the Muslim minorities there is getting ever more complicated.

‘Within the OIC, we must rise to the occasion and get things done to end the systematic persecution and discrimination against the Rohingyas and other Muslim minorities in Myanmar,’  she said.

Dipu expressed concern that there has been no progress with the proposed visit of a ministerial delegation of the OIC Contact Group to Myanmar.

She said, ‘We must send out a clear message to our Muslim brethren in Myanmar that we shall continue to stand by them and never give up till we find a lasting solution to their problems.’ (Source)

Shahbagh protesters announce fresh programmes

Shahbagh protesters on Sunday announced a fresh round of programmes, including a mass-sit-in in front of the law ministry at the secretariat, human chain outside the parliament  building and a workers’ rally at Ganajagaran Mancha.

 Blogger Imran H Sarkar, also spokesperson for the Shahbagh protests, while addressing a rally on Sunday announced that they would hold the mass-sit-in in front of the law ministry at 11:00am on April 29.

The protesters would organise a workers’ rally at Shahbagh on May 1 marking the International Labour Day and a human chain in front of the Sangsad Bhaban on May 4.

Imran said they would campaign across the country between April 20 and May 4 to mobilise support for their demands, including death sentence to war criminals and a ban on Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir, and exchange views with representatives of Ganajagaran Manchas in the outlying districts in Dhaka on April 27.

The youth-led Shahbagh protests broke out on February 5 demanding death penalty for all war criminals after the International Crimes Tribunal 2 sentenced Jamaat assistant general secretary Abdul Quader Molla to life in prison.

The protesters later put forth a six-point demand, including death penalty for all war criminals and a ban on Jamaat and Shibir.

Imran censured the government for not paying heed to the demand for a ban on Jamaat.

 Urging the people to unite and further strengthen the ongoing movement with the spirit of Pahela Baishakh, he also called for immediate release of the bloggars who had been arrested recently over allegations of ‘hurting religious sentiment by posting derogatory remarks on facebook’.

 Former Dhaka University physics professor Ajoy Roy, writer Selina Hossain and blogger Kaniz Aklima Sultana, among others, spoke at the rally.

Thousands of people in traditional Baishakhi dresses chanted slogans against the war criminals and Jamaat-e-Islami at the Shahbagh rally.

 With the theme ‘Baiskakher Angikar/ Rukhte Hobe Razakar’ (Resisting razakars is the promise of Baishakh), they also formed a human chain at 5:30 for three minutes on Sunday.

 The protesters raised their hands and stood in silence for three minutes before vowing to continue with the movement against the Jamaat-Shibir fanatics.

 Later, a candlelight procession ‘Mangal Pradip Projwalan—Aloker Oi Jharnadharaye’ was organised.

 The Shahbagh crossing turned into a human sea with the lighting of candles for 11 minutes from 7:30pm, ‘against all dark forces, including war criminals’.

 Earlier, the protesters welcomed the Bengali New Year with cultural programmes and joined the Mangal Sobha Jatra at Ramna. (Source)