Rakib Khan’s Blog

May 29, 2007 04:30 AM
Tim Harper
WASHINGTON BUREAU

SAN FRANCISCO–With his remaining time possibly measured in hours, friends and family of a former Bangladeshi diplomat and military officer are appealing to Ottawa to grant him asylum to save his life.
U.S. authorities are set to deport Mohiuddin Ahmed as early as Thursday, sending him back to Dhaka where he has been sentenced, in absentia, to death for his role in a 1975 coup.
He has steadfastly maintained his innocence, saying that as a military officer with the rank of major at the time, he was merely following orders to form a roadblock in front of the home of the president, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who was slain along with members of his family, including his wife and 10-year old son, in a dawn attack on his Dhaka villa by more than 100 soldiers.
The 1998 convictions of Ahmed and 14 other military officials were the work of a vengeful government and a sham, his family says.
They say Ahmed sought asylum in the United States rather than return to Bangladesh, a country where he believed he could not find justice.
Ahmed’s last chance to remain in the U.S. ended late last week when San Francisco’s 9th Circuit Court refused to hear his case again.
“I stand by him and I will stand with him until his last breath,” his weeping wife, Hena Mohiuddin, said in an interview here.
As she spoke, she was comforted by her daughter Sabrina and son Rouben. “I want Canada to do the right thing. Canada has a humanitarian history. Canada would know this is not right.”
Politicians on both sides of the border are rallying to Ahmed’s case.
Ahmed has two nieces in the Greater Toronto Area, but they fear retribution against family members in Bangladesh if they speak out.
Another niece, Jinat Jahan, of Dartmouth, N.S., has appealed to Canadian Immigration Minister Diane Finley and she and Ahmed’s daughter Sabrina will take their case to MPs in Ottawa today.
“I implore you to save this innocent man from an unjust sentence of death,” writes Jahan, who has been in Canada since 2004.
“I am asking you to urgently intervene and take such steps as are necessary to allow my uncle to come to Canada as a refugee.”
Because time is ticking on this case, Canadian legal sources say it could take the intervention of Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay or even the office of Prime Minister Stephen Harper to keep Ahmed from being sent to an execution.
“We expect him to be taken from the tarmac to the firing squad,” says his Los Angeles lawyer Joseph Sandoval.
This type of appeal has very few precedents, Canadian lawyers say, because the 60-year-old Ahmed has been held by U.S. authorities at an immigration detention centre near Long Beach, Calif., since mid-March.
Had he boarded a flight to Toronto before his arrest by U.S. immigration authorities, he would have been protected there. Three others who were with Ahmed that night are in Canada and Ottawa has refused to deport any of them because it does not send people to countries where they would face the death penalty.
Two of Ahmed’s former military colleagues have become Canadian citizens.
The U.S. state department has ruled that his trial in Dhaka followed due process, even though the department’s most recent report on human rights found the Bangladeshi court system was “plagued by corruption” and hampered by witness tampering, victim intimidation and missing evidence.
The San Francisco court ruled Ahmed “assisted or participated” in the persecution of others for political reasons and said the coup was an act of terrorism.
In the post-Sept. 11 United States, there is usually no leeway given anyone associated with terrorism, although American authorities do not consider Ahmed a security threat and are holding him with others who have overstayed their visas.
He has worked as a bank teller, translator and salesman for the past 11 years in Los Angeles. He speaks French and English and his immediate family would be able to visit him regularly from California, his supporters say.
On this side of the border, Ahmed has found support on the right and the left.
The first attempt to deport him was stayed after the intervention of California Republican congressman Dana Rohrabacher.
Jim McDermott, a liberal Democrat from Washington state, has introduced a private bill in Congress, insisting on Ahmed’s innocence, citing the injustice of his trial and calling on legislators to find safe haven for him where his human rights will be respected.
In Ottawa, Liberal MPs Irwin Cotler, who is a former justice minister, and Michael Savage, who represents the Dartmouth-Cole Harbour, N.S. riding where Admed’s niece Jinat Jahan now lives, are also set to publicly take up the man’s cause. “I have been with him for 37 years,” Hena Mohiuddin says. “I can’t think of him as an angry person. I can only think of him as a loving man, a caring man.
“And all of a sudden, in 1996, he became an (alleged) killer. And he couldn’t even present himself in court.”

Source: http://www.thestar.com/News/article/218689

While Bangladesh might not be everyone’s cup of tea, it certainly makes for unforgettable travel. The country might not be heavily developed in terms of hotels, shops and conveniences, but it still has lots to offer. Most of the attractions here have to do with the incredibly natural wealth of the country.

For the most part, Bangladesh is still relatively unexplored, yet it retains enormous natural wealth and beauty. The country is dotted with rivers, lakes and perpetually green hills. Here and there you will find yourself in the midst of a lush tropical rain forest or perhaps in amongst tea plants as you visit one of the many green tea gardens. Bangladesh is also home to the world’s largest mangrove forest which has been declared a World Heritage Site. These are just some of the amazing natural scenes which greet your eyes while traveling the country. When you look out across the hills and valleys, it is as if you are looking at an artists’ canvas – a view so stunning that it seems possible that it existed only in the painter’s imagination.

But that is not where the wealth of the country ends. Home of the Royal Bengal Tiger – an endangered species – Bangladesh will offer you an unparalleled opportunity to see these exquisite creatures in their natural habitat. You can enjoy the warbling of birds as you don your binoculars to spot the different bird varieties or you can take to the coast and visit the world’s longest natural sea beach – a great place to spend time sunning yourself in a country that has an abundance of sunshine. If culture attractions are more interesting to you, you can visit the relics of ancient Buddhist civilizations and enjoy meeting colorful, friendly native tribes.

Perhaps one of the most remarkable things about traveling around Bangladesh is the fact that you are not merely a spectator simply breezing through the country on a whirlwind commercially-styled trip. Here you will learn amazing things about the people first hand. You will have the opportunity to communicate with the people and to spend time amongst nature truly enjoying the delights it has to offer. Bangladesh is more than just a holiday – it’s a destination.

The Manipuri people are of Mongolian descent and speak a language called Meithei. Most Manipuri people lived in northeastern India. The Manipuri fled from their homeland in the northeastern Indian kingdom of Manipur to settle in East Bengal, which was then ruled by Britain. However, in 1947 East Bengal gained its independence and today most Manipuri people live in the district of Sylhet of northeastern Bangladesh.

In contrast to the flat plains of Bangladesh, the district of Sylhet is characterized by rolling hills and is famous for its tea plantations and lush tropical forests. Most of the Manipuri peoples are farmers and they have a succeeded in growing crops of rice, sugarcane, tobacco, oranges and pineapples.

The Manipuri, according to their custom, do not eat meat, but they do eat fish. Manipuri people are primitive in that they still wash their clothes and bathe in the rivers. Their huts of mud and reeds are commonly built near the river’s edge.

When it comes to marriage ceremonies the Manipuri People must find a spouse from another clan because they may not marry within their own clan. Manipuri enjoy their recreation and some of their activity involves polo, boat racing, drama and dancing. They are famous throughout the world for their beautiful expressive dances, which are closely tied to their religion. Their style pf dancing is graceful and gentle and the themes are usually centered on the life of the god Krishna. Manipuri dancing is also characterized by the balancing technique applied by the dancers. The costumes worn by the dancers are designed so as not to arouse any excitement of the opposite sex and the dance rhythm involves mostly the upper part of the body so as not to appear immodest.

The Manipuri are very religious people, and are believed to have converted to Hinduism in the sixteenth century. However, elements of their pre-Hindu religion still remain today. They worship the Hindu gods but also worship many other gods of nature- the snake being one of them. The Manipuri people are also very superstitious and often make their decisions by observing the positions of roosters’ feet based upon an old proverb, “All wisdom derives from a rooster’s foot.”

Bangladesh is a sport loving country with over twenty-seven different international games played here and the national sport of Bangladesh is Kabaddi is played throughout the country.

Kabaddi is a game with two teams consisting of twelve players each. In order to play Kabaddi, a large playing area measuring 12.50 meters by 10 meters is required. Each team has a half of this area, which is separated by a white line, and it is here that they compete against one another for the highest score.

When the game is in action only seven of the twelve-man team can be on the field at any one time, while the rest of the members wait for their turn. Other individuals on the field during the game include two linesmen, one referee, a timekeeper, a scorer and two umpires. The object of Kabaddi is to touch or capture depending on whether your side is playing defense or offense. The Kabaddi game lasts for approximately twenty minutes during each half with five minutes for players to take a breather and change sides.

Before the game begins the two teams each elect a member to toss a coin and see who will start first. Whichever side wins the toss both sides will send one of their teammates or a ‘raider’ over to the opposing team’s side, repeatedly calling out the name of the game. Before the raider runs to the opposite team he must first take a deep breathe and then in that one breath try and touch as many of the players on the opposite team as possible, while chanting, before heading back to his side. Every player that the raider touches is then considered out.

The challenging team’s aim is to try and capture the raider. If they are successful in capturing the raider and preventing him from going back to his team before his one breath is up, he will be considered “out”. Once the raider from the one team has either successfully returned or was captured then the next team sends a raider to do the same. Members on either side can also be considered out if they touch either the boundary line or the ground outside of the boundary line with any part of his body. The only time this does not count is if the Raider is struggling to get free from his opponents.

Indeed, Kabaddi is an interesting and rather unusual sport, but it is extremely popular in Bangladesh and visitors to the country will find watching the sport fascinating as well as entertaining.

BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Tarique Rahman and some other top leaders will lose their party posts and be disqualified for contesting parliamentary elections ever on party nomination if they are convicted of extortion and corruption by the highest court, according to the party constitution.

“The following persons will be considered disqualified for the membership of the national council, national executive council, national standing committee or any executive committee at any level or as party candidate in the national parliamentary election: persons convicted under criminal code, persons convicted under President’s Order No. 8 of 1972, bankrupt persons, persons proven to be mentally unstable and persons known in society as corrupt or ill-reputed,” says the BNP constitution.

Besides Tarique, other top BNP leaders now in detention and facing extortion, corruption charges include Standing Committee members Dr Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain, Moudud Ahmed, Vice-chairman Nazmul Huda, Tariqul Islam, immediate past prime minister Khaledia Zia’s adviser Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, BNP chairperson’s adviser ASM Hannan Shah, Joint Secretary General Mirza Abbas and Amanullah Aman.

Former state ministers Mir Nasir, Iqbal Hassan Mahmood, Salahuddin Ahmed, Ruhul Quddus Talukder Dulu and AKM Mosharraf Hossain, and former lawmakers Mosaddek Ali Falu, Naser Rahman, Ali Asgar Lobi, MAH Salim, Salahuddin Ahmed, Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu, Manjurul Ahsan Munshi and Abdul Gafur Bhuiyan have also been detained on charges of corruption and extortion.

Meanwhile, a special court yesterday sentenced Harris Chowdhury, joint secretary general of BNP and political secretary to the former prime minister, to three years in jail in a corruption case.

Investigation into cases filed against other leaders is going on.

Contacted last night, BNP Vice Chairman and former minister MK Anwar said this provision (concerning convicts) in the party constitution remains effective. ” One will be disqualified to remain a member of party committees at any level if he or she is punished for corruption.”

Talking to The Daily Star yesterday, BNP Standing Committee Member Lt Gen (retd) Mahbubur Rahman said it is a very significant provision in the party constitution, and it will help clean the party of corrupt people.

“Leaders finally proved guilty will be automatically sacked from the party. There is no way for them to return to the party again. So, there is a scope to bring reforms in the party using this provision,” he said.

Asked whether this provision would be amended if the detained leaders are convicted, Mahbubur Rahman, also former army chief, said he does not think so. “If any such move is taken, party leaders and supporters will not support it.”

Replying to a query, the BNP leader said the party will have to follow its constitution as the Election Commission (EC) has made moves for electoral reforms.

The EC has already drafted proposals for making political parties’ registration with it mandatory, and not allowing unregistered parties to contest parliamentary elections.

Sources pointed out that as regards prevention of corrupt people from contesting parliamentary polls, provisions in the BNP constitution appear more harsh than the relevant provisions in the country’s constitution and existing laws.

The constitution of Bangladesh says that a person shall be disqualified for election as, or for being, a member of Parliament who is declared by a competent court to be of unsound mind; is an undercharged insolvent; acquires the citizenship of, or affirms or acknowledges allegiance to a foreign state; has been, on conviction for a criminal offence involving moral turpitude, sentenced to imprisonment for a term of not less than two years unless a period of five years has elapsed since his release.

But the BNP constitution provides that conviction (regardless of the length of jail term of the convict) disqualifies one as the party’s parliamentary polls candidate. And it does leave any room for a convict to contest the election ever.

Sources: http://thedailystar.net/2007/05/22/d7052201022.htm

Industries adviser Geeteara Safiya Chudhury said on Monday that the government had launched a crusade for the revival of the country’s jute sector.
She also stressed the need for a 25-year industrial policy to avert abrupt policy shifts with the change of the government.
‘I have waged a crusade to make the jute sector viable and worthy for the country,’ Geeteara said at a seminar organised by the Economic Reporters’ Forum, wondering why jute was losing ground despite a growing demand for it across the world.
A comprehensive study would soon be undertaken by the industries ministry to decide the policy measures to make the jute mills viable and competitive in the international market.
The study, involving all stakeholders including trade union leaders, would see whether jute mills could be run viably under the government’s management or should be privatised, said Geeteara, also adviser for jute and textile, social welfare, and women and children affairs ministries.
‘Jute is in a bad shape with the public sector jute mills have been suffering from supply constraints of raw jute, non-availability of electricity and huge amount of outstanding bank loans,’ a frustrated Geeteara told the discussion at the Dhaka Reporters’ Unity conference room.
‘Buyers rush to neighboring India as we could not provide them with adequate supply on time.’
ERF in partnership with Katalyst, a donor-funded private sector promotional agency, organised the seminar, styled ‘National Budget for 2007-2008: What’s in the basket for SMEs’.
Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Hossain Khaled, ERF president Zakaria Kajol and general secretary Nazmul Ahsan also addressed the seminar. Titu Datta Gupta, joint news editor, New Age presented the keynote paper on the issue.
The adviser told the seminar that the present government was keen to extend all-out supports for small and medium enterprises so that they could contribute more to the country’s economy and generate more employments.
The ensuing budget will address a number of major hindrances of SMEs, she hoped, without elaborating.
The adviser felt a long-term industrial policy would be more helpful for small, medium and large-scale industries than a five-year policy.
‘With the change of a government, new industrial policy is formulated, which hampers long-term industrial ventures of the entrepreneurs,’ she said.
Hossain Khaled said the government should withdraw turnover tax imposed at a rate of 0.50 per cent on small and medium enterprises.
‘It is unrealistic to tax SMEs on their turnover, which in no way proves profit of a business,’ the Dhaka chamber president said.
He said the SME refinancing scheme of Bangladesh Bank is so complicated that even banks are returning the money.
The chamber leader strongly suggested creation of ‘Banking Ombudsman’ to oversee the activities of central bank and scheduled banks.
He also demanded elimination of discretionary powers of taxmen and an end to bribery and harassment which discourage businesspeople to pay tax and deprive the government of due revenues.

Sources: Daily New Age

Like any partnership it is built over a period of time. Mashrafee bin Murtaza and Shahadat Hossain might be bowling as a pair for only the fourth time in the longer-version, but the duo showed on Monday that they lack no shortage of understanding, especially after the fourth day of the rain-affected first Test against India at the Chittagong Divisional Stadium.
They forced the tourists to declare the innings earlier than what they had hoped for, saved Bangladesh from the follow-on and also took two early second-innings’ wickets.
In the context of the match each contribution was very important, but their follow-on saving 77-run ninth-wicket partnership will standout as vital for Bangladesh’s cause.
When Shahadat joined Mashrafee in the crease Bangladesh had lost their eighth wicket and still needed 39 runs to avoid the follow on.
In one-day cricket, Shahadat has more wickets than runs and his Test batting average was previously 6.11. So, very few expected him to survive and save Bangladesh, although the pacer said he always backed himself.
‘It was a very good wicket for batting. Somehow our top-order batsmen failed to reap the benefits, but I thought we (Mashrafee) could still do it. We kept on urging each other and play each over as it came,’ said Shahadat.
Shahadat, who contributed 31, watched as his partner scored a career-best 79.
It was Mashrafee’s maiden half-century in Test cricket. Afterwards Shahadat praised the Narail showman.
‘To me Mashrafee is the best Bangladesh batsman at the moment,’ he said.
Similarly Mashrafee also cheered his partner.
‘When Rajib (Shahdat) came to the wicket, we had a small chat which helped me a lot to calm down,’ said Mashrafee adding he had no regrets
missing a maiden Test
century.
‘After the tea break, I was instructed to save the follow-on and try to score a fifty. I am happy that I did both,’ said Mashrafee, who also took 4-97 with the ball.
‘Yes, getting a century was possible but to do that Shahadat also needed to score a fifty. Once he got out I lost hope,’ he said.
‘The important thing is that we saved the top- order’s face. Now we want to draw the match,’ said Mashrafee.
‘I have no complaints against any batsmen. Perhaps it was not their day but who knows that they come good tomorrow. Maybe on another day they will cover up my failure,’ smiled Mashrafee.

Mashrafee bin Murtaza and Shahadat Hossain battled their way to help Bangladesh to avoid the follow-on, but the hosts still remain in danger of losing the first Test against India at the Chittagong Divisional Stadium after being all out for 238 in their first innings on Monday.
India, who declared their first innings on 387-8, ended the fourth day on 44-2 in the second innings to extend their overall lead to 193 runs. Pace bowler Shahadat Hossain took both the wickets with opener Wasim Jaffer bagging a ‘pair’ after being caught by Habibul Bashar at mid-off only the third ball of the second innings.
Rajin Saleh took a superb catch at mid-wicket to send Indian captain Rahul Dravid (2) back to earn the other wicket for Shahadat. At the close, Sachin Tendulkar was batting on 24 with Dinesh Karthik unbeaten on 15.
Earlier, Shahadat shared in a vital 77-run partnership with emerging all-rounder Mashrafee to help the home side avoid being asked to bat again.
Mashrafee took the leading role in the partnership making his career-best 79 that came only off just 92 balls, which featured seven fours and three sixes.
When Shahadat joined Mashrafee Bangladesh were struggling at 149-8 and still needing 39 runs to avoid the follow-on.
Sachin Tendulkar bowled an extremely low delivery to end Shahadat’s brave 31-run adventure, but by then Bangladesh had reached 226. The dismissal also ended their record ninth wicket partnership, which surpassed the 74-run stand between Khaled Mashud and Tapash Baiyshya against West Indies at St Lucia in 2003. The way Mashrafee and Shahadat consolidated their innings, was a lesson for the specialist Bangladesh batsmen, most of whom threw their wickets.
Except for Javed Omar and Khaled Mashud, who could consider themselves unlucky lbw victims, all of the other batsmen were dismissed in reckless fashion. Habibul Bashar played a silly shot to be caught at first slip for a duck while Shahriar Nafees (32) followed him.
Mohammad Ashraful (5) was caught at gully by Dinesh Karthik brilliantly before Sakib al Hasan and Rajin Saleh gave the hosts some respite with a 56-run partnership for the fifth wicket.
Earlier, Shahadat and Mashrafee took one wicket each to force India to declare their first innings adding just three runs to their overnight total. Shahdat removed Zaheer Khan to return with 3-76 in the first innings while his bowling partner removed Dhoni to take his tally to 4-97.