Himu's Window

Boro Harvest: Labour crisis worries farmers Anwar Ali The labour shortage created by the current shutdown is worrying farmers ahead of the Boro paddy harvest, despite different measures taken by the government to ensure maximum crop yield. Although the agricultural ministry is making special arrangements for transportation of labourers from different districts to the country's granaries, labour leaders are unwilling to leave home fearing coronavirus infection. Even the ministry's sanctioning of Tk 110 crore to help farmers buy harvester machines at a subsidy might do little to ease the crisis as small and marginalised rice producers, especially in the haor region, cannot afford such investments. read more here 

Sunday, January 10, 2010 Despite forewarning from the district police administration about Bangladesh Chhatra League's preparation for an attack, the ruling party leadership in Rajshahi failed to tame their student wing resulting in Chhatra Moitree leader Sunny's death on Thursday. Speaking on condition of anonymity two senior police officials told The Daily Star yesterday that law enforcers told Awami League leadership beforehand about muscle flexing of Chhatra League activists on the Rajshahi Polytechnic Institute campus. "As we could sense an imminent danger from some recent incidents we warned local ruling party leaders and requested them to control their student organisation at polytechnic institute," a senior police official here said preferring anonymity. A bomb went off on January 3 as activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League were making bombs at a Chhatra League-dominated dorm as part of their preparation for a clash, he said. "Sensing so...

Published On: 2010-01-09   THE death of a student leader belonging to the Chattra Moitree of Rajshai Polytechnic Institute (RPI) due to violence is most unfortunate and regrettable. The fact that the perpetrators belonged to the Chattra League must be a cause of severe embarrassment to the ruling Awami League. The matter assumes even more poignancy when it turns out that the deceased belonged to the student wing of one of the AL's coalition partners. It seemed for a while that the spate of campus violence, perpetrated by the BCL immediately after the assumption of office by the AL, had subsided. But we were wrong. We feel that the AL high command is yet to get full control of its student wing; evidently not enough has been done to make it entirely malleable to party fiats despite the PM's clear directives. And it seems, too, that there is no one to take effective charge of the CL. It is quite natural that there would be a period, at the initial stage when a party ...

Saturday, January 9, 2010   At least 31 people, including 28 students, were killed and over 2,500 injured in some 61 incidents of violence at different educational institutions in Rajshahi since the country's independence. Justice has hardly been meted out in any of the cases and in most cases the perpetrators got away with the crimes by exerting their political clout. Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), student wing of Awami League, was involved in two of the murders after the Awami League-led government came to power in 2009 greatly affecting the educational atmosphere in the city. The latest incident of murder took place on Thursday following a clash between Bangladesh Chhatra League and Chhatra Moitree, student wing of Workers' Party. After the killing of Sunny, vice-president of Chhatra Moitree of Rajshahi Polytechnic Institute, the institution was closed indefinitely. The government and the local leaders of the ruling alliance have miserably failed in re...

Friday, January 8, 2010 A leader of Chhatra Moitree of Rajshahi Polytechnic Institute unit was killed in an attack by Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) men over establishing supremacy on the campus forcing the authorities to close the institute for an indefinite period. The Rajshahi City unit BCL dissolved the Polytechnic Institute unit committee of BCL and expelled its eight men including institute unit BCL President Nizam Uddin and General Secretary Saddam Hossain Tushar in connection with the attack. Four people including two policemen were injured during the attack on the campus while another ten people also injured in a clash between the two groups following the death. Rezanul Islam Chowdhury Sunny, 22, the institute unit Moitree vice-president, succumbed to his fatal head injuries at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH) around 4:30pm. Sunny, son of Monwarul Islam Chowdhury, Motihar thana Awami League's information affairs secretary and Shamima Monwar, acti...

Friday, January 1, 2010 Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) leader Emdadul Haque was sent to jail after he was hauled before a court yesterday on charges of beating up a Rajshahi University teacher and attempting to extort an admission seeker. The First Court of Metropolitan Magistrate Amirul Islam also rejected his bail prayer in connection with the case filed by the assaulted folklore department teacher Anupam Hera Mondol. Meanwhile, the RU unit BCL suspended membership of Haque, mass education affairs deputy secretary of the university unit. They also wrote to the central committee for his expulsion terming the attack on a teacher a heinous crime, said Ibrahim Hossain Moon, president of RU unit BCL. Both police and RU BCL leaders say Suman, another accused in the case, could not be properly identified as his father's name and hometown remained unknown. RU Proctor Prof Chowdhury Zakaria, meanwhile, served Haque with a show-cause notice asking him to clarify in seven...

Saturday, December 26, 2009 Declining groundwater hits irrigation The drought that hit aman production in the Barind region this season is likely to affect the forthcoming boro too. The anxiety deepens as the irrigation machines cannot pump up water properly due to drop in the underground water level in the Barind tract under Rajshahi, Naogaon and Chapainawabganj districts. Against this backdrop, Barind Multipurpose Development Authority (BMDA) has started recommending boro growers to cultivate other crops like wheat, maize and pulses that are relatively less dependant on irrigation. The BMDA also sent notices to its branches in 25 upazilas in the three districts asking them to ensure irrigation of no more than 100 bighas of land with every deep tube-well despite the growers' demand for more. "We are urging farmers to divert to other crops that hardly need irrigation with an aim to reduce pressure on the deep tube-wells," said BMDA Executive Director Ab...

Tuesday, December 15, 2009 In a sequel to heists in five public offices in Rajshahi and Natore over last two nights, criminals ransacked another government office at Sutrapur in Bogra town on Sunday night and stabbed its night guard to death. Meanwhile, the government sent alerts to all district and upazila administration offices and law enforcement agencies to remain vigilant. Police and officials concerned in Bogra told our staff correspondent that a gang forced their way into the public works department (PWD) office, sometime on Sunday night, and stabbed night guard Jamaluddin, 35, to death and tied up another guard Abu Taleb. They also ransacked 33 almirahs in 14 rooms of the office. Earlier on Friday and Saturday nights, criminals also ransacked five government offices in Rajshahi and Natore, including Rajshahi Divisional Commissioner's office after tying up their night guards. Police of the three districts could not ascertain the motives behind the robbers...

  Mosaddek Hossain Bulbul, the defeated BNP-backed mayoral candidate in the Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) election, yesterday alleged that the August 4 RCC polls were engineered on a large scale. Bulbul, also the president of Rajshahi city unit Jatiyatabadi Jubo Dal, demanded removal of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Huda at a press conference at the Shalbagan BNP office in the city. No election in the future can be free and fair under the present CEC, said Bulbul, who rejected the polls result yesterday. Earlier, he conceded defeat to other mayoral candidate and Awami League leader AHM Khairuzzaman Liton on August 5. He, however, told newsmen that he would not challenge the election results in any electoral tribunal. "We have already welcomed the mayor-elect. But we are now questioning the electoral process as no election in the future will be free and fair if this flawed process is followed," said Bulbul. He alleged that many of his polling a...

Published On: 2008-08-13 Front Page Anwar Ali, Rajshahi Even before taking oath, Rajshahi mayor-elect and Awami League leader AHM Khairuzzaman Liton has drawn considerable controversy for his activities like visiting the den of militant-kingpin Asadullah Al Galib. Referring to the visit, even his party men say he bagged votes from many of Galib's followers. They add Liton during campaign avoided clearing his stance on militancy fearing impact on his vote tally and now made the visit. He visited central offices of Galib's outfit Ahle Hadith Andolon, Bangladesh (Ahab), its youth front Ahle Hadith Jubo Sangha (AHJS) and Ahab-run Al Markajul Islami As-Salafi Madrasa in Nawdapara on Sunday and was accorded a reception. An AHJS press release says Liton in his speech observed that Ahab and AHJS [suspected militant outfits] leaders and workers faced atrocities during BNP-Jamaat rule as Galib and his men were detained over "false" accusation. The release also...

  Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) mayor-elect AHM Khairuzzaman Liton said when in office, he would investigate the widespread allegations of corruption by former RCC mayor Mizanur Rahman Minu, now behind the bars, and take action against his predecessor's massive politically-motivated recruitment of RCC employees. He said he has planned steps to free RCC from corruption, nepotism and politicisation and make it a development-oriented organisation with people's participation. "I am grateful to the people for electing me. I want to set a good example. But I am a human being, not an angel. If you see me somewhere surrounded by bad people, who appear to be my friends, or are party-men or even my relatives, please alert me as they can detach me from the people," said Liton choking in emotion at a press conference held in the city yesterday. "If anyone using my name wants to bribe, extort money or attempts to obtain a job or any kind of privileges, just ...

    Anwar Ali, Rajshahi AHM Khairuzzaman Liton sailed through the race on the back of the BNP's image crisis and a congealed pro-liberation force to fend off Jamaat that backed BNP candidate Mosaddek Hossain Bulbul at the last moment. The AL victory in the BNP-Jamaat stronghold is first in the last 35 years after Liton's father and national leader AHM Quamaruzzaman was elected in the 1973 parliament elections. The election results show despite rivalry in the AL-led 14-party combine over nominations, Jamaat support for BNP is not always effective. Meanwhile, in a rare democratic stance after the election results, AHM Khairuzzaman rushed to his nearest competitor BNP's Mosaddek Hossain Bulbul, who also readily accepted the defeat. "I was fresh in the race... In fact, the central BNP was boycotting the polls. None of the senior leaders helped me," Bulbul was describing the reason behind his defeat after admitting it before The Daily Star. "Many ...

  Anwar Ali and Abu Kalam, Rajshahi An enthusiastic Amjad Hossain headed out to cast his vote at the Sabitri Girls' High School polling centre at Ghoramara of Rajshahi city with his shiny new digitised national identity card (NID). No sooner had he reached the centre at around 11:00am, than his bubble burst. He was told by the polling officer that the voter registration number, not the NID number, is required to cast vote. It took an hour and a half for this elderly person to go home and get back to the polling centre with the voter registration number. He had to spend the next half hour in the queue again. After all this, who would have thought that more shocking discoveries awaited the 52-year-old? After Amjad's voter registration number was verified, he found it hard to believe that someone else had already cast his vote. "How could the polling officer allow someone else to cast my vote when there's my photograph printed on the new voter roll?" h...

Violating the rules for poster size, a Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) councillor aspirant, top, hangs posters printed on plastic paper. An RCC mayor candidate uses large replicas of his electoral symbol while another goes even further by using coloured ones. Photo: STAR Anwar Ali, Rajshahi Campaign expenditure of most mayoral and councillor candidates, especially of politically nominated ones, doubled the limits by the time electioneering in Rajshahi metropolis ended at zero hour Sunday.The mayor hopefuls in Rajshahi City Corporation were set to spend Tk 5 lakh and councillor aspirants Tk 1 lakh during campaigns.But reports say mayor candidates spent even Tk 12 lakh to Tk 20 lakh each, while several councillor aspirants spent at least Tk 5 lakh.Speaking anonymously, a number of candidates' polling agents admitted the fact and said real expenditure would be even higher due to rampant distribution of money among the poor voters.Many voters also believe though the spending was muc...

Anwar Ali, Rajshahi Even though the electorate expect a clear stance on the militancy issue from the mayoral candidates of Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC), the candidates, however, avoided talking about it fearing it would affect their vote tally. The election campaigns ended yesterday midnight ahead of the start of polling at 8:00am August 4. Campaign sources said the candidate supported by the Awami League AHM Khairuzzaman Liton believes it is better not to talk about the militancy issue at the local government election since he expects to draw large number of votes from BNP-Jamaat supporters. These votes could swing if he talks too much against militancy, an issue that plagued the region during the BNP-Jamaat regime. The BNP-backed candidate Mosaddek Hossain Bulbul felt relieved as no other candidates discussed the issue which was an "embarrassment" to the BNP-Jamaat government, party insiders said. Other candidates thought talking about the militancy issue w...

Shujan discussion told in Rajshahi Staff Correspondent, Rajshahi Speakers at a views exchange meeting in Rajshahi city yesterday said the Election Commission (EC) is depriving people of their right to information by not providing detailed information on mayoral and councillor candidates in local government elections. They observed that not providing information about candidates is violation of a court order and it would help dishonest and corrupt candidates win again. The speakers said this is allowing criminals, corrupt and disputed politicians to have the chance to be elected again despite government efforts for electoral reforms to have honest and competent candidates. Former adviser to a caretaker government ASM Shahjahan was the chief guest while President of Shushashoner Janney Nagarik (Shujan) Rajshahi district unit Nurul Alam presided over the meeting.Shujan organised the meeting titled "Responsibilities of concerned citizens to elect honest and efficient persons" a...

Bangladesh Chashi Kalyan Samity (BCKS), farmers' wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, but also registered as an NGO, remained the party's financial front through illegal banking in at least 17 districts over a decade, sources say. Following a changed scenario after 1/11, the NGO has shut down its offices and swindled a huge amount of money collected through deposits, special deposit schemes and investment on loans among members since 1997. The BCKS business was also unlawfully sold to Jamaat supporters for covertly continuing the financial activities.Dissident BCKS officials, involved Jamaat leaders and victims say the accurate amount of misappropriation cannot be found out without proper inquiry. But they add the figure would be minimum Tk 100 crore collected from about five lakh people. The sources say each of seven BCKS branches in Rajshahi earned around Tk 2.5 crore annually and the NGO staffs were engaged in misappropriation from the very beginning. A large number of officials and emp...

Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) is constructing a bridge on the Shibu River at Tanore upazila, Rajshahi at a cost of about Tk 4 crore without building any approach road on either side. LGED officials said the 210-metre bridge was designed during the BNP-Jamaat rule as the then prime minister pledged the construction of a 10-km road between Soipara of Mohonpur upazila and Gollapara of Tanore upazila. The Daily Star conducted a spot visit recently when columns of the under-construction bridge were seen in the middle of the 1.5-km-wide river. The bridge has no road link between Gollapara Bazar, one km from the bridge, and the road to Soipara which is 1.5-km away. Also the LGED does not own land around the bridge to be able to construct approach road. "The bridge is urgently needed for boosting local business and other convenience but without proper roads it will be nothing but waste of money," said Sukumar Roy, a local fish trader who was seen crossing the river o...

"River of sand"         The Padma appears to be a "river of sand" with water receding since September last. Experts blame the drying up of the river on the Farakka Barrage upstream in India. The photo was taken yesterday at Srirampur, Rajshahi. Photo: STAR     http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=41112

Top outlaw killed in 'shootout' Staff Correspondent, Rajshahi A regional leader of outlawed Purbo Banglar Communist Party (PBCP) was killed during a "shootout" between his accomplices and police at Akna Banshbaria village under Raninagar upazila of Naogaon district early yesterday. The dead was identified as Abdul Majid alias Picchi Majid, son of Nur Mohammad of Bhatkoi village under the upazila. Acting on a tip-off, a police team from Raninagar Police Station raided an area near Banshbaria Bridge at around 2.45am where Majid and his accomplices were holding a secret meeting. Sensing the presence of the policemen, the outlaws opened fire, prompting the law enforcers to retaliate. Police sources said Majid received bullets during the shootout and died on way to Raninagar Upazila Health Complex, while his cohorts managed to flee. The body ...