Himu's Window

      Birendranath Sarker                                       Suresh Kumar Pandey It was a dark summer night of April 2, 1971. Everyone was tucked away in their homes because of the ongoing curfew. On that silent night, a twenty-one year old Shoven Kumar Roy went to bed early, unaware that life, as he knew it, wouldn't be the same anymore. Around 11:15pm, Roy woke up as if he felt a jolt. He had heard the rumblings of a jeep pulling over at their two-storey residence in Rajshahi town's Fudkipara. From the jeep a Pakistani soldier with a rifle stepped out, shouting --"Where is Pandey?" -- in his native tongue. Panicked, his father, Suresh Kumar Pandey, the then vice-chairman of Rajshahi Municipality, rushed to open the gate, in fear of aggravating the soldier's temper. Birendranath Sarker Roy, his brother and mother followed closely. Their hearts were racing as they watched Pandey converse with the soldier. The conversation was short, and the soldier told him to

Wednesday, December 30, 2 The five and a half hour cultural evening at Rajshahi Bholanath Bisheswar Hindu Academy was abuzz with nearly 2,000 of former and present students of the 111-year old school and almost all were immersed in nostalgia. Although performances by noted vocal artiste Rafiqul Alam and composer Anup Bhattacharya, who were students of the school in the '50s, were the main attraction, presentations of current students like Pial, Sangeeta Pal and Mousumi seemed no less important to the cheerful audience. The academy organised the cultural evening, to celebrate its 111 years of glory and heritage at the school premises. Beginning at 6pm, the programme ended at 11:30pm on December 26. The evening began with "Karna Kunti Sangbad" where young student Mousumi Moitra played the role of Kunti and Shukhen Mukhopadhyay performed as Karna. Former student Tarun Kumar Das, a disciple of Pundit Raghunath Das, and music director of Rajshahi Betar enthral

Tuesday, December 15, 2009 Family members of several Liberation War martyrs have demanded steps for protection and proper maintenance of Babla Bon mass grave site in Rajshahi city so that people can pay homage to the great sons of the soil, who were buried there. The Pakistani army with the help of their local collaborators picked up 17 people including intellectuals and politicians from their houses on the night of November 25 in 1971. Their bodies were found after local people discovered the mass grave near Boalia Club in the city on December 30. Bodies of the 17 martyrs including Prof Mir Abdul Quayyum of Rajshahi University, Nawrose-ud-Doula Khan, Taslim Uddin, Abul Hossain, Alauddin, Taiyab Ali, Mirja Sultan, Azizul Haque Chowdhury and Aminul Haque Chowdhury were dumped at the site. "I can still remember the day well when I went to the grave site riding a bicycle in the morning of December 30, 1971. I could identify my father's body by seeing the ring on

Tuesday, December 8, 2009    America Week opens in Rajshahi A three-day 'America Week', featuring activities of the US embassy and US agencies in Bangladesh begins in Rajshahi today. According to government officials, Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister GM Quader is likely to inaugurate the colourful programme that will continue until December 10 at Parjatan Motel. On the inaugural day, US Ambassador to Bangladesh James F Moriarty will visit Martyrs' Memorial Archive at Rajshahi University and take part in a discussion with students on education in America and visa procedures, said RU sources. Youths in Rajshahi showed enthusiasm about the programme as many of them yesterday visited the Parjatan Motel. Following a tradition of past America week, people could visit more than 40 booths run by the US embassy, USAID and its development partners and some US business houses. In a press conference in November, Cultural Affairs Officer of the US embassy in

Wednesday, December 30, 2 The five and a half hour cultural evening at Rajshahi Bholanath Bisheswar Hindu Academy was abuzz with nearly 2,000 of former and present students of the 111-year old school and almost all were immersed in nostalgia. Although performances by noted vocal artiste Rafiqul Alam and composer Anup Bhattacharya, who were students of the school in the '50s, were the main attraction, presentations of current students like Pial, Sangeeta Pal and Mousumi seemed no less important to the cheerful audience. The academy organised the cultural evening, to celebrate its 111 years of glory and heritage at the school premises. Beginning at 6pm, the programme ended at 11:30pm on December 26. The evening began with "Karna Kunti Sangbad" where young student Mousumi Moitra played the role of Kunti and Shukhen Mukhopadhyay performed as Karna. Former student Tarun Kumar Das, a disciple of Pundit Raghunath Das, and music director of Rajshahi Betar enthral

Wednesday, December 30, 2 The five and a half hour cultural evening at Rajshahi Bholanath Bisheswar Hindu Academy was abuzz with nearly 2,000 of former and present students of the 111-year old school and almost all were immersed in nostalgia. Although performances by noted vocal artiste Rafiqul Alam and composer Anup Bhattacharya, who were students of the school in the '50s, were the main attraction, presentations of current students like Pial, Sangeeta Pal and Mousumi seemed no less important to the cheerful audience. The academy organised the cultural evening, to celebrate its 111 years of glory and heritage at the school premises. Beginning at 6pm, the programme ended at 11:30pm on December 26. The evening began with "Karna Kunti Sangbad" where young student Mousumi Moitra played the role of Kunti and Shukhen Mukhopadhyay performed as Karna. Former student Tarun Kumar Das, a disciple of Pundit Raghunath Das, and music director of Rajshahi Betar enthral

Lawmaker Fazle Hossain Badsha yesterday called on all to resist conspiracies against the government steps to restore the constitution of 1972 as well as to start the trial of war criminals. He said the government steps are underway for reestablishing the four basic principles of the constitution of 1972 as Bangladesh's birth was based on the ideals. Badsha, also a politburo member of Workers' Party of Bangladesh, said as per its election pledge, the government is also going to try the war criminals as trial is the only way to console the souls of 30 lakh martyrs of the liberation war and innumerable families who were victimised during the war. "But the anti-liberation forces of BNP-Jamaat, who were in power for a maximum period since the independence through killings and conspiracies, are still hatching deep-rooted plots to destabilise the process of peace and humanity since their defeat in the December 29 elections." "Although the Awami League (AL

Monday, October 19, 2009 Twelve councillors of Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC), including seven from the BNP, have joined the ruling Awami League with a pledge to 'accelerate development of the city'. With their joining the AL on Saturday night, now 22 of the total 30 councillors of the RCC belong to the ruling party. The councillors include panel mayor Shariful Islam Babu, once a member of the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), and four women councillors -- Farzana Haque, Sufia Islam, Kohinur Chowdhury and Anwara Begum. Seven others Meraj Uddin, Siraj Uddin Ahmed Manik, Abul Hasnat, Nizam-ul Azim, Zahangir Alam Alamgir, Akbar Hossain and Zaher Hossain Suja had been adherents of BNP. Earlier on October 12, RCC councillor Rabiul Islam Toju joined the AL along with over a hundred of his followers. Rajshahi mayor and AL leader AHM Khairuzzaman Liton greeted them at a function held at Bhubon Mohon Park in the city where the councillors presented floral wreathes t

Sunday, October 18, 2009 A ruling Awami League lawmaker, whose annual income was around Tk 1 lakh before the election less than 10 months ago, has bought a luxury minivan for Tk 22 lakh. M Meraj Uddin Mollah, MP from Rajshahi-3 (Paba-Mohonpur) constituency, splashed out on a Toyota Noah at a showroom in Chittagong on September 29. The next day, he spent around Tk 60,000 more to register the multi-purpose vehicle with Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, Rajshahi, say registration documents obtained by The Daily Star. In an affidavit attached to his nomination papers for the December 29 general election, Meraj claimed he is a farmer by profession and that his income from farming is around Tk 75,000 a year. An additional Tk 36,000 earned from house rents adds up to Tk 1.11 lakh a year. According to the affidavit, Meraj owns movable and immovable property worth Tk 6.21 lakh. Those include 28 bighas of land valued at Tk 4.06 lakh. Talking to The Daily Star, Meraj Mollah c

Sunday, August 16, 2009   Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman made the country's constitution a unique one in the world by giving a new definition of secularism, said Shahriar Kabir, a noted journalist, in Rajshahi yesterday. "For him secularism did not mean abandonment of religion, but a separation of religion from state and politics," said Kabir, president of Ekatturer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee, a forum for secular Bangladesh and trial of war criminals. He said Bangabandhu was a religious man and he believed in people's freedom of religion. Bangabandhu gave new definition of secularism to end Pakistani tradition of abusing religion for political gain, said Kabir. He said in the name of protecting Islam, Pakistani rulers and Jamaat-e-Islami men killed people, raped women and committed genocides during their 23-year regime and the liberation war. Kabir was addressing as chief guest at a discussion meeting organised on the occasion of the National

Monday, May 18, 2009 Rajshahi Theatre has come up with yet another unique production, "The Flag", a short film based on the Liberation War and war crimes. The second screening of the film was held at the Padma Ranga Mancha last Friday. Ahsan Kabir Liton, a promising young playwright and member of Rajshahi Theatre, came up with the concept and directed the 34-minute thought provoking film. The film stands out for no use of dialogue. Background score has been done by Bappa Majumder. Another highlight is that the film does not show the faces of the actors. Actions are denoted by lower parts of the body, especially legs, and hands, and shadows. A few years ago, Rajshahi Theatre drew much acclaim at home and in India for staging its play "Aronney" on a tree. Eminent litterateur Hasan Azizul Haque attended the film screening ceremony as the chief guest. Renowned dramatist and teacher Malay Kumar Bhowmik and Dr. Syed Shafikul Alam, general secretary of Rajshahi Sammilito S

Sunday, May 17, 2009 Speakers at BBC Bangladesh Sanglap (dialogue) in Rajshahi yesterday said the government should not delay in starting trial of the war criminals to avert political disasters in future. They observed that those who opposed the country's liberation in 1971 are engaged in militancy and other subversive activities in the country. The speakers called on the government to ensure employment of underprivileged people in the northern districts and take action against manpower recruiting agencies those are cheating with the job seekers. They also called upon all political parties to be united for combating militancy in the country. The programme on contemporary issues was recorded at Rajshahi Medical College auditorium in the city last evening. It will be aired on BBC Bangla service today after its news bulletin Probaha at 8:00pm and will also be telecasted at Channel i at 8:00pm tomorrow. Panelists at the dialogue were Fazle Hossain Badsha MP, Mizanur Rah

Published On: 2009-05-10   The government must hold the trial of war criminals as the anti-liberation forces are still active hatching conspiracy against the country. This was stated by Shahriar Kabir, president of Ekatturer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee, a forum for Secular Bangladesh and Trial of War Criminals, in Chapainawabganj yesterday. "Evaluate sincerity, skill and pro-liberation ideology over the political identity while engaging lawyers and investigators for the trial which should begin without any delay," he urged the government. "If the trial is delayed, the conspiracies will be uncontrollable," he cautioned. Shahriar was addressing a public meeting at Bir Shrestha Capt Mohiuddin Jahangir Mancha in Chapainawabganj town demanding speedy trial of war criminals. He said the present government has come to power promising the trial of war criminals, so it has no scope to avoid it. Shahriar called upon people to boycott Jamaat-e-Islami and the i

Saturday, May 9, 2009 The government is facing conspiracies mainly for its election pledges that include trial of war criminals, steps against militancy and restoration of the spirit of the Liberation War in the constitution. This was stated by Shahriar Kabir, president of Ekatturer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee, a forum for Secular Bangladesh and Trial of War Criminals, yesterday. He was addressing a public meeting at Bhubon Mohon Park in Rajshahi demanding speedy trial of the war criminals. "We are concerned as the government's move to try the war criminals is being hindered. If the trial is not held, the existence of the nation would be at stake," said Kabir. He called upon all to stay alert on streets to help bring the war criminals to book. Dr Sujit Sarker, vice-president of the district unit of Ekatturer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee, chaired the meeting. Rajshahi Mayor AHM Khairuzzaman Liton, Dr Sayed Shafikul Islam, Zihad Ali Mamun, Mostafizur R

Thursday, April 16, 2009 Jamaat-e-Islami has launched a countrywide campaign against the government move to try war criminals. Terming the government move 'anti-Islamic', Jamaat has started distributing booklets and leaflets across the country claiming its party men to be innocent of any war crimes. Meanwhile, Jamaat leader Mobarak Ali of Eklaspur village in Comilla, arrested in the capital's Pallabi while distributing leaflets and booklets on Tuesday night, was taken on a two-day remand yesterday. Mobarak, an employee of Public Works Department (PWD) and a resident of the PWD Staff Quarters at Rupnagar in Pallabi, was caught by locals and handed over to police. Abdul Malek, officer-in-charge (OC) of Pallabi Police Station, told The Daily Star that Mobarak admitted that he is a local Jamaat leader and distributed leaflets and booklets. "Mobarak, arrested under section 54 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPc), was produced before the court," Malek said. Our court

This picture published in the daily Sangram in 1971 shows members of the fourth Razakar Force taking oath over the holy Quran after completing training under Rajshahi Peace Committee in 1971. Read Julfikar Ali Manik's story Religion was the major weapon of the anti-liberation elements including Jamaat-e-Islami in their attempts to foil the birth of Bangladesh and in helping the Pakistani invaders, who launched genocide triggering the nation's armed struggle for independence on March 26, 1971. "Jamaat-e-Islami cherishes Pakistan and Islam as an inseparable entity," commented former Jamaat ameer Golam Azam in 1971. He was also the chief of the East Pakistan unit of Jamaat during the Liberation War. Jamaat's mouthpiece the daily Sangram covered a speech by Golam Azam in 1971. "Pakistan is the house of Islam for the world Muslims. Therefore, Jamaat activists don't justify being alive had Pakistan disintegrated," Golam Azam was quoted by Sangram as addres

Monday, February 23, 2009 Another complaint was lodged against seven people with the Second Court of Judicial Magistrate in Rajshahi yesterday for killing a man during the Liberation War of 1971. Sufia Biwi, wife of Tasir Uddin of Sinduri village of Mohonpur upazila, lodged the complaint for killing her brother Mofiz Uddin. Mohed Ali, Nazim Uddin, Ayub Ali Pramanik, Saman Ali Sarder and Manzur Rahman of Sinduri village and Omar Ali of Vaturia village and Abdul Hakim of Badezol village were made the accused in the complaint. However, Judicial Magistrate M Alamgir will deliver the order today whether the complaint to be accepted or not. “We lodged the complaint yesterday morning and the court in the evening informed us that it will deliver the order tomorrow (Monday),” Sufia's lawyer Babul Sheikh told The Daily Star but he could not explain the delay in the order. The plaintiff alleged that the collaborators (Razakars) had link with Jamaat-e-Islami during the war and they used to kid

Saturday, February 14, 2009 Remand of Daud, Nur ends Today Two accused in a case for '71 killings, Daud and Nur, being taken to jail on Saturday. Families of the 15 victims of 1971 war and villagers narrated the role of two alleged killers arrested on Friday and demanded their speedy trial. They also demanded arrest of rest of the collaborators involved in the killings. Meanwhile, the two arrested accused disclosed 'important information' regarding activities of the collaborators in the district during interrogation by police yesterday. Daud Hossain and Nur-e Anwar who were taken on two-day remand on Saturday will be placed before the court today as the remand period ends in the morning, said Asaduzzaman Milon, officer-in-charge of Mohonpur police station. “They (Daud and Nur) blamed each other for the killings. Our interrogation is still on”, said Milon yesterday evening. Talking to The Daily Star, M Shahabuddin Khan, superintendent of police in Rajshahi said, the arreste

Published On: 2009-02-14 Front Page   Mohanpur Police yesterday arrested two people in a case filed in connection with killing 15 people during the Liberation War in 1971. Police arrested Daud Hossain, 70, and Nur-e Anwar, 65, at their homes in Bamundighi Berabari of Mohanpur upazila around dawn. Daud is a Jamaat-e Islami activist while Anwar belongs to BNP, said Aminul Islam, Mougachchi union BNP organising secretary. "We are interrogating the arrestees as we had a number of complaints against them. We are also looking for the absconding suspects of the war crime case," said Asaduzzaman Milon, officer-in-charge of Mohanpur Police Station. Seventeen others are also accused in the case. Merajul Islam Sheikh, son of Basir Uddin Sheikh, one of the 15 martyrs, of Birsoil in Shahmakhdum lodged the case with a Rajshahi court on June 22 last year and police recorded the case on September 13. The accused include Shafiullah, Moyeen Uddin, Boyen Uddin of Modanhati, D

Minu, Kabir say dependence on Jamaat weakened BNP and caused poll debacle Five front ranking BNP leaders who lost the national election in Rajshahi and grassroots party leaders from their areas at a meeting here have called upon all party men and supporters to reject Jamaat-e-Islami candidates in the upcoming upazila election in the district. The BNP leaders also pointed out that BNP's alliance with Jamaat weakened its organisational strength which is a major cause for its debacle in the December 29 national election. People do not like Jamaat for its role against the country's independence, they said at an extended meeting of party workers held at Kharkhari High School ground on the outskirts of the city Saturday evening. Some BNP leaders' affinity to Jamaat-e Islami and corruption alongside a 'deep-rooted conspiracy by the immediate past caretaker government' are also responsible for BNP's poll debacle, they told the meeting. Darshanpara union BNP president Ab