Himu's Window

Police today Thursday a man for cutting and uprooting flowering trees on a road divider and footpath of a road in the Kashiadanga area of Rajshahi City Corporation. On Wednesday, some people cut off at least 125 trees leaving the stumps, and uprooted around 50 more flowering trees of different species there. The incident occurred between 10.30am and 11.30am on an area stretching 500 meters on the bypass road from Sayergachha to Kashiadanga intersection. The arrestee Naim Islam, 25, of the Haldarpara area of the city, claimed that they cut the trees as those were obstructing the drivers' view, especially on the bends of the road causing accidents. The trees were of Karabi, musanda, big rangan, and mini rangan flower varieties, said Syed Mahmud Ul Islam, environment development officer of Rajshahi City Corporation. "Most of the trees were bearing flowers. It was sad to see those cut off," Mahmud said adding that he filed a complaint with Kashiadanga police station in this ...

  Angry protests erupted at Rajshahi University on Monday as a section of leaders of the Bangladesh Chhatra League unit at the campus demanded the dissolution of its newly announced committee. The protesters declared the new committee bearers ‘undesirable’ and threatened to resist their entry into the campus. They alleged that some of the new leaders are controversial and do not have the support of the student body. On Saturday after a break of seven years, the central BCL announced the new committee of RU BCL naming Mostafijur Rahman Babu as president and Assadullah Al Galib as general secretary. At least ten of the 39-member committee joined in the protests. They staged showdowns on the campus with motorcycles and chanting slogans demanding a fresh committee, some others blocked the entry points of the campus. “We were more than surprised when we learned about the new committee,” said Tawhidul Islam Durjoy. The newly made president has been inactive in the campus since 2019 while...

Rajshahi University syndicate in a meeting on Sunday decided to relieve Prof Md Enamul Haque, a teacher of the Department of Psychology of all his professional duties for two years. The punitive action against the professor was for sexually harassing two of his colleagues in the department in May, more than one syndicate member told The Daily Star on Monday. Once the decision takes effect, the professor would not be able to perform any academic, administrative, and examination duties during the punishment period, they said. “The decision was taken following the high court division’s guidelines of 2010 on prevention of sexual harassment on campuses,” said Assistant Prof Sadiqul Islam Sagor, one of the syndicate members. The committee that investigated the incident recommended several punitive actions including putting the involved teacher on forced retirement, but the syndicate considered the ‘gravity of the offense,’ said Prof Sadiqul. When contacted, the RU VC who chaired th...

The picking up of a madrasa principal and taking him to the Rajshahi-5 lawmaker's home is linked to the Awami League MP's rivalry with a former lawmaker, said local AL leaders. Lawmaker Mansur Rahman and ex-MP Kazi Abdul Wadud Dara, also the general secretary of Rajshahi district AL, have disagreements over the selection of the madrasa governing body president and recruitment of staffers, they added. The two are aspiring for the AL ticket in the constituency for the upcoming general elections and are also trying to establish supremacy in the area, they said. Mansur wanted Nawshad Ali, principal of Rajshahi Medical College, to be the president of the governing body of Biraldaha Syed Karam Ali Darus Sunnah Fazil Madrasa in Puthia upazila. But madrasa Principal Habibur Rahman in February played a role in the selection of Md Dewan Abdus Salek, who is loyal to Wadud, as the governing body president, Mansur alleged. The lawmaker said the principal ignored his demi-official (DO) lett...

On April 9, Mukul Soren, a Santal farmer in Rajshahi, drank pesticide in a suicide attempt over not getting irrigation water from the same deep tubewell that allegedly led to the suicide of two farmers, also Santals, last year. All three were fed up with the exploitative system of irrigation water distribution in parts of the Barind region. The Barind region, known as the rice bowl of Bangladesh, faces a great catastrophe with its groundwater levels depleting fast. In this water-stressed region, irrigation tubewells have now become a tool for the people with political clout to exploit farmers. A significant number of these farmers belong to ethnic minority communities and are therefore more vulnerable to exploitation. Last year, Abhinath Mardi, 36, and his cousin Robi Mardi, 27, died by suicide in Godagari of Rajshahi allegedly after the local tubewell operator refused them the irrigation water they were entitled to, according to family members and case documents. Family members of Abh...

সকলকে ঈদে মিলাদুন্নবীর শুভেচ্ছা। আজকের দিনে কাজী নজরুল ইসলামের ’তোরা দেখে যা আমিনা মায়ের কোলে’ গানটা অনেকবার শুনলাম। ইউটিউবে আমার সবচেয়ে ভাল লেগেছে নিচের লিংকের উপস্থাপনাগুলো। এটি আব্বাসউদ্দিনে আহমেদের কন্ঠে মোহাম্মদ রাফির কন্ঠে এ গান যে কারো ভাল লাগবে।   ফুয়াদ তাশফির জাজ ফিউশনটাও দারুণ।   তবে আমার সবচেয়ে ভাল লেগেছে শফি মন্ডলের পরিবেশনা।  ধন্যবাদ। 

Awami League is undeterred by the US visa policy and sanctions, said AL presidium member AHM Khairuzzaman Liton in Rajshahi yesterday. He was speaking at the triennial conference of Rajshahi Jubo League. The day-long conference, chaired by city unit Jubo League president Ramjan Ali, was held on Pathanpara Road. It featured discussions on the US visa policy, where party leaders criticised BNP's reliance on foreign powers and called for strong unity among party members ahead of the polls. Information Minister Hasan Mahmud expressed concern over the US ambassador's comments on media personalities and their inclusion in the visa policy. He viewed this as an interference with the nation's independent media. Meanwhile, JL Chairman Sheikh Fazle Shams Parash highlighted the challenges faced by the organisation due to intra-party feud. He stressed the importance of overcoming these challenges to ensure success in the upcoming elections. No new committee was announced during the ...