Himu's Window

Some of My previous reports     ht tp://www.thedailystar.net/2007/07/24/d707240702104.htm   Ancient Bengal treasures finally being flown to Paris for display   Anwar Ali, Rajshahi Finally, the 24 rare ancient Bengal treasures of Barind Research Museum (BRM) under Rajshahi University (RU) are being flown to Paris for display at a museum there for 'a great global exposure' of Bangladesh. The priceless objects of historical interest will be flown in the first week of next month. A team from France's Guimet Museum are already in Bangladesh and it is due to visit BRM soon for packaging the treasures, said BRM Director Mohammad Zakaria. These are scheduled to be taken to Dhaka on August 1 and to be flown for Paris on August 4, he said. Some 120 objects selected from Bangladesh National Museum, Mahasthangarh, Paharpur and Mainamati Archeological Museum and BRM will be put on display at the mMuseum, said sources. France's famous Guimet Museum, dedi

FAQ on Musee Guimet Controversy     What is the 'Sonar Bangla' Exhibition? This exhibition is scheduled to showcase 189 pieces of Bangladeshi ancient art , over four months from October 2007 to March 2008 at the National Museum of Asiatic Art, the Musee Guimet, Paris. It has been planned for several years, and has involved extensive negotiations between the Governments of France and Bangladesh. It is being held at one of the most prestigious venues for Asian Art in the whole of Europe, a major national museum which holds an important permanent collection of South Asian Art. It recently held very well reviewed exhibitions of Afghan gold and Cambodian ancient art. It is the first major international exhibition of Bangladeshi ancient art – the first opportunity the world will have to see our national heritage, and to see it in all its diversity and richness. It will show a face of Bangladesh which is little known in the west. It is likely to generate not

http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=10504   Published On: 2007-11-06 Land-grab in Naogaon Goons ransack indigenous neighbourhood     A gang of criminals attacked an indigenous neighbourhood and injured at least 15 people and torched, looted and ransacked 19 houses in a bid to evict the inhabitants from the land at Uttar Kazipara of Patnitala upazila in Naogaon yesterday morning. The gang of 50 equipped with sticks and machetes swooped on the indigenous families around 7:30am. Around 50 indigenous families used to live on the land. The inhabitants initially tried to resist but had to fall back within minutes. The attackers then went on a rampage and set fire to several houses. Police rushed there and arrested five people on the spot. They are union parishad member Helal Uddin, Lutfar Rahman, Azizar Rahman, Ruhul Amin Sagar and Motibul Islam. The victims were seen weeping on their ravaged homestead. The district administration officials in the evening assure

http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=8498   11 RU students charged with arson, violence   Police yesterday pressed charges against 11 student activists of Rajshahi University (RU) in two cases for arson and damaging properties on the university campus last August. Police also submitted the final report on the killing of rickshaw puller Afzal Hossain during violence on RU campus saying they could not identify the killers. Sub-inspector Rajab Ali of Motihar police station submitted the charge sheet against 10 students in the case filed by sub-inspector Faruk Hossain. The accused are RU Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) General Secretary Ayen Uddin, former RU Samajtantrik Chhatra Front president Sushanta Sinha, BCL members Sumon Kanti Baroi Roni, Sanjidul Ahmed Shyam, SM Kamrul Islam Raihan, Sarder Ayaz, Knondoker Fahim Ahmed Tanmay, Amaullah Roni, Abdullah Al Masud and Anwar Hossain Nipun. The plaintiff filed the case against 2500 people after rickshaw puller Afzal H

  http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=8541   Concern over filing of case against RUJ secy     Some 50 journalists in a joint statement yesterday expressed concern over the filing of extortion case against fellow journalist and human rights activist Jahangir Alam Aakash. They hoped that police will ensure proper investigation into the case and will not make Aakash a victim of torture during the process of justice. The signatories to the statement included Rajshahi Union of Journalists (RUJ) President Hasan Millat, Toshikul Islam, editor of a local daily Sun Shine, Abdullah Al Mahmud, editor of Upachar, Mahtab Uddin, editor of weekly Gana Khabar, and senior journalists Mustafizur Rahman Khan Alam, Kazi Gias, Shafikul Islam, Saidur Rahman, Abul Kalam Muhammad Azad, Anisuzzaman and Zabid Apu. Aakash, RUJ general secretary and Rajshahi bureau reporter of the Sangbad and recently closed CSB News, was sued for an alleged extortion of Tk 50000. He was granted ad-inter

http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=632   Senior teacher alleges 'illegal' action by Ruet authorities     Dr M Yakub Hossain A senior teacher of Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology (Ruet), after serving 29 years with 'good records' has been 'illegally' put on forced retirement. He was suspended a year ago by the university authorities 'without any fault and defying a note of descent' by two senior Syndicate members, Prof Dr M Yakub Hossain alleged at a press conference here yesterday. It was held at Rajshahi Metropolitan Press Club. Dr. Yakub termed the Ruet decision 'highly prejudiced and intentional' and drew the attention of Chancellor of universities President Prof Dr Iajuddin Ahmed and Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed seeking justice. He claimed that there is no bad record in his long service period. "Ruet authorities did never allow me to defend myself. Rather, a

http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=275   Minu ran business in other's name Invested Tk 1.8cr in cold storage industry   Rajshahi Mayor Mizanur Rahman Minu invested Tk 1.80 crore in cold storage and seed storage business in the name of another businessman to cover his illegal income, said arrested former president of Rajshahi Chamber and Commerce and Industries (RCCI) Lutfar Rahman in a judicial confession. Lutfar, a close aide of Minu, provided his confessional statement under Section 164 before First Class Magistrate Jonendranath Sarker on Tuesday on completion of two-day interrogation by an anti-corruption taskforce team. He was taken on a two-day remand after businessman Nurunnabi on August 6 filed two cases against him with Boalia Police Station for extorting Tk 1.30 crore. Saiful Islam, investigation officer of the extortion case against Lutfar, told the court in writing that Lutfar as a director of Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank and RCCI president exto

http://www.thedailystar.net/2007/08/08/d70808013220.htm           A businessman in Rajshahi city filed two cases yesterday against Lutfar Rahman, detained former president of Rajshahi Chamber of Commerce and Industries, in connection with extorting around Tk 1.50 crore. Nurunnabi of Shalgharia in Durgapur upazila, former business partner of Lutfar, lodged the cases with Boalia Police Station in the city. Joint forces arrested Lutfar at Dhaka several days ago. The complainant in one of the cases said Lutfar, former city BNP vice-president and a close aide to detained Rajshahi City Corporation Mayor Mizanur Rahman Minu, extorted Tk 1 crore from him using names of high-profile political figures like BNP Senior Secretary General Tarique Rahman and Minu. Ramjan Ali, officer-in-charge of Boalia Police Station, told newsmen that police started investigating the cases. "If other people were found to be involved during the investigation, they will be implicated in the c

http://www.thedailystar.net/2007/08/02/d70802070186.htm     Disabled preparing their voter lists in Rajshahi Speakers at a press conference held here yesterday said the disabled are now engaged in preparation of voter lists in Rajshahi City Corporation areas. Action on Disability and Development (ADD), working with the disabled, in collaboration with Election Working Group (EWG), a network of 33 NGOs, organised the press conference at Rajshahi Public Library auditorium. They said about 15 disabled persons are now conducting a survey at all the 30 wards of the city corporation to prepare separate lists for the disabled. In many cases, they are going from door to door with the enumerators (data collectors). On completion of the survey, they will hand over the lists to Rajshahi Election Office tomorrow, they said. The conference stressed on enrolment of the disabled in the voter list for establishing their fundamental rights. They also stressed on giving identity c

http://www.thedailystar.net/2007/07/28/d70728020124.htm     Editorial Verdict against militancy Let no one doubt our resolve to fight it   The conviction of former minister Barrister Aminul Haque and 24 others to a long prison sentence is clearly a historic judgment. There are quite a few reasons why this verdict stands out as a judicial landmark. In the first place, it is a maiden conviction ever to be handed in a case of patronising militants. The number of convicts -- 25 to be exact, including the former minister -- is indicative of the magnitude of the crime committed. The fact, however, that 17 of them, inclusive of the ex-minister, are absconding, means that they have to be ferreted out and made to face justice. That they have been found guilty of promoting and supporting Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh in their acts of extortion and torture of people in a court of law puts across some strong signals. It lends a robust credence to the widely acknowledged fact t

http://us.franceguide.com/edito.html?EditoId=91545   Masterpieces of Ganges delta. Collections from the Bangladesh museums     M usée des arts asiatiques Guimet Bangladesh possesses an immensely important cultural heritage, this arising from the fact that the eastern half of Bengal has been one of the cultural richest regions of the Indian world; a vision far from the catastrophic one that the western world often tends to favour. The region is associated with the art of the Pala and Sena dynasties (8th – 13th century). Archaeological study has however revealed vestiges that are more ancient like the Mahasthan site which stands on what used to be Pundravardhana, and goes back to the Maurya and Sunga periods (3rd – 1st century BC). It has also revealed vestiges from the Gupta period (4th – 6th century). Pundravardhana-Mahasthan is, to this day, the old

  http://thedailystar.net/2007/07/27/d7072701011.htm     JMB patron Aminul jailed 24 others also handed 31 years behind bars for helping militants   Anwar Ali, Rajshahi Former post and telecommunications minister barrister Aminul Haque and 24 others were yesterday sentenced to 31 years and six months' imprisonment in the first-ever judgment of a case for patronising Islamist militants. The convicts also include Rajshahi district BNP Secretary Shish Muhammad. The Second Additional Sessions Judge's Court, Rajshahi convicted them for aiding and abetting the militants of Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) in extorting and torturing people in Bagmara upazila of the district in 2004. The convicts were also fined Tk 25,000 each and in default they will have to suffer three years more in jail. Two accused union council chairmen--Besharatullah and Rafiqul Islam--were acquitted in the case. Judge Rezaul Islam delivered the judgment amid tight security

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/debate/letters/article2120659.ece   From The Times July 23, 2007 Bangladesh arrest Sir, Bangladesh, a strategic country of 150 million people, has a proud history of progress under secular democracy since its independence in 1971, punctuated by regrettable periods of regression under authoritarian military rule. We are therefore gravely concerned about the undignified arrest this week of the former Prime Minister and Awami League president Sheikh Hasina. She was seized in the early hours of July 16 and imprisoned under emergency powers that appear to deny her basic legal rights, including legal representation. Sheikh Hasina returned voluntarily to her homeland in early May to answer accusations of extortion and murder laid against her, even though the Government sought actively to keep her in exile while transiting through London after a family visit to the US. There are widespread allegations that her arrest is politica