Himu's Window

He is now eligible to run in Rajshahi city, Minu's lawyer says Mizanur Rahman Minu W ith the news of Mizanur Rahman Minu's acquittal in extortion case allowing him to contest the parliamentary polls, BNP leaders and activists in all six constituencies in Rajshahi are now enlivened and have started calculating party nominations afresh.As the High Court on Tuesday acquitted him in the case in which he was convicted for 13 years' jail, he has become eligible for taking part in election, said his lawyer Ankur Sen.Minu will have to obtain bail in two other cases (among five others Minu is still facing) to come out of jail, Sen said. BNP leaders said, Minu will fight from Rajshahi-2 (Rajshahi City Corporation) and his leadership would help unite party units on other constituencies. They are also hopeful for winning the seat as his probable opponent Workers Party Politburo member Fazle Hossain Badsha is facing denial of local Awami League support.BNP leaders were in despair in abs

A High Court bench yesterday acquitted Mizanur Rahman Minu, the former Rajshahi City Corporation mayor, in an extortion case as the charges brought against him were not proved. Earlier, a Rajshahi tribunal sentenced Minu to 13 years imprisonment on August 28, 2008 after a case was filed by Shamsul Alam Khan-- a governing body member of the local Evergreen Model College, with Rajpara Police Station. Later, Minu filed an appeal to the High Court against the conviction handed down by the Rajshahi tribunal. Advocate Hasan Foez Siddique appeared for Minu in the High Court. http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=64012

Rallies, token hunger strike: Nominees declared unwanted Awami League leaders and activists burst into angry protests in three constituencies in Rajshahi yesterday against party nominations to businessmen newcomers, instead of senior party leaders suggested from the grassroots.On the other hand supporters of the businessmen candidates also held meetings hailing the nominations, unleashing a flurry of protest programmes and tension between AL factions.Hundreds of AL leaders and activists held protest meetings, formed human chain and observed token hunger strike. They declared the businessmen candidates unwanted in the areas and threatened to quit the party.They demanded immediate cancellation of nomination of industrialist Enamul Haque in Rajshahi-4 (Bagmara), businessman Kazi Abdul Wadud Dara in Rajshahi-5 (Puthia-Durgapur) and industrialist Shahriar Alam in Rajshahi-6 (Bagha-Charghat) constituencies.They demanded nomination of minister Sardar Amjad Hossain, Rajshahi district AL presid

Published On: 2008-11-16 Hizbut Tahrir leader Muniruzzaman Masud addressing a discussion at Rajshahi Chamber of Commerce and Industries auditorium yesterday. Photo: STAR H izbut Tahrir leaders who were released after arrest earlier as militant-suspects held a discussion amid police protection in the city yesterday.They threatened to launch a movement against the government branding them as brokers of capitalist powers.Hijbut joint coordinator Kazi Morshedul Haque, senior member Ahmed Zamal Iqbal, members Moniruzzaman Masud and Masud Kausar addressed the meeting, among others.Some 10 Hijbut men including Iqbal, Moniruzzaman and Kausar were arrested on September 18 but released two weeks later as police said they did not find anything to sue them.Police were deployed at Rajshahi Chambers of Commerce and Industries auditorium where the discussion was held.Around 50 Hijbut members and their supporters took part in the discussion.The speakers said launching movement against the 'presen

Published On: 2008-11-16 The six-city interactive bus tour of BBC Bangla Service reached Rajshahi yesterday to promote its FM radio service.The programme will roll on the special interactive campaign involving its audience to speak up and share their views for two days in the city from today.Quadir Kollol, a correspondent of BBC Bangla Service, in a press conference yesterday said BBC will engage people at bus stands and tea stalls in conversations and mini-interviews that will be integrated in programming to be aired on BBC Bangla.Views of the voters on the upcoming national polls, campaign situation and plan and pledges of probable candidates would be depicted in the BBC programmes, he said.BBC Bangla Service can be tuned on FM 105 in Rajshahi and its half-hour editions of Provati are aired at 6:30am, Pratyusha at 7:30am, Prabaho at 7:30pm and Parikrama at 10:30pm every day.Beginning the travel from Khulna on November 11, the bus will also be visiting Sylhet, Rangpur, Comilla and Chi

Published On: 2008-11-15 Fazle Hossain Badsha W orkers' Party Politburo member Fazle Hossain Badsha yesterday hoped he would get nomination from Awami League-led alliance from Rajshahi-2 (Rajshahi City Corporation) constituency in the upcoming parliamentary election.“Politics should be the job of politicians, not of other professionals. My nomination is almost confirmed”, he said at a press conference held in the city.Talking on recent opposition by local Awami League to his nomination, Badsha said, “Anything unfair does not sustain. People will reject unethical politics”, he said. “Fundamentalists and communal forcers do not want me to win as they fear me”, he said. Badsha sacrificed his candidacy in August 4 Rajshahi City Corporation election to make way for Awami League leader AHM Khairuzzaman Liton, who was elected mayor. Local Awami League and Rajshahi Nagorik Committee promised Badsha that Rajshahi-2 would be left for him in the national election. http://www.thedailystar.net

Published On: 2008-10-26 Prof Abdul Khaleque(left) and Fazle Hossain Badsha (right) AL men demand party candidate in Rajshahi-2 Workers' Party Politburo member Fazle Hossain Badsha is facing strong opposition again from local Awami League leaders in getting 14-party alliance nomination for Rajshahi-2 constituency though he quit the mayoral race in AL's favour on promise of alliance ticket in Jatiya Sangsad election.AL leaders and activists close to Rajshahi mayor AHM Khairuzzaman Liton are now speaking out against Badsha's nomination from Rajshahi-2 comprising Rajshahi Sadar and Paba upazilas. They argue that Badsha did not work for Liton in the mayoral polls. They said Badsha will not get support of AL leaders and activists even if he is chosen ignoring their demand for an AL candidate.The Rajshahi Citizens' Committee, floated ahead of August 4 mayoral election to campaign for Liton, has also backed out from its promise that it would support Badsha in JS election on t

Delimitation of constituencies has raised the number of Jatiya Sangsad seats in Rajshahi to six from five and changed areas of three of them, making local Awami League leaders hopeful of making a dent in BNP-Jamaat strongholds in the upcoming election. BNP and BNP-Jamaat coalition candidates had bagged all the five JS seats in last three Jatiya Sangsad polls. The new delimitation has divided vote banks of the alliance partners, political circles said. However, increase in the number of constituencies has made grassroots activists of all parties happy. They think this would help create new leaders as there would be one more candidate from each party. Following the delimitation, Paba upazila has been sliced off from Rajshahi-2, the area of former Rajshahi mayor Mizanur Rahman Minu. Rajshahi-2 now comprises only Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) areas. Paba has been added to Rajshahi-3, which now comprises Paba and Mohonpur. BNP leader Abu Hena was elected from the seat in last electio

Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS) activists of Rajshahi University yesterday staged an angry demonstration on the campus and threatened to burn to death cultural activists of RU on the campus. After the Jum'a prayers, Shibir staged a big showdown and their rally paraded different streets on the campus. Earlier on Thursday night, Shibir activists under the banner of 'Sacheton Chhatra Samaj' went to rooms of boys' dormitories and created pressure on the general students to join a 'protest rally' with them saying that some cultural activists staged a 'drama against Prophet (SM)'. Shibir also staged separate demonstration inside boys' residential halls and searched for progressive cultural activists and members of left political parties, creating panic among the general students. Later, Shibir activists held a meeting at university Station Bazar where they called upon the university authorities to take stern action against the Udichi activists and

  Police Thursday night arrested Zafar Babu, a notorious cadre of Islami Chhatra Shibir from Milik Bagha village in Bagha upazila. Local people caught him when he went there allegedly to kidnap a bride before her marriage ceremony. He was handed over to Bagha police. Zafar is a resident under Motihar thana in Rajshahi city. Police were on hunt for Zafar Babu, one of the accused in the murder of Rajshahi University teacher Prof Muhammad Yunus in 2005. Police said, Babu is also accused in a dozen cases relating to arms, explosives, murder, extortion and terrorism with different police stations in Rajshahi. The bride he attempted to kidnap was the sister of his divorced wife. Zafar wanted to marry her and threatening her family for a long. Islami Chhatra Shibir, however, claimed that Babu left the party long ago.   http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=62418    

The authorities yesterday decided to release about 100 Indian snakes, seized by the BDR members recently, in Sundarbans as two snakes died on Tuesday. The officials of customs and forest departments started for the Sundarbans with the snakes in eight boxes. The snakes were lying uncared for since the BDR men seized them at Char Majhardiar border point on November 2 when a snake charmer was smuggling them into the country from India. Land Customs Officer of Rajshahi Customs Godown Hasanuzzaman said the forest department at first denied to accept them but agreed to release them in Sundarbans after two snakes had died, he added. BDR men said Mohammad Hossain, a snake charmer of Savar in Dhaka, collected the snakes from Bardwan district of West Bengal. The report originated at The Daily Star

The Daily Star   Shamim Ashraf Political analysts, diplomats, politicians and rights activists said the country's politicians can learn the politics of positive attitude and democratic culture from the US presidential election 2008 to bring about qualitative changes in the society. Terming Barack Obama's historic win in the election a "victory of tolerance, co-existence and mutual respect", they urged the country's politicians to practise positive politics to make parliament effective with the real intent of serving people. The Daily Star yesterday discussed Obama's victory with economist Muzaffer Ahmad, politicians Dr Kamal Hossain and Abdur Razzak, political scientists Dr Harunur Rashid and Dilara Chowdhury, former foreign secretary Farooq Chowdhury and former caretaker government adviser Sultana Kamal. Prof Dilara Choudhury said American voters gave verdict for a change by expressing their unhappiness at unacceptable policies of the adminis

Full text: Obama's victory speech Democrat Barack Obama has become the first African-American to win the White House. Here are his remarks as prepared for delivery to a huge crowd in his home city of Chicago: CHANGE HAS COME If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer. It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference. It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and

Vaishnavs of ISKCON render "Naam Sangkirtan" at the festival. Photo: STAR “Some render 'kirtan', some are immersed in 'puja', what links them all is their devotion to Lord Gaurango,” said Ramesh Chandra Das at Kheturi Dham. A Krishna devotee, Ramesh recounted his pilgrimage from Narayanganj to Kheturi Dham at Premtali -- some 20 kilometers off to the west of Rajshahi city. He was humming a 'kirtan' of Nazrul, “Hey Gobinda rakho choroney.” Like him, thousands of Vaishnavs and Hindus from different areas gathered at the three-day Kheturi Vaishnav Festival recently. Many of the Vaishnavs arrived from far-flung districts like Chittagong. Joining them were foreign delegates from India, Italy, Australia and Canada who are members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) joined in. This festival has been observed for 436 years. The festival marks the death anniversary of the renowned Vaishnav saint Sri Narottam Das Thakur (on the f

RMP gets list from police headquarters for vigilance and action to hold peaceful election   Police have prepared a list of 36 terror-suspects including some ward councilors and politicians in Rajshahi city as they might pose threats to holding of the upcoming Jatiya Sangsad elections peacefully. The police headquarters prepared the list following field level intelligence reports and sent it to Rajshahi Metropolitan Police (RMP) for keeping vigilance on them, highly placed sources in RMP said. According to the sources, the list includes names of six newly elected ward councilors of Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC), three former ward councilors and five persons belonging to Awami League (AL) and BNP. The listed persons might hamper the JS elections by abetting use of illegal arms, musclemen and money, the sources said quoting the intelligence reports and analysis of their previous criminal records. The police headquarters have directed RMP authorities to take legal action

Published On: 2008-10-24 Front Page Around 42 large trees on the eastern side of Mohiuddin Jahangir Sarani are being chopped down after Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) authority sold those for a meagre price of Tk 1.98 lakh to make way for construction of a sewerage drain. According to RCC sources, the trees are 10 to 20 years old and include Mahogani, Koroi, Paikor, Babla and Epil Epil trees, which generally fetch a good price in the market for their timber value.   Environmental activists say the felling of the trees would hamper the ecology of the northwestern city generally known as Green City and that such a move should not be allowed. Locals allege that the price quoted by RCC is peanuts compared to their real market value. A private organisation, Modina Printing and Packaging, purchased the trees and begun felling the trees yesterday morning and seven trees were chopped down by the afternoon, witnesses said. Some branches of the felled trees were piled up for s

Published On: 2008-10-23   Lofty promises made violating election code   The day-long opening ceremony of Saleha Emarat Medical Centre at Sakoa village in Bagmara upazila yesterday virtually turned into a political campaign to woo public support for Awami League's nomination for industrialist Enamul Haque.   In sheer violation of the electoral code of conducts for probable candidates in the upcoming general elections, ambitious promises were made from the meeting while almost all the speakers remained focused on seeking nomination for Enamul.   "I have a plan to turn this medical centre into a medical college hospital, I will establish more medical centres spending Tk 60 crore… I want to serve the people of my locality.   "Please help me to create the opportunity for serving you," Enamul told the gathering, categorically seeking support for his candidacy. The election code of conduct prohibits such promises of development projects or giving allo

Anwar Ali, Rajshahi This old temple has now become a breeding ground for weeds and has been reportedly encroached by Taherpur College authorities(left); The peak of the Shiv Temple in Taherpur (right) Photo: STAR The tourism prospect of Taherpur was focused on while observing the greatest Bengali Hindu festival Durga Puja at the remote town under Bagmara upazila where the festivities were introduced 528 years ago.Durga Puja in this region was initiated by Raja Kangsa Narayan Roy Bahadur in 1480 (Bengali year 887). Folklore researchers believe that the Durga Puja celebration started widely in this sub-continent since its observance by Raja Kangsa Narayan.“Durga Puja used to be celebrated within the family parameters before the Taherpur dynasty started observing it as a universal celebration,” said folklore researcher Dr. Saifuddin Chowdhury of Rajshahi University.In the old days, Durga Puja was celebrated with fitting grandeur in the area. People of all religions used to enjoy local ope

Special Feature appeared @ theSTAR Anwar Ali I t was not the usual classroom filled with the chorus of children's voices repeating a lesson or the sound of children shouting and chatting. Instead, the children were preoccupied with basic tasks like standing up, walking or working with their hands independently. Some of the more lucky ones were reading books, drawing pictures, working with papers, playing with coloured tools, alphabets and equipment designed for understanding things. Others were being given physiotherapy. The atmosphere at the classroom is cheerful and friendly The teachers at this school named Prayash for children with disabilities are also not the usual brand of teachers. Parents and relatives are surprised to see how patient and caring they are, attending to each child, not losing their composure even when the children become hard to manage, for example when they spit on their teachers clothes or even soil their own clothes. Often parents canno

  Staff Correspondent, Rajshahi Police in Rajshahi yesterday recorded a case against an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of Boalia Police Station on charges of raping a field worker of an insurance company. ASI Abdul Hamid and his cohort Faruk who were named in the first information report (FIR) have gone into hiding after filing of the case, said Sub Inspector Abdus Sattar. The victim was admitted to One-stop Crisis Centre (OCC) of Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH) on Wednesday night. According to the FIR, Faruk used to irritate the victim over phone and he took Hamid to the house of the victim in the afternoon on the day. The victim used to stay with her mother. The rapist threatened the victim saying that he is a policeman and raped her. Later, the victim narrated the incident before her mother who with the help of one Alam admitted her to OCC. "The case was filed after the policeman working with OCC found ground for it in primary investigation," said

Published On: 2008-10-09 National An unidentified caller yesterday gave a death threat to a probable candidate in the upcoming Jatiya Sangsad (JS) election from Rajshahi-5 (Charghat and Bagha) constituency. Former lawmaker and Charghat Awami League (AL) general secretary Raihanul Haque who got the threat said the caller threatened him to kill if he seeks party nomination to run in JS election. Later, he lodged a general diary (GD) in this connection with local police station. When contacted, Charghat Police Station officer-in-charge SM Bazlur Rashid confirmed the incident saying police have started an investigation. http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=57874

Anwar Ali, Rajshahi Thirty-year-old housewife Lal Banu died yesterday, five days later her admittance into Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH). Her mother Ez Banu was lamenting while her hapless husband was sitting silently by two minor children on the hospital premises for the release of her body. "Life of my wife must have been saved, if I could afford proper treatment. Doctors seldom attend patients at the government hospital," Lal Banu's husband Haider Hossain of Vetkibari village under Niamatpur upazila in Naogaon described his plight with certain anger in his eyes as this correspondent proceeded them. "There is only one doctor at Ward No 3 that was full with patients as we admitted her with both of her legs severely broken in a road accident and she was bleeding profusely", Haider, a solvent farmer, added. He said, "We managed them (doctors) whatever medicine or medical equipment they sought. She was given blood. But doctors and nur

Anwar Ali, Rajshahi With the Jatiya Sangsad elections drawing nearer, potential candidates from major parties have geared up their electioneering in all the five constituencies in Rajshahi city. Some of the candidates have started campaigning at villages while some are holding press conferences to express their willingness to join the political fray and others are greeting people pasting posters on the city walls. Most of the possible candidates started campaigning during Ramadan and they intensified their daily activities of meeting people taking opportunity of the two major festivals -- Eid-ul-Fitr and Durga Puja. The electioneering shows that Awami League-led 14-party combine is in the lead position though it has been facing intra-party rivalry to some extent while BNP-led four-party alliance is yet to be prepared without any leader or office to guide them. Workers' Party politburo member Fazle Hossain Badsha has started meeting people expressing his desire to par