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Boishakh 7, 1421Jamadius Sani 19, 1435Regd. No. DA 6238Vol 2, No 21

News5 Man arrested with Rs50 lakh at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport yesterday morning.

Nation6 Members of seven ethnic minority families in Rajshahi district are living under open sky as their houses were demolished.

Op-Ed11 For Imran H Sarkar, its a lost battle. A formal end to his reign in an invisible empire based in Shahbagh since February 2013 is now in sight.

Sport14 Atletico Madrid took another step towards their rst La Liga title for 18 years as two goals in the last 20 minutes handed them a 2-0 win over Elche at the Vicente Calderon on Friday.

INSIDE

SUNDAY, APRIL 20, 2014 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

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Dhanmondi playgroundonly for elite!n Abu Hayat MahmudSheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club Presi-dent Manjur Kader yesterday claimed that General Ayub Khan had allocated the Dhanmondi playground only to the elite and not for street children.

This is why only the elite living in Dhanmondi area will use the play-ground. Its not for all, he said while addressing a press brie ng arranged at the playground.

Manjur, however, did not explain who belong to the elite in Dhanmondi.

Led by Mobassher Hossain, Iqbal Habib and some others, a few drug addicts and hired individuals are rou-tinely creating chaos in the name of environmental concern. There is a lim-it of patience. They have crossed the limit and now we are forced to le suit against the so-called green activists. We will le the case against them for con-tempt of court, the club president said.

During the two-hour brie ng, Man-jur showed a copy of a High Court order and said the green activists had violat-ed the court directive. Construction of tennis, badminton and basketball courts hasnt violated the court order.

He said he would hand over the cop-ies of the court order to reporters after the brie ng, but got angry with some of PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

Architect Iqbal Habib, the joint secretary of BELA speaks at the press conference regarding the Dhanmondi Club ground yesterday. Prof. Zamilur Reza Chowdhury, Prof. Nazrul Islam and Prof. Zafarullah Chowdhury are also seen in the picture. (Right) Monjur Kader (C), the president of Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club, makes a point in a press conference held on the club premises yesterday MUMIT M

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NUMBERS OF CASES FILED WITH POLICE FOR ABDUCTION OVER THE YEARS

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Most abductions veiled in mystery10,182 cases led in 2002-2013, 196 in 3 months this year; probe in over 3,000 cases yet to startn Mohammad Jamil Khan n Mohammad Jamil Khan Bangladesh Chhatra League leader Tan-vir Hassan Anjan, also an MBA student of Shanta Mariam University of Creative Technology, went missing from Uttara area on January 28 this year.

Two general diaries were led with Bhatara police station (no 1475) on Jan-uary 29 and with Uttara west police sta-tion (no 371) on February 6.

Moreover, the victims family sub-mitted written applications to the Rap-id Action Battalion, Detective Branch of police, Dhaka Metropolitan Police com-missioner, Inspector General of Police and state minister of home requesting proper investigation into the incident. But there has been no trace of the vic-tim and no progress in the probe made till date.

Family sources said Anjan had gone

out of his house on road 1 of sector 13 in Uttara after having lunch around 3pm on January 28 on his personal motorcy-cle (Dhaka Metro-La-21-2076).

His friend Tanvirs younger brother Sunny was with him. Leaving Sunny at the intersection of road 1, Anjan was re-turning home after borrowing Tk5,000 from him, but did not reach home as yet.

His mobile phone ringed until the next noon, but no one answered. After 1pm, it was found switched o .

Police recovered his motorcycle from the Airport police station area on February 9 but failed to get more in-formation about the victim who was the organising secretary of Chhatra Leagues Bhatara unit of the capital.

Anjans case is not the only one in which the law enforcers have failed to trace the victim of abductions. A num-ber of political leaders, businessper-sons, doctors and noted individuals

PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

No headway in Siddique abduction investigationn Kailash SarkarThe mystery behind abduction of busi-nessman Abu Bakar Siddique, husband of BELA Chief Syeda Rizwana Hasan, gradually deepens as neither the ab-ductors were identi ed nor the motive behind it could be determined.

Even the vehicle used in the abduc-tion was yet to be recovered.

All questions remained unanswered though ve days elapsed since the ab-duction and three days after the release of the abductee.

Police, RAB and DB said they had been trying their best to unravel the mystery.

The victim claimed that he was PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

With the summer heat rising, the number of water-borne diseases have risen signi cantly over the past few weeks. The picture shows patients receiving treatment at a hospital in the capital yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

DISPUTE OVER DHANMONDI PLAYGROUND

Eminent citizens seek PMs intervention n Raihan MahmoodEminent citizens representing di er-ent environmental organisations have urged Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to immediately intervene in saving the Dh-anmondi Club ground from grabbers who are now using the name of Sheikh Jamal to put their ill motives into action.

In a press conference held at a city hotel yesterday, Dr Jamilur Reza Chow-dhury said as per the master plan of the capital, the ground of Dhanmondi Club should remain as an open space for the residents of Dhanmondi.

It is unfortunate that the ground has now been made o limits to the common people, he said, adding that people from all walks of life should have access to the ground as their basic right.

Prof Nazrul Islam at the press con-ference urged the Prime Minister to take necessary steps in this regard.

A quarter is using the name of a fam-ily member of Bangabandhu. It is clear that the ground cannot belong to a club or organisation. People involved with the process are tarnishing the image of the Bangabandhu family, he said.

Architect Iqbal Habib, the joint sec-

retary of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association, said Sheikh Ja-mal Dhanmondi Club doesnt have any legal grounds to support their cause.

On March 15 in 2011, he said, the High Court declared illegal all the in-frastructures on the playground and asked the DSCC to demolish all the ille-gal infrastructures within 15 days.

But nothing has been done in this regard. DSCC has led appeal against the verdict. And the ground has been made o limits to the residents for the last two and a half years, he added.

Barrister Sara Hossain said they will

revive the legal procedures from today. We will resume the legal proce-

dures as the court ruling has not been implemented. As Sheikh Jamal pres-ident Monjur Kader, one of the de-fendants, has not yet responded to the show-cause notice, we will revive the legal procedures, she said.

Architect Mobassher Hossain said it is unfortunate that the presidents of BCB and BFF have extended their sup-port to a wrong cause.

As the guardians of the countrys cricket and football, they would have

PAGE 2 COLUMN 6

Only two female forensic specialists examining rape victims countrywiden Moniruzzaman UzzalThe 23 public medical colleges in the country currently have only two spe-cialised female forensic doctors for treating rape victims.

Although a High Court order on the examination of rape victims prompted the health directorate to post female doctors in the forensic departments of medical colleges a year ago, none of those doctors reportedly had any specialised training on forensic medicine.

The only two doctors in the country who have specialised diplomas in fo-rensic medicine are Dr Momtaz Ara and Dr Aliza Ali of Dhaka Medical College

and Sir Salimullah Medical College, re-spectively.

Professor Dr Habibuzzaman Chowd-hury, head of forensic medicine depart-ment of the DMC, told the Dhaka Trib-une that the public medical colleges face a shortage of both male and female forensic medicine doctors.

Admitting that only two female teachers currently have specialised forensic diplomas, Dr Habibuzzaman said neither male nor female doctors are interested in pursuing degrees in forensics.

Most medical colleges lack the ad-equate, trained manpower, the doctor said, adding that a forensic department should ideally have one professor and

one associate professor each, along with two assistant professors and four or ve lecturers.

Sources say the forensic depart-ments in the relatively newer medical colleges, including Coxs Bazar and Sat-khira, are run by lecturers, while only three public medical colleges - Dha-ka, Sir Salimullah and Rangpur have three fulltime professors of forensics.

Meanwhile, the chief of the Directo-rate General of Health Services (DGHS), Professor Dr Din Md Nurul Hoque, is set to appear before the High Court today regarding a recent court order that di-rected him to explain whether its pre-vious order to ensure the appointment

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

12 | MOUSHUMI: I STILL GET THE SAME LOVE

Dhanmondi playground only for elite! PAGE 1 COLUMN 1them when reporters approached him. He said two to three newspapers were unethically hampering the develop-ment work on the playground.

You interviewed me over phone, but it wasnt published. I am cha lenging the owner of your newspaper. Hell pay for this, Manjur yelled at a reporter.

In the wake of protests by the green activists, the club arranged the brie ng to make clear its stance on the play-ground.

Before starting the brie ng, the club authorities arranged a Power Point presentation to show the playgrounds present and past condition.

A documentary on the success of the club was also screened.

Although the brie ng lasted for two hours, the club authorities only allowed reporters ve minutes to ask questions. However, they only took questions from two reporters before wrapping up.

The playground was earlier a ha-ven for drug addicts and oating sex workers. Di erent seasonal fairs were also arranged here. It is Sheikh Jamal

Club that brought sporting events back here, Manjur observed.

Mobassher Hossain built commer-cial o ce in Dhanmondi Residential area and now he is raising his voice in favour of Dhanmondi residents. Call the resi-dents. I want to see whose call they re-spond to, Mobassher or mine, he added.

Nazmul Hassan Papon echoed the same view and said: My support for all the activities of the club will be there. We will assist them if we are asked to do so.

Apart from Manjur, Bangladesh Cricket Board President Nazmul Hassan Papon and former players of the club, including Shahed Reza, Tanvir Mazha-rul Hossain Tanna and Shawkat Aziz Russel, spoke at the brie ng.

Most of the people living here sup-port the 10-point demand placed by the green activists. We, however, didnt speak overtly because the playground is under full control of the club named after the younger brother of Prime Min-ister Sheikh Hasina, a resident of Dh-anmondi told the Dhaka Tribune.

He also said the club authorities had indirectly threatened the locals to keep

mum on the issue. Meanwhile, the club authorities

sued some activists on Friday, hours after they demonstrated against illegal occupation of the playground and con-struction of structures on it.

The clubs General Secretary Ari-fur Rahman led the case with Dhan-mondi police station against former president of Institution of Architects Bangladesh (IAB) Mobassher Hossain, architect Salma A Sha , Bangladesh Womens Sports Association General Secretary Kamrunnahar Dana, Joint Secretary of Bangladesh Poribesh An-dolon (Bapa) Iqbal Habib and several others for creating chaos in the play-ground.

Activists of over 50 environmen-tal and social organisations and also residents of Dhanmondi are forming human chains and organising rallies demanding the playground be opened to the people and all illegal structures by the club be stopped.

In 2004, following submission of a petition by Bapa and IAB, the High Court directed the then city corpora-tion (now Dhaka South City Corpora-

tion) to free Dhanmondi playground from the illegal occupation by Sheikh Jamal Club.

In March 2011, the court again ordered the DSCC, the PublicWorks Ministry and the club author-ities to remove all illegal structures so that the ground remained open to everyone. l

News2 DHAKA TRIBUNE Sunday, April 20, 2014Concept paper drafted to punish doctors negligence n Moniruzzaman Uzzal The Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council (BMDC) has prepared a concept paper for two separate draft laws, which aim to ensure the safety of doctors as well as punishment for professional negligence, misconduct and criminal o ence by healthcare professionals.

Professor Dr Abu Sha Ahmed Amin, president of the BMDC, told the Dhaka Tribune that they would submit the concept paper before the health minister by the last week of this month, while it was likely to take several more months for the law to be nalised.

Sources said discussions would be arranged with health professionals, lawyers, journalists and members of civil society, before the law is nalised.

Seeking anonymity, several senior health o cials told the Dhaka Tribune that it was high time for introducing acts to make both doctors and patients more responsible towards each other.

With the number of unauthorised ill-equipped hospitals, clinics and di-agnostic centres growing across the country, most of the facilities lacked trained doctors, nurses or technolo-gists. Many of the hospitals also al-legedly fail to preserve record of pa-tients, while there was no arrangement for auditing deaths of patients.

Hospitals in the developed coun-tries hold audits for the deaths of each patient, while monitoring and super-vising by respective ministries ensure

that the cause of death could easily be identi ed.

However, there is reportedly no xed procedure in Bangladesh that en-sures determining whether the death of a patient had been caused by negli-gence in treatment.

Several doctors expressed their frus-tration to the Dhaka Tribune, saying a group of unscrupulous doctors who had been carrying out illegal activities in the name of treating patients was tar-nishing the reputation of the profession.

They also pressed for the enact-ment of a proper law which would help the people regain con dence on the healthcare sector and also ensure ac-countability for doctors.

Dr Rashid-e-Mahbub, president of Health Rights Movement Bangladesh and former president of Bangladesh Medical Association, told the Dhaka Tribune that assaults on doctors by relatives of the pa-tients was a bad sign for the health sector. The family members who felt that neg-ligence had been committed in treating the patient should opt for lodging crim-inal cases against the doctor, instead of launching an attack, he added.

BMDC President Dr Amin, who is also a professor at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, said the hospital had regularly been run-ning morbidity and mortality clinics to identify the causes of diseases and mortality. However, it was being done only for academic purposes, but not to serve the patients, he added. l

Bangladesh to discuss drug smuggling with Myanmar n UNB Bangladesh is seeking to hold talks with Myanmar for discussing ways to prevent drug smuggling along the bor-der, Home Ministry o cials have said.

Home Ministry Additional Secretary Kamal Uddin Ahmed told the UNB that the foreign ministry has been asked to contact Myanmar to set a date for the talks.

Bangladesh has long been facing a massive in ow of smuggled contra-band drugs like yaba and phensedyl from Myanmar.

A Home Ministry delegation, headed by Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, has been on a visit to Bangladeshs bor-der areas with Myanmar since Friday to inspect measures to stop drug tra ck-ing.

Asaduzzaman said Bangladesh was looking forward to a fruitful dialogue with the Myanmar authorities and nd a solution to the long-standing issue.

Bangladesh o cials said huge amount of illegal drugs, including con-traband yaba tablets, are smuggled into the country through hilly areas of the border, especially Teknaf in Coxs Ba-zar and Naikhongchhari in Banbardan.

The 250km land border between Bangladesh and Myanmar is also found out to be a hotspot for drug-smuggling between the countries.

Home Ministry Joint Secretary Sid-dikur Rahman said a high-pro le moni-toring committee comprising members of Police, Rapid Action Battalion, Coast Guard, Border Guard Bangladesh and o cials of di erent anti-narcotic or-ganisations, has already been formed

to curb drug smuggling along border areas of the country.

The monitoring committee is head-ed by Home Ministry Joint Secretary SiddikUllah.

SiddikUllah said the monitoring com-mittee will conduct an inspection of its own along the border areas this month.

The committee would make some crucial decisions based on the inspec-tion in its rst meeting that is sched-uled to be held this month, he added.

According to the Home Ministry, over 49 lakh bottles of phensedyl, more than 654kg heroin, four lakh bottles of illegal alcohol, 194,608kg of hemp, ve lakh ampoules injection drugs and over 51 lakh pieces of yaba tables were seized by the law enforcement agen-cies and the BGB along the border from July 2009 to June 2013.

About 48,000 drug-smuggling relat-ed cases are pending with the court.

Sources at the Department of Nar-cotics Control (DNC) told the UNB that they have already tracked down the wealth accumulation by some suspect-ed smugglers and prepared a list.

This will be used by the Home Min-istry to conduct a special anti-smug-gling drive.

They said the DNC has prepared pro- les of suspected drug traders along with their photos, as well as placing some recommendations to the Home Ministry to curb the smuggling of yaba.

DNC Additional Director Abu Taleb said patrols along the border in Coxs Bazar and Teknaf, particularly along the Naf river that separates Bangladesh and Myanmar, should be increased to curb yaba-smuggling. l

No headway in Siddique abduction PAGE 1 COLUMN 6dropped in the capitals Mirpur Thurs-day night after over 30 hours following his kidnap by an armed gang of seven to eight.

Abu Bakar Siddique said he had been on his way to Dhaka from his gar-ment factory at Fatullah in Narayan-ganj when the incident took place.

Syed Nurul Islam, superintendent of police in Narayanganj district, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday they were trying to make headway in their investigation.

Although the victim is freed, our bid to unravel the mystery will contin-ue. We are also trying to recover the ve-hicle used in kidnapping, said the SP.

Meanwhile, to accelerate the in-vestigation, a ve-member committee comprised of senior o cials of Police, RAB and DB visited the garment facto-ry of the businessman yesterday after-noon and also the spot from where he had been abducted.

The probe body led by Additional Commissioner Sheikh Maruf Hasan of Dhaka Metropolitan Police vowed to solve the mystery.

Besides, Joint Commissioner Mon-irul Islam of DB at a press brie ng in the capitals Minto Road said they had been conducting investigation on the basis of deposition given by the victim before a Narayanganj court on Friday.

The police o cial claimed that the businessman was kidnapped in a planned way. CNG auto-rickshaw driv-er Ha zul Islam who carried Siddique from Kazipara of Mirpur also gave dep-osition at the court yesterday.

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, BELA

Chief Rizwana Hasan said they were not aware of the progress of investi-gation as the lawmen did not disclose anything to them. She added that they themselves failed to guess why her husband was abducted.

Following his release, businessman Siddique described his experience as saying that the abductors released him near the Ansar Camp at Mirpur 1 around midnight with his eyes blind-folded and gave him Tk300.

I could not see anything for some time after opening the blindfold which I was forced to wear since my abduc-tion, Siddique said, adding that he took a rickshaw to Kazipara from where he hired a CNG auto-rickshaw to go to his residence in central road area.

But I was stopped by police at the check post near the Kalabagan play-ground, he said.

When Siddique identi ed himself he was taken to Dhanmondi police station. His family was informed of his whereabouts and asked to come to the police station.

They changed the car after kidnap-ping me and after around three or four hours I was taken to a house where I was con ned in a room on a higher oor. I also slept on the oor, Siddique told re-porters at the police station. He, howev-er, said the abductors did not misbehave with him except for some scu es.

They gave me food and water properly and also bought me medi-cines when I informed them that I had high blood pressure. Siddique said the abductors aged around 35 years, stout and short-haired. l

Only two female forensic specialists PAGE 1 COLUMN 5of female doctors to examine rape vic-tims and ascertain the age of girls has been ful lled or not.

Dr Md Shah Newaz, director (ad-ministration) of the DGHS, con rmed the news and claimed that the directo-rate has already posted female doctors as per the High Courts directive.

Although the DGHS had previously submitted a list of female doctors who were assigned to examine rape vic-tims, the court o cial concerned did not present it before the judges, Shah Newaz said, adding that the director general would again present the list to the court today.

The Health Ministry has also re-

portedly drafted a new guideline that, if implemented, will bind police to re-cord a rape victims statement within three hours of being approached and hospitals to conduct medical examina-tions without police reports.

The draft quashes the two- nger test, traditionally used by doctors to nd out whether someone was really raped or not. The guideline labels the test unscienti c and horrendous.

DMC Professor Dr Habibuzzaman, who heads the sub-committee for pre-paring the draft of the new guideline, told the Dhaka Tribune on Thursday that the draft guideline has already been nalised and will be submitted before the ministry soon. l

Eminent citizens PAGE 1 COLUMN 5thought twice about what they are do-ing. They are supporting restrictions on play by children on a ground, he said.

Prof Zafrullah Chowdhury, the founder of Gonoshasthaya, got sur-prised to see his name among four per-sons who tried to enter the ground.

Security personnel prevented me from entering the ground.

Filing of the case against me proved that the eld is not open to all.

If a man wants to walk into the eld and see his name to be included as a law-breaker, it is really shocking.

I urge the people concerned to with-draw the case, he said. l

Most abductions veiled in mystery PAGE 1 COLUMN 2have gone missing in the last couple of years.

Besides the ruling party leaders, a number of leaders of other parties are also missing. Family members of the victims claimed that the abductors had not demanded money after their disap-pearance.

According to the statistics of human rights watchdog Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK), at least 268 people were abduct-ed between 2010 and March this year. Of them, bodies of 43 persons were found, 24 released while 14 handed over to police.

However, the remaining 187 people are still missing and their families and the law enforcers do not know any-thing about their whereabouts.

The maximum number of abduc-tions took place during rst three months of the current year when 39 people were abducted, says ASK.

Among them, 11 were BNP lead-ers, four service holders, four Chha-tra League leaders, three Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal leaders, two Islami Chha-tra Shibir leaders, one Jamaat-e-Islami leader, three businesspersons and 11 general people.

Of the 39, bodies of only 12 persons were recovered, but the fate of remain-ing others is still shrouded in mystery.

The gure of crime cell of the Police Headquarters reveals that a total of 10,182 cases and general diaries were led regarding abductions across the country since 2002 until last year.

Even though the ASK reports about 39 abductions this year, police said a total of 196 cases were led.

More signi cantly, the law enforcers have totally failed to start investigation of over 3,000 cases registered after 2002, alleged a source.

Asked why not initiate probe in so many cases, Inspector General of Police Hassan Mahmood Khandker refuted the allegation. He a rmed that the law enforcers had conducted investigation in every abduction incident.

During investigation, police unearth mystery behind the incidents. But it takes some time in some cases, he said.

The IGP further states that if any speci c complaint comes up against any o cial of the law enforcement agencies, action follows against the ac-cused after investigation.

BNP leader and former lawmaker Il-

ias Ali went missing around two years ago and the law enforcers so far sub-mitted 36 progress reports to the court.

Like Ilias, police have also failed to make any headway in the abductions of BNPs Laksham upazila unit President Saiful Islam Hiru and municipality unit President Humayun Kabir.

They were arrested allegedly by some RAB personnel on November 27 last year. Joint Organising Secretary Jasim Uddin of the same unit was also picked up at that time.

However, Jasim was later handed over to Laksham police the same night. The law enforcers have failed to trace the two others.

President of the Awami Leagues ward 41 unit Hazi Nur Mohammad was abducted on October 19, 2011 from his residence in Savar. His son-in-law Ab-dul Mannan and Mannans friend Iqbal were working to trace him. However, they were also abducted from the capi-tals Agargaon area on December 3 and have remained missing until date.

Hazi Mohammad Wazi Ullah, pres-ident of Dhaka Super Market Owners Association in Bangabazar area, went missing in 2011.

Police are yet to trace him while the abductors did not demand anything for his release. Jubo League leader Liyakat Hossain was picked up from his own residence on Dhanmondi 27 on Novem-ber 26, 2008. He has since remained missing and no progress yet been made.

The abduction cases of Jubo League leader of Fenis Sonagazi upazila unit Sarowar Jahan Babul, Dhakas ward 98 Jubo League Organising Secretary Tushar Islam Titu and Pallabi unit Awa-mi Leagues Relief A airs Secretary Ab-dul Karim Howlader are still unresolved.

In this regard, Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, state minister for home a airs, told the Dhaka Tribune: We have al-ready given special instruction to the authorities concerned to complete the investigations of old abduction cases and the general diaries led with dif-ferent police stations.

He observes that usually, a group of people after abduction puts the blame on the law enforcers.

Those who are responsible for these heinous acts will not be spared and the persons still missing must be rescued following fair investigation, he added. l

2 kg gold seized at Dhaka Airportn Kailash SarkarThe Customs Intelligence and Investi-gation Directorate seized another haul of 17 gold bars weighing over 2 kgs.

They also arrested a Dubai expa-triate immediately after his arrival at Hajarat Shahjalal International Airport last night.

The gold worth around Tk1 crore was seized within 24 hours into the seizure

of over 1.3kg gold with the arrest of 6 other expatriates Friday night.

Identi ed as Zakir Hossain of Co-milla, the man was arrested around 9:15pm while he had been crossing the Green Chann el with the gold bars, said Moinul Khan, director general of the directorate.

He said, The gold worth around Tk 1 crore was seized after his movement was seemed to us suspicious. l

Police produce two criminals involved in making fake NID cards at the DMP Media Centre in the capital yesterday. Story on Back Page DHAKA TRIBUNE

3NewsDHAKA TRIBUNE Sunday, April 20, 2014

Khaleda calls for young leadership againn Mohammad Al-MasumMolla For the second time in about a week, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia open-ly berated the senior party leaders for failing during street movements and stressed on the need to bring in young blood, yesterday.

Our organisational strength is good. We have many leaders; but we also need to bring young leadership to the fore-front. Then again, we need experience as well. The senior leaders will give advice. New leadership should come forward, otherwise organisational stag-nancy will cripple the party. Old people cannot lead movements, she said.

The former premier was addressing the inaugural ceremony of the two-day national council of Sramik Dal, BNPs labour front, at the Institute of Engi-neers Bangladesh in the capital. The seventh council aims to elect new lead-ership today.

Once before, on April 12, when speak-

ing at the council of Dhaka city unit Sra-mik Dal, Khaleda said new leadership would be brought to the forefront.

BNP leaders and activists believe that Khaledas eldest son Tarique Rah-man often referred to as the symbol of youth within party ranks will head the party in future.

Tarique, who is facing a number of corruption charges, has been living in London since 2008. In recent times, af-ter years of inertia, he has become active in the UK capital, trying to regain ground by delivering strong political messages.

His recent comments that his father Ziaur Rahman was the rst president of Bangladesh and that Bangabandhu was an illegal prime minister, gave rise to huge controversy.

During yesterdays programme, call-ing upon the government to arrange for a fresh national election as soon as possible, Khaleda said: Democracy has been exiled. People cannot express their opinions freely because the gov-

ernment has killed it [democracy].Echoing her son, Khaleda claimed:

People know that Zia [her husband] was the actual leader of the war. When he was ghting on the battle eld, many [Awami League leaders] were watching plays at the Theatre Road [in Kolkata].

Claiming that BNP was the real pro-liberation force, she said: You [the government] are committing crimes against humanity every day. For this, you will be held accountable.

The BNP chief then accused the government of abducting BELA chief Syeda Rizwana Hassans husband AB Siddique. He was abducted in broad daylight. When protests arose from dif-ferent corners, he was released. The il-legal government has showed prudence by releasing AB Siddique, otherwise a movement could not be stopped.

She also accused the government of extorting huge sums money in the name of helping the Rana Plaza victims. l

TACKLING CLIMATE CHANGE

Prioritise core issues of locals, seminar toldn Abu Bakar SiddiqueLocal climate change experts have suggested that the government take adaptive measures, prioritising the lo-cal people and the vulnerability of the region, with a view to tackle the ex-isting and potential threats of climate change.

They also emphasised on consider-ing the combination of science and lo-cal knowledge while initiating develop-ment projects to ensure sustainability.

The views came on the rst day of the second national conference on community-based adaptation at the citys Spectra Convention Centre.

The development measures with-out any basis in science, the locals needs and their knowledge, will not bring any sustainable outcome, said Dr Atiq Rahman, executive director of the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS).

As an example, he pointed out that the government needed to take imme-diate measures to ensure the availabil-ity of fresh water in the southwest re-gion since the area was severely hit by massive cyclones in the recent years.

A study discussed at the conference states that people in the coastal re-gions, including Satkhira and Patuakh-ali, were more vulnerable than in other parts of the country regarding the ac-cess to safe drinking water because of saline water intrusion.

A study titled Peoples Perception Regarding Climate Change on Water Access Scenario along the Coastal Zone in Bangladesh was conducted by the Centre for Global Changes (CGC).

The scenario where people severely lack access to fresh water is one that will be increased in the near future be-cause of the changing patterns of the climate, it says.

Around four- fths of the coast-al households collect drinking water from tube-wells, the number of which is lower than the average national cov-

erage of tube-wells, said Dr Ahsan Ud-din Ahmed, executive director of CGC, who led the study.

According to Water Aid Bangladesh, currently the coverage of tube-wells as the source of drinking water in the country is around 1 crore.

As per di erent reports of the In-ter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable nations in terms of the negative impacts of climate change.

The recently published nal draft report by working group II of the Fifth Assessment Report of the IPCC also said the recent climate-related ex-tremes like drought, ood and cyclones will a ect the peoples lives and liveli-hoods in di erent ways, including a disruption of food production and wa-ter supply across the world.

The CGC study suggests that a large number of khas (government) land should be converted into community ponds to increase the number of Pond Sand Filters (PSF) in the coastal zone.

Both the government and non-gov-ernmental agencies are currently work-ing on the issue to meet the demands for fresh water in these areas.

In addition, the study suggests pro-moting proven technologies including rain water harvesting to increase fresh water availability for the people.

The two-day long conference began yesterday with the participation of dif-ferent stakeholders including research-ers, activists and di erent government and non-governmental actors.

Around 33 studies prepared by dif-ferent NGOs working on the vulnera-bility to climate change and local peo-ples practices will be discussed at the conference.

The conference was jointly organ-ised by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), the BCAS, the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (IC-CCRD) and the Action Research for Com-munity Adaptation in Bangladesh. l

Inu for environment-friendly development policies n UNBInformation Minister Hasanul Haq Inu yesterday underscored the need for adopting environment-friendly sustain-able development policies tted with Information Communication Technolo-gy to face the climate change challenges.

The minister was speaking at the inauguration of the second National Conference on Community Based Ad-aptation to Climate Change (NCAB2) at the capitals Gulshan.

Inu said they need to have a three-ti-er synergy domestic, regional and global in order to formulate viable and successful strategies for communi-ty-based adaptation to climate change.

He said Prime Minister Sheikh Ha-sina had urged all developed countries to come forward to face the impacts of global climate change.

The climate change caused by excessive emission of greenhouse gas from industries of the developed countries a ect all other countries of the earth, although we are not at all re-sponsible for it, he added.

Director of International Centre for Climate Change and Development (IC-CCAD) Dr Saleemul Huq presented the keynote speech at the conference.

Member of Planning Commission Dr Shamsul Alam also spoke at the pro-gramme, which was chaired by Execu-tive Director of BCAS Dr Atiq Rahman. l

Rights bodies decry climate fund mismanagement n UNBActivists of several rights groups yes-terday expressed concern over the mis-management of two climate funds.

They also demanded ensuring in-ter-ministry coordination and integration of climate adaptation in the upcoming national budget. They expressed the con-cern at a seminar on budget, climate resil-ience and adaptation at the National Press Club. EquityBD, a network of right groups, organised the event, says a press release.

Syed Aminul Haque of EquityBD pre-sented the key note paper. He said Ban-gladesh Climate Change Strategic Action Plan (BCCSAP) was a standalone docu-ment. The Sixth Five Year Plan has little integration to the document or climate resilience actions. The UNDP CPER (Cli-mate Change Public Expenditure Review) 2012 has already shown that only 3.8% of the budget allocation has e ective cor-relation to climate change. Aminul also placed ve demands in this regard.

Aminur Rasul of Unnayan Dhara raised question on both the trust and resilience fund management and de-manded a white paper on management of the two funds. Prodip K Roy of on Line Knowledge Centre pushed for bringing the funds under one single management.

Earlier, the TIB identi ed misman-agement in the two funds. l

Six newsmen allegedly assaulted by doctors n Mohammad Jamil Khan A group of students and intern doctors of Sir Salimullah Medical College and Hospital (SSMCH) allegedly beat up three reporters and three cameraper-sons of private television channel ETV on its premises yesterday.

The three reporters were Ilias Hos-sain, 30; Mohammad Nurunnabi, 28; and Julhash Kabir, 30; while the cam-eramen were Humayun Kabir Titu, 32; Monirul Islam, 28; and Rumi Talukdar, 27. All six were treated at Dhaka Medical College Hospital following the assault.

Ilias told the Dhaka Tribune that he went to the hospital to visit Masum, a person he is familiar to, and accompanied him to a doctors room. He requested the doctor to arrange specialised treatment

for Masum who had been undergoing treatment for 14 days for TB disease.

An intern doctor asked me to check Masums weight in machine even after knowing my identity. This angered Ma-sum and he asked the doctor not to be-have badly with me. Masums attitude, however, enraged the doctor and he, along with his colleagues in the room, began slapping Masum, he recalled.

Ilias came under attack as he tried to save cameraman Humayun, who at-tempted to lm the scu e but was as-saulted by the doctors. The camera was broken by the doctors as well.

After receiving information, Nurun-nabi, Julhash, Monir and Rumi arrived on the scene but the doctors, along with some 40-50 students, attacked them and damaged another camera.

Witness Hazi Rakib, owner of a shop in Armanitola, said hospital Principal Prof Dr Dilip Kumar and DG Jakir Hos-sain were present there but did nothing.

Nurunnabi alleged that Jakir had broken his mobile phone as he had tried to call his o ce for help.

Later, ETV Chief News Editor Ibrahim Azad and Chief Reporter Mahatier Faruki Khan along with the police and RAB o -cers went to the spot and rescued the six.

Faruki told the Dhaka Tribune that it was a misdeed on the doctors part and a complaint would be lodged against them seeking punitive measures.

DG Jakir refused the allegation of as-sault on journalists. He told the Dhaka Tribune that it was a misunderstanding as the cameramen had tried to capture images without taking permission. l

Birdem doctors stop work for one hourn Tribune ReportPatients in Birdem Hospitals outpa-tient department did not receive any treatment as the doctors stopped work for an hour yesterday, demanding se-curity in their workplace.

The doctors left their work stations and gathered at the hospitals auditori-um for an hour at noon.

Several doctors from the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital and Mit-ford Hospital joined them to show sol-idarity, said Tanzina Hossain, a phy-sician with Birdems Endocrinology Department.

The protesting doctors also decid-ed to continue with their programme for one hour every day until their de-mands, including punishment of those who reportedly assaulted some col-leagues last Sunday, were met.

We have decided to continue this programme until a trial those who as-saulted three of our colleagues on Sun-day night, is ensured, said Anwarul Is-lam, a doctor of the surgery department.

A day after the alleged assault, Bird-em doctors went on strike demanding action against the suspected assailants, who included a police o cer. They went back to work on Wednesday after Addi-tional Superintendent of the Dhaka Met-ropolitan Police ABM Masud Hossain, who allegedly instigated the assault on the doctors, was removed from his post.

The Birdem doctors claimed that following the death of a patient, Sir-

ajul Islam, his unruly relatives assault-ed and injured Dr Anowar Hossain, Dr Kalyan Devnath and Dr Shamima Akter of the Endocrinology Department.

Relatives of the deceased, however, have been claiming that he died due to negligence in treatment. They also de-nied assaulting any doctor or vandalis-ing the hospital.

The Birdem authorities did not le

any case regarding the incident, but recorded a general diary with the Ram-na police station. The a ected doctors, however, said they planned to le a case with the court today.

Meanwhile, a probe committee, which was formed to investigate wheth-er there was any negligence in the treat-ment of the patient, Sirajul Islam, is ex-pected to submit its report today.

The hospital authorities have asked Mirza Mahbubul Hasan(director of clin-ical services) to check the treatment issue. The committee will talk with the patients relatives. It will not work to nd out what happened that night during the attack on the doctors, AK Azad, president of Diabetic Association of Bangladesh, told the Dhaka Tribune over the phone yesterday. l

BNP threatens against obstruction in long marchn UNBSenior BNP leader MK Anwar yesterday warned the government that people would resist if it tried to obstruct the partys long march towards the Teesta Barrage in Nilphamari on Tuesday.

It is not only the BNPs programme, but also the peoples one. So, people will resist if any obstruction is created to stop it, he said while campaigning in Nayapaltan in f avour of the event. A BNP press release said the party would start the march from Nayapaltan at 8am. It, however, rescheduled Tuesday after-noons rally in Rangpur for Wednesday morning due to unavoidable reasons. l

ICCCAD Director Dr Saleemul Haq delivers his keynote speech at the sceond National Conference on Community-based Adaptation to Climate Change in the capital yesterday RAJIB DHAR

A doctor puts a black badge on his colleguess apron yesterday demanding security in their workplaces MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

150 tolas of gold looted from jewellery shop at Farmgate n Ashif Islam ShaonUnidenti ed criminals looted a huge amount of gold ornaments and money by cutting a hole in the wall of a jew-ellery shop in the Farm View Super Market in the capitals Farmgate area, yesterday.

The owner of The Kolpana Jewellers claimed that 150 tolas (1.75kg) of gold jewellery, mortgaged gold worth Tk14 lakh and Tk7 lakh in cash were taken.

Police said the robbery probably took place between late Friday night and early Saturday morning.

Police picked up four people, includ-ing two night guards, for questioning.

Police also suspect the involvement of a next door shopkeeper, who has

been missing since the robbery.Kolpana Jewellers is located on

the first floor of the five-storey market. There are 45 other jewellery shops on the floor, and many of the shops have common walls on two or three sides.

A hole of around one square foot was found on the eastern wall of the robbed shop, which has common walls on three sides. Digging equipment was also found in an adjacent shop on the eastern side.

Police and shopkeepers suspect that the robbers entered Kolpana Jewel-lers from the adjacent shop by cutting through the common wall.

Swapan Pal, owner of the looted shop, told the Dhaka Tribune that he went home after locking up around 8:30pm on Friday. Around 9:30am yes-terday, his son, Madhap, opened the shop and found the eastern wall dam-aged.

In addition to the markets security guards, the jewellery shop owners have employed two extra night guards for the rst oor, Swapan said.

After the shops are closed, night guards Probir Mandal and Ashish Sha-

ha lock the main collapsible gate of the oor and keep the keys with them.

Nobody is allowed to stay in the shops at night. We do not know how the gold was stolen after all the security measures, Swapan said.

The guards reportedly told police

that they did not hear any breaking sounds while on duty.

Meanwhile, Didarul, the owner of the shop on the eastern side, said he had rented it out to a man named Milon for Tk30,000 per month.

Last month, I rented that shop to

Milon, who is now missing. Milon told me that he would run a mobile phone accessories shop there. He started his business this month, Didarul said.

Afruzul Haque, assistant commis-sioner of the DMPs Tejgaon zone, said they were trying to apprehend Milon. l

News4 DHAKA TRIBUNE Sunday, April 20, 2014

CPB, BSD demand fair share of Teesta water n UNBThe Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) and Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal (BSD) yesterday called for a move-ment to press India to allow Bangladesh its fair share of water from Teesta River.

They alleged that Bangladesh was not getting the fair share of waters of the common rivers, including Teesta, because of submissive policies of the successive governments in Dhaka.

Leaders of the CPB and the BSD also called upon the government to settle the water dispute with India at bilat-eral, multilateral and international fo-rums, including the UN.

They were addressing a rally at Sadhur Bazar adjacent to Teesta Barrage in Hat-ibandha upazila in Lalmonirhat district.

Reading out the Teesta Declara-tion at the rally, CPB General Secretary

Syed Abu Zafar Ahmed said the dispute with India over the water issue would not be resolved if the current subser-vient foreign policy remained in place.

Referring to the failures of the suc-cessive governments in resolving the water issue with neighbouring country, he alleged that the past governments have protected the interest of India.

He stressed the need for adopting co-ordinated plans for proper water distri-bution of 57 international rivers owing through the country, including the 54 common ones with India. He also called for building unity among the people of both Bangladesh and India for ensuring proper and bene cial use of waters of the common rivers for all.

He urged the government to compen-sate farmers who incurred losses due to the lack of irrigation from Indias unilat-eral withdrawal of Teesta water. l

Two frauds caught n Kailash Sarkar RAB arrested two people who had been conning people of their money and in-troducing themselves as Jiner Badsha (kings of genies).

Abu Miah, 22, and his elder brother Milon Miah of Gosaipur village in Gai-bandhas Gobindaganj upazila were held at Dhakas New Market and Gai-bandha, respectively, said RAB-2 Oper-ation O cer Raihan Uddin Khan.

The duo had been cheating naive people by promising them a lucrative change in their lives over the next two years, he said.

They deceived Kalpona Akter Sweety from Dhakas Hazaribagh into giving them over Tk 4,00,000, he said.

They described how they used to cheat people at a press conference in Dhaka city yesterday.

Abu and Milon said they used to rst target naive people and then collect their details so that they could deceive the gullible people into believing them to be so-called kings of genies. They added that another of their brothers, Sabur Miah, 22, was also involved. l

Government mulling campaign for arti cial insemination to meet local protein demandn Mohosinul KarimThe government is planning to conduct a mass campaign to promote arti cial insemination in livestock to improve varieties and to ful l the countrys in-creasing demands for protein.

The Ministry of Fisheries and Live-stock is expected to start the mass-cam-paign, which will create awareness among the people about this, in Thak-urgaon on May 6.

After nishing the campaign in northern districts, the ministry will conduct the campaign in other districts of the country, Fisheries and Livestock Minister Mohammad Sayedul Haque told the Dhaka Tribune last week.

At the same time, the government will also establish ve new Semen Laboratories in the country. At pres-ent, Bangladesh only has one such lab-

oratory in Dhaka. The new laboratories will be established in Rajshahi, Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna and Sylhet. The Se-men Laboratory in Rajshahi is expected to be completed by next month.

The initiative has been taken to pre-serve high quality semen from cattle and chicken, after importing the spec-imens from abroad.

The minister also said India has ful- lled its demand for animal protein through milk, meat and eggs from its local production. It has done so by con-ducting cooperative activities in the sector.

The Indian authority has operat-ed arti cial insemination programmes throughout the country to improve the varieties of cattle and poultry. It helped them to become self-su cient in the sector even with a population of 135 crore, he said.

He further added: But, despite be-ing a small country with a population of only 16 crore, Bangladesh produces a small portion of our real demand. We could not achieve it [self-su ciency] as most of our varieties are old. We must improve the varieties by arti cial insemination and spread it all over the country.

According to the ministrys static-tics, the basic demand for milk in Ban-gladesh was around 1.40 crore metric tonnes in the scal year 2012-13, while the basic production was at 50.67 lakh tonnes, covering only 30% of the coun-trys demand. At the same time, basic demand for meat was around 67.20 lakh metric tonnes, while basic produc-tion was only 36.20 lakh tonnes, cover-ing 54% of the demand.

Similarly, the annual demand for eggs was around 1597.40 crores in the

same year, while basic production was only 761.74 crore, which covered 48% of the countrys needs.

According to the ministry, there are around 330,116 dairy and poultry farms in the country at present with 114,555 of those being registered farms and 212,561 remaining unregistered. Among the farms, 254,762 are poultry farms while the rest are dairy farms.

The minister also noted that a Ban-gladeshi delegation of experts, led by the sheries and livestock minister, will visit India soon to gain further knowledge in this regard.

We will try to ensure improved varieties of cattle and poultry for every family in the country as per the demand. As a result, they will get adequate animal proteins and we will have a meritorious new generation, he added. l

ULAB awards meritorious studentsn Tribune ReportThe University of Liberal Arts Bangla-desh (ULAB) awarded scholarships to its highest-achieving students for the Fall 2013, Spring 2013 and Summer 2013 terms at its Dhanmondi Campus, yesterday.

Nurul Kabir, editor of the New Age, attended the function as the chief guest. He presented the Deans Honour List Scholarships and the Vice Chancel-lors Honour List Scholarships to the re-spective recipients. Both scholarships cover full tuition for an entire term.

ULAB also awarded its two most pres-tigious Scholarships, the Kazi Anisur Rahman Scholarship to Zulker Naeen of the Media Studies and Journalism Department and the ARM Inamul Haq Scholarship to Tonmoy Kar of the De-partment of Business Administration.

Vice Chancellor of ULAB Professor Imran Rahman also awarded some of the scholarships. These scholarships cover full tuition with a stipend for the students who have achieved outstand-ing academic merit and school spirit.

Professor Brian Shoesmith, senior advisor, Strategic Planning, began the ceremony with a welcome speech and Professor Imran Rahman, vice chancel-lor of ULAB, gave a closing speech. l

Apparel makers seek duty-free safety equipmentn UNB Apparel makers have demanded the duty-free import of safety equipments required for making their factories safe and environment-friendly ones.

The demand was made at a press conference held at the Bangladesh Gar-ment Manufacturers and Exporters As-sociation (BGMEA) yesterday.

The import of sprinkler, re door and other safety and environ-ment-friendly equipment should be made duty-free ones. We are request-ing the government to take steps to that end, BGMEA President M Atiqul Islam said.

He also demanded duty withdrawal on import of pre-fabricated materials required for building construction.

The chief of the countrys apparel sector apex trade body, however, men-tioned that the government has agreed to reduce duty on some safety equip-ment from 61% to 15%. Atiqul also de-manded the quick implementation of Garment Industrial Park project to be set up at Gojaria in Munshiganj. l

Road crash kills three in Chittagongn CU CorrespondentAt least three persons, including a mi-nor girl and an expatriate, were killed and three others were injured in sepa-rate road accidents in Chittagong city and elsewhere in the district on Friday and yesterday.

The deceased were identi ed as Tufa Aktar, 5, resident of Keranirhat of Satkania, Ismail Hossen Rabbani, 26, a Dubai expatriate residing at the Hal-ishar residential area and Sa ul Alam Sa , 37, of the Amatal area of Sitakunda upazila, said police sources.

Md Ramij, sub-inspector of Dohazari Highway police station, said an uniden-ti ed vehicle overran Tofa on the Chit-tagong-Coxs Bazar highway in the Mow-lovidokan area of the upazila at 11am yesterday while the girl was crossing the road, leaving her dead on the spot.

Abdul Majid, o cer-in-charge of Akbarshah police station, said Rabbani skidded o his motorbike on the Dha-ka-Chittagong highway at the City Gate area near the Glaxo Pharmaceuticals factory around 11pm on Friday night after losing control over the steering.

A truck then smashed into the youth from the back, leaving him dead on the spot. The truck driver ed the scene af-ter the incident, said the OC.

Meanwhile, in another accident, a speeding truck collided with a CNG-driven auto rickshaw, conveying Sa and his family members, from be-hind at Madambibirhat, Sitakunda up-azila, leaving Sa dead on the spot, said Iftekhar Hasan, o cer-in-charge of the Sitakunda police station.

Three of Sa s family members sus-tained critical injuries and were admit-ted to the Chittagong Medical College Hospital, the OC added. l

Malaysia places demand for 2,000 workers bypassing G-to-G system Ministry o cials fear G2G mechanism to be challenged if recruitment allowed

n Rabiul IslamMalaysia has recently placed demand for 2,000 skilled workers to recruit them in its plantation sector, bypassing the government-to-government mech-anism.

The Malaysian interior minister had placed the demand to the Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry through the Bangladesh high commission in Kuala Lumpur.

The government of Bangladesh on November 26, 2012 signed an agree-ment with the Malaysian government to send workers to that country in a systematic way.

Under the agreement, so far nearly 4,000 workers had gone to Malaysia to work in the plantation sector.

Now an aspirant migrant has to spend only Tk30,000 to go to Malaysia, but it was Tk300,000-Tk400,000 be-fore signing the agreement. However, the government initiative was hailed by various quarters.

O cials at Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) said a Malaysian company, Feelda, wants to recruit 2,000 skilled workers, including foremen and supervisors, in the plan-tation sector.

And the company placed the de-mand to MCAB, a high-powered com-mittee comprising several ministries. Accordingly, the Malaysian interior minister placed the demand to the gov-ernment of Bangladesh.

I cannot tell you why the demand was placed bypassing the existing

G-to-G system, Bangladesh labour counsellor in Kuala Lumpur Mantu Kumar Biswas told the Dhaka Tribune over phone yesterday.

Seeking anonymity, a senior o cial at the Expatriates Welfare Ministry said, If we allow recruitment out of the G-to-G system, mechanism will be challenged.

We have asked BMET to examine whether the required manpower is available on the government database, the o cial said, adding that they would try to send workers through BMET.

We have received the demand, but we will not allow the recruitment out of the G-to-G system, BMET Director General Begum Shamsun Nahar told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

An o cial at BMET which deals with

overseas employment said they were scrutinising the demand to nd out re-quired workers.

Various vested groups at home and abroad had been opposing the G-to-G system soon after signing the deal.

Expatriates Welfare Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain was determined to maintain the G-to-G system. The minister on di erent oc-casions warned that he would never allow irregularities.

Earlier, private recruiters sent 100 workers which was surplus to require-ments, causing su erings to the addi-tional workers.

Despite praiseworthy attempts, the government has to face criticism as it has failed to send workers as per its ex-pectations. l

Obituary MA Qasem, group director of BEXIMCO died at 11:15am at United Hospital Ltd. (Innalillahe Wa Innna Ilaihe Rajeun) yesterday. He was 80. He left his wife, three sons, a daughter, grandchildren and well-wishers to mourn his death.

Leaders of Communist Party of Bangladesh and Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal march towards Lalmonirhaat yesterday demanding fair share of Teesta waters from India BANGLAR CHOKH

A man shows journalists the hole in a common wall of the jewelery shop through which robbers looted 150 tolas of gold at the capitals Farmgate yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Shopkeepers suspect robbers entered Kolpana Jewellers from the adjacent shop by cutting through the common wall

5NewsDHAKA TRIBUNE Sunday, April 20, 2014

PRAYER TIMES Fajar 4:14am Sunrise 5:32am Zohr 11:57am Asr 4:31pm Magrib 6:22pm Esha 7:41pm

Source: IslamicFinder.org

Source: Accuweather/UNB

PARTLY SUNNY

F O R E C A S T F O R T O D A Y

Dhaka 41 29Chittagong 36 26Rajshahi 42 25Rangpur 41 24Khulna 40 26Barisal 40 26Sylhet 39 21Coxs Bazar 35 25

D H A K ATODAY TOMORROW

SUN SETS 6:22PM SUN RISES 5:32AM

YESTERDAYS HIGH AND LOW39.5C 20.5C

Rangamati Srimangal

WEATHER

SUNDAY, APRIL 20

One held with Rs50 lakh at Dhaka airportn Kailash SarkarO cials of Directorate of Customs In-telligence and Investigation (DCII) ar-rested a man with Rs50 lakh equivalent to Tk65 lakh at Hazrat Shahjalal Inter-national Airport yesterday morning.

The arrested was identi ed as Mo-hammad Idris, 32, of Fulgazi upazila in Feni district.

Meanwhile, six expatriates were held with 1,341 grams of gold at the air-port on Friday night.

Since smuggling of gold, currencies, precious metals and other valuables through the airport is rampant, cus-toms o cials and police have seized over 1,000kgs of gold and several thou-sand crores of currencies in recent times, sources said.

According to the o cials, Idris was arrested with the Indian rupees shortly after his arrival in Dhaka from Pakistan via Dubai.

Assistant Commissioner of the DCII Ayesha Akhter said Idris was picked up from the green channel area of the airport around 10:15 am after he had arrived here from Pakistan by a ight of Air Arabia.

He went to Pakistan on April 3 on a business visa and returned to Dhaka via Sharjah, she added.

During primary interrogation, the detainee claimed that some people gave him the currencies to carry from

Pakistan to Dhaka, she quoted Idris Ali as saying.

The man had returned to Dhaka via Sharjah with an attempt to dodge the eyes of law enforcers as passengers coming from Pakistan are usually treat-ed with suspicion, she said.

However, she could not con rm whether the seized currencies were fake or real.

More than 90% of the Indian ru-pees coming from Pakistan and seized in Dhaka were found to be fake, said Kamrul Hasan, assistant commissioner of Customs Department.

Alamgir Hossain Shimul, senior assis-tant superintendent of the Armed Police Battalion (APBn), said the seized Indian rupees include notes of Rs500 and Rs1000.

Meanwhile, the six expatriates were arrested with gold from 10:00 pm to 11:30 pm on Friday after their arrival at Dhaka from Singapore and Kuala Lum-pur by three separate ights.

The arrested were Hamidul Islam, Haider Sharif, Nadim Khandaker, Shah Alam Majumder, Ishaq Mia and Dipak Mandal.

Alamgir Hossain Shimul said the seized gold includes three bars and many bungles, chains and rings.

The gold was seized by searching their bodies and luggage during their departure from the airport after their arrival at Dhaka, he added. l

Barisal boiling on heat waven Our Correspondent, BarisalNormal life in Barisal city and region continues to be paralysed as a severe hot spell has been prevailing there for three weeks.

The city met o ce says it has so far recorded 38 degree Celsius as the high-est temperature and 22 degree Celsius as the lowest in various parts of the district with average wind speed of 9-11 km per hour.

The temperature may cross 40 de-gree Celsius within a short-time, it

forecasts. Especially, children, aged people

and students are su ering from this heat wave most.

Students are thinly attending schools, colleges and universities.

People are also contracting diseases like fever, diarrhoea and asthma pa-tients su erings have become miser-able.

City roads look almost deserted from 1 to 6pm while they are crowded after the evening falls.

Rickshaw pullers, hawkers are

found taking shelter under roadside trees or at city parks to get rid of the broiling heat.

Youths and children and also many domestic animals are seen bathing in ponds, canals, marshes and other wa-ter bodies for so long.

Diarrhoea is in control here but the number of people coming to hospitals with complaints of stomach ache is on the rise.

Doctors have suggested living on balanced diet as well as drinking much pure water to be free from summer dis-

eases and dehydration. We have noticed people drinking

watery food as soon as temperature ris-es. But they should be careful of what they eat or drink during this time, says Civil Surgeon Dr ATM Mizanur Rah-man.

Otherwise they may be attacked with diarrhoea, typhoid, jaundice, de-hydration, heat stroke, heat exhaus-tion, heat cramps, viral fever, in uen-za, and other viral diseases, he says.

Earlier on March 8, only 8 mm rain-fall took place in the region. l

Rajshahi Medical College becomes university n Our Correspondent, RajshahiThe Health and Family Welfare Min-ister Mohammad Nasim formally an-nounced the Rajshahi Medical College as Shaheed AHM Kamruzzaman Medi-cal University yesterday.

The minister said the Rajshahi Med-ical College is being named after AHM Kamruzaman who was the minister for relief and rehabilitation of the expatri-ate government during the Liberation War in 1971.

The minister made the declaration at a views-exchange meeting at the Kaisar Ali Memorial Auditorium of Ra-jshahi Medical College.

Shaheed Kamruzzaman is also the father of Khairuzzaman Liton, former mayor of the Rajshahi City Corporation.

The Health Ministry issued a circular on April 15 stating that the government had decided to upgrade the status of

the Chittagong and Rajshahi medical colleges into medical universities.

Sources said these would be the countrys second (and third) public medical universities. At present, there is only one medical university, the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University. This latter was also upgrad-ed from being a post-graduate institute to a medical university in 1998.

Former Rajshahi city mayor AHM Khairuzzaman Liton, local lawmak-er Fazle Hossain Badsha, Bangladesh Medical Association President Mah-mud Hasan, Secretary General Iqbal Ar-salan, were present at the programme among others.

Earlier, the Awami League govern-ment had initiated the status upgrade of the Dhaka Medical College into a medical university but had to cancel the decision due to a huge protest from the third and fourth class employees of the hospital. l

O cials helpless as grabbers eat up Kalandi canal n Our Correspondent, Brahmanbaria

In uential people regardless po-litical a liations are encroaching on the Kalandi canal in Akhaura upazila, Brahmanbaria, as it is not recorded as khas land (state-owned land) on sur-veys.

The canal, which ows into Ban-gladesh through the Akhaura-Agartala check post, is the only sewage line for the upazila town.

Locals say the land grabbing begins at night. First, it is encircled with bam-boo or tin-shed structures. Then brick installations are erected behind the bamboo or tin-shed ones.

Most grabbers belong to some polit-ical parties. Though they have political di erences, they are united when grab-bing land and sharing it among them-selves, sources say.

Though the canal is now drying up, the land grabbing continues unabated. It will soon go o the map in the upazi-la, allege the locals.

The Dhaka Tribune correspondent also visited the canal, which ows into the Teesta River, and found shops and multi-storey buildings being built on both sides of it.

Talking to locals, it was learned that in uential people, mainly involved in politics, had set their eyes on this canal soon after the political changeover in 1990s.

Land grabbing, however, came to a halt after the 1/11 changeover on Janu-ary 11, 2007, when some installations set up along with both sides of the ca-nal had been demolished.

Later, in early 2008, it began again and has been continued unhindered.

Assistant O cer of Akhaura upazi-

la Land O ce Saroar Alam said: We cannot reclaim this canal or stop them from encroaching on it since it is not re-corded as khas land.

But we have led civil suits against more than one of the land grabbers, he added.

The land grabbers say they own the land as per BS and RS khatians, claim-ing that their lands were outside the canal boundaries.

Asked about this, Akhaura Upazila Nirbahi O cer Mohammad Khurshid Shahriar echoed Alam. This canal is not recorded on surveys and the grab-bers are taking advantage.

Yet, we are trying to stop the land grabbing. When we go to stop it, they [land grabbers] le cases with the courts against us. We have written to the deputy commissioner about it, he added. l

4 in-laws arrested over torturing housewifen Our Correspondent, BargunaFour people were arrested early yester-day by Taltali police of Barguna for tor-turing a housewife to death over dowry.

The four were in-laws of the victim Hanufa Aktar, 20.

O cer-in-Charge Mizanur Rahman of Taltali police station said Abdul Ma-jid Fakir, father-in-law, Halima Begum, mother-in-law, Khalil Fakir and Jalil Fakir, brothers in-law , were arrested in this connection after severe injury marks were found on the dead body of Halima.

O cer-in-Charge Azam Khan Faru-ki of Barguna Sadar police station said the victims father Rafez Uddin Haola-dar had lodged a case as complainant against the husband and in-laws in this regard yesterday noon.

Rafez said his daughter Hanufa was married to Al-Amin, a truck driver, about 18 months ago. He claimed that since marriage, his daughter was tortured for dowry by her husband and in-laws.

According to Rafez, Hanufa ed from her husbands house in February and took shelter in his house. About three weeks ago, Al-Amin came and took her back home, assuring that she would not be tortured. However, she was tortured again and Hanufa was ad-mitted to Barguna General Hospital on April 13 in critical condition.

She was later transferred to Barisal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospi-tal after her condition deteriorated on April 14.

Hanufa succumbed to her injuries at Barisal SBMCH Friday night. Her in-laws claimed that she had died be-cause of her sickness. However, during bathing of the dead body, severe injury marks were sighted following which the victims parents informed the police. l

Nahid underlines research on zoologyn UNBEducation Minister Nurul Islam Nahid yesterday called for extensive research on zoology to help protect biodiversity and ensure food security.

Addressing a seminar at Dhaka Uni-versity, the minister said the study of zoology should match countrys devel-opment agenda.

The seminar discussed education, research and job opportunities for Zo-ologists in Bangladesh and its problem and prospects. It was jointly organised by the Zoology Department of DU and the Zoology Association.

Nahid said the government will take steps for ensuring world-class, modern education to speed up national devel-opment.

Presided over by Zoology Associ-ation chairman Prof Monjur Chowd-hury, the seminar was also addressed by DU Vice Chancellor Prof AAMS Ar-e n Siddique, Public Service Commis-sion (PSC) chairman Ikram Ahmed, and chairman of Zoology Department of DU, Prof M Moksed Ali Howlader. l

Minister: No fund crisis for Padma Bridgen UNBPlanning Minister AHM Mostafa Kamal yesterday said there was no fund con-straint for the implementation of the proposed Padma Bridge project.

The dream will turn into reality soon. We will be able to implement the dream project by the next three and a half years, he said while visiting the bridges Mawa site in the morning.

He said an amount of Tk2,042 crore had already been allocated for the proj-ect which would be used by January next.

The minister mentioned that ve packages Jajira approach road, Mawa approach road, accommodation, main bridge and river control had been tak-en for implementing the project.

Communications Minister Obaid-ul Quader was also present during the visit.

Obaidul said work on the main bridge would be visible within this year. Work order would be given on completion of the tender process, he said.

Local MP Shagufta Tasmin and Munshiganj Deputy Commissioner Md Saiful Hasan accompanied the minis-ters during the visits. l

People use the countrys rst escalator-equipped foot-over bridge in the capitals Chairman Bari area yesterday RAJIB DHAR

Members of Amra Nagar Bashi form a human chain in front of the National Press Club demanding a formalin-free Bangladesh DHAKA TRIBUNE

Ethnic minority families evicted from land Separate land commission for the minority people demandedn Our Correspondent, RajshahiMembers of seven ethnic minority families in Pachondor Mahalipara un-der Tanore upazila of Rajshahi district are living under open sky as the local administration along with the associ-ates of land grabbers demolished their houses.

On 30 March, a police team along with 150 men of alleged three land grabbers went to the area and swooped on the people with sticks, machetes and spears. They also demolished their houses, said locals.

Police said they had demolished the houses as per the courts order.

The victims are Lobin Murmu, 50, his brother Mangra Murmu, 45, Biren Kisku, 45, Anjila Tudu, 50, his brother Keletus Tudu, 40, Johon Hasda, 55, and 70-year-old widow Sokoda Karmakar.

The families cannot a ord to man-age their daily expenses, let alone build new houses. They are leading an inhu-man life.

Sokoda Karmakar told Dhaka Trib-une that she made a roof of straw for her house but Thursdays storm had blown it away.

Police along with the grabbers dam-aged their houses without any notice adding that victim Lobin Murmu de-manded immediate recovery of their land from the grabbers.

Another victim Anjila said they had

been living in the land for the last 40 years. But the three grabbers Fazlur Rahman, Anisur Rahman and Estab Ali now claimed its ownership.

Leaders of ethnic people urged the authorities concerned to protect the ethnic people from eviction. They de-manded a separate land commission for the ethnic people.

Rabindranath Saren, president of Jatiya Adibashi Parishad, talking to Dhaka Tribune demanded a separate land commission for the minority groups.

He said: If the government meet their demand, the ethnic people will get the rights to their own lands.

Tanore police station O cer-in-Charge Bazlur Rashid, however, said Fazlur Rahman, Anisur Rahman and Estab Ali of Sadipur village of Tanore led a case with a Rajshahi court 11 years ago claiming ownership of the 32-decimal land and they got the court order last December.

The court also ordered the local ad-ministration to hand over the land after evicting the illegal occupants, the OC added.

Deputy Commissioner Mezbah Ud-din Choudhury said he asked the public prosecutor to le a case against Fazlur Rahman, Anisur Rahman and Estab Ali.

He also said if the government won the case, the DC o ce would lease out the land to the ethnic people. l

6 NationDHAKA TRIBUNE Sunday, April 20, 2014

Ethnic family members are living under open sky at Pachondor Mahalipara in Tanore upazila of Rajshahi after the local administration along with land grabbers have demolished their houses recently DHAKA TRIBUNE

8th National Convention on disabled persons held in Faridpurn BSS The day-long 8th National Convention of disabled persons organised jointly by Action on Disability and Development (ADD) International, Surjodoy Prati-bandhi Sangstha (SPS), Astha Protiban-dhi Sangstha (APS) and National Grass-root Disability Organisation (NGDO) funded by European Union(EU) and Catholic Agency for Overseas Develop-ment (CAFOD) was held yesterday at the local Kabi Jasimuddin Hall.

Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Farid-pur Abu Hena Morshed Zaman was the chief guest in the inaugural session presided over by SPS president Sk Ab-dur Rob Russel.

Police Super Md Jamil Hassan, Civil Surgeon Dr Sirajul Haque Talukdar, Zilla Parishad administrator Jainul Abedin, Awami League advisory council

member SM Nurunnabi, Sadar Upazilla Chairman Khondoker Mohtesham Hossain Babor, Disabled persons employment district committee President Prof Md Shahjahan and NGO personnel Azharul Islam were the special guests.

Mosharraf Hossain, Country Direc-tor of ADD International delivering his convention speech stressed the need for implementation of the government policy including the 10% reserved quo-ta in all kinds of the government job.

He also thanked the present gov-ernment, particularly Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for her commitments and love for the disabled who initiated the passing of the disabled people re-lated bill at the Jatiya Sangsad in 2013.

The main object of the convention was to bring about a greater engage-ment by the state and key social actors

to the recognition of disability rights in Bangladesh in the light of the law passed by the government on October 9 of 2013 in the line with the UN conven-tion on the Rights of the Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).

DC Morshed Zaman in his speech disclosed that according to a survey conducted by District Social Services department there are 26,500 various types of disabled persons in this dis-trict and of them 4800 have already given ID cards so that they get facili-ties and other preference under social safety net program.

He assured the huge convention at-tended by about 500 handicapped per-sons of di erent ages and sex coming from various corners of the district that during his tenure here he would take special care for the development and welfare of the disabled.

Sadar upazilla Chairman Kh. Mohtesham Hossain Babor in his speech declared that the disabled persons of his upazilla will all preferences in various development programs suiting to their physical abilities so that they can lead a digni ed and hassle free life. He also assured of creating employment opportunities for them.

The day-long convention was divid-ed into three sessions including the in-augural session. The second and third sessions included discussions on the participation of the disabled in politi-cal and social activities and the social and economic rights of the disabled respectively.

Abdur Rahman MP and Md. Jahan-gir Hossain ADC (Gen) attended the second and third sessions as the chief guest respectively. l

Man electrocuted in JhenidahA man died from electrocution in Jhenidah town on Friday morning. The deceased was identi ed as Akkas Ali, 50, son of late Samer Ali Mandal, a resident of Goyeswar village in Jhenidah Sadar upazila. He used to work as a night guard in Bazar Para area of the town. O cer-in-charge Iqbal Bahar Chowdhury of Sadar Police Station, quoting locals, said Akkas Ali came in contact with a live electric wire while plucking drumsticks (sojne) climbing a tree on the premises of the house of the judicial magistrate at 9:00am. Informed, a re ghting unit from the local re station came in and disentangled the body from the wire. Police recovered the body and sent it for autopsy. UNB

Kidnapped girl rescued after 3 months in Sylhet; one heldPolice rescued a schoolgirl from Barole-kha upazila in Moulvibazar district on Friday afternoon three months after

her abduction from Jakiganj upazila in Sylhet. The rescued girl was A a Begum,14, daughter of Kabir Uddin, a resident of Rasulpur village in Jakiganj. Earlier, one day after the incident, police arrested Sohel Ahmad,22, son of Sahab Uddin, a resident of Maijkandi village in Jakiganj, in connection with the abduc-tion. Police said Sohel and one of his associates picked up A a from in front of her residence at Rasulpur village on January 19. The victims father Kabir led a case against Sohel with Jakiganj Police Station on January 26. Following secret information, a team of police led by Sub-inspector Yunus Ali of the police station rescued the girl from a house nearby Barolekha Bazar in the afternoon. UNB

29 rescued in Benapole while being tra cked to IndiaMembers of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) rescued 29 people, including women and children, while they were being tra cked to India through Putkhali border here on Friday night. Subedar Farid Uddin, commanding o cer of

Khulna BGB Battalion-23 Putkhali camp, said acting on a tip-o that some Bangla-deshis were being sent to India through the border point, a team of the border force conducted a drive in Charer Math area of the border and rescued the gulli-ble people. The rescued people, who hail from di erent areas of Jessore, Khulna, Bagerhat, Satkhira, Narail and Gopalganj districts, include 15 women and one child, BGB sources said. However, the human tra ckers ed the scene after sensing the presence of the BGB team. Later, the rescued were handed over to Benapole Port Police Station. A case was led in this connection. UNB

3 held with rearms, ammo in CnawabganjMembers of Rapid Action Battalion arrested three people along with one kg gunpowder, two rearms and four rounds of bullet from Kaliganj in Shibganj upazila on Friday. The arrestees were identi ed as Abdur Razzak Kalu, 20, son of Harunur Rashid of Manakasha area, Ariful Islam, 30, son of Bazlur Rah-man of Parchouka, and Insarul, 22, son

of Kubir Ali of Garatola area in the upai-zla. Being tipped o , a team of RAB-5 conducted a raid in the area and arrested the three arms traders along with one kg gunpowder, a pistol, a magazine and four rounds of bullet, said the captain of RAB-5. A case was led in this connec-tion. UNB

Youth chopped todeath in JessoreA youth was chopped to death by some miscreants on the premises of City College in the town Friday night. The deceased was identi ed as Islam Uddin, 18, son of Afzal Hossen of Barandipara area of the town. Police sources said a group of miscreants led by Ha zur and Akidul of the same area chopped Islam with sharp weapons around 9pm during a quarrel over sitting arrangement at a cultural show on the college campus. The youth su ered fatal injuries in the attack. Islam Uddin was rushed to Jessore Medical College Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. A murder case was led with Kotwali Model thana in this connection. BSS

100 houses gutted n Our Correspondent, PanchagarhAt least 100 houses were gutted in a devastating re at Gitalgoch village un-der Vhajanpur union of Tetulia upazila in the district yesterday.

Fire service sources said the re orig-inated from the kitchen of the house of one Ramijul Islam and soon engulfed the adjoining houses at 2:30 am.

On information, re ghters from Tetulia and Panchagarh re stations went to the spot and doused the re. l

Bangladesh Border Guard men injured in gun ght with smugglersn Our Correspondent, Coxs BazarAt least four members of Border Guard Bangladesh were injured in a gun ght between BGB men and Yaba smugglers at Moulvipara in Teknaf upazila of the district Friday night.

Injured BGB men are Khorshed Alam, Nurul Islam, Mohamamd Abdul Majid and Mintu Das.

Acting on secret information that a con-signment of Yaba tablets was coming from Myanmar through the Naf River, a team of BGB 42- battalion led by its Commanding O cer Lieutenant Colonel Abujar Al Jahid went to the area at about 10pm.

When a boat with smugglers reached the area, the BGB men chal-lenged them. Sensing danger, the smugglers opened re on the border

guards prompting the BGB men to re back, triggering a gun ght.

Four BGB men were injured during the gun battle. The BGB personnel also arrested Mohamamd Ismail, 42, an al-leged smuggler, from the spot.

The injured were sent to Teknaf Upazila Health Complex.

The BGB men also recovered 50,000 yaba tablets from the spot. l

Man hacked to death in Chuadangan Our Correspondent, ChuadangaA man was hacked to death by un-known miscreants at Joyrampur village in Damurhuda upazila of the district yesterday.

The deceased was identi ed as Am-jad Hossain, 45, son of Samad Ali.

Police said a group of unknown mis-creants numbering 5-6 hacked Amjad, father of two children, with sharp weap-ons indiscriminately when he along with his wife and children was sleeping in a veranda leaving him dead on the spot.

On information, police recovered the body in the morning and sent it to hospital morgue for autopsy.

Shikdar Mashiur Rahman, o cer-in-charge of Damurhuda model police station said Amjad might have been killed over previous enmity.

The OC said they were trying to ar-rest the killers. l

Man shot dead n Our Correspondent, Khagrachhari A villager was shot dead and a school-girl sustained bullet injuries as miscre-ants opened re on them at Jurgach-hari village in Lakshmichhari upazila yesterday.

The deceased was identi ed as Joy Kumar Chakma, 45, while the injured was Kalpa Rani Chakma, a Class IX stu-dent of Lakshmichhari Pilot High School.

Superintendent of police SK Mizanur Rahman quoting locals said: A gang of armed criminals attacked the house at Jurgachhari Para targeting the members of Parbattya Chattagram Jana Sanghity Samity (PCJSS) and started ring.

Sensing danger, the PCJSS members escaped the scene. But Joy was killed and Kalpa injured in gun attack.

Police sent the body to Khagrachhari Adhunik Sadar Hospital while injured Kalpa Rani was admitted to Chittagong Medical College Hospital.

PCJSS Lakshmichhari upazila unit President Jyotish Dewan claimed that the attack was carried out by the mem-bers of UPDF.

District UPDF Press Secretary Niron Chakma, however, denied their in-volvement in the attack. l

NEWS IN BRIEF

Employees of Milk Vita Ltd form human chain yesterday in Baghabari under Shahzadpur upazila of Sirajganj district demanding regularisation of their job DHAKA TRIBUNE

A new sphere of innovation for corporate Bangladesh Social media marketing is changing the landscape of how businesses do business in the country

n Naiian Yazdani and Nakibul HoqRome was not built in a day and neither are successful enterprises. The reality is that no matter how strong an organisation's network is, product, patience and diligent planning

is required to drive the brand forward. Organisations have to reach out and communicate their products at the right place, at the right time and to the right people in the most e cient way possible.

The consumers of modern Bangla-desh are bombarded with information across all mediums, from gigantic bill-boards to television advertisements. The modern lifestyle has resulted in an information overload and penetrating such an environment can prove to be di cult. One product that has gained

prominence and popularity in Bangla-desh is Facebook, pointing to the next frontier of advertising for enterprises social media.

At Webable, a Dhaka-based start-up specialising in digital marketing and brand creation on the digital platform, the employees work with the modes of mass-communication over social media. Around 3 million Bangladesh-is are using Facebook today and this number is increasing rapidly on a daily basis. FMCGs, NGOs, nancial services rms, consultancies, etc recognise this surge of people spending their time on social media and are looking to align their marketing strategies accordingly in search of a competitive advantage.

According to Shadab Mahbub, co-founder and chief innovation o cer at Webable: The social media marketing industry is growing at an exponential rate. In the two months since we began operations, we have already worked

with more than 20 companies.The speed at which Bangladeshi

companies have taken on this new strategy has been a pleasant surprise for Webable. With a small team of only 9 members, our business is not just growing - it is booming as more and more companies recognise the need to have their brand marketed on the digital platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

What makes this industry so dy-namic is that it is driven by young and energetic entrepreneurs with growing ambitions in a country where manu-facturing businesses are increasingly being dominated by a few large con-glomerates.

Unlike many aspects of the corpo-rate and political sphere which are directed by a few, social media has an unwritten script outside this frame-work. Shadab, for instance, is only a sophomore at the University of Dhaka and majoring in nance while another cofounder and CEO, Ovick Alam, is a marketing graduate from the same uni-versity.

The role of these digital marketers is to utilise the identity of the organisation and create a brand image on the social media platforms. They meet with the brand manager to brainstorm and for-mulate the optimal strategies to expose the product and the company to the mass audience.

This job entails various moving parts such as identifying the target con-sumers, devising the format and forms of the output and packaging it in an e cient and deliverable manner. This may include the creation of graphics content, websites and articles to pro-mote the brand in the market.

According to Shadab, On