Voicebox

“They know nothing. They are illiterate.”
SM ZAKARIA
newly-appointed election commissioner (EC)
about fellow commissioners M Munsef Ali and AK Mohammad Ali.

“Let me think about exchanging courtesies with them.”
Justice MAHFUZUR RAHMAN
another newly-appointed EC on his first day in the job.
Zakaria and Rahman's appointments have drawn widespread criticism from different quarters. Justice Rahman has hit the headlines before; during a government run drive to nab criminals, Mahfuz's brother-in-law was arrested with a gun from the beleaguered judge's residence. He, however, has continued with his job.

“He is an expert in vote rigging.”
A Fourteen-Party Alliance's Press note
about EC SM Zakaria. The EC refused to comment on that, saying, "Even UN Secretary General Kofi Annan gets criticised. Is he compelled to give a reaction."

"Bangla Bhai is the fifth column of the US. They have appointed him to take control of Bangladesh creating unrest in the country.”
MUJAHIDUL ISLAM SELIM
general secretary
Communist Party of Bangladesh.

"I just love the Pakistani bowling.”
VIRENDER SEHWAG
Indian cricketer,
during India's recent tour of Pakistan.

"I am inclined to songs that speak of this land.”
Nasrin Akhter Beauty
singer and one of the three finalists of Closeup 1, a popular musical reality show.

"The torturing of men has reached the point of using chemical acids and electric drills in their joints. If they become desperate with them, they put the drill on their heads until death.”
OSAMA BIN LADEN
in a audiotaped message
alluding to human rights abuses committed by US forces in Abu Gharib prison and at Guantánamo bay. These atrocities, he has said, have failed to "ease the resistance, and the number of mujahideen, inshallah, is increasing".

QUOTATIONS ARE TAKEN FROM DIFFERENT LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL NEWSPAPERS. .
Compiled by: AHMEDE HUSSAIN. Quotes can be sent to <[email protected]>
Cartoon : MUSTAFA ZAMAN

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