News
Notes
Ruling
Party's 'Intelligence'
After heavily cracking down on the opposition during the latest
60 hour hartal called to protest the brutal grenade attack
that killed Shah ASM Kibria along with four other AL members,
the government is all set to take even more stringent measures
against their arch rivals. The ruling coalition has alleged
a 'heinous conspiracy' by the opposition, to unseat it and
has vowed to take a tougher line on opposition demonstrations
after the Saarc Summit is over. According to a Daily Star
report, a BNP leader has said that the ruling coalition would
face the opposition in the street "both politically and
with state machinery". BNP stalwarts insist that they
have received 'intelligence' that the AL is desperate and
will go to any lengths to mess up the Saarc Summit and try
to topple the government by creating a state of anarchy in
the country. The police have been instructed to show 'zero
tolerance' against pickets during the hartal and 'minus tolerance'
after the Saarc Summit. Law enforcers have been instructed
to file fool-proof cases against AL activists charging them
with violence, arson and ransacking of property. Even frozen
cases against opposition maybe revived to foil anti-government
initiatives.
The 60 hour hartal was indeed violent. Pro-hartal activists
attacked buses and cars and even rickshaw vans leading to
deaths and grevious injuries. Meanwhile law-enforcers had
a field day clubbing whomever they could find including opposition
bigwigs like former home minister Mohammad Nasim and MP Ekabbar
Hossain as well as journalists who committed the crime of
just doing their job. Obviously the police are already observing
'zero tolerance' as they always have no matter who the opposition
is. It is heartening that the government's 'intelligence'
is so efficient that it has established the opposition's devilish
motives. Wonder what happened to this 'intelligence' prior
to the grenade attacks of August 21 and January 27?
Who
is responsible,
that's the question?
Responsibility is one quality that has been always in short
supply among the people in power. The full ministers or half
(read state) ministers are very alert and uncompromising when
it comes to exercising power, but they are extremely shy when
it comes to shouldering responsibility for any mishaps. When
did we last hear of a minister tendering his resignation after
accepting responsibility over some incidents or accidents,
as is the tradition in the entire civilised world including
the neighbouring developing countries like India? Many believe
that the recent grenade spree that killed many and maimed
many more merit resignation of the home minister (in this
case state minister). After the Habiganj grenade attack the
demand of Babar's resignation got louder, but Babar didn't
bother. He however took action SP AMM Fakrul islam Khan and
Sadar Police station OC Inam Ahmed Chowdhury were sacked for
their negligence in taking proper security measures. One wonders
how would the police forces, whose only job (as far as the
opposition is concerned) is beating, would know that "sometimes"
they are supposed to ensure their (of the opposition people)
security. Many think these two police officials are being
made scapegoats. A recent Daily Star report however hints
at something more heinous. Local AL leadership has alleged
that the sacked officers, who were investigating the grenade
attack, were on the right track and would surely unearth the
perpetrators. They suspect a particular group within the government
has done this to keep the real perpetrators safe. One hopes
their suspicion is proved wrong.
An
Accused to Address Tafseer Mehfeel
A member of the Central Committee of Jammat-e-Islami, Imdadul
Hoq Gopalganjee, is an accused in a case of 76 Kg explosive
recovered from Gopalganj, and he is scheduled to address a
religious congregation or Tafseer Mehfeel, as it is locally
called. The Mehfeel will take place on 12 and 13 February
in the Eidgah at the village Nehalee of Kaliganj upajilla,
Lalmonirhat. Organised by the local madrasa-cum-orphanage,
the publicity poster of the Koranic Mehfeel is unabashed in
declaring the fact that Hoq is an accused in the Gopalganj
explosives haul.
It was the Awami League government that linked Hoq to the
explosives recovered from the outskirt of a makeshift helipad
prepared for the then Prime Minister's visit. At present the
case seems to have fizzled out altogether.
In their effort to whip up interest among the general mass,
the organisers have taken the issue of the Moulana (preacher)
being an accused in an explosive haul. However provocative
and bizarre a publicity stunt it may seem, Hoq too reportedly
have been enjoying the controversy that it created.
Though Hoq's name is linked to several other cases, the Jamaat-e-Islami
had been running a campaign of sorts to put him on the podium.
He has been in a sermon-giving spree, and at every occasion
he has been introduced as an accused in the explosives haul
case.
Hear
them roar
Bangladeshi cricketers came back after loosing two matches
in the CityCell one day series against the touring Zimbabwe
and won the series after winning the remaining three games.
Bangladesh recovered from the blow and wrapped up the series
at 2-2 but it was in the final One Day International cricket
match at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka, 31 January
2005, Bangladesh showed what they were really made of. They
beat Zimbabwe by a crushing 8 wickets. Zimbabwe had won the
toss and decided to bat first. They were going reasonably
well and posted 100 losing only two wickets. But the colour
of the game began to change when the formidable spin pair
Rafique and Enamul Haque Jr were bowling in tandem. Wickets
soon began to tumble in regular interval and finally the Springboks
could manage only 198 runs. Bangladesh's opening pair faltered
once again, but in the second wicket partnership, young Aftab
and veteran Rafique began to literally murder the inexperienced
Zimbabwe bowling attack, swinging their bats really hard and
sending the ball all around the field. 198 seemed too paltry
a total as Bangladesh rushed towards the victory margin. In
the end Bangladesh reached 202 for just two wickets in just
33 overs. The man of the match was Mohammad Rafiq with 72
runs off just 66 balls and a strike rate of 109.09. He also
bowled 10 overs giving 34 runs and taking 2 wickets. After
their first test series win last month, Bangladsh now wins
its maiden one day series. Congratulations.
Copyright
(R) thedailystar.net 2005
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