E-Bangladesh

[Photo/Banglar Chokh: Still waiting for a "rescue operation," dead bodies decompose.]

[Zafa Noor, USA.]

A horrible tragedy claimed the lives of four demolition crew in the Rangs Bhaban Building stranding at least ten others under piles of rubble Saturday night. The 22-storey building was being demolished by RAJUK (Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha) that had neither the expertise nor the equipment necessary to manage a demolition project so massive. The result was inevitable. Several floors of Rangs caved in and crushed the sleeping workers in several floors. Yes, you read it right, there were demolition crew, exhausted from working for long hours and asleep, under tons of concrete that was lurking on them to crush the unsuspecting sleepers any moment.

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[Zafa Noor, USA.]

According to storm watch report, the tropical cyclone Sidr is currently headed for Bangladesh. It is currently (7 PM East, November 13, 2007) running 115 knot max winds, which qualifies as borderline category 4 (Saffir-Simpson scale) and is expected to strengthen slightly in the next day or so.

Tropical Cyclone blog posted the following characteristics of Sidr:

Warning: 07 at 2100 GMT
Approximate position: 13.7N 89.5E
Approximate location: 540 miles South of Calcutta, India
Movement: North at 7 knots
Maximum sustained winds: 115 knots
Maximum gusts: 140 knots
Threatened landmasses: Bangladesh, India

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Banner: Sourov.

[Zafa Noor, USA.]

It has been two weeks since Arifur Rahman’s cartoon “Naam” was published which prompted the Bangladesh police to take him to jail and lock him up without pressing any formal charges or allowing him any legal representation in his defense. Arif was picked up from his Uttara residence under Section 54 of Code of Criminal Procedure for drawing the very harmless cartoon that portrayed a widely used naming convention for Bangali Muslim men. The cartoon did not insult the prophet in any way, nor was it Arif’s intention, because his own first name is Mohammed (newspaper reports addressed him as Md. Arifur Rahman).

This young (early 20s) talented cartoonist has earned accolades for targeting corruption with his creative genius. Only a month before his arrest he was awarded with a crest and Taka 10,000 cash in a cartoon contest against corruption arranged by Daily Star, attended by ACC chief Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury among others.

Arif

Video: Al Jazeera English via You Tube.

[Zafa Noor, USA.]

9 people were killed today (September 27, 2007) in Burma (Myanmar), by the country’s military force. For last few days, freedom-loving people took to the streets, protesting against the oppressive military regime that has ruled Burma for the last two decades. The soldiers under instruction of the Junta used batons, rifle butts and riot shields to beat the protesters, including monks and journalists. When that was not enough to stop the protests, the troops fired automatic weapons on the crowd.

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[Zafa Noor, USA.]

The Election Commission in Bangladesh is apparently in good company, discussing “reforms” with ultra-right Islamist parties while plots are being designed to dismantle their mainstream, pro-democracy, secular counterparts.

Islami Oikko Jote (IOJ) was the first in line to be invited by the Election Commissioners (ECs) to discuss various aspects of election reform (including the reforms within political parties). The EC must be going from least to most important of the parties, considering that the IOJ won only 2 seats (out of 300) during 2001 parliamentary election.

Mufti Fazlul Huq Amini, the current chairman of IOJ was among the 10 people that met with the ECs on Wednesday, September 12. Amini later told BBC that he was turned off by the rule that one-third of the party committee seats should be filled by women members at all levels. He said it was not possible to allot 33% of the committee seats to women, considering the social and cultural reality of Bangladesh. IOJ opposed the proposal of using transparent ballot box for the polling, and proposed to increase the election expenses and reduce the party registration fees and made several other suggestions to EC.

What are the implications of sending an IOJ member to the parliament to represent a constituent? Their mandate pretty much revolves around fatwa, shariah, islamization of Bangladesh etc. Not that there is anything wrong in preaching one

[Zafa Noor, USA.]

The regular evening news in Bangladesh on September 9 was interrupted to carry live the speech delivered Chief Advisor (CA) of the Caretaker Government (CTG) of Bangladesh Fakhruddin Ahmed. Dr. Ahmed addressed the nation and revealed some very important decisions made by the CTG. Note that there was no prior announcement of this speech. The program was broadcast by Bangladesh Television (BTV) and simultaneously transmitted by other private channels.

I have to say the style and delivery of a speech by a head of the government had never been better or more eloquent. The well orchestrated speech clearly indicated that lots of thought had been put into preparing the speech, and there has been a deliberate effort made to address some of the allegations of torture and intimidation alleged by international human rights groups and journalists .

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[Zafa Noor, USA.]

Photo: General Moeen Uddin Ahmed.

[Zafa Noor, USA.]

A day after the most controversial adviser of current government Mainul Hosein claimed the current government was a “national government backed by the army,” General Moeen Uddin Ahmed decided to put the chip back in its place by the following statement:

“I don’t think so. Government is here and it’s a caretaker government