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An acute shortage of film inspectors at the Bangladesh Film Censor Board is the prime impediment to putting an end to exhibition of obscene movies and parts of porno flicks in many cinema halls across the country.
   The board, a wing of the information ministry, has only six film inspectors on its payroll and obviously their number is too small to keep vigil on about 1,000 cinema halls in the country, said Sayeed Hassan, a senior film inspector.
   According to him, ‘The acute shortage of manpower and non-cooperation of local administrations, law enforcement personnel and exhibitors are the main obstacles to stopping vulgarism and adult movie show in cinema halls.’
   ‘While at least 15 inspectors are needed to keep watch on the cinema halls in Dhaka city alone, only six inspectors are there to monitor and keep all the cinema halls in the country from exhibiting obscene movies and footages of x-rated flicks, which is really an impossible task,’ Sayeed said.
   There are allegations that the cinema halls show movies including censored footages, particularly the obscene ones, in collusion with the film exhibitors’ association, he said. The inspectors have seized many such obscene footages from scores of cinema halls, he added.
   Such a situation, he said, demanded strong vigilance and for that an inspector should watch the entire movie, spending at least two and a half hours. ‘But how can only six men get the time to cover a huge number of cinema halls that we come to learn are involved in this malpractice, especially when they are scattered all over the country,’ Sayeed questioned.
   Lack of logistic support is another obstacle the inspectors face. One of Sayeed’s colleagues said, ‘When we get information that certain cinema halls are showing censored or adult footages, in most cases we do not get vehicles in time to visit the halls to verify whether the allegations are true or not.’
   The government on January 19, 2006 passed the Censorship of Films (Amendment) Act, 2006 and ordered stepped up vigilance to stop exhibition of censored, obscene, and illegal porno films. But it is yet to take any initiative to employ adequate manpower for translating that order into action, said censor board officials.
   Kazi Firoj Rashid, a leader of Bangladesh Film Exhibitors’ Association, admitted the need for keeping sharp watch on all the cinema halls to stop the crime and said the existing number of film inspectors was too inadequate for doing that.
   Kamrun Nahar, vice-chairperson of the Bangladesh Film Censor Board, told New Age on Monday that the censor board was preparing to launch a drive soon against the widespread malpractice.
   Based on the reports filed by the film inspectors, the board in 2006 cancelled the licences of 64 cinema halls for their involvement in crime. The halls include Tushar of Lalmonirhat; Sonali and Rokshi of Satkhira; Nobin of Manikganj; Roshni and Keya of Tangail; Nancy, Gulbahar, Sheema and Banshari of Dhamrai; Chitra of Jaipurhat; Banya and Bilash of Savar; Sangeet, Otithi, Punam and Obhishar of Dhaka; Capri and Barsha of Tongi; Satyabati and Meghna of Sherpur; Gulshan, Moni Mahal, Bandhu, Rupali, Banani, Chandmahal, Riya Mahal and Obhilash of Narayanganj; Jhumur of Joydevpur; Konik, Dipali and Milan of Nilphamari; Rupali, Moon and Gomati of Comilla; Purabi, Nirala, Barnali and Chitro of Jossore; Kohinur of Chandpur; Happy of Laksmipur; Dulal, Kanon and Bani of Feni; Meghan of Brahmanbaria; Shuravi of Narsingdi; Nandita and Chandana of Gazipur; Mithun of Madaripur; Marine and Shikta of Bogra; Jhinuk and Liberty of Khulna; Darpan of Munshiganj; Pipasha and Ruma of Mymensingh; Sagarika of Sirajganj; Joy of Moulvibazar; and Sagarika and Jhumur of Chittagong.
   That year a total of 177 movies were censored, of which 164 were locally made Bangla flicks and 13 imported English ones, said a source at the film censor board.

The government will continue the surveillance and other related activities to avert the spread of avian influenza under the development project 2007–2011, which would be financed from the revenue sector, said a high livestock ministry official on Tuesday.
   The livestock secretary, Syed Ataur Rahman, said at a regular news briefing at the ministry that the government had already taken programmes to contain bird flu and it would be continued even after the disease is controlled under the development project.
   The government has taken up a long-term plan such as the national avian influenza and human pandemic influenza preparedness and response plan Bangladesh 2006-2008 with the technical assistance of the Food and Agricultural Organisation under the United Nations and the World Health Organisation.
   As for compensation to poultry farmers, the secretary said the ministry concerned had not so far made any decision on the matter.
   The government is thinking of controlling the outbreak at first and the compensation issue would be taken into consideration later, he said.
   The government has so far confirmed 25 poultry farms in six districts where avian influenza has taken place. About 69,897 poultry chicks have been culled till March 3, he said.
   Eight of the affected farms are in the capital city, seven at Savar, one at Turag, four each in Gazipur and Jamalpur, seven in Narayanganj and one each in Tangail and Jessore.
   About 19,303 poultry farms have been inspected and 1,65,94098 poultry chicks examined.

Participants at a discussion on Tuesday demanded immediate constitutional recognition of the ethnic minorities to ensure a pluralistic society and to show respect to ethnic diversity in Bangladesh.
   It is time for the policy-makers and the people to pay heed to the demands of various ethnic communities whose population is almost 2.5 million, they said, adding that it was encouraging to see that many Bengalis — especially members of the print media and civil society groups — have extended their support to the demands of the ethnic minorities.
   They stressed the need for reformation of the land and tenancy laws, for recognising the traditional systems of the minority groups as most of them own lands collectively, and for protecting their lands from forcible occupation and encroachment.
   The conference on ethnic diversity and First Adivasi Theatre Festival observance committee held the discussion on ‘Relevance of constitutional recognition of the indigenous communities’ in the Liberation War Museum.
   Mesbah Kamal and Sadia Arman presented the summary of their research on the above subject.
   ‘It is clear that in more than 35 years of independence, the views and opinions of the indigenous people have not been taken into account. While we recognise them as citizens in law, they do not get the benefits of citizenship. In the absence of laws against discrimination, this has meant a general lack of awareness in society of the existence of the indigenous people and their entitlement to be recognised as citizens,’ they said.
   ‘The right against discrimination presumes the existence of a society with [ethnic] differences and multi-culturalism, which are essential features of a society according to modern legal and political theory. But this aspect has been completely left out of the Constitution,’ they said.
   ‘This means that the concept of minority is also not recognised. This is a crucial omission, quite unacceptable in a modern Constitution. It pre-supposes the existence of a homogenous state, something that Bangladesh is certainly not,’ they said.
   Rabindranath Soren, general secretary of the Jatiya Adivasi Parishad, said the hesitation and delay in the constitutional recognition of all ethnic groups in the country is causing repression of and discrimination against the adivasis.
   Tandra Chakma of Manusher Janya Foundation was appalled at the lack of rights of the people in her ancestral place in the hill tracts. ‘Now I have little urge to see the place where I grew up, as none of my relatives can live there with dignity.’
   Professor HKS Arefin stressed the need for ensuring the adivasi people’s right of collective ownership of lands, saying that in the absence of such laws the properties of the minorities had been grabbed by others.
   Professor Dalem Chandra Barman chaired the session, which was moderated by ZI Khan Panna.

The interim government on Tuesday revised transport fares, increasing them by Tk 0.07 per kilometre per head for bus and minibus and Tk 0.23 per km for goods-carrying motor vehicles following the latest fuel price hike.
   The new fares will come into effect from today, according to a gazette notification issued by the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority.
   According to the increased fares, from today 52-seat buses will charge a passenger Tk 0.87 per km and minibuses Tk 0.90 a km across the country.
   The government will ask the transport owners to strictly adhere to the revised fare chart, the communications adviser, MA Matin, told the media at his secretariat office on Tuesday, adding, ‘The government will take stern action against any transport operator who is found charging more than the revised fare.’
   The energy adviser, Tapan Chowdhury, said, ‘We have come to know that some buses are already charging extra fares following the fuel price hike.’ He, too, said that the government would take legal action against the bus owners who would cause suffering to passengers by charging fares in excess to the revised ones on the pretext of the fuel price hike.
   The fares of CNG-driven vehicles will not be increased at all as the price of consolidated natural gas remains the same as before, Tapan said.
   Bus owners said they were yet to take any decision on increasing the fares as they had not received the government gazette in this regard.
   ‘We will take the decision in this regard after getting the gazette notification,’ said Abdul Khaleq, a director of Bikalpa Paribahan which operates minibuses on various routes in Dhaka city.
   Mashiur Rahman Palash, managing director of Banaful Paribahan, which operates buses on Dhaka-Khulna route, said, ‘We are not able to charge even the existing government-approved fares from ooour passengers, who mostly come from the low-income groups of various districts in Khulna division. So, I do not know how we will operate our buses with the diesel price increased once again.’
   However, bus and minibuses plying the Dhaka city roads will start charging increased fares from today. Passengers on Tuesday alleged these city service buses were already charging extra fares, with some passengers expressing the fear that the bus operators might charge much more than the fares set by the government.
   Staff at ticket counters of various long-route coach services including Hanif Enterprise, NP Elegance, and Shyamoly Paribahan said they had not received any instruction from the owners regarding increase of fare.

The police arrested a madrassah principal from village Valuka under Jibantala in Mymensingh on Tuesday for aiding and abetting banned Islamist outfit Harkatul Jihad.
   Acting on a tip-off, the police raided the village and arrested Nuruddin Haider alias Nuru Munshi, principal and founder of Al Jamiyatul Nurul Ulum Madrassah.
   Earlier on Monday, based on the confessional statements of four members of Harkatul Jihad, the police recovered a gun with ten bullets from Al Jamiyatul Nurul Ulum Madrassah and its adjoining areas.
   ‘Nuru is one of the patrons of the Islamist militant outfit Harkatul Jihad. It was alleged that the madrassah he had established was being used as a training centre for militants of the group,’ Dewan Lal Ahmed, assistant police super of Gafurgaon Circle, who led the raid, told the news agency.
   Ahmed also said following arrest of the leader of the outlawed Harkatul Jihad, Rouf Munshi and 26 other members provided shelter to wife of Rouf Munshi and her children in his madrassah. Munshi’s wife apparently carried out operations of the outlawed organisation from the madrassa. She was also the only person who kept touch with the family members of the arrested Harkatul Jihad members.
   The police super of the district said the raids would continue in the area and members of the RAB-2 would soon join them in the investigation and recovery tasks.

The big fire that flared up in deep forests under Chandtai range of Sundarban’s east zone 15 days back was extinguished Monday night.
   DFO (East Zone) SM Shahidullah said the Fire Brigade and Forest Department of the district extinguished the fire with the help of local people.
   The firefighters had to install shallow pump machines over there to lift water to douse the fire.
   Though the firefighters returned to the town after extinguishing the fire, a 50-member group of Forest Department and local people were still there to observe the situation.
   The two inquiry committees, formed to probe the forest fire in Sundarban, the world’s largest mangrove forest, started their works.
   The fire broke out in Panchakaralia region under Chandpai range of the forest’s east zone on March 19 destroying huge valuable trees like sundari, garan and gewa.

The government has decided to continue open market sales six days a week until April 24 to keep prices of essential commodities under control.
   The decision was taken on Tuesday at a meeting, presided over by adviser Tapan Chowdhury.
   The meeting also decided to appoint 500 new dealers for OMS and double the supply of goods to dealers.
   ‘The prices of essential commodities have come to an affordable level which has prompted the government to continue OMS until April 24,’ Tapan said.

The joint forces detained the assistant engineer of the Sylhet City Corporation from his office on Tuesday on charge of his suspected involvement in corruption.
   The forces, led by the army, picked up Abdul Haque Meyazi at about 12:45pm and he was taken to the RAB-9 headquarters at Islampur in the city, said city corporation officials. He was interrogated there till 7:00pm.
   Abdul Haque is the second official of the Sylhet City Corporation to be arrested on charge of corruption by the joint forces.
   The joint forces earlier arrested Saiful Islam, chief engineer of the corporation, on March 13 for his involvement in corruption.
   The Kotwali police filed a case against Saiful Islam, who is now in jail custody.

The Workers Party politburo on Tuesday criticised the interim government’s move of increasing fuel prices.
   The party in a statement said when the fuel prices were decreasing on the world market, an increase by 15 per cent in the fuel prices could not be acceptable.
   Referring to the government’s view of continuous loss of the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation in fuel import, the politburo said it was not the only reason for the losses.
   Mismanagement and corruption at the petroleum corporation are also responsible for the losses, the party said.
   The interim government followed the policy of the former ‘BNP-Jamaat’ alliance government in increasing the fuel prices to leave the poor in trouble.
   Increase in the fuel prices will increase the sufferings of the people, the party said. The increase will hamper boro cultivation and increase transport fare, it said.

Two were killed and 12 injured in clashes at Uchabajuail of Khaliajuri and at Deopur of Barhatta in Netrakona Monday evening and night.
   The deceased are Lal Mia, 50, of Uchabajuail and Shafiqul Islam, 35, of Deopur.
   The police said Monday evening a clash took place between two groups at Uchabajuail over the rearing of ducks. Lal Mia was killed on the spot. Eleven of both the groups were injured. Seriously injured Rahis Uddin, 55, Deluar Hosen, 24, Majibar Rahman, 25, and Abdul Kader, 70, were sent to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital.
   In the other incident, Shafiqul Islam was killed. The police said Monday night when Shafiqul along with his brother Saiful Islam, 28, went to Ruje Ali’s house to recover some money lent, they entered into an altercation and Ruje Ali beat them. In a critical condition, Shafiqul and Saiful were taken to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital and Shafiqul died in the hospital inside an hour of his admission.

The Rapid Action Battalion arrested two, including a lawyer, in Sirajganj on
   Tuesday.
   The battalion arrested Sohel Rana, 34, at Rambari of Shahzadpur. Sohel is accused in several cases, including murder, filed with the Shahzadpur police, the battalion said.
   In another drive, the battalion arrested laywer Zulfiker Ali, 35, at Kuthi Sathbari of Shahzadpur.
   The battalion said Zulfiker was accused in a case under the Women and Children Repression (Prevention) Act filed with the Shahzadpur police. The battalion handed them over to the police later in the afternoon.