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Academics, researchers and ethnic minority people on Sunday urged the government to ensure the rights of ethnic minorities to education in their mother tongue.
   They put out the call at a seminar on the ‘education — not a scope, but right: the reality of an ethnic child’ organised by the Bangladesh Adivasi Adhikar Andolon and the Other Vision Communication at the National Press Club in Dhaka.
   BRAC University professor Manjur Ahmed chaired the programme. Writer Hasan Azizul Haq attended as chief guest.
   Dwijendranath Sarkar and Bikram Kumar Khisa read out two papers on the occasion.
   Hasan called for a constitutional recognition of ethnic communities and protection of their rights. ‘Ethnic minorities have been displaced from their land, culture and occupation. It is a bad trend in a state such as Bangladesh at the moment.’
   Bikram said, ‘Ethnic minority children cannot communicate in Bangla as it is not their mother tongue…. It is important and essential to prepare textbooks in their languages.’
   Dwijendranath said, ‘Both the government and non-government organisations need to come forward for the development of ethnic minorities…. This can help them to protect their culture and identity.’
   Former Awami League lawmaker Nurul Islam Nahid said, ‘As education is a basic right, the government should introduce a coordinated, uni-polar education system.’
   Ganasaksharata Abhijan director Rasheda K Chowdhury said, ‘Policymakers can play an important role in introducing education in the languages of ethnic minorities.’
   The discussants at the programme included Professor Saleh Matin, Dhaka university history professor Mesbah Kamal, Bangladesh Adivasi Forum general secretary Sanjib Drong, Khasia community representative Nerola Tonsong, and Lakshikanta Sing.

The preparation of the voters’ roll with photographs and national identity cards was started in Rangpur, Comilla and Mymensingh on Sunday. Provisions have been made for taking the photographs and fingerprints of those who are eligible to be voters.
   The Election Commission kicked off the voters’ registration work from the area under Rajshahi City Corporation on August 11.
   The EC will also start enrolment of voters in Khulna City Corporation, Rawzan, Sitakunda and Savar municipal towns on August 23.
   Election commissioner M Sakhawat Hussain inaugurated the voters’ registration programme at Muslim Girls High School and College in Mymensingh. ‘Prepara-tion of a voters’ list is the Election Commission’s job. The army is assisting us in this work. The voters’ list remains the property of the Election Commission,’ he said.
   New Age’s Rangpur correspondent reported that the work of preparing the voters’ lists with photographs has started in 15 centres of Rangpur’s municipal wards with the technical support of the army and various organisations.
   Major General Syed Fatemi Ahmed Rumi, GOC, 66 Infantry Division and Area Commander of Rangpur, inaugurated the registration centre at the Teachers Training College, Rangpur, yesterday morning as chief guest in a formal ceremony.
   He called upon the officials involved in voters’ registration to discharge their duties sincerely, giving it the top priority, so that a flawless voters’ list can be prepared.
   The troops are always ready to extend all sorts of cooperation and help to make the work of voters’ enrolment a success, he said.
   The registration centres will be open from 8:00am to 6:00pm. Enrolment of voters will continue till September 13.
   Rafiqul Islam, 32, resident of Pasharipara in ward no-2 of the town, whose snap was taken first at the registration centre, expressed his satisfaction at being registered. ‘It’s a nice feeling as the polls are going to be transparent and credible. Nationality certificates will not be necessary if the identity cards are prepared. Nobody will be able to cast fake votes now,’ he said.
   New Age’s Chittagong Hill Tracts correspondent said that preparation is afoot to resume work on voters’ registration with photographs from next October in the three hill districts of Rangamati, Khagrachhari and Bandarban.
   Preparation of the voters’ identity cards with photographs in the Chittagong Hill Tracts is more difficult than in the plains because of its topography and the inaccessibility of many areas, observed concerned officials.
   Dozens of places in more than half of the upazilas in the CHT are hard to reach and it even takes 6-8 hours to go to places that are near the towns, said officials.
   The EC personnel and the district and upazila administration and army will jointly work in those areas to prepare voters’ identity cards with photographs. They will set up camps in areas that are hard to reach if necessary.
   The EC, the administration and the army personnel will do their best to enrol each and every eligible voter in the hill districts.

Donor agencies and political and socio-cultural organisations on Sunday continued extending help for flood victims.
   The United Nations Development Programme said it had operationalised the UK government’s emergency flood assistance of $2 million among 77,000 families in 19 districts.
   The UK government has provided the financial assistance through the UNDP to provide urgent healthcare support for the flood victims.
   ‘As part of the UN’s global development network, the UNDP stands firm beside the flood-affected people of Bangladesh, with the support of our development partners like the UK government,’ said the UNDP country director, Manoj Basnyat, in a statement on Sunday.
   The emergency relief goods include oral rehydratation salts, water purifying tablets, mosquito net, carbolic soap, laundry soap, saris, lungis, towels and napkins, candles, matches, flattened rice and molasses.
   The Communist Party distributed relief materials in the flood-affected char areas at Islampur in Jamalpur.
   The party president, Manjurul Ahsan Khan, distributed rice, pulses, ORS and water purifying tablets among the flood victims.
   The Workers Party distributed seeds among farmers in areas of Gaibandha.
   The National Awami Party distributed relief materials in Brahmanbaria.
   The Bangladesh Khetmajur Samity distributed relief goods among the flood affected people at Taras and Raiganj in Sirajganj.
   The Demra-Shyampur water and power realisation and action committee distributed 1,000 pieces of breads among the flood victims at Badda in Dhaka.
   The Hunger Project, Democracywatch and Mary Curie School distributed relief goods among 1,500 flood victims at Khilgaon.
   The Building Technology and Ideas Limited donated Tk 2 lakh to the chief adviser’s relief fund.

Cultural and photography organisations celebrated World Photography Day in Bangladesh as elsewhere on Sunday.
   The organisations marked the day with photography exhibitions, discussions and receptions accorded to celebrated photographers.
   The Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy fine arts department began a weeklong photography exhibition at the National Fine Arts Gallery of the academy at Segun Bagicha in Dhaka.
   Noazesh Ahmed inaugurated the exhibition as chief guest.
   Describing the gradual development of photography in Bangladesh, the speakers said the photographers of Bangladesh had won a large number of international awards.
   They also stressed the need for opening the long-pending photography department at the academy and urged the government to give more importance to the development of this art.
   Sixty photographs are on display at the academy exhibition, which will remain open between 11:00am and 7:00pm till August 25, except for Friday when it will remain open between 3:00pm and 7:00pm.
   The Dhaka Photographic Institute and the Dhaka Photo Club began a three-day photography festival at the Gallery Chitrak at Dhanmondi.
   Photographer Sayeeda Khanum inaugurated the festival. The organisers also accorded a reception to photographer Noazesh Ahmed.
   The exhibition will remain open between 10:00am and 8:00pm till August 21.
   The Drik Gallery marked the day with a presentation on photography by international award-winning photographers Abir Abdullah, Andrew Biraj and Munem Wasif on its premises at Dhanmondi.
   Abir Abdullah presented photographs on recent flood, Andrew Biraj presented the photographs on the stranded Pakistani Bihari camps and Munem Wasif presented photographs on jute mill workers.

Euromot Fashion Limited, a garment factory at Chittagong Export Processing Zone, resumed its production on Sunday, two days after the closure.
   The authorities concerned closed the factory, owned by a Korean company, on Friday as more than 2,000 workers launched an agitation protesting against torture on two of their colleagues by Abu Masud, deputy general manager of the factory, on Thursday.
   Sources in the CEPZ said the workers joined the work in the morning after the executive chairman of Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Authority assured them of taking necessary steps to prevent torture on them in future.
   The BEPZA executive chairman, Ashraf Abdullah Yousuf, reached the port city on Saturday. He held talks with the factory authorities and the workers and managed to convince the workers for joining their duties.
   Earlier, the workers withdrew the agitation programme and agreed to begin their work from Friday following the suspension of the deputy general manager.

Border Security Force of India abducted a Bangladeshi farmer from Durgapur under Aditmari upazila in Lalmonirhat on Sunday.
   The abducted farmer was identified as Rahman, 32, son of Basir Uddin, of Durgapur village.
   Witnesses said that the BSF men of Battor camp at Kuchbihar in West Bengal illegally entered Bangladesh territory and abducted the farmer at about 1:00pm while he was working at his paddy field near the main pillar No 923.
   Commanding officer of Lalmonirhat 31 Rifles Battalion Major Monwar Hossain said that they had sent a letter to BSF asking them to return the Bangladeshi farmer through a flag meeting.
   A commander level flag meeting started at no-man’s land on Durgapur border at 4:40pm. The meeting was going on till filing of this report at 5:00pm.
   Local people also caught an Indian citizen Gittu Barman, of Battor village under Dinhata police station in Kuchbihar, on Sunday when he was moving towards Durgapur Bazar. Later he was handed over to Bangladesh Rifles personnel.

The trial of the Mujib murder case in a civilian court is illegal and the August 15, 1975 incident was nothing but a mutiny in the army, a defence counsel told the Supreme Court on Sunday.
   Khan Saifur Rahman challenged the legality of the trial that was held in 1998 in the district and sessions judge’s court of Dhaka.
   Saifur, the defence counsel of convicts Faruque Rahman, Muhiuddin Ahmed and AKM Mohiuddin, argued for the second day on the eight day of the hearing before the three-member Appellate Division bench of Justice Tafazzul Islam, Justice Joynul Abedin and Justice M Hasan Ameen.
   Saifur told the court that a group of army men early August 15, 1975 took part in the operation, killing the first president, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and all but two of his family.
   Mujib’s son lieutenant Sheikh Jamal was killed along with colonel Jamil and constable Shamsul Islam in the operation.
   ‘As army men led and took part in the operation that killed army personnel, the incident was nothing but a mutiny,’ Saifur argued.
   He said, ‘No civilian court has the jurisdiction to try any case of mutiny and such cases must be tried in a court martial.’
   The court asked him whether the charges, framed by the trial court in the case, included mutiny.
   The counsel replied that the charges included conspiracy. ‘There is a nexus between conspiracy and mutiny.’
   The late president Ziaur Rahman was also killed in a similar military operation in 1981 and a court martial was formed to try the army men involved in the killing, the counsel contended, adding the Mujib murder case also needed to be tried in a court martial.
   Replying to another court query, he said any civilian, accused in the case, might have been tried in a civilian court, but the court also tried army men in violation of law.
   The Appellate Division began the hearing on August 6, resuming the case that had been shelved for six years for want of enough judges to hear the case.

The National Board of Revenue chairman, Badiur Rahman, termed unethical the BNP-led alliance government’s amnesty to whiten the black money.
   ‘The amnesty was not based on ethics,’ he said while defending the present amnesty that offered to legalise undeclared money earned though legal means.
   ‘Why should the taxpayers pay higher amount than the non-taxpayers, who earn their money through unfair means. Legalising undeclared money irrespective of their sources at a rate of 7.5 per cent was not based on ethics,’ he told an exchange of views on ‘reform in tax administration’.
   The Bangladesh Economic Association organised the meeting at the National Press Club with its president Dr Quazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad in the chair.
   The alliance government had given the amnesty to whiten undeclared money, popularly known as black money, whether it is earned through legal or illegal means, at the rate of 7.5 per cent tax.
   An amount of Tk 4,603 crore had been legalised through the pecuniary amnesty in the fiscal 2005-06. Some 7,246 people had availed the opportunity by paying Tk 345.225 crore to the national exchequer.
   The present government through an SRO on June 4 granted amnesty for four months to the holders of undisclosed money, earned through legal means, to legalise such money with five per cent penalty apart from usual tax.
   Till August 16, a number of 13,300 persons declared Tk 2,355 crore paying Tk 427 crore to the exchequer.
   The NBR chairman was critical of the reluctant attitude of the taxpayers. He said a recent survey revealed that more than 57 per cent of the eligible taxpayers had no Taxpayers Identification Number. Some 2.1 million people have TIN but only one million submit income tax return.
   He advised the taxpayers to refrain from going to income tax lawyers. ‘If anyone finds complexity to fill income tax return form, please come to us. We will do that for you,’ he said.
   He admitted that it was tough to bring immediate reform to the tax administration. ‘But I can say that it will be done obviously and we are working towards that.’
   He had a word of caution against the tax officials. ‘If anyone is found guilty, he will be suspended immediately.’
   The NBR chief said the tax-GDP ratio of Bangladesh was pretty low compared to other countries. ‘Our target is 10.8 as against 10.4 last year … Raising the tax-GDP ratio is the only way we can get rid of the burden of external aid.’
   On reform of tax, he said it would come automatically if the taxpayers paid taxes willingly. ‘No reform can be done though enacting laws; there is no law above the conscience,’ he added.

Robbers took away cash and valuables from the residence of a businessman at Aman Bazar under Hathazari upazila in the district early Sunday.
   The police said that a gang of armed robbers entered the residence of Abdul Khaleque Sawdagar at around 3:00am after cutting the window grilles.
   They held the inmates hostage at gunpoint, robbed Tk 2.5 lakh in cash and 150 tolas of gold ornament and other valuables worth about Tk 27 lakh.
   Two sons of the businessman — Azam and Azad — were also injured in the attack by robbers as they tried to resist them.

Human rights activists have demanded formulation of a comprehensive policy and legal framework on asylum and refugee issues in the country to properly deal with such problems.
   They also called for establishing a national authority in this respect and sought international support for refugees, according to a press release issued in Dhaka on Sunday after the end of a training workshop in Jessore on Saturday.
   The Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust, a human rights organisation, and the local office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees organised the daylong training on refugee law for 40 representatives of the local bar association, human rights organisations and students and teachers of Jessore Law College.
   The topics covered there included the concept of persecution, refugees’ rights and mandate of the UN body, refugees’ status in the country’s constitution and relevant laws in Bangladesh, and role of human rights organisations.
   AKM Zaheer Ahmed, district and sessions judge of Jessore, inaugurated the workshop. Presided over by chairman of Jessore unit of the BLAST, Nazrul Islam, the workshop was also addressed by BLAST’s executive director, Taslimur Rahman, and the national protection officer of the refugee commissioner’s office, Uttam Kumar Das. Judge of the Nari-O-Shishu Nirjatan Daman Tribunal in Jessore, Mohammad Sayedur Rahman, distributed certificates to the participants.
   The two organisations will organise similar programmes in Comilla and Rajshahi which will be followed by a national workshop on refugee law and related issues later this year.

A two-day conference of the South Asian Free Media Association ended in Colombo on Sunday with a resolve to bring into focus rampant poverty in the region and support pro-poor, poor-centred strategies of eradicating poverty at grassroots level by breaking anti-people power nexuses.
   ‘The poverty is the most serious issue that has to be handled both at the national and regional level. The South Asian region has all the resources. Economies are growing but poverty is also worsening,’ noted SAFMA, a SAARC-affiliated body of journalists.
   Its observations came in the Colombo Declaration adopted at the conclusion of the conference on Media, Peace and Poverty Alleviation in South Asia.
   The Sri Lankan prime minister, Ratnasri Wickramanayake, inaugurated the conference while Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus delivered keynote speech as guest of honour. Nearly 250 senior journalists from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka attended the meet.
   The declaration identified increasing defence budgets and heavy debts as two major factors contributing to the phenomenon of worsening poverty despite economic growth.
   ‘Therefore, we demand an early resolution of all conflicts and a considerable moratorium by the lending agencies and countries for the repayments of the debts,’ the declaration said.
   It observed that globalisation had increased social vulnerability in South Asia and had seen deterioration of conditions on job market and food security.
   The Colombo Declaration called upon SAARC member countries to ultimately move towards South Asian human security by placing people, their wellbeing and rights to peaceful life and development at the centre of the security concerns rather than intensifying the arms race.
   It urged the governments in South Asia to take concrete steps to implement the SAARC Social Charter and give priority to poverty eradication.
   The declaration extended support to democratic aspirations and ongoing struggles of the people in those countries of the region where fundamental rights and democratic values are either under attack or are yet to be introduced or restored.
   ‘We demand restoration of fully-fledged democracy, independence of the judiciary, the rule of law and media freedom,’ the declaration of the conference says.
   It called on SAARC countries to work for peace and stability in Afghanistan and Sri Lanka and collectively fight against terrorism and religious extremism or ethnic chauvinism.
   The meet condemned the punitive and prohibitive measures taken by both state and non-state factors against the media and demand undiluted media freedom, right to know and freedom of expression in all countries in the region.
   On environment, the declaration said the South Asian region was under high environmental stress brought about by both natural and manmade causes. Intra-state and inter-state conflicts are a major contributor to environmental destruction.
   The conference suggested the countries should act together on vast range of environmental issues in the region, which is witnessing phenomenal weather conditions like calamitous floods, earthquakes or tsunami and droughts by turns.

The operation on Dr Wazed Miah, ailing husband of detained Awami League president Sheikh Hasina, was completed successfully in Square Hospital on Sunday.
   The ‘Arterial Venus Fistula’ operation to make the dialysis of his kidney possible was carried out without any hitch, Dr MH Millat, the surgeon who operated on him, told reporters. Dialysis of Wazed’s kidney was not possible because his arteries and veins could not be accessed.
   Now Wazed is in the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital because he has other complications of the kidney and heart, and also diabetics and high blood pressure, said the surgeon.
   Wazed Miah was admitted to Square Hospital on July 26. The surgeon said that though he is still sick, his condition is not critical.
   ‘We have done the operation to make the arteries and veins of his hands accessible to injections, so dialysis of his kidney will be possible after a month or so,’ said Dr Millat.
   He spends most the day sleeping and is very happy to see his close relatives whenever they visit him. Wazed Miah is under treatment of a seven-member medial board of doctors headed by Dr Mirza Nazimuddin, Square Hospital’s medicine specialist.

One-stop service centre opens on August 29 at the regional passport office in Dhaka for quick endorsement of passports, ending nagging hassles people usually have to pass through.
   Applicants can complete endorsement-related works like changing profession, date of birth, name and address in a day for a fee of Tk 500, an official announcement said on Sunday.
   ‘These works will be done on ‘first come, first served’ basis,’ it said, adding that completing the entire procedure takes only two hours time. Women, children, senior citizens and physically handicapped people will enjoy priority in receiving this one-stop service. The centre will remain open from 9:30am to 1:30pm.
   To get the service from the centre, an applicant has to collect ‘Kha’ form from No 1 centre and then to go to the ‘Receiving Desk’ with the filled-up form.
   If necessary, the Receiving Desk can forward the applicant to the ‘Help Desk’. Then s/he to submit the form to ‘Seal Desk’ after depositing Tk 500 with the ‘Bank Desk’.
   The applicant would get back the endorsed passport within two hours of submission of the form to the ‘Seal Desk’, says the government edict issued by the Ministry of Information.

The Criminal Investigation Department Saturday night arrested GM Bachchu, general secretary of the Nawapara municipal unit Jatiyatabadi Juba Dal, at his house at Nawapara for his suspected involvement in the killing of Dr Akram Ali Mollah.
   Akram Ali, former family planning and upazila health officer of Abhaynagar, was shot dead on August 13, 2006 near his house in the industrial town. He was returning home from his chamber in a motorcycle. The law enforcers earlier arrested former BJP lawmaker MM Amin Uddin, municipal commissioner Sheikh Asadullah and some others in this connection.
   Amin gave his statement in a magistrate’s court were he admitted to being involved in the killing, said Ataur Rahman, assistant superintendent of police told New Age. The Criminal Investigation Department arrested Bachchu based on the statement of Amin.
   The department official said they were trying to arrest others directly involved in the murder. The department will submit the charge sheet in the case after the arrests. ‘Killer’ Khokon, one of the prime accused in the case, is now in hiding after being remanded on bail. Two of the accused were killed in ‘encounters’ with law enforcers.