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Human rights violation has continued since the proclamation of a state of emergency in the country six months back, with 114 people killed in the custody of law enforcers and some two lakh people detained.
   The president, Iajuddin Ahmed, proclaimed a state of emergency on January 11 and the Emergency Powers Rules 2007 were promulgated on January 25, banning political activities, suspending fundamental rights of the citizens and detailing a set of guidelines for the media.
   ‘Provocative’ activities, including meeting, gathering, procession, rally, blockade, strike, lockout and other functions of the political parties, trade unions, clubs or associations, have been suspended until further order or until the emergency is revoked, the rules say.
   It empowers the government to arrest or detain any person or restrict entry, departure, stay or movement of any person to pre-empt activities harmful to relations with any foreign country or in public interest.
   It prohibits acts intended to create panic and malice against the government or to create animosity, hostility or hatred among different sections of society.
   Acts against the state and public security, against economic life and law and order, and obstructing supply of essentials and services have also been proscribed.
   The president issued two Emergency Powers Orders on January 11 imposing ban on filing new writ petitions and proceedings of pending writ petitions for enforcement of fundamental rights. The ban was eventually relaxed.
   The rules also detailed some guidelines for the media on publication and airing of news reports that could harm public security, law and order, supply of essentials and services.
   In the past six months, 114 people have been reportedly killed by law enforcers, including the army-led joint forces, and nearly two lakh people, including prominent politicians, arrested, according to a survey of the human rights coalition Odhikar.
   Sixty-four of them were reportedly killed by the Rapid Action Battalion, 28 by the police, 7 by the army, 7 by the army-led joint forces, 3 by the navy, 1 each by the officers of the Department of Narcotics Control, the jail police and 3 by the battalion and the police jointly.
   Three people have also died in police stations — two died of illness and the other committed suicide.
   One hundred and five attacks on journalists and newspaper offices have been reported while 15 journalists have been injured, 10 arrested, 10 assaulted, 57 threatened and 12 sued. The house of a journalist also came under attack.
   Two hundred and seventy-two women have been subjected to rights violation in the past six months. One hundred and eighteen women were victims of dowry-related violence — 85 were killed and 27 tortured while 6 committed suicide. One hundred and eleven women were raped; 23 of them were killed and 1 committed suicide afterwards.
   The demolition and eviction drive, launched by the interim government after the proclamation of emergency, has, meanwhile, left tens of thousands of people jobless.
   According to statistics provided by non-governmental organisations, and news reports, about 60,000 people have been evicted from Dhaka’s 29 slums since January 12. Moreover, 20,000 slum dwellers have been expelled from slums in various cities across the country.
   The interim government went for the eviction of slums without making any arrangement for rehabilitation of the slum dwellers, although the High Court in 1998 ruled that the government must ensure rehabilitation of slum dwellers and compensation for their losses, Nasiruddin Elan, acting director of Odhikar, told New Age on Tuesday.
   Although the eviction and demolition drives in both urban and rural areas have made tens of thousands of the poor jobless and homeless, the government is yet to come up with any contingency programme to rehabilitate them.
   The government has demolished market infrastructures, and evicted hawkers and small traders in cities, towns and even rural markets, while it is yet to take any action against structures like Rangs Bhaban in the capital and other illegal structures that encroach on canals, rivers and water bodies, Elan observed.
   During the past six months, 340 children have been victims of human rights violations. Of them, 173 were killed, 137 raped, 10 killed after rape and 16 abducted, according to the Odhikar survey. Eleven children also committed suicide.
   Besides, 400 children are still languishing in 57 jails across the country in violation of the High Court’s verdict and the law.
   According to a source in social welfare ministry, the children are still languishing in prisons although 411 seats in three state-run juvenile development centres and six safe homes remain vacant.
   As the number of juvenile inmates continued to increase, the High Court on March 4 issued yet another suo moto rule on the government to explain why necessary action should not be taken against it for keeping children in jails in violation of the April 9, 2003 verdict of the court.
   Although the interim government has taken measures for the implementation of the court edicts following the fresh rule, the authorities have shown no interest in transferring the juvenile inmates to juvenile development centres, said sources in the national taskforce on juvenile justice.
   The absence of juvenile courts and lack of knowledge and training on juvenile justice and related laws, including the Children Act 1974, are primarily responsible for children languishing in the prisons, juvenile justice expert Shah Deen Malik and national taskforce member Habibun Nessa say.
   The interim government has also failed to ensure the implementation of a tripartite (government-employers-labourers) agreement on minimum wage for garments workers.
   In the face of labour movements, the wage commission, which was represented by the employers and labourers, fixed Tk 1,262.50 as minimum monthly wage for the worker. A tripartite meeting on May 13 with the labour and employment adviser Anwarul Iqbal set a June 30 deadline for implementation of the minimum wage in every garment factory.
   According to a survey report of the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association, 419 factories out of 2,420 are yet to implement the minimum wage, although the deadline has expired.
   Shireen Akhter, executive director of Karmajibi Nari, a rights group that deals with garment workers, told New Age on Monday that the minimum wage was yet to be implemented in most of the factories.
   She said that her organisation had carried out a study in 50 garment factories and 38 of them (68 per cent) were yet to implement the minimum wage.

Uncertainty has deepened over the past six months, as different quarters push for a political landscape without the two top political leaders, Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina.
   Squabbling within the major political parties has also peaked over in-party reforms since the proclamation of a state of emergency on January 11.
   ‘Uncertainty has prevailed in the political arena over the past six months, as the push for reforms is yet to take a shape,’ the secretary general of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, told New Age on Monday. ‘There is no sign of an end to the uncertainty yet.’
   Abdul Hamid, a former speaker of Jatiya Sangsad, believes the uncertainty would start to clear out once the Election Commission announces a roadmap for the elections to the ninth parliament.
   ‘We do not want to be in confusion,’ he told New Age.
   Hamid was non-committal in his comment on the commission’s proposal for reforms in the political parties. ‘We will have to review the guidelines of the Election Commission. I do not see any problem following the guidelines as long as those are meant for the welfare of the party and the nation. The Awami League will, however, reject the EC proposals if those are not acceptable.’
   Mahmudur Rahman Manna, organising secretary of the Awami League, expects the interim government to come good on its promise that the elections will be held next year. ‘I can only hope the elections will take place next year as promised by the incumbents. Other than that, any comment on the elections might lead to further complications.’
   Manna, a former president of the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union, said it was up to the political parties whether or not in-party reforms are necessary. ‘Neither the government nor the Election Commission should interfere in such an internal affair of the parties.’
   Professor Ataur Rahman, president of the Bangladesh Political Science Association, believes the political situation is still ‘too fluid’ to make any prediction about the outcome of the move to reconstruct the political parties.
   ‘We are in confusion now,’ he said. ‘It is very difficult to foretell the outcome of the move now.’
   Ataur feels the process for democratisation is now guided by the internal dynamism of the parties. ‘It seems that the politicians were under pressure for democratisation of their respective parties. But, now they will be guided by self-dynamism.’
   He warned that ‘restoration of democracy will be deferred if the politicians and other quarters try to take advantage of the situation’.
   However, he does not see any risk of direct interference by the army in politics and administration. ‘Direct takeover [by the army] is unlikely.’
   Mannan Bhuiyan has recently announced a 15-point reform plan to end ‘dynastic’ leadership in the BNP. His proposal has been interpreted as being aimed at reorganising the party keeping Khaleda out of the frame.
   Khaleda has already termed the proposals Mannan Bhuiyan’s personal opinions.
   Awami League presidium members Abdur Razzak, Tofail Ahmed and Suranjit Sengupta have also announced identical plans to bring about reforms to dispose of unilateral leadership, install joint leadership for two consecutive terms, and ensure financial transparency in the party.
   Ataur Rahman Kaiser, another presidium member, placed a separate reform plan to be executed under the leadership of Hasina.
   The Jatiya Party led by HM Ershad is also in turmoil after he appointed Anisul Islam Mahmud acting chairman of the party apparently to implement his plan for reforms in the party.
   Ershad’s wife Rawshan challenged the decision and claimed that she was the acting chairperson of the party.
   Different quarters believe dissident and conformist leaders have become vocal to bring about reforms within their parties as backstage planners of a new political order are persuading them to take identical moves to keep Khaleda and Hasina out of the political landscape.
   The government has already detained about 75 politicians on charges of corruption.
   Hasina and Khaleda have alleged that certain quarters are trying to split and reconstruct their parties to assume state power.
   Khaleda on Sunday warned through a teleconference that the quarters working on the so-called minus-two formula were actually plotting to seize state power.
   In a broadside against the incumbents within a couple of hours on the same day, Hasina asked the incumbents to stop the intelligence agencies from indulging in excesses accusing them of trying to deconstruct and reconstruct political parties.
   She also said it would not be democracy if things were done with the thought of who should assume state power.
   Hasina and Khaleda also renewed their call for immediate withdrawal of ban on politics.

The Election Commission is yet to spell out its action plan for holding the ninth parliamentary polls.
   In the six months since the interim government took over, the re-constituted EC has neither held any dialogue with the political parties on what it terms political reforms nor has it reached the fields for preparing the voters’ roll.
   The present administration assumed office on January 11 following widespread controversies and political volatility over the general elections slated for January 22.
   The commission so far has piloted its programme for preparing a voters’ roll and issuing national identity cards with photographs, drafted a set of electoral reform proposals, suggested separating its secretariat from the prime minister’s office which is now the chief adviser’s office, and floated a tender to procure equipment for preparing the voters’ roll and national ID cards.
   The EC, however, is yet to decide whether to use transparent ballot boxes in the next polls or not. It has also been changing its stance quite frequently on the electoral law reforms.
   The EC started preparing a draft set of electoral reforms on February 18 and unveiled the draft on April 5.
   The electoral reforms proposed in the draft include mandatory registration of political parties, barring loan and utility bill defaulters from contesting elections, barring government and foreign-funded NGO officials from contesting polls within three years of retirement or resignation, barring a candidate from contesting polls for more than three constituencies, and disposal of election-related cases within six months.
   According to the election commissioners, they are also considering drafting a law outlining the criteria for the appointment of election commissioners in future.
   Initially, the election commissioners had repeatedly said that they would complete the electoral reforms by July after holding discussions with the political parties when the current ban on political activities would be relaxed. The chief election commissioner, ATM Shamsul Huda, called on the law adviser on April 4 and urged the government to relax the ban so that the commission could hold dialogues with political parties on the draft electoral reforms. But, the EC is yet to sit with them as the government has not approved its request.
   Later, the EC said it would hold dialogues on electoral reforms despite the ban, if the parties sent their representatives.
   But, in early July it shifted from that stance by setting fresh conditions for the dialogue.
   The commission on July 2 said it would wait until the country’s ‘fluid’ political situation and the ongoing reform process in the parties took a concrete shape before beginning the much-talked-about dialogue on electoral reforms with political parties, even if the ban on political activities was lifted.
   The following day, the EC announced some conditions apart from carrying out organisational reforms for political parties to participate in the dialogues on electoral reforms. Election commissioner Sakhawat Hussain said to take part in the dialogue a political party must have at least one lawmaker elected after the independence or at least 2 per cent votes cast in the last general elections and should have organisational units at least at half of the upazilas in the country.
   The commission, however, has organised two dialogue sessions on its reforms plan with eminent citizens and journalists. The EC on April 5 announced an 18-month timeframe beginning from May 1 for preparing a new voters’ roll and national ID cards with photographs. Since then, it has piloted the voters’ roll and ID card programme at Sreepur in Gazipur district and floated a tender for procuring equipment for implementing the countrywide programme.
   The EC hopes the field-level work of the programme will start in August. It initially decided that voters would have to come to registration centres to get their names on the list, but later said enumerators would go door-to-door to distribute voter registration forms.
   Shamsul Huda joined the commission as its chief and Muhammed Sohul Hussain as an election commissioner on February 4 and election commissioner M Sakhawat Hussain on February 14.
   After visiting the Machine Tools Factory at Gazipur, where he had seen samples of various types of transparent ballot boxes, the CEC said on April 11 that the commission would take a decision in this regard, if political parties and other people concerned opted for using such boxes despite the huge cost involved and the long time required to manufacture them. Three months on, the EC is yet to take that decision, although 12 to 15 months are required to produce the required number of ballot boxes.
   The election commissioners said in May that the EC had almost finalised a draft of amendments to the service rule for election officials to make their jobs transferable, as a part of the electoral reform programme. But the commission is yet to come up with the draft amendments.
   The EC on June 7 sent a proposal to the government for separating its secretariat from the PMO, now chief adviser’s office, for ensuring the commission’s financial and administrative independence. The council of advisers on June 23 approved the proposal in principle and asked the law ministry to prepare and submit a draft ordinance in this regard.

The Anti-Corruption Commi-ssion has set for itself a deadline to complete the trial of corruption suspects, including prominent politicians and business bigwigs, before the next general elections, as the interim continues its war on corruption.
   The interim government reconstituted the commission on February 22, and formed a national coordination committee for the army-led anti-crime and anti-corruption taskforces.
   The commission hopes to complete the trials of the key corruption suspects before the next general elections, which, according to the chief adviser, will be held by the end of 2008, its secretary, M Mokhlesur Rahman, said on Monday. ‘The commission is independent and will continue its efforts to rid society of corruption even after a political government is elected.’
   According to the Emergency Powers Rules, any person, convicted in a graft case, will not be allowed to contest the elections even at the stage of appeal until he or she is acquitted by the court. No convict will be granted bail at the stage of appeal.
   Besides bringing corruption suspects to book, the commission is also contemplating the revival of the trial of pending graft cases against top politicians, including former prime ministers Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina and former president HM Ershad. It also wants to ensure speedy disposal of appeals against graft cases.
   The commission appealed on Sunday to the chief justice to constitute a separate bench of the High Court to deal with the appeals and other petitions filed by the accused for quashing the cases.
   Its chairman, Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury, made the appeal when he called on the chief justice, M Ruhul Amin, at the Supreme Court.
   Mokhles said the chief justice had assured Mashhud of constituting the bench.
   Mashhud also met the attorney general, Fida M Kamal, and sought his cooperation in this regard.
   Trials of at least 86 graft cases have been pending for years as the accused obtained stay orders from the High Court after filing petitions for quashing the cases.
   Most of the cases were filed by the defunct Bureau of Anti-Corruption against political bigwigs, including former prime ministers Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina, former president HM Ershad and some top leaders of the BNP and the Awami League.
   The commission is also considering appropriate steps for expeditious hearing in the graft cases pending with the trial courts for long.
   More than 500 corruption cases remain pending with the trial courts of the metropolitan sessions’ judges of Dhaka, said sources in the commission.
   The commission has so far asked 194 people to submit wealth statements, as it believes their wealth is disproportionate to their known sources of income and has been amassed by corruption. Of the people notified, 146 have submitted their wealth reports and some of the rest have been given time for submission.
   The people who have been asked to submit wealth reports are mostly politicians, a few business tycoons and civil bureaucrats — most of whom have political links. However, no army personnel even those who have joined politics after retirement are on the list of graft suspects.
   The commission and the taskforces are also looking into the wealth of a number of other corruption suspects, but the new lists do not include any former military officers, said sources in the commission.
   The commission has so far filed 34 cases against the people notified for concealing their wealth in the statements they submitted, owning assets disproportionate to their known sources of income and making fortune by corrupt means. It has also sued four of the people notified for not submitting wealth reports.
   The government has set up makeshift courtrooms in the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban’s MP Hostel for five special judge’s courts of Dhaka for speedy trial of the graft cases.
   The special judge’s courts have so far delivered verdicts in seven cases, filed by the ACC, and jailed former state ministers Amanullah Aman and Mir Mohammed Nasiruddin, Aman’s wife Sabera Aman, Nasir’s son Mir Helaluddin, former MP Ali Asgar Lobi, former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s political secretary Harris Chowdhury, former Awami League MPs Joynal Abedin Hazari and Shamim Osman and BNP senior joint secretary general Tarique Rahman’s close aide Giasuddin Al Mamun for different terms. Trials of 11 graft cases against bigwig corruption suspects are going on in the special judge’s courts.
   The commission has also submitted charge sheets in 11 more graft cases.
   Five reports of inquiries into corruption charges against former communications minister Nazmul Huda, Awami League leader Lotus Kamal, former BNP lawmakers Salahuddin Ahmed and Ruhul Quddus Talukder Dulu and former housing minister Mirza Abbas have been submitted to the commission. The accused are likely to be sued soon. The commission is expected to file the charge sheet soon against Orion Group chairman, Obaidul Karim, in a graft case.

The interim government headed by Fakhruddin Ahmed is yet to bring in dynamism in the administration with the 10 advisers having a hard time to handle the routine jobs of about 40 ministries.
   Former interim government adviser Akbar Ali Khan told New Age on Monday that he had not found any change in the administration in its first six months.
   ‘Reforms in administration have started, but they are yet to be completed. It is too early to make an assessment,’ he said.
   The committee on good governance led by the chief adviser has been reconstituted to make recommendations on administrative reforms.
   ‘The committee will now work to bring about reforms in the administration and this is a time-consuming process,’ the establishment secretary, Abdus Salam Khan, told New Age.
   The government has in principle decided to expand its structure to unburden the council of advisers of the huge workload.
   ‘It has in principle been decided that the government would go for expansion by appointing more people to assist the advisers in discharging their responsibilities,’ Syed Fahim Munaim, press secretary to the chief adviser, has said.
   The interim administration, with the chief and 10 other advisers looking after the ministries for six months, now faces an increased work pressure as it is taking up a number of projects for reforms in various sectors besides its prime responsibility of holding the suspended general elections.
   The law adviser, Mainul Hosein, has said they need more people to help the advisers in discharging their duties. ‘But it is difficult to expand the size of the government because of constitutional bindings,’ he told reporters in Dhaka on July 5.
   The government in May sought the Law Commission’s suggestion on whether there was any option to appoint any other advisers to smoothen government activities. The commission said the ‘constitution permits only 10 advisers to the caretaker government.’
   The government has since then been looking for some other options to appoint consultants to ministries, recast the National Security Council and delegate authority to certain secretaries to ease the workload of the advisers.
   Differing on the government’s reported decision to expand its size by appointing more people to assist the advisers in discharging their duties, the communications adviser, MA Matin, has said he has not found any reason behind such a move.
   ‘I do not feel overburdened. No file has so far been pending with my ministries. You can ask my secretary about this,’ said Matin, answering reporters at the secretariat on July 5.
   Akbar Ali, also a former cabinet secretary, said the number of advisers could in no way be increased in keeping with the constitution.
   ‘Special assistants to the chief adviser and to the advisers can be appointed with the status of a minister or a state minister. But the full authority of a minister or a state minister should not be delegated to them,’ he said.
   In a move to ease administrative functions, the chief adviser, also responsible for the home affairs ministry, has in a recent order delegated more authority to the home secretary.
   Unlike other secretaries, the home secretary will now be exercising the administrative authority mostly delegated to the minister or adviser.
   Fakhruddin at a meeting with the secretaries in May stressed the need for nullifying the unnecessary, outdated rules of different ministries to offer expected services for people, but the task is yet to be accomplished.
   Some changes have made in the Chief Adviser’s Office and also in the Cabinet Division on an ‘experimental basis.’
   A secretary can now directly take files to the chief adviser without putting them through a lengthy process — from director generals to the chief adviser’s secretary and then to the principal secretary, said a senior Cabinet Division official.

It is indisputable that a significantly large section of our people was happy when the military intervened in the political arena on January 11. They welcomed the ‘caretaker’ government of Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed that was midwifed by the military the next day, to the extent that they were not much bothered by the imposition of a state of emergency that instantly took away certain ‘inalienable’ fundamental rights of the citizens. Indeed, a people who had once relentlessly fought against emergencies and military interventions in politics had their immediate reasons to passively accept, if not actively support, the new takeover by an apparently apolitical group of individuals.
   The prime reason behind the people’s support for the incumbents was, understandably, the mindless confrontation between the Bangladesh Nationalist Party of Khaleda Zia and the Bangladesh Awami League of Sheikh Hasina that had brought civic and economic life almost to a standstill, and that too without any immediate promise of political stability which is essential for the people at large to keep their struggle for survival going at the least. Besides, unchecked price hike of essential commodities, frequent disruptions of power supply, deteriorating law and order, unemployment, etc made the people, both urban and rural, desperately aspire for a change, definitely for the better.
   The military-driven government of Fakhruddin Ahmed assured the people of addressing such pressing problems, side by side with discharging its prime responsibility as a ‘caretaker government’ to create a level playing field for the political parties to contest the next general elections. Moreover, Fakhruddin also assured in this regard that his administration would bring in certain electoral law reforms to make the polls more credible and inject ‘decency’ in an otherwise ‘indecent’ political culture.
   The promises definitely sounded good, and a large section of the people, including the mainstream intelligentsia, sided with the incumbents accepting, for the time being, the deprivations of the citizens’ constitutionally guaranteed fundamental rights like freedom of expression, freedom of political assembly and registering protest against injustice, moving the highest court for redress against infringement of democratic rights, etc.
   Now, six months after the imposition of emergency and installation of Fakhruddin’s government, it is perhaps time to do some soul searching as to whether the incumbents have functioned in line with the commitments that they made to the people and whether the people, many of whom had pinned their hopes in good faith to the incumbents, have any reason to continue their support any further, and that too at the continued cost of basic democratic rights of the citizens.
   To begin with, the government is constitutionally and politically expected to primarily concentrate on preparing a voters’ roll and bringing in electoral law reforms. But there has been no substantive progress in either preparing the electoral roll or bringing in electoral law reforms yet. Besides, the government has shown no sign yet to announce a specific date for the elections, although the constitution of the republic neither stipulates an open-ended tenure for a non-party caretaker government, nor does it envisage a state of emergency for an indefinite period. The gesture hardly speaks well for the incumbent’s political commitment to democratic values in general and governance by elected representatives of the people in particular.
   Furthermore, while the strengthening of democratic political institutions is an essential pre-requisite for the institutionalisation of democratic practices, the incumbents have visibly engaged themselves in rather weakening the major political parties by way of coercing their top leaders, Khaleda and Hasina, out of the political scene.
    It is true that Khaleda and Hasina, the two top politicians of Bangladesh for more than 25 years now, have not provided the kind of leadership for the right-thinking sections of society, reeling under pseudo-democracy and underdevelopment for years, to apparently harbour any serious political sympathy for them. Genuinely pro-people social and political groups also have genuine grievances against the two top politicians in question, primarily because the two, when in power, hardly made any efforts to democratically orient the country’s political system to ensure equal rights of all citizens irrespective of their religious, racial and gender identity. Neither did they pursue any democratic economic policy to ensure equal access of all the citizens to national resources and equitable distribution of national wealth among the people. Instead, both the leaders allowed, in varying degrees, their cronies inside and outside their parties to amass huge amount of public wealth by abusing state power, pursued economic policies contrary to the idea of strengthening the national economy in the age of imperialist globalisation, contaminated the democratic spirit of the country’s polity by injecting in it religious communalism for cheap popularity, and weakened further the institutions needed to build up a democratic society and state.
   All these admitted, the forcible banishment of the two top politicians in question would result in disastrous consequences for the country’s political process at the moment, simply because it is they, and none else, who still represent the country’s two mainstream political trends and it is only they who have command over the rank and file of the parties that they lead. The arbitrary removal of the two top leaders would suddenly, and certainly, dismantle the parties into pieces, creating a pervasive political vacuum, without any democratic forces to fill it yet. The possible consequence is simply dangerous: The vacuum would eventually be filled by more undemocratic organised forces, particularly the Islamist fundamentalists, blocking the way for the social forces striving for secular democratic growth of the society and the state.
   But the government actors seem hell bent on arbitrarily ousting Khaleda and Hasina from the political arena by any possible means for reasons only known to it. And while doing so, the incumbents have visibly resorted to the cooperation of sections of the second tier of leadership in both the parties who were directly responsible for transforming the once politically naïve ladies into desperate despots within the parties, and who were the direct beneficiaries of the abuse of state power by the governments headed by Khaleda and Hasina. Such connivance is not ‘decent’, to say the least.
   This governmental tactic to seek cooperation of the second tier of leadership in question to coerce the two top politicians, again, has tarnished the credibility of an otherwise good effort that the government had initiated — the anti-corruption-drive against the powerful who started believing that they were beyond the reach of the concept of accountability. The fact that the government has been practising double standard in dealing with high profile corruption suspects becomes crystal clear when the Anti-Corruption Commission does not issue notices against the politicians who are now out to oust Khaleda and Hasina in the name of organisational reforms.
   The sincerity of the government’s anti-corruption drive may also be questioned on the count that there has hardly been any top bureaucrat, retired or serving, on the list of 194 corruption suspects the commission has so far issued notice to. How can a minister sign a corrupt deal without prior clearance of a file by the top bureaucrat concerned? The policy behind the anti-corruption drive suggests that the incumbents might have a design to ‘malign’ the politicians as such, and if the suggestion eventually proves correct, one is free to apprehend that the incumbents have a plan to depoliticise the society, which, if implemented, would prove to be unbelievably expensive for the entire nation.
   The genuine answer to a pseudo-democratic polity is nothing more or less than introducing a democratic polity. Anything else is bound to prove suicidal for the people.
   The worrying political developments in an apparently apolitical dispensation apart, the government has not shown any sign of staging a retreat from anti-people economic policies and fiscal measures, pursued earlier by the regimes of Khaleda and Hasina, that were insensitive towards boosting the growth of local industries, ensuring access of all the citizens to national resources, and equitable distribution of national wealth among the public. Instead, the liberalised import policies, accompanied by imposition of fresh duties on industrial raw materials, have appeared to be greater stumbling blocks in the way of further growth of local industries, and hence fresh employment opportunities.
   Then, the people’s expectations of the government to contain spiralling prices of essential commodities, keeping services like power and gas supply regular as well as within the reach of the common people, etc remain not only unmet, but the prices of many a consumer goods and services has rather become dearer these days.
   It is, therefore, not surprising that the people who whole-heartedly welcomed the incumbents six months ago, have started getting disillusioned about the commitment and ability of the government of the day. The pervasive atmosphere of fear, automatically generated out of the military-driven emergency, may keep the people quiet for some more days, but they might burst into anger any time — the symptoms of which have already surfaced in Khalishpur and Nachole.
   It is high time that the incumbents pause to review the deeds, and misdeeds, that they have committed so far.
   Meanwhile, a few points to ponder: That the democratisation of political parties is the need of the hour, and that financial transactions of political parties are required to be transparent under specific laws and rules, and that they need to rid themselves of people with criminal records, financial and otherwise, and stop selling party nominations for elections to the apolitical rich, etc, are issues of crucial national interests. To this end, the incumbents should immediately relax the restrictions imposed on the political process and start discussing the issues in question to get certain ordinances promulgated, and rules formulated, to streamline the political parties along truly democratic directions. Hasina and Khaleda, already making repeated promises that they would democratise their parties, have understandably feeling the pressure of the social aspirations for democratic reforms in the political organisations.
   Finally, the government should initiate a genuine national dialogue to work out ways to restore the political process, to hold credible national polls, to transfer power to elected representatives, and thus to put an end to the era of apolitical governance as soon as possible. The sooner the better, for both the rulers and the ruled.

The chief of army staff, General Moeen U Ahmed, on Tuesday called for a review of the constitution to ensure sustained reforms and hoped that the stalled parliamentary elections would be held by December 2008 as announced by the interim administration.
   ‘We need reform, we need a review of our constitution and let the parliament come and take over their responsibility and correct the constitution,’ Moeen told a seminar on ‘democratic accountability and way to curb corruption’, jointly organised by the Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies and the American Centre at Radisson Hotel.
   Moeen hoped that the country would hold the stalled general elections by December 2008, and elect an honest and able leadership to govern the nation. Asked if he was confident that the government would be able to hold the election by the deadline, Moeen said, ‘Let’s wait till December, 2008 and see.’
   He denied the allegation that the military intelligence was involved in any design to split the political parties. ‘If reforms come from within, why are they deviating from internal things and looking into another organisation?’ he said.
   ‘As a politician Mrs Hasina has the right to say so [though] it [her charge] is not a fact…but we should not retaliate...I am not here to advise anybody, they are much educated in the system and have gone through politics for so many years …but I should say that [they] should look at themselves [in the mirror]. If you spit upwards it will fall on you,’ Moeen said.
   ‘Curbing corruption and improving economic governance will require strong political will, institutional reforms, high visibility, government support and international partnership,’ he said.
   The army chief also called for introducing institutional reforms and comprehensive anti-corruption legislation, constituting a commission to prepare all new laws relevant to evolving an effective governance system to meet future challenges along with constitutional mechanisms for horizontal accountability, improving governance and leadership at all levels including corporate governance, and creating global partnership on curbing corruption and oversight of administration.
   ‘We are deeply committed to establishing a sustainable governance structure to guarantee reforms. I think availing of this opportunity is almost a “now or never” case in all fields of development to reshape our own destiny and leave a way for our future generation to take charge,’ Gen Moeen said describing the January 11 changeover as ‘inevitable’ which formed a part of ‘reinvention’ of the nation.
   ‘I believe that the present condition has provided us with a historic opportunity to serve the nation—a lifetime chance for every patriotic citizen of Bangladesh,’ he added.
   ‘If you want to curb corruption, you have to have reforms and that has already begun at many places like the Anti-Corruption Commission, the Election Commission, the Public Service Commission and in many areas of the civil administration. [Extensive] reforms have taken place in the administration and the government feels [it is necessary] to change the administrative system. These reforms do not require constitutional amendments,’ he said.
   ‘But what do you expect in two years of time…how much the government can do. I think they should do that much which would assist them in achieving their aim to hold a free, fair and credible election through which we can get an honest and credible leadership for the nation,’ he said.
   Moeen said there had never been real democracy in Bangladesh; because democracy is certainly not just having an elected government and depriving the people. ‘My sad observation is that at times international leaders are more concerned about having a functional elected government in a country [paying little attention to] how that government is dispensing democracy in that country. This taught us a lesson that things should not go further,’ he said.
   ‘…it is imperative that the future government after December, 2008, must continue to manifest their desire to continue with the current initiatives as I view the threat of corruption as a threat to the nation’s security and it must be opposed by all conscious citizens,’ he said.
   ‘We are a time-tested nation that has remained united in all major crises. I leave you today an optimistic note that through our united and indomitable courage and resolute character, we will succeed in the struggle to offer you a government that is accountable and a society that is democratic and corruption-free,’ he said.
   ‘We would create structures and policies of development model for Bangladesh that can accelerate growth, but at the same time ensure economic relief to the poor for a more caring, equitable and peaceful society,’ Moeen added.
   The army chief claimed that the military was not interfering in governance issues. ‘The decisions are taken by the government and we are not getting in. However, once it takes a decision we try our level best to see that it is executed,’ he said citing the example of preparing electoral roll with photographs.
   Moeen also preferred reforms and accountability of non-governmental organisations especially in their funds management. More than 40 per cent of the funds of the organisations are used for themselves, he said adding, ‘The donors would not be happy if they come to know that their donations are not reaching the targets properly.’
   On the possible formation of a ‘national security council’ like other military-dominated nations, Moeen said it was nothing new and the government was thinking about it but it is nothing like what the newspapers are reporting. ‘And I think it is not a priority.’

The interim government has largely toed the line of the multilateral lending agencies over the past six months, formulating economic policies which, economists and business leaders say, compromise national interest and expose local industries to uneven competition.
   It has also failed to contain a soaring bank borrowing, public-sector loss and per capita debt, and arrest steady decline in revenue earning.
   The government has been successful to infuse the fear in people of all strata — especially those who have stayed beyond the tax net for long — that they must pay tax to avoid tax-related legal proceedings.
   It remains to be seen whether the fear would translate into increased revenue collection and improved tax-GDP ratio.
   In the budget for 2007-08, the government withdrew a four per cent infrastructure development surcharge on more than 2,600 finished and luxury items. Besides, about 400 industrial raw materials lost zero-tariff facility and about 1,200 others saw their import duty doubled to 10 per cent.
   The government put into effect the new tariff regime on July 1 despite the express fear of economists, industrialists and members of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the likes that the fiscal measures would hit the local industry hard.
   It has emerged that an Article IV mission of the International Monetary Fund during a visit to Bangladesh in May suggested that the government should withdraw the development surcharge and zero tariff facility for raw materials and increase the duty on capital machinery.
   ‘The government simply buckled under pressure from the IMF and the World Bank, compromising the interest of the local industry, which is unfortunate and frustrating,’ Professor Anu Muhammad of Jahangirnagar University tells New Age.
   The government did draft a guideline on safeguard measures to protect the local industry from the dumping of low-quality imported products, which was scheduled to come into effect on July 1.
   However, the backtracked on the plan to put the measures into effect, again at the insistence of the IMF, sources say.
   ‘It seems we have two governments: one of Fakhruddin Ahmed and the other of the World Bank,’ an industrialist tells New Age.
   The interim government also corporatised three nationalised commercial banks in February and had them registered under the Companies Act in line with the recommendations of the lending agencies, especially the World Bank.
   Preparation is under way to retrench the officials and employees of the Sonali, Janata and Agrani banks, and also either privatise or sell out the banks, finance ministry officials say.
   ‘Taking steps to bring dynamism in the nationalised commercial banks would have been wiser than corporatising them, which paves the way for takeover by foreign investors,’ an official of the central bank tells New Age.
   The government’s decision to post an administrator with the Oriental Bank and impose a moratorium on its activities to protect the interest of the depositors was viewed by bankers as pragmatic. It is set to reorganise the bank soon, sources say.
   Bankers also view the decision to raise the paid-up capital for scheduled banks from Tk 100 crore to Tk 200 crore as a reflection of the government’s determination to protect the interest of the depositors.
   Meanwhile, revenue collection has continued to be a major drawback for the government.
   The growth in revenue between January and June was about 10 per cent against a target of 21 per cent, sources in the National Board of Revenue say.
   The government in April downsized the NBR portion of the revenue target to Tk 37,297 crore from Tk 41,055 crore, which could not be met either.
   ‘We are little behind the revised revenue target,’ Badiur Rahman, chairman of the revenue board, told New Age on Monday.
   The revenue board is learnt to be facing a Tk 500-crore shortfall from the revised target and more than Tk 4,000-crore shortfall from the original target.
   As a result, the government has had to borrow heavily from the banking sector.
   The government’s borrowing from the banking system soared to a record high of Tk 6,486.06 crore in 2006-07, a Bangladesh Bank report shows. The amount exceeded the previous fiscal year’s Tk 6,041.50 crore, which was the highest in a decade.
   According to the central bank report, the government borrowed Tk 1,429.47 crore from the Bangladesh Bank and Tk 4,641.35 crore from scheduled banks. It also borrowed Tk 415.24 crore from the market through treasury bonds and treasury bills. Finance ministry officials attribute the soaring bank borrowing to a poor inflow of foreign aid and grants.
   The statistics of the Economic Relations Division put the disbursement of external funds at about $1.20 billion in 2006-07, down from $1.56 billion in 2005-06 and $1.48 billion in 2004-05.
   Political volatility towards the end of 2006 and a slow implementation of development projects resulted in the lower-than-expected disbursement of the committed external funds, ERD officials say.
   The public-sector entities, meanwhile, continued to incur heavy losses, totalling Tk 4,228.20 crore in 2006-07, the highest in a decade, mainly because of the international oil price volatility and depreciation of the taka against the dollar.
   The amount is up by 51.44 per cent or Tk 1,379.59 crore from the corresponding period in the fiscal year before, according to the Bangladesh Economic Survey 2007.
   The interim government has frozen bank accounts of above 100 politicians and businessmen and looked into the bank account details of over 500 politicians, businessmen and suspected tax evaders in the past six months.
   The revenue board has already filed tax evasion cases against Ali Asgar Loby, a former lawmaker, and will soon lodge about 15 to 20 cases against tax-evading politicians, sources say.
   The freezing of bank accounts and the cases against suspected tax dodgers prompted many to sort out their tax returns, tax officials claim.
   Many people, who have never paid tax despite having taxable incomes, are rushing to the tax offices to file their returns, they say.
   ‘People of all strata and their lawyers every day rush to or call our offices to find out how they can escape possible tax evasion cases,’ a tax commissioner has told New Age.
   High officials of the revenue board say they expect a surge in revenue collection in 2007-08.

Increase in the prices of essential commodities, from 5–54 per cent, in the first six months of the interim government, headed by Fakhruddin Ahmed, has put consumers at bay.
   Government reports show that the prices of ‘sensitive essential goods’ have increased between 5 per cent and 54 per cent in six months and the increase rate is higher that what it was in the past.
   The government’s failure to contain price increase has affected everyone. But low-income people feel the real pinch of the price spiral.
   Economists and market observers said the government had taken some steps to contain the price spiral, but farsighted and functional measures were yet to be taken.
   ‘In the early days of the interim government, limited-income group people such as me were expecting that the spiral would be contained,’ said Tariqul Islam, a government employee.
   ‘What we are facing these days in kitchen markets are not only disappointing, but also suffocating,’ said Tariqul, who lives in a small rented flat at Shantibagh.
   Citing the gradual increase in milk prices, Tariqul, father of two children, said he needed to buy at least two tins of milk a month. ‘Many others like me are now having a hard time to buy milk for the children.’
   A government report shows that the price of a 2kg tin of Dano, the major selling brand, was retailed on Tuesday for Tk 965, which is 10 per cent higher than the price of the previous month. The price of the product has increased by about 30 per cent in six months. The product sold for Tk 742.5 on January 11 when this government assumed office.
   The government report also shows that the prices of almost all ‘sensitive essential goods’ have registered a sharp increase in six months and the rate of the increase is much higher compared with what it had been in the preceding six months.
   According to a Bangladesh Rifles report, a kilogram of non-packed soya bean oil was retailed on an average for Tk 74 on Tuesday.
   The product sold for Tk 65 on January 11 and for Tk 47.5 on July 10, 2006, according to statistics available with the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh.
   The corporation markets nine items — rice, coarse flour, edible oil, sugar, red lentil, onions, potato, red chilli and milk, considered to be the ‘most essential commodities.’
   In its Tuesday’s report, the corporation showed that the prices of the nine commodities had jumped significantly since the assumption of office by the interim government.
   The state-run trading agency, which monitors daily market prices of 33 food items, said the prices of at least 25 items had registered a significant rise in six months.
   According to the corporation records, year-on-year increases in the prices of different foods items range between 3 per cent and 75 per cent and the average stands at 22 per cent.
   The Consumers’ Association of Bangladesh general secretary, Kazi Fauque, said the government took some steps to contain price spiral, but as the measures were not comprehensive, the syndicates, blamed for price manipulations, continued dictating the market.
   ‘The sweeping action of the government has failed to work,’ said the consumers’ rights activist. He said, ‘Functional laws are badly needed to stop profit-mongering.’
   Centre for Policy Dialogue research director Professor Mustafizur Rahman said the rising commodity prices on the international market mainly pushed up the prices on the local market, making the government helpless in arresting the prices of essential goods.
   ‘The government steps, including duty cut and the operation of sales outlets by the trading corporation and the Bangladesh Rifles, proved futile,’ the economist said.
   He pointed out that the production of commodities did not increase to meet the growing consumer demand.
   ‘Commodity supply chains remained distorted as middlemen keep adding undue values along the way from growers to retailers,’ he said.
   Mustafiz said there were drives against manipulators and extortioners involved in the transport of goods, but increased fuel cost had eaten up the money that was saved from keeping the manipulators and extortioners off the chain.
   He suggested that more wholesale outlets should be set up and the government should encourage farmers’ cooperatives as producers can carry their produces to retailers.

Pakistani troops stormed a pro-Taliban mosque in the heart of Islamabad Tuesday where militants were holed up with many women and children, sparking gun battles that killed at least 58 people.
   Massive blasts and gunfire rocked the Red Mosque throughout the day while plumes of smoke rose above the complex. Ambulances raced casualties to hospital as militants, some allegedly linked to al-Qaeda, put up fierce resistance.
   Rebel cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi was killed in crossfire between militants and Pakistani forces who stormed an Islamabad mosque, an interior ministry spokesman said.
   ‘He was spotted in the basement and asked to come out. He came out with four or five militants who kept on firing at security forces,’ spokesman brigadier Javed Cheema said, updating his earlier account of the incident.
   ‘The troops responded and in the crossfire he was killed.’
   Around 60 women and children have so far emerged from the complex since the dawn assault was launched, but many more were still believed to be inside as soldiers battled to take control of the compound’s 75 rooms one at a time.
   ‘Troops have secured 80 per cent of the complex and the resistance is intense in the remaining area,’ military spokesman major general Waheed Arshad said as the operation dragged on towards nightfall.
   He said around 50 militants and eight soldiers were confirmed dead and at least 15 soldiers were wounded.
   ‘The militants are using women and children as human shields,’ he said. ‘We are trying to move in slowly, keeping in view the constraints under which troops are operating.’
   President Pervez Musharraf, a key US ally under pressure to curb extremism, authorised the storming of the mosque after talks with Ghazi broke down following a week-long siege which had itself cost 24 lives.
   Tensions began early this year when its students launched an anti-vice campaign in a quest to enforce Islamic law. They also kidnapped several people accused of prostitution, including seven Chinese, who were later freed.
   The militants had booby trapped much of the compound and ‘have turned the mosque into a trench for them, they have violated the sanctity of the mosque,’ Arshad said.
   It was not clear how many militants or civilians were still inside.
   The government has spoken of 100 militants, and 300 to 400 women and children hostages. Mosque leaders have denied holding civilians as human shields and insisted all those in the compound were there voluntarily.
   Fifty militants surrendered after they were given a final chance during a break in the fighting.
   The military also said that the wife and daughter of Abdul Aziz, the head of the mosque who was captured trying to flee in a woman’s burqa on Wednesday, were among a group of civilians freed.
   ‘I hope we will be able to save many more lives,’ interior minister Aftab Sherpao said. He described the mosque as a ‘fortress where stockpiles of weapons, militants and tunnels were present.’
   A man who picked up one of the mobile phones belonging to Ghazi said those inside were under ‘massive bombing and gunfire. This is indiscriminate killing.’
   ‘There is no contact with each other because no one can leave the rooms and basements. There are dead bodies everywhere,’ the witness added.
   More than 1,200 male and female students fled the mosque earlier in the standoff.
   Minutes before the raid, top government negotiator Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, a former Pakistani premier, announced that 11 hours of negotiations had failed.

The two-day inter-governmental meeting to finalise the commercial operation of the Dhaka-Kolkata passenger train ended inconclusive on Tuesday as both the sides failed to narrow down their differences on security issues, especially fencing along 150 yards at the international boundary.
   The officials of Dhaka and New Delhi claimed they would finalise the date at their next meeting in Kolkata after the trial run of the Bangladesh train scheduled for July 29.
   The commercial service may be deferred for a month as both the sides said they required at least three to four weeks after Bangladesh’s trial run to wrap up their preparation.
   The officials earlier hinted that the cross-boundary train service, running between the Dhaka cantonment and Chitpur in Kolkata, a distance of 536km, might begin in the first half of August.
   ‘Passenger security is one of the major issues of the train service. We have placed some specific proposals and India placed its proposals in this regard,’ the additional communications secretary, ATKM Ismail, who led the 12-member Bangladesh delegation, told newsmen after the meeting at Rail Bhaban.
   He said once the issue of fencing was addressed, there would be no problem with the commissioning of the commercial service.
   Arguing for fencing, the Indian team leader, AE Ahmad, said, ‘As smuggling, drug traffic and illegal movement of people are frequent, it will be illogical if we do not have any precaution.’
   ‘This proposal is not defensive and aggressive; and safeguarding is not an unfriendly measure,’ he said.
   The additional home secretary of India told the newsmen that they received positive response from Bangladesh to stave off miscreants.
   Expressing his hope for commissioning the service within four weeks after July 29, Ahmad said, ‘I am now more hopeful of the train service.’
   As for fencing, he said, ‘We proposed to install wire fencing, 30 to 32 feet wide, spanning 150 yards at the international border.’
   On the frequency of the service, both the sides agreed to initially operate two round trips — one from Bangladesh and the other from India — in a week with seats for 380 passengers.
   Bangladesh earlier proposed to run four trains every week. But India said it was not ready to handle four trains for lack of preparation.
   Ismail said the frequency of the service would be increased after an increase in manpower and the infrastructural development by December.
   The two sides also agreed on customs and immigration, and train fares. Customs and immigration will be done at Gede station in Kolkata and the Cantonment station in Dhaka.
   Fares have been fixed at $8 for deluxe (Shobhan) class, $12 for air conditioned (Snigdha) class and $20 for air-conditioned sleeper class for a distance of 536km — 416km in Bangladesh and 120km in India.
   The meeting touched on the frequency of trains, customs and immigration, trial run of the Bangladesh train, construction of box-type fencing, selecting VIP delegates from both the sides for the opening train, inclusion of dining car and the date for commercial operation.

The government on Tuesday barred the BNP chairperson, Khaleda Zia, from visiting ailing singer Sabina Yasmin, now under treatment in a city hospital.
   ‘She [Khaleda] wanted to visit Sabina Yasmin at Lab Aid Specialised Hospital. But the authorities did not allow her to visit Sabina on security grounds,’ AKM Mohiuddin Khan Mohan, former assistant press secretary to the immediate-past prime minister, told reporters at the hospital at Dhanmondi.
   He said Khaleda asked all to pray for the early recovery of the singer, who is suffering from cancer.

Awami League presidium member, Zillur Rahman, on Tuesday termed as outrageous and atrocious the remarks made by law adviser Mainul Hosein that the chiefs two main political parties, Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina, were ‘failed leaders’ asking the people to reject them.
   In a statement signed by deputy office secretary of the Awami League, BM Mozammel Huq, the party veteran said that it was unfortunate that the law adviser, in an interview with a private television channel, had made such preposterous remarks against the top political leaders and did not even spare the intellectuals who he branded as conspirators.
   ‘It is an outrageous statement. His [Mainul] wild utterances made it clear that he is not a representative of a non-party government,’ Zillur said adding that Mainul had perhaps forgotten that he was an adviser to a non-party and non-political caretaker government.
   The law adviser’s statement indicated that the interim government was not non-partisan.
   ‘After taking oath as an adviser to a non-party government he breached the oath by making such statements and lost his moral right to continue as an adviser,’ the statement said.
   Zillur hoped that no adviser to the caretaker government would make the government controversial by making such irresponsible comments. He urged the government to relax the ban on political activities.

Music icon Sabina Yasmin will be flown to Singapore today for treatment at Singapore National Cancer Centre.
   ‘The ailing artiste will be taken to Singapore today [Wednesday]. The Bangladesh agent of Singapore National Cancer Centre has completed all preparations for her departure,’ Al Imran, an official of LabAid Specialised Hospital, where Sabina is being treated, told the news agency.
   Doctors found cyst in her lymphatic system. The biopsy report, carried out in Switzerland, said the cyst was a symptom of cancer. Sabina has long been suffering from diabetes too.
   ‘Her condition is better Tuesday than the last two days. Her body temperature is normal,’ Dr Md Mofazzal Hossain, who is treating Sabina, said.
   Dr Hossain said he knew nothing about her family’s move to get her treated in Singapore.
   Dr Ezharul Haq Kaiser of LabAid said chemotherapy had been stopped as Sabina was not fit to receive it, which has prompted the cancer to proliferate.
   The sooner she received the therapy, the better it was for her, he said.
   Well-wishers gathered on the ground floor of the hospital since Tuesday morning to know the latest about her.
   A physician said she was suffering from lymphoma cancer and was at a stage that is curable, but she needed chemotherapy.
   The four-member medical board formed for treatment of Sabina includes medicine specialist Sirajul Haq, surgery specialist Professor Khademul Islam and Professor Khawaja Nazimuddin.
   Hospital sources said Sabina was admitted to the hospital on June 12 with high fever and was losing weight fast.

Former foreign minister M Morshed Khan and his family submitted their wealth statements to the Anti-Corruption Commission on Tuesday.
   Morshed Khan owns immoveable property of Tk 1.42 crore and moveable property of Tk 26.58 lakh while his wife Nasreen Khan has immovable property of Tk 6.4 crore and Tk 86.82 lakh in the form of moveable assets, the statements mentioned.
   Morshed has a loan of Tk 58.50 lakh and Nasreen Tk 19.39 lakh, said the statements submitted by their representative, Anwar Jamil Chowdhury to the commission.
   The couple’s son Faisal Khan owns assets of Tk 2.56 as immoveable property and Tk 46 lakh as moveable property, he declared in his wealth statement which was submitted by his representative Mahmudul Haque to the commission.
   The Chittagong office of Anti-Corruption Commission, earlier asked Morshed Khan and his family to submit their wealth reports within seven-working days.
   Morshed faxed a letter to the commission from aboard seeking more time for submission of his wealth report and the ACC secretary extended seven more days which expired on Tuesday.
   With Morshed Khan, a total of 148 corruption suspects, out of 194 notified, have so far submitted wealth statements to the commission, the ACC sources said.

Law and order remained disappointing as criminal activities of all types have continued amid the state of emergency declared on January 11.
   The army-led joint forces, in the first six months of the interim government, detained more than 2.5 lakh people in raids and seized a significant number of firearms and explosive. But they have failed to contain crimes.
   Official records show that 1,932 killings took place during the period — on an average 322 killings every month, with the highest, 353, in June.
   The number of muggings, which in many cases are unreported, reduced slightly, but repression on women and children continued, presenting a bleak picture. Some 580 mugging incidents were recorded with the police stations during the period.
   A total of 7,060 women were tortured. Four hundred and forty-three such cases were recorded in January and 1,373 in June.
   The highest number of children, 118, out of the 523 tortured, was reported in June. The number of child repression incidents was 52 in January, according to statistics available with the home affairs ministry.
   The incidents of robbery were reported from all over the country. One thousand, one hundred and eighty-seven cases of robbery were reported in the period.
   Of the total killings taking place during the period, only two were political and 48 resulted from riot.
   Petty crimes such as burglary and theft also increased during the period. As the records show, 1,965 incidents of burglary and 5,889 of theft took place across the country.
   The police have filed 79,993 cases in connection with the criminal incidents taking place during the period.
   Statistics reveals that the joint forces detained 117,989 people, about a half of whom were arrested without any specific charges.
   A total of 260,380 people, including 619 convicts, have been arrested till Tuesday; 139,800 have been arrested under warrants.
   The forces seized 20,976 firearms and 87 grenades in the drives that began after the declaration of the state of emergency on January 11, according to statistics.

Bangladesh have made at least two changes from the last match for the third and final Test against Sri Lanka, which starts on Wednesday at the Asigirya Stadium in Kandy.
   Batsman Mehrab Hossain, who made 6 and 8 on debut at the P Sara Stadium in last match, made way for Tushar Imran who had been sent to Sri Lanka ahead of the match to give some much-needed impetus into the woeful middle-order.
   Left-arm paceman Syed Rasel meanwhile gets his first game on the tour in place of Mohammad Sharif, who failed to impress replacing left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak in the second Test.
   The third Test will begin at 11:00am (Bangladesh Standard Time) and will be telecast on Ten Sports. Bangladesh will be hoping to avoid batting first in the match after they were shot out for 89 and a record low 62 in the first innings of the previous Tests.
   The venue of the third Test, which is also the home the ground of Sri Lankan star cricketers Mutthia Muralitharan and Kumar Sangakkara, poses even a greater threat for its pace-friendly nature.
   The Tigers, 0-2 down in the series, trained in the afternoon on Tuesday at the venue, according to TigerCricket.com, the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s official website.
   Sri Lanka will name their playing eleven on the morning of the match. There will be at least one change in their line-up with veteran pace bowler Chaminda Vaas not available. Vaas has left for England to fulfill his commitment with county club Middlesex.
   Bangladesh: Mohammad Ashraful (captain), Shahriar Nafees, Javed Omar, Rajin Saleh, Habibul Bashar, Tushar Imran, Mushfiqur Rahim (wicketkeeper), Mashrafee bin Murtaza (vice-captain), Mohammed Rafique, Shahadat Hossain, Syed Rasel.

Eleven private land-phone operators have applied to the Bangladesh Telecommunica-tions Regulatory Commission for converting their zonal licences into countrywide ones so that they can operate in the central telecom zone, which is the most profitable.
   ‘We have sold applications to 11 land-phone operators since July 4,’ said an official of the BTRC on Tuesday.
   The official said the BTRC expects to issue the nationwide licences to eligible operators from next week.
   The BTRC invited applications on July 4 from the existing zonal PSTN (Public Switched Telecom Network) operators to convert their licences to nationwide ones to allow them to operate in the central zone, also referred to as Dhaka multi-exchange area, which was kept out of the purview of the licensing system following a court injunction.
   The central zone, comprising Dhaka city, Narayanganj municipality, Gazipur, Tongi, Savar, and Jinjira, is considered the most lucrative zone as the demand for land-phone connections here is estimated at around 10 lakh, or about 60 per cent of the total domestic demand.
   The 11 operators which bought application forms from the BTRC are Ranks Telecom Ltd, Bangla Phone Ltd, Tele Barta Ltd, GEP Telecom Ltd, Peoples Telecommunication and Information Service Ltd, One Tel Communication Ltd, Dhaka Telephone Company Ltd, Square Informatix Ltd, National Telecom Ltd, SA Telecom System Ltd and Nextel Telecom Ltd.
   The BTRC had earlier issued 35 licences to 15 private sector PSTN operators in the northeast, southeast, northwest, and southwest zones under the open licensing system. However, it recently cancelled the licences of two operators for delay in beginning operation.
   The fee for a nationwide licence is Tk 12 crore. But an existing operator interested in getting the licence will not have to pay the full amount as it has already paid for the licence for one or more zones.
   However, any land-phone operator charged by the BTRC with operating illegal VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) or asked to show cause for its involvement in any other offence will not be eligible for getting the countrywide licence.
   The BTRC has also attached certain conditions to licence conversion, one of which will require the licensee to install a significant number of phone connections in rural areas.

The United States has shelled out well over half a trillion dollars on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and running costs have hit 12 billion dollars a month, according to an independent report.
   New figures by the non-partisan Congressional Research Service emerged as debate hit a critical point in Washington over the huge human and financial costs of the four-year conflict in Iraq.
   The report also provided a glimpse into the astronomical costs of US military operations in years to come – saying the global war on terror could have churned through a stunning 1.4 trillion dollars by 2017.
   Since the strike on Afghanistan launched after the September 11 attacks in 2001, the United States has spent 610 billion dollars on the two wars, and on protecting US bases worldwide, said the report, updated late last month.
   Iraq has accounted so far for 450 billion dollars, the report said. In fiscal year 2007 alone, the Iraq operation sucked up 165.8 dollars, an increase of 40 per cent year-on-year.
   CRS, which exists to provide non-partisan and independent advice to lawmakers and congressional committees, said the huge financial cost of the war was set to rise.
   If 2008 funding requests are granted in full, the report said, war spending will rise to 758 billion dollars, with 567 billion dollars spent on Iraq.
   ‘For the first half of FY2007, CRS estimates that DOD’s average monthly obligations for contracts and pay is running about 12 billion dollars per month, well above the 8.7 billion dollars in FY2006,’ the report said, referring to the Defense Department.
   If already spent money and future spending estimates of Iraq and Afghan war funding are combined, the total war costs could reach between 980 billion to 1.4 trillion dollars by 2017, the report said.
   The fiscal year begins on October 1.

Sixty-two immigrants have died in US jails since 2004 for lack of medical care, human rights groups told members of the US Congress Monday.
   ‘Deficient medical care in immigration detention is a systematic problem and needs to be addressed,’ said Tom Jawetz, of the American Civil Liberties Union, the largest US group defending civil rights.
   ‘A serious and growing problem in immigration detention (is) horribly inadequate medical care that leads to unnecessary suffering and death.’
   Former lawmaker Keith Ellison also testified: ‘Recent news articles unveiled extreme failures in medical treatment that have resulted in at least 62 people dying in ICE custody,’ referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, part of Homeland Security.
   ICE routinely detains undocumented immigrants until an administrative judge determines they must be deported, granted asylum hearings, arrested on criminal charges, granted release or their cases are otherwise disposed of.
   ‘The American public deserves these answers,’ he said.
   Michele Garnett McKenzie, a human rights lawyer in Minnesota, told the story of Cynthia Lamah, who requested asylum and was arrested in July 2005 when four months pregnant.
   She soon suffered cramps and bleeding, was taken to hospital and ordered to return if she had a relapse.
   One week later, a bleeding Lamah asked her jailers to return to hospital, as her doctor ordered.
   ‘Over the course of the next few days, she was told repeatedly that things were normal, given Tylenol, and sent to bed.
   ‘Cynthia’s water broke and she aborted in the jail,’ McKenzie said. ‘She was denied permission to be released to attend the baby’s funeral.’
   She was deported, the lawyer told the hearing.
   The advocates said that since 1996, the population in the 330 ICE jails has risen dramatically, threatening to overwhelm the system.

Cuba’s interim leader Raul Castro has scheduled elections without making clear whether his convalescing brother Fidel Castro will remain officially in the political hierarchy, or whether the communist regime’s long-time number two will be at its helm for good.
   Raul Castro, 76, has led Cuba since Fidel Castro, 80, underwent intestinal surgery almost one year ago.
   The famously bearded revolutionary, a perpetual thorn in the side of the United States, has not appeared in public since. But he has regained weight he lost while ill, and has taken up writing commentaries in state-run media.
   Monday, Raul Castro set the date for local (city and town) general elections as October 21 with a second round October 28. He also said elections to the national legislature – the National Assembly of the People’s Power – held once every five years, would be held at a date to be announced.
   The elected legislature selects the 31 members of the Council of State, which in turn chooses Cuba’s president and chief of state. Fidel Castro rose to power in Cuba January 1, 1959; he has led the Council of State since 1976.

The government has fixed the subscription fee for satellite television viewing on the basis of area and the number of channels.
   The information ministry on Tuesday said a subscriber living in Dhaka or Chittagong would need to pay Tk 300 for 60 channels, including 30 pay channels.
   It has also fixed Tk 250 as the fee for the subscribers in Rajshahi, Khulna, Sylhet, Barisal, Faridpur, Mymensigh, Patuakhali, Comilla, Kushtia, Pabna, Bogra, Rangpur, Dinajpur, Rangamati and Tangail cities for watching 50 channels including 25 pay channels.
   For other district towns and upazilas, the ministry has fixed Tk 200 and Tk 150 as subscription fee respectively for watching 40 channels including 15 pay channels and 30 channels including 10 pay channels.
   The ministry fixed the rate recently at a meeting with the Channel Distributors and Cable Operators Association.

A crime suspect, detained in jail nine years ago, hurt himself in the courtroom of a metropolitan sessions judge in Dhaka on Tuesday as the judge could not hear his appeal on personal grounds.
   The 42-year-old man, Ahsan, was then taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital with injuries in the head. He hit himself against the electric switch board fixed on the wall.
   Ahsan, who faces an arms case, told the judge, AKM Enamul Haque, that the court could not detain him in jail for years without trial. ‘Sentence or release me’ an on-duty police quoted Ahsan as saying to the judge.
   As the judge left the bench without hearing the appeal, Ahsan started hitting himself against the switch board, the police said.
   Ahsan was produced in the court from Dhaka Medical College Hospital in the morning.
   The court could only record the statement of the complainant, Mokhter Hossain, out of the 15 witnesses, on April 28.
   Ahsan, along with three others, was arrested at Manda of Sabujbagh in Dhaka on July 6, 1999. The four were later sent to jail on charge of keeping illegal firearms.
   Three others were remanded on bail just after their arrest, but the bail prayer of Ahsan, a resident of Jhenaigati in Sherpur, was rejected as he could not engage any lawyer to defend him, court sources said.

The Rapid Action Battalion on Tuesday arrested after a gunfight three suspected Islamist militants at a house at Mirpur in Dhaka.
   Locals said the battalion members surrounded the house at Mirpur Section 1 at about 9:30am and knocked on the door. Instead of opening the door, the inmates opened fire on the battalion contingent, which fired back. The trade of bullets was over after a few minutes.
   The battalion members broke into the house and found a man, Sakhawat, lying on the floor with a bullet wound in the waist. Sakhawat, his wife, and another man were taken into the battalion custody at the house.
   The RAB team also seized two pistols, nine bullets, four personal computers, and some books on Jihad from the house.
   The police said they heard about the gunfight but did not offer any details. RAB officials also refused to divulge any information regarding the arrests, saying the operation was still on.
   Two days ago, RAB arrested two more suspected Islamist militants, Saiful Islam, 25, and Sagar Hossain, 20, at Muktagachha in Mymensingh in connection with the killing of a Muktagachha madrassah teacher, Rafiqul Islam.
   Tuesday’s operation was conducted based on information provided by Saiful, RAB sources said.
   RAB arrested Siddiqul Islam Bangla Bhai, second-in-command of the banned Islamist outfit Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh, after a gunfight at a village under Muktagachha upazila in early 2006. Bangla Bhai, along with five other top leaders of the outfit, was executed on March 30.