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The foreign minister, Dipu Moni, has called upon the opposition to come up with suggestions where they differ with the government on foreign policy issues.
   ‘Parliament is the appropriate place, but they can advance suggestions from out of parliament for protecting the national interests, Dipu Moni said targeting the BNP while speaking at a seminar. The seminar on ‘International cooperation: Bangladesh perspective’ was arranged at Bijoy Mela at MA Aziz stadium Sunday evening.
   She assured that any suggestions considered to serve best the national interests will be accepted. But she urged the opposition not to come up with vague suggestions for the sake of mere opposition.
   The call from the foreign minister came in response to wild criticisms of the government foreign policy, particularly in the advent of prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to India early next month.
   ‘The government does not believe in keeping alive disputes and continue conflicts with neighbours. We have many problems with India — problems on the border and river waters — which we sincerely want to resolve through negotiations across the table,’ said the foreign minister.
   In a rare move the foreign minister was critical of the previous government for pursuing a wrong foreign policy. ‘Their inferiority complex, mean mindedness and quarrelling mentality had isolated Bangladesh in the comity of nations. We have come out of that and adopted a liberal and open foreign policy, which has been acclaimed across the world.
   ‘Bangladesh now stands with its head high. And this is the success of the present Awami League government,’ she claimed.
   Dipu Moni assured that the government would safeguard the national interests in taking decision on the proposed Asian highway and the sub-marine cable connection.
   Turning to internal politics she viewed that the BNP has done a blunder in elevating Tarique Rahman, without naming him, to the second position in the party. Such a mentality of promoting son in the 21st century politics is not acceptable. The BNP has isolated itself from the masses by unduly promoting a highly controversial person, labelled as corrupt, she added.
   She was equally critical of the previous BNP-Jamaat alliance government for, what she said, inducting war criminals in the cabinet. That had made the alliance most unpopular, she said.
   Dipu Moni called upon the people to remain united so that the tainted people could never return to power. She reassured the nation of bringing the war criminals to the dock.

A rights group on Sunday demanded that Dhaka should quit G-77 and China bloc in the climate change negotiations and build an alternative alliance with the least developed and most vulnerable countries.
   Equity and Justice Working Group, Bangladesh, advocated the country’s withdrawal from the bloc which, as it said, was clearly protected interests of the advanced developing countries like China and India and ignored the interests of the most vulnerable countries like Bangladesh.
   At a press conference, titled ‘Peoples’ Struggle in Copenhagen and the Accord of Discord’, leaders of EquityBD said that the delegation of Bangladesh in the climate talks was ‘too big’ but less focused on the country’ interests.
   ‘There was lack of coordination among the members of the delegation. The Bangladesh minister should have remained present at all relevant sessions to keep the team active,’ Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, convenor of EquityBD, told newsmen at the National Press Club.
   There was no country stall at the conference venue, he said, pointing out that countries such as Brazil and the Maldives had their stalls put up to demonstrate their causes.
   The civil society group demanded exclusion from the official delegation of consultants who, it alleged, protected the interests of international financial institutions and multinational companies.
   Mohammad Shamsuddoha, secretary general of the group, mentioned that the accord in Copenhagen by-passed the principle of pay for polluting and exploiting resources as well as the historic responsibility of the rich nations to pay compensation to climate vulnerable countries.
   Ahmed Swapan of VOICE and journalists Kawsar Rahman and Sujan Mehedi shared their experiences in the recently held climate summit in the Danish capital.
   Discussants demanded that funding arrangements by some national and international non-government organisations for bringing influential people to Copenhagen conference should be made public to ensure transparency.
   They further recommended that the government should in future consult and maintain coordination with the civil society organizations and the media to mobilize opinions.

Human rights watchdog Ain o Salish Kendra on Sunday condemned the statement of the home minister, Sahara Khatun, she made at a programme of the Milestone College in Dhaka on Saturday denying any incidents of ‘crossfire.’
   In a statement signed by its executive director Sultana Kamal, the organisation said they had come to know that the minister had said, ‘There is nothing called crossfire. When the criminals open fire on the law enforcers they fire back in self defence.’
   ‘We have seen she and other ministers have several times made similar statements but through evidence and information available with us we do not find any truth in such statements. Nobody finds truth in the statements that law enforcers take a handcuffed and weak person to recover weapons and the person attacks them and try to get away amid trade of gunshots and dies but none other sustains injuries and no associates of the person were arrested,’ the statement said.
   ‘When elected representatives, including the home minister, try to certify the statements, which have lost public trust, as transparent, it creates a condemnable instance and instigate law enforcers into the heinous act,’ the statement said.
   ‘We thank the home minister for admitting that law enforcers open fire when it was earlier said that only the associates of criminals open fire,’ it said.
   ‘We have been saying that the practice of such extrajudicial killing is not positive for the rule of law or democratic process. Now we want to add that practice of establishing false by the elected representatives would invite dire consequences,’ the statement said.
   ‘The home minister said each of such incidents was investigated and we demand that the findings of each investigation should be made public so that the people can believe that their representatives are speaking the truth,’ the statement said.

Sadat Hossain Salim was re-elected president of the Dhaka Club Limited for the third consecutive term in its annual election on Sunday.
   A 10-member executive committee was also elected. The committee members are Nurul Islam Khan (Akkas Khan), Shakil Kasem, Zahid Hassan, Khawzah Zain Niaz, Ruhul Amin Babul, Shahjahan Chowdhury, Siraj Uddin Haider, Shahzada A Hamid, Iqbal Bahar Chowdhury (Kochie) and Gaus Uddin Khan.
   Sadat, also the vice-chairman of the Rupayan Group, polled 619 votes as against 357 polled by his nearest candidate.
   He is also a renowned conservationist and expert on birds of Bangladesh. He has written a book on birds.

A parliamentary watchdog has rejected the Anti-Corruption Commission’s statement that former shipping adviser MA Matin had done no irregularities in awarding a container handling deal at Chittagong port.
   The chairman of the Anti-Corruption Commission, Golam Rahman, recently said Matin had done nothing wrong with the deal.
   ‘We reject the statement of the ACC chairman,’ Noor-e-Alam Chowdhury, chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on shipping ministry, told reporters after meeting on Sunday.
   ‘The chairman must give us his opinion in writing on Matin,’ said Chowdhury, who was jailed during the caretaker time on corruption charges.
   The shipping minister, Shajahan Khan, says his ministry would file corruption case against Matin with the ACC by January next year. The minister on August 30 this year told bdnews24.com that his ministry would file the case in a ‘week’.
   ‘We will file the corruption case against MA Matin by January,’ Khan told reporters Sunday after a meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on shipping ministry at parliament building.
   The parliamentary standing committee in August probed the awarding of the container handling deal to a private firm on the last day of Matin as shipping adviser to the caretaker government.
   The parliamentary panel blamed Matin for resorting to ‘massive irregularities’ in awarding the contract on Jan 6, 2009.
   The standing committee recommended the ministry file the corruption case.
   Matin vehemently denied wrongdoing in the process saying he saved public money through the contract.

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police on Sunday changed road discipline for the Sonargaon crossing to ease snarl-up at the point.
   According to a DMP release, vehicles from Farmgate will not take a right turn in the Sonargaon crossing.
   Vehicles willing to go to the Bashundhara City will need to take a left turn in the crossing and move up to TCB Bhaban to take a U-turn or go straight up to the Bangla Motor crossing.
   Vehicles from the Bangla Motor crossing will also not take a right turn in the Sonargaon corssing. Vehicles willing to move towards the Film Development Corporation, Rainbow crossing or Sat Rasta crossing will take a right turn in the Bangla Motor crossing to take a right turn in the Sonargaon crossing via the Hatirpool Road.
   DMP on December 8 launched a drive against breach of lane discipline, unauthorised parking and violation of traffic rules.

The chief metropolitan magistrate’s court in Khulna on Sunday summoned Bangladesh Nationalist Party lawmaker Salauddin Quader Choudhury to appear in court on January 24 in a defamation case.
   The magistrate, Md Barequzzaman, passed the order posting the hearing in the case for January 24. Lawyer Sultana Rahman Shilpi filed the case on August 17.
   The sources said Sultana lodged the defamation case of Tk 10 crore with the chief metropolitan magistrate’s court against SQ Choudhury for saying at a discussion at the National Press Club in Dhaka on August 13 that ‘August 15, 1975 killing was inevitable’ which was reported in newspapers the next day.
   The complainant claimed that the remark was made to defame the country’s founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
   According to court sources, Sultana, in her case document, said they had felt aggrieved after reading the reports on August 14.
   She filed the case on August 17 and the court the same day ordered metropolitan magistrate Swapan Kumar Sarkar for a judicial inquiry in this connection.
   The metropolitan magistrate submitted his report on September 16, sources said, adding that the chief metropolitan magistrate’s court accepted the probe report on Sunday and summoned Salauddin to appear in court on January 24.

The Border Security Force of India abducted a Bangladeshi farmer from Hudapara border village in Damurhuda upazila of Chuadanga.
   Locals said a group of BSF troops of Gongra outpost intruded in Hudapara village and abducted Babul Akter, 30, when he was working in the field at about 5:30pm on Saturday. He was taken away at gunpoint. Soon the matter was informed to the BDR.
   Confirming the abduction, BDR local commander Lt Col Sultan Ahmed said a flag meeting with BSF was held at the company commander level Sunday seeking immediate return of Babul Akter.

A Bangladesh Rifles special court in Rangamati on Sunday framed charges against nine soldiers for the February 25-26 rebellion by the border guards stationed there.
   The BDR special court 4 adjourned the trial, which had begun Sunday, till Tuesday morning after recording depositions of two prosecution witnesses.
   As the first prosecution witness, the BDR Rajanagr battalion’s deputy assistant director Tobarak Uddin Ahmed, also the plaintiff of the case, made his deposition in the court, the accused soldiers cross-examined him.
   The lawyers, appointed by the accused soldiers, helped them in the cross-examination. The counsels, however, were not allowed to directly cross-examine the witnesses.
   Only seven reporters were allowed to observe the proceedings in the makeshift courtroom at the Rangamati sector headquarters.
   The nine accused – havildars Sabbir Ahmed, Sohrab Hossain and Shamsul Haque and soldiers Abul Kalam Azad, Abdur Rahman, Md Sakhawat Hossain, Md Rasel Kabir, Md Zahir Uddin and Md Sarwar Kamal – were in the dock and all of them pleaded not guilty.
   This is the first instance in the history of the country in which any BDR soldiers have been charged with mutiny and facing trial under the Bangladesh Rifles Order 1972.
   In his deposition, the plaintiff told the court that the nine soldiers had expressed solidarity with the mutineers at the BDR headquarters in Dhaka and committed eight offences during the rebellion.
   They incited mutiny, instigated soldiers against officers, misbehaved with and made indecent gestures to the officers and their families, damaged the telephone exchange of the battalion and opened the armoury without permission and took up arms illegally, he said.
   The second prosecution witness, Aleya Ferdous, the wife of BDR officer Major Alauddin, also made her deposition stating that she was at her mother’s house during the rebellion and could not contact her husband, posted at Rajnagar battalion, as the telephone exchange of the battalion was damaged by the rebels.
   She was, however, not cross-examined by the soldiers.
   She also told the court that when she had got connection with the telephone exchange, someone from the exchange said she could not talk to her husband over telephone as the exchange was damaged.
   The chair of the court, BDR director general, major general Mainul Islam, asked her whether the voice of any of the nine soldiers were similar to that of the man, who talked to her from the telephone exchange. ‘At that time, I was too upset to recognise the voice now,’ Aleya replied.
   The two others on the special court are – lieutenant colonel Abdur Rauf and major Golam Mostafa Al Mamun. They are officers deputed to the border guards from the army.
   The attorney general’s representative, deputy attorney general Mohmmad Sohrawardi and state counsels Mosharraf Hossain Kajol and Manjurul Alam were present to assist the court.
   The trial began Sunday amid tight security in Rangamati.
   The Rapid Action Battalion, police, Bangladesh Rifles and detectives have taken special security measures in and around the special court 4 set up at the Jhagrabil BDR sector headquarters in the scenic hill town.
   This is the fourth of the six special courts formed under the order on November 15 for the trial of the BDR soldiers facing charges of mutinies across the country.
   Two other special courts in Satkhira and Feni, headed by the BDR director general, are scheduled for January 18, 2010 and January 24 for framing mutiny charges against 60 and 62 soldiers respectively.
   Seventy-five persons, including 57 army officials, were killed in the BDR headquarters in Dhaka during the February 25-26 rebellion.
   The six special courts, formed on November 15, will, however, try the BDR soldiers on mutiny charges only.
   BDR personnel and civilians against whom charges of other criminal offences such as killing and looting have been brought, will be tried by a speedy trial tribunal under the Penal Code.
   Their trial in the tribunal will begin after charges are pressed in the case.

Leaders of the 11-Party Alliance on Sunday called on the government to take steps to immediately start trial of the war criminals of the war of independence in 1971.
   They made the call while addressing a discussion on ‘trial of the war criminals and restoration of constitution of 1972’ organised by the 11-Party, a partner of the Awami League-led alliance, in Dhaka on the occasion of Victory Day.
   The speakers also urged the government to restore the constitution of 1972 which speaks of four fundamentals — Bengali nationalism, democracy, socialism and secularism.
   They expressed dissatisfaction over the delay in starting trail of the war criminals even after passing a bill in this regard in the first session of the ninth parliament.
   The Workers Party of Bangladesh president, Rashed Khan Menon,
   said the constitution of 1972 was amended for rehabilitating the war criminals in the politics of the country.
   The BNP led-four party alliance has taken stance against the restoration of 1972 constitution, he said.
   ‘Restoration of 1972 constitution does not mean restoration of BAKSAL but it is for establishing of four fundamentals of the constitution,’ he said.
   The adviser to Ganatantri Party, Azizul Ismlam Khan, said the government should start trial of the war criminals soon in the greater interests of the country.
   The presidium member of National Awami Party faction, Amena Ahmed, called on the left political parties to wage movement to press for immediate start of the trial of war criminals.
   It is not possible to establish a secular democratic Bangladesh without holding trail of the war criminals and restoration of the constitution of 1972, she added.
   The 11-Party Alliance coordinator and Ganatantri Party presidium member Mahmudur Rahman Babu chaired the programme held at the conference of the Dhaka Reporters Unity.
   Workers Party general secretary Anisur Rahman Mollick, Ganatantri Party general secretary Nurur Rahman Selim, Ganatantrik Mojdur Party general secretary Zakir Hossain, Samyabdi Dal central leader Harun Chowdhury and Prajanma-71 president Shahin Reza Noor, among others, took part in the discussion.

Bangladesher Samaj-tantrik Dal will hold its first central convention in Dhaka in December 30–31 aimed at strengthening left alternative political forces outside the two big political parties, the Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
   The convention will begin at 11:30am at Mahanagar Natyamancha in Dhaka. Central leaders of the party and leaders of the Workers World Party of the United Sates, Socialist Unity Centre of India, New Democratic Party of Sri Lanka, Unified Communist Party of Nepal and Workers Party of North Korea will speak, the BSD convener, Khalequzzaman, said at a briefing at the National Press Club on Sunday.
   The opening session will be followed by a procession and a discussion in Natyamancha auditorium.
   The party will hold its council session at the same place on December 31 to be joined in by about 700 party delegates from across the country to elect the central committee, Khalequzzaman said.
   It will hold exchanges of views with local left political leaders at the Moitri Hall of the Communist Party of Bangladesh office on January 1 to be joined in by foreign delegates of the convention.
   The preparations for the convention have been made and the party has held council sessions in 32 districts, the organisers said.
   Central party leaders Mobinul Hayder Chowdhury, Abdullah Sarker, Shuvrangshu Chakrabarty, Bazlur Rashid Firoj and Razequzzaman Ratan attended the briefing.
   Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal was founded in 1980.

The trial of those who committed war crimes in collaboration with the Pakistani occupation forces during the 1971 Bangladesh war of independence will be held in the then Pakistan chief justice’s chamber in Dhaka, according to the latest plan announced by the law minister Sunday.
   Shafique Ahmed said the tribunal for trying the war criminals would be set up at the Old High Court building shifting the secretariat of the Judicial Service Commission.
   ‘The much-awaited trial will take place in the chamber of the then Pakistan chief justice at the Old High Court building,’ the law minister told reporters after finally selecting the trial venue Sunday.
   The state minister for law, Quamrul Islam, the state minister for housing and public work, Abdul Mannan Khan, PWD chief engineer and senior law ministry officials accompanied him during the selection of tribunal site, changing the venue from Abdul Ghani Road.
   The accommodation for the war-crime-investigation officers and prosecutors will also be there with provision for logistic supports, Shafique said.
   In preparation for opening the trial, the investigation and prosecution cells would be constituted by February-March 2010.
   Besides, the tribunal will provide accommodation facilities for both local and foreign observers and media crew to witness the trial. And for that reason the Old High Court building needs renovation, he said.
   The law minister made it clear that the trial of the war criminals ‘is not intended to politically harass any individual or party’.
   ‘Those who perpetrated the offences like killings, rape, arson, looting and crimes against humanity, including forcing people to desert motherland, during the war of independence in 1971 would be brought to justice,’ he said.

The deputy leader of the house, Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, has said the war criminals and razakars never came to Shaheed Minar and will never be allowed here.
   The persons who had sheltered the razakars must be tried on this soil, she asserted while inaugurating victory festival organised by Joy Bangla Sangskritik Jote at Central Shaheed Minar in the city.
   Earlier, a message of the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, was read out at the function in which she emphasised on strengthening cultural movement for consolidating the victory and spirit of war of liberation.
   December is the month of victory and pride for the Bengali nation, she added.
   The prime minister said the initiatives taken by Joy Bangla Sangskritik Jote would imbue the people to the ideals of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and spirit of war of liberation.
   Presided over by Jote president Salahuddin Badal, the function was addressed, among others, by AL leader Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya, Sheikh Abdul Kader, Shaheda Tarek Dipti, MP, and Osman Ghani.
   Sajeda Chowdhury
   said Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had given us an independent country and a constitution. But huge conspiracies had been hatched against the country and its constitution, she said.

Bangladesh and Myanmar will hold a foreign secretary-level consultation in Dhaka on Tuesday.
   A three-member Myanmar delegation, led by deputy foreign minister U Maung Myint, is scheduled to arrive in Dhaka today to attend the fourth foreign secretary-level talks between the two countries.
   The foreign secretary, Mohamed Mizarul Quayes, will lead the Bangladesh delegation to the two-day talks to be held at the foreign ministry.
   Bangladesh is likely to give priority to improvement of road connectivity, repatriation of Rohingya refugees, improvement of export to the country and maritime boundary dispute, according to a senior ministry official.
   ‘We will talk repatriation of Rohingya refugees, among other issues, and an end to the pushback by Myanmar,’ Mizarul Quayes told reporters.
   ‘We will stress on improving the situation in Myanmar so that the exodus of people stops,’ he said.
   Repatriation of Rohingya refugees has remained a major issue for discussion between the two countries since 1992.

A RAB official has been ordered to appear in a Dhaka court after he had failed to produce an accused in the court within 24 hours of arrest.
   Second additional chief metropolitan magistrate Abu Zafar Mohammed Quamruzzaman on Sunday asked RAB-4 deputy assistant director Sheikh Shahidul Islam to appear before the court on Thursday.
   The RAB-4 team led by Shahidul arrested Rabiul on November 26 on charges of illegal possession of banned cough syrup Phensidyle.
   Aminul Gani Tito, a lawyer for Rabiul, said the RAB official filed a case against his client 18 hours later and produced him before the court on November 27.
   According to CrPC Act and article 33(2) of the constitution, an accused in a case should be produced in the court within 24 hours of arrest.
   Aminul in his appeal sought bail for his client. The court will hear the appeal on Thursday.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party secretary general, Khandaker Delwar Hossain, on Sunday blasted the reported plan to deploy Indian security forces at its high commission in Dhaka.
   ‘We are concerned over the plan, as reported by media, for deployment of Indian security forces at their high commission in Dhaka which goes against international and diplomatic norms,’ Delwar said in a statement.
   ‘Citizens of an independent and sovereign state cannot accept such an extreme plan. As a responsible political party, the BNP cannot keep silent on the issue,’ he said.
   ‘The BNP is committed to thwarting any move against the country’s interests or against the country’s independence and sovereignty.
   If the government allows India to deploy their security forces at the Indian high commission for their submissive foreign policy, we will resist it along with the people,’ he said.
   The BNP secretary general asked the government and Indian high commission to give up such ‘evil intentions’ that could harm Bangladesh’s national interests.

Hasna Banu, a veteran female freedom fighter, died of old age complications at her Rampura residence here Sunday morning at the age of 101.
   She is survived by one son and five daughters.
   Hasna Banu was laid to rest at Azimpur Graveyard after her namaj-e-janaza at Moulvirtek Jam-e-mosque near her house after the asr prayers.
   A good number of people from all walks of life attended the janaza.
   Hearing her death news, home minister Sahara Khatun, AL city general secretary Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya, AL leader KM Rahmat Ullah MP and many other leaders and activists visited her residence, said a press release.
   Hasna Banu, a devoted AL activist, had played important role in different movements of the country for establishing the rights of people.
   Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman conferred ‘Commander’ title on her for her sincerity and dedication.

The Bikalpadhara Bangladesh president, AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury, on Sunday called for introducing politics of unity and mutual compromise, shunning the politics of confrontation.
   Badruddoza, also former president of the country, made the call while addressing the inauguration of the maiden national council session of the Zaker Party at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Dhaka city.
   The Zaker Party chairman, Mostafa Amir Faisal, also peer of Atroshi, has been re-elected as party chief in the council session of the party.
   Awami League presidium member Yusuf Hossain Humayun, BNP leader and former state minister ANM Ehsanul Haque Milon, Jatiya Party (Manju) secretary general Sheikh Shahidul Islam and Iraqi charge D’ affaires Satie F Al Tai spoke on the occasion.
   ‘We must stop the existing political culture where the opposition opposes all government decisions only for the sake of opposition and where the ruling party does not accept any good proposal from the opposition, Badruddoza, a former BNP leader, said.
   ‘This sort of politics must be stopped if we want to steer the country forward,’ he said
    ‘There is no alternative to working together for advancement of the country. The government should be more liberal and tolerant towards the opposition parties and at the same time, the opposition must practice constructive politics,’ the former president said.
   Yusuf Hossain Humayun thanked the Zaker Party for ,what he said, playing a key role in keeping the people on the path of democracy while others are misguiding people in the name of religious extremism and fundamentalism.
   In his speech, Ehsanul Haque Milon hoped that Zaker Party would play a vital role in safeguarding country’s sovereignty and would stand against any government decision that goes against the national interests.
   Sheikh Shahidul Islam called upon the people to stand guard against those who oppose Sufism and practice religion-based politics to misguide people to religious extremism and terrorism.
   The Zaker Party chairman in his speech called for forging national unity of patriotic and democratic forces on fundamental issues in the greater national interests.
   ‘Keeping the nation divided on fundamental issues will be suicidal against the backdrop of today’s regional and international circumstances,’ he added.

A 24-year-old nurse of ZH Sikder Medical College Hospital, Dhaka, Kakoli Rani Bhodro, has
   been fighting with breast cancer.
   After treatment from an Indian hospital, Kakoli still has to undergo further treatment to survive, doctors said.
   Kakoli is now under the treatment of Thoracic Surgeon in Dhaka. She needs Tk 10 lakh for her treatment, which is beyond the capacity of her peasant father.
   Kakoli’s mother Purnima Rani Bhodro appeals to all for financial support to help save the life of her daughter.
   Contributions can be sent to Kakoli Rani Bhadro, Savings A/C No 0007334066827, National Bank Ltd, ZH Sikder Medical College branch, Rayer Bazar, Dhaka. Interested persons can also call her family members at 01915-049662, 01913-285643 or 01722-509206.

Likening an acid terror to a ferocious beast, the state minister for home affairs, Shamsul Huq Tuku, Sunday warned that stern action would be taken against those involved in acid terrorism disregarding one’s political identity.
   Speaking at a National Dialogue on Open Market Acid Sale in Bangladesh at Hotel Sheraton, he said an acid terror could only be compared with a ferocious animal—they are not human being.
   Tuku observed that though the incidence of acid violence has come down, it needs building public opinion and social awareness against this criminal act.
   ‘Public awareness has to be built in such a way so it creates heartbeat in the acid terrors, whoever they might be,’ Tuku told the meet.
   In 2002, there were 500 incidents of acid violence recorded across the country while it came down to 179 in 2008.
   The state minister ordered the law-enforcers to initiate quick investigation as soon as any complaint against acid violence is received, be it true or false.
   There is no alternative but to build public opinion alongside the application of law to cut down the incidence of acid violence.
   ‘Acid terror will not be allowed to escape anyway …Public opinion has to be built against them,’ the minister said.
   He also urged the NGOs to work together with the government to combat this crime. ‘Instead of individual initiative, it is better to have collective approach against it.’
   Samantha Lal Sen, head of the Burn Unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital, suggested setting up a burn unit at each hospital in divisional towns.
   Professor SM Imamul Huq, chairman of BCSIR, suggested issuance of ID card for acid buyers to stop abuse of the acid.
   Monira Rahman, executive director of Acid Survivors Foundation, said her organisation had identified 3,200 acid survivors in the last 10 years. This crime would continue until and unless the acid terrors are tracked down and punished.
   Action Aid Country director Farah Kabir moderated the dialogue. Former IGP Nurul Huda and Abul Hossain of the ministry of women and children affairs also spoke at the dialogue.

Two defamation cases have been filed in Jhenaidah and Gaibandha against daily Amar Desh acting editor Mahmudur Rahman and two others for publishing ‘false report’ about prime minister’s son Sajeeb Wazed Joy and energy adviser Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury.
   The other accused of the case are : Publisher of the daily Md Hasmat Ali and reporter M Abdullah.
   In Jhenaidah, Safiul Islam, president of Sadar upazila unit of Bangabandhu Parishad, filed the Tk 100-crore defamation suit with the chief judicial magistrate court.
   After the hearing, magistrate Masudur Rahman issued summons against the accused asking them to appear in person before the court on February 22.
   Another report from Gaibandha adds: General secretary of Gaibandha district Awami League Abu Bakr Siddique filed a Tk 10-crore case with the chief judicial magistrate’s court against the three.
   The CJM issued summons and asked the accused to ‘appear in person’ before the court on the next date of hearing.
   According to the prosecution, the complainant mentioned that the daily in its December 17 issue published news headlined ‘Allegation of $5 million bribes against energy adviser Tawfiq-e-Elahi and prime minister’s son Sajeeb Wazed Joy’.
   The image of the energy adviser and Joy has been tarnished by publishing the news item, it is stated in the case.

The police in Noakhali arrested eight suspected members of the banned Hizbut Towhid at Uttar Fakirpur in the district headquarters early Sunday.
   The Sudharam police said they had raided a flat and arrested the eight suspected of being members of Hizbut Towhid. The police seized eight mobiles, four identity cards, 30 CDs, leaflets, books, two cheque books and Tk 1 lakh in cash.
   The arrested are Hosneara, 48, Hasina Akhter, 18, Nargis Akhter, 27, Abdus Sobhan, 55, Mainuddin, 25, Russell, 18, all residents of Purkora at Sonaimuri, Sajib, 18, of Uttar Fakirpur and Abdul Wahid Mamun, 28 of Bowak at Senbagh.

Bangla Academy on Sunday celebrated the 75th anniversary of the birth of the country’s two prominent litterateurs — Syed Shamsul Haq and Rabeya Khatun.
   To mark the occasion, a discussion and a musical soiree were arranged at the seminar room of the academy.
   The Bangla Academy director general, Shamsuzzaman Khan, delivered the address of welcome at the discussion chaired by National Professor Kabir Chowdhury. Poet Asad Chowdhury and fiction writer Imdadul Haque Milon highlighted various aspects of the life and works of Syed Haq and Rabeya Khatun.
   Professor Zillur Rahman Siddique and poets Rafique Azad and Zahidul Haq, among others, were present on the occasion. Speaking on the occasion, Kabir Chowdhury said it was a great occasion to celebrate the 75th birth anniversary of two noted writers of the country.
   ‘The two writers have authored a lot of good books. These books should be translated so that readers of other languages can get introduced to their works,’ he said.
   Syed Haq’s novel ‘Neel Dangshan’ and Rabeya Khatun’s first novel ‘Madhumati’ impressed me so much,.’ he added.
   Sharing her feelings, Rabeya Khatun said a female writer has to face more challenges than a male writer in writing.
   She also said her writings reflect the diverse experiences of her life. Syed Haq said, ‘Today I remember the noted playwright Munier Chowdhury, poet Jasim Uddin and Shilpacharya Jainul Abedin who always inspired me to write.
   The discussion was followed by a musical soiree. Mita Haq sang Tagore songs while Khairul Anam Shakil rendered Nazrul songs in the programme.