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The High Court on Sunday ruled that Bangladesh’s founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and not Ziaur Rahman, was the proclaimer of the country’s independence.
   The High Court of bench of Justice ABM Khairul Haque and Justice M Mamtaz Uddin Ahmed also observed the government might take legal action against the people involved in distorting the history of independence on charge of violation of the constitution and deception with the people.
   The court ordered a ban on sales, marketing, stocking and printing of the book titled ‘Documents of the War of Independence,’ reprinted by the BNP-led alliance government in 2004 portraying the party’s founder chairman Ziaur Rahman as the proclaimer of independence.
   It also ordered confiscation of all the copies of the books at home and withdrawal of them from abroad.
   The court also asked the government to ensure mandatory inclusion of ‘true history’ of the independence war in textbooks for students in all education systems.
   The government was also asked to preserve the true history of the independence war in the national archives in order to avoid any further confusion.
   The court pronounced the verdict after hearing a public interest litigation writ petition filed by freedom fighter MA Salam of Mirpur.
   The petitioner’s counsel Manzill Murshid and additional attorney general M Enayetur Rahman, who appeared for the state, hailed the verdict saying the move to destroy and divert the history was foiled by the court through the verdict.
   Former law minister Moudud Ahmed, also a BNP standing committee member, however, said such a political issue could not be resolved by any court.
   ‘Courts should not entertain such a political debate and the belief of millions of people that shaheed president Ziaur Rahman had declared independence of Bangladesh cannot be wiped away by a judgement,’ he told New Age.
   Another BNP standing committee member, Khondker Mahbubuddin Ahmad, also the counsel of the retired wing commander Hamidullah Khan who became a party to the case on a petition, however, said he would decide whether to appeal against the verdict after obtaining the certified copy of the verdict.
   In the verdict, the court said, ‘The everlasting truth is that Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is the father of the nation and he proclaimed Bangladesh’s independence on March 26, 1971.’
   Citing an article written by Ziaur Rahman, the court observed during his lifetime Zia never claimed himself as the proclaimer of independence and proved his honesty by addressing Sheikh Mujib as the father of the nation and also had made a remark that Mujib’s March 7 address was the ‘green signal for Bangladesh’s independence.’
   
   * Govt may take legal action against people involved in history
   distortion
   * Documents of the War of Independence reprinted in 2004 banned
   * Withdrawal of the book from abroad ordered
   * Order for inclusion of true history in textbooks

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Sunday expressed its frustration at the High Court rule which said Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and not Ziaur Rahman, had proclaimed the independence of Bangladesh in 1971.
   The party’s vice-chairman MK Anwar at a briefing in the party chief’s office at Gulshan at night said, ‘If courts continue to pass judgements on issues related to history, many of the happenings will become illegal.’
   He cited the court verdict which nullified the fifth amendment to the constitution. The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has, however, stayed the execution of the order.
   ‘The truth is that Ziaur Rahman proclaimed the country’s independence. We also recognise the contribution of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to the country’s independence with due honour,’ he said.
   The sector commanders, even Awami League leaders such as retired major Rafiqul Islam and former army chief KM Shafiullah, recognised Zia as the proclaimer of independence in their wartime memoirs, Anwar said.
   The party’s standing committee member Moudud Ahmed said, ‘The court should not get involved in such a sensitive issue related to politics and the sentiment of political activists.’
   ‘If the court had ruled that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is not the father of the nation, the Awami League activists would not have accepted it. Similarly, the sentiment of the activists should be taken into account in talking about Ziaur Rahman,’ he said.
   The BNP chief’s aide on foreign affairs Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury said, ‘It was Ziaur Rahman who had proclaimed the nation’s independence and I am a witness to the event.’

Power outage turned severe across the country on Sunday and the daylight saving time introduced midnight past Friday failed to create any positive impact on the power supply situation.
   Most city areas faced outages for six to eight hours on the day, for one to two hours at a time, even during evening hours although clock in Bangladesh was advanced by an hour to have more daylight and save on power during evening hours.
   City power officials hoped it would take a few days for people to adjust to the new time and to find out whether the daylight saving time would have any impact on the power consumption pattern.
   Other parts of the country faced around 12 to 18 hours of outage as usual and Rural Electrification Board officials were sceptical about whether the DST could bring about any change in power outages in rural areas.
   Residents of most city areas such as Mirpur, Mohammadpur, Jigatala, Rajabazar, Tejgaon, Moghbazar, Khilgaon, Badda, Basabo and Old Town said they had faced outage at least for four hours till 8:00pm and of three more hours after the sunset.
   ‘We faced power outages repeatedly in two days, even in the middle of the night. I do not understand what difference the DST has made?’ said Shamsul Haque, a resident of Agargaon Taltala in Dhaka, Sunday night.
   Nafis, a Dhaka University student and resident of Rajabazar, said they faced eight hours of power outage on Sunday, two hours at a stretch sometimes.
   The government introduced the daylight saving time to save 200MW of electricity by reducing peak electricity consumption hours by an hour. Power agencies consider the peak hours to be from 6:00pm to 11:00pm.
   ‘As the sun sets at 8:00pm, instead of the previous 7:00pm, the evening peak hours will get an extra hour of daylight, reducing consumption of electricity especially by shops and houses. People will get an additional hour for shopping after office time,’ explained a power official earlier.
   In many areas, big shops which fell under the purview of the 8:00pm ban, however, defied the ban by running their business till 8:30pm to 9:00pm to adjust their businesses to the previous timing.
   Many shops that are out of the evening ban purview in lanes and by-lanes continued with their business till 12:30am in keeping with the previous time.
   The Supreme Court, government and non-government schools and a large number of private institutions, companies and industries changed their timing after the daylight saving time had been introduced.
   Dhaka Power Distribution Company and Dhaka Electric Supply Company officials said the people might take a few days to adjust their routine to the new time.
   They said special drives would be conducted against the shops which would remain open after 8:00pm.
   Many power officials, however, believe the DST would bring about little impact because of the massive gap between the demand for power and the supply. ‘The gap between the demand and supply is 2,000MW whereas authorities are hoping to save 200MW. There will not be much visible impact of the daylight saving because of the huge gap,’ observed an official.
   It is still a projection that 200MW of electricity could be saved and no one knows how much electricity could be saved and how people would change their routines.
   The DPDC managing director, Ataul Masud, said 64 of their teams would conduct drives against errant shops from Sunday. ‘We will submit a report to the government in a week on how much electricity was saved after the introduction of the DST,’ he said.
   The DESCO managing director, Saleh Ahmed, said he believed power outages could be reduced by an hour as some electricity would be saved once the shops closed their business in keeping with the rules.
   The prime minister’s adviser Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury told New Age on Sunday they would again request all to not to adjust their routine to the previous time.
   ‘We will ensure that public institution do not change their timing. As for Supreme Court and private companies, we cannot control them as they are independent bodies,’ he said.
   Tawfiq said once the ongoing extreme heat which pushed up the demand for electricity would go away, the impact of the daylight saving time would be visible.

Signalling India’s intransigent stance on the planned Tipaimukh dam over the cross-boundary river Barak, the Indian high commissioner to Bangladesh, Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, said on Sunday that the project was meant for generating hydro-electricity and that there was no international law that could stop New Delhi from implementing it.
   He told a seminar in the capital that New Delhi had shared relevant data of the mega-project with Dhaka.
   Speaking on the controversial dam that experts fear would hamper the river flow into Bangladesh, the Indian high commissioner claimed that the project was aimed at generating hydro-electricity and helping flood control and that it had ‘nothing to do with irrigation purposes’.
   He said there was no international law that could stop India from implementing the Tipaimukh dam project, which had been widely criticised in India and Bangladesh for its probable devastating consequences for environment and livelihoods of the peoples on the two sides of the border.
   The seminar on regional connectivity was organised by Bangladesh-India Friendship Society at a city hotel.
   The foreign minister, Dipu Moni, who spoke later as chief guest, neither contested Pinak’s assertion on international laws nor affirmed whether Dhaka had received the data provided, as claimed by the high commissioner.
   ‘I would like to iterate that it is a multi-purpose hydro-electric project to produce electricity,’ Pinak said adding that it had no component of irrigation.
   He referred to records of the previous meetings of the Bangladesh- India joint rivers commission and told the gathering that the commission at its 1972 and 1978 meetings had recognised the construction of a storage dam on the river Barak, which entered Bangladesh as Kushiara and Surma. ‘So, to say that India has not consulted Bangladesh is a thorough lie and totally false,’ he said.
   On the issue of whether India violated international law by going ahead with the project, the high commissioner said, ‘You should know that there is no international treaty. There is a UN convention, made in the late 1990s, on non-navigation and uses of water resources.’
   He said the convention, approved and ratified by 17 countries so far, needed signing and ratification by 35 countries to be made into an international law.
   ‘Bangladesh and India are not on the list of the countries which have ratified it,’ Pinak said.
   He sharply criticised people who said the Tipaimukh dam would cause environmental catastrophe in the greater Sylhet region in Bangladesh.
   ‘It is unfortunate that there are some so-called water experts who make comments without considering some of the issues. [They] are basically attempting to poison the minds of friendly people of Bangladesh against India,’ the Indian diplomat said.
   Pinak Chakravarty dismissed as ‘empty political slogan’ allegations that India was depriving Bangladesh of due share of the Ganges waters.
   He said that both the countries were getting due share of waters as per the Ganges water treaty singed with New Delhi by the 1996-2001 Awami League government.
   The high commissioner said, ‘Some people in the country are trying to derive political mileage over the water share of common rivers.’
   He said that during the 2001 general elections in Bangladesh, there were voices raised for the annulment of the treaty. However, after the elections those voices were not heard anymore.
   ’We were expecting that maybe we will receive a letter that the treaty would be annulled or at least reviewed. But that did not happen,’ he said.
   Pinak, without naming BNP, said they must have realised that the treaty was good for both sides.
   The high commissioner also said the flow of the Ganges had shrunk due to climate change, population increase, and high number of irrigation projects along the river.
   ‘Unfortunately, criticism of India and India phobia has become an instrument for deriving political mileage for a particular section,’ he said.

The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party will nominate its representative to the parliamentary team to visit Tipaimukh project site in India only if a neutral team of water experts is included in the delegation, opposition chief whip Zainul Abdin Farroque said Sunday.
   He proposed five names of national level experts for inclusion in the team. They are IUCN country director and former Joint River Commission member Dr Ainun Nishat, former water resources secretary Asafuddowla, Dr Mustfafizur Rahman Tarafder, Dhaka University teachers Dr MA Rab and Dr Asif Nazrul.
   ‘BNP is ready to join the delegation to visit Tipaimukh project area only if it includes a neutral national level team of water experts,’ Zainul Abdin said at a press briefing at the media centre in the parliament complex in the morning. ‘It would not be possible for BNP to nominate a representative to the delegation unless it includes a neutral national level team of experts.’
   He said the parliamentary standing committee on water resources ministry urged BNP to send the name of a party representative for the parliamentary team that would visit the Tipaimukh project site. ‘But BNP thinks it will be meaningless to send any delegation to the Tipaimukh project area without inclusion of neutral experts in the team.’
   According to experts, India has started multi-purpose interventions at the Tipaimukh on the river Barak. It will also construct a dam at Phulertal, 100 kilometres downstream from Tipaimukh. The twin dams on the Barak will have multifarious adverse impacts on nature and livelihoods in the north-eastern districts of Bangladesh.
   Zainul Abdin hoped that the government would consider the BNP’s proposal and take ‘a national initiative to face a national issue like Tipaimukh.’
   The parliamentary standing committee proposed a 10-member parliamentary team, headed by ruling Awami League MP and former water resources minister Abdur Razzak, for visiting the Tipaimukh project area. The team includes four lawmakers from Awami League, one from Jatiya Party and one from Jamaat-e-Islami while another lawmaker’s name was sought from BNP. There will be three experts in the team.
   Most of the lawmakers in the Tipaimukh team are members of the parliamentary standing committee on the water resources ministry.
   The opposition chief whip said that the visit of the parliamentary delegation would be meaningless without neutral experts in the delegation.
   He said the dam would be a ‘death trap’ for Bangladesh like the Farakka barrage. ‘The country’s north-eastern region will turn into a desert if the dam is constructed,’ he said.
   ‘But the government is not protesting against it,’ he added.
   BNP lawmakers Mahbubuddin Khokon, Nazrul Islam Manju and Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Annie, Syeda Asifa Ashrafi Papiya, Nilufar Chowdhury Moni, and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami lawmaker AHM Hamidur Rahman Azad were, among others, present at the press briefing.
   When asked whether he would join the parliamentary delegation for visiting Tipaimukh, Hamidur Rahman Azad said, ‘I am an opposition lawmaker. My joining the team depends on the decision of the [main] opposition.’
   On the issue of BNP’s return to parliament, the opposition chief whip said they were abstaining from attending the parliament session over certain issues including seating arrangement in the front row of the house, restriction on the entry of opposition leader Khaleda Zia’s official car to her cantonment residence, restriction on entry of Khaleda’s personal physician, staff and relatives to her residence and frequent withdrawal of police security from her Gulshan office.

Former law minister Moudud Ahmed on Sunday said the parliamentary committee that would visit the site of proposed Tipaimukh dam in India would legitimise the project if a neutral panel of experts is not included in the team.
   ‘We will not join the parliamentary team without inclusion of independent experts in the team… A government delegation without independent experts would only legitimise the Indian move to construct the dam on river Barak to cause dire consequences for Bangladesh,’ Moudud, top leader of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, said while addressing a roundtable conference held at CIRDAP auditorium.
   The roundtable discussion, titled ‘Indo-Bangladesh Relations: Recent Developments’, was arranged by Centre for Strategic and Peace Studies and presided over by former Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor Emajuddin Ahmed.
   Moudud demanded sending of a national level experts’ committee to the site for the proposed dam to assess its ecological impact on Bangladesh.
   He repeatedly stressed the need for a political consensus to desist India from building the proposed dam in view of possible ecological impact on some parts of Bangladesh.
   The former law minister also came down heavily upon the political parties for their failure to reach a consensus on the Tipaimukh issue to take a tough stand against the Indian move.
   ‘It’s really unfortunate that there are still divided opinions among the political parties on some national issues, including the issue of Tipaimukh dam. India is taking advantages from our differences in opinion,’ said the BNP leader.
   Moudud reiterated that Bangladesh should go to the international forum seeking their assistance to compel India to cancel the project. He underlined the importance of creating awareness among people to launch a tough movement for immediate cancellation of the Tipaimukh project.
   Addressing the discussion, Prof Emajuddin Ahmed criticised existing divergence in opinion among the political parties on some national issues, saying, “As a nation, we are ill-fated because the political parties have so far failed to reach a consensus on some burning national issues. The Tipaimukh dam would lead to widespread desertification in some parts of the country. The consequences of the dam would be dreadful.”
   He also emphasised the need for reaching a national consensus if Bangladesh really wants cancellation of project. ‘All lawmakers of different political parties should pass a resolution on Tipaimukh dam in the parliament. Such a resolution could help force India to cancel the proposed project,’ said the former vice-chancellor of Dhaka University.
   Former secretary Shah Abdul Hannan moderated the discussion which participated, among others, by former state minister for foreign affairs Abul Hasan Chowdhury and Jatiya Ganotantrik Party president Shafiul Alam Pradhan.

The government on Sunday recommended withdrawal of 46 cases filed against leaders and activists of the ruling Awami League during the BNP-led alliance government and the immediate past military-backed interim administration.
   The national review committee on withdrawal of politically motivated cases at its second meeting discussed some 58 cases—35 under the Bangladesh Penal Code and 23 by the Anti-Corruption Commission— and rejected eight cases, saying these could not be withdrawn under Section 494 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
   Earlier on June 10, the committee had recommended withdrawal of 62 cases, including 12 against prime minister Sheikh Hasina, out of some 113 cases reviewed at its first meeting on the day.
   But the government has not recommended withdrawal of any cases filed against the opposition leaders and activities, including leader of the opposition, Khaleda Zia, so far.
   ‘We have reviewed 58 cases today of which 46 have been recommended for withdrawal. All these cases were filed against leaders and activists of Awami League during the tenures of the BNP-led alliance government and the immediate past caretaker government,’ state minister for law Quamrul Islam, also the head of the inter-ministry committee, told reporters after the meeting held at the home affairs ministry.
   Asked why no such cases against any leaders of the opposition in the parliament were recommended for withdrawal, he said the district committees led by deputy commissioners have not yet forwarded any cases against the BNP leaders for withdrawal.
   ‘If we get any proposal from the district committees for withdrawal of such cases, we will certainly consider it,’ Quamrul Islam said, admitting the fact that cases might have been framed against BNP leaders for harassing them during the two-year tenure of the caretaker government.
   He claimed that the committee was meticulously examining the cases so that any criminal cannot get released of charges in the process.
   Sunday’s meeting recommended withdrawal of 10 cases against state minister for LGRD and cooperatives Jahangir Kabir Nanok alone.
   The committee also recommended withdrawal of cases against AL leaders Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, Matia Chowdhury, Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, Kazi Zafrullah, Obaidul Quader, engineer Mosharraf Hossian, Mohammad Nasim, Mostafa Jalal Mohiuddin, Abu Sayeed, ABM Mohiuddin Chowhdury, Shawkat Ali, Hazi Selim, Syeed Khokon, Juba League leader Mirza Azam, Juba Mahila League leader Sabina Akhter Tuhin and Chhatra League president Mahmud Hasan Ripon along with their co-accused.
   The head of the review committee said the ACC was used during the caretaker regime to harass the politicians and some quarters.
   Asked whether the government would initiate any legal move against the conspirators, the state minister said those who were involved in conspiring to harass politicians would be brought to book in phases.
   He blamed a section of journalists for giving importance to those who masterminded the conspiracy against the politicians during the army-backed regime.
   Alluding to some cases against the BNP leaders without naming them, he said the government on its own would not ask the district committees for sending the cases against those who siphoned off crores of taka abroad during their tenure in government (2001-06).
   BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia and her two sons, Tarique Rahman and Arafat Rahman, filed applications on April 30 seeking withdrawal of some 20 cases filed against them during the interim government’s rule.
   Four graft cases against Khaleda, 11 against her eldest son Tarique and five others against her youngest son Arafat had been filed during the two-year rule of the interim government which detained nearly 200 politicians, including Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda.
   The government on February 17 set up the inter-ministry committee to review the ‘politically motivated’ cases, especially those filed against politicians, during the regimes of the BNP-led alliance government and the interim administration.
   The committee has so far received 1,500 cases recommended for withdrawal by the district committees from across the country. It would require another two months to review all the cases, the state minister mentioned.
   The BNP-led government earlier set up a similar committee to review the politically-motivated cases and withdrew some 5,888 cases filed during the 1996-2001 Awami League government against about 17,000 people, mostly political leaders and activists.

Pakistan won their first major title in 17 years when they stunned Sri Lanka by eight wickets in the World Twenty20 final at a sell-out Lord’s here on Sunday.
   Seamer Abdur Razzaq claimed three wickets as Pakistan bowled and fielded aggressively to restrict Sri Lanka to 138-6, then coasted home easily with eight deliveries to spare.
   Shahid Afridi hit an unbeaten 54 off 40 balls, his second consecutive half-century, and former captain Shoaib Malik made 24 not out during a match-winning partnership of 76 for the undefeated third wicket.
   Pakistan, runners-up to India in the final of the inaugural World Twenty20 in South Africa two years ago, ended Sri Lanka’s unbeaten run in the tournament with style.
   Pakistan last won an offical multi-nation tournament in 1992 when Imran Khan’s team lifted the World Cup by beating England in the final at the Melbourne cricket ground in Australia.
   Sunday’s win by Younus Khan’s team gave Pakistanis back home reason to cheer as the cricket-mad nation has been deprived of international tours due to security concerns in the volatile nation.
   The International Cricket Council has already ruled out holding World Cup matches in Pakistan in 2011 following the militant attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore on March 3.
   Pakistani openers Kamran Akmal and Shahzaib Hasan ensured there were no early scares as they put on 48 for the first wicket in seven overs.
   Sanath Jayasuriya broke through with his first delivery in the next over when he beat Akmal in the air with his left-arm spin and had him stumped for 37 off 28 balls.
   Jayasuriya then took a catch to get rid of Shahzaib off Muttiah Muralitharan for 19, but Afridi and Malik took Pakistan home amid loud celebrations from their fans in the stands.
   Sri Lanka were dealt quick blows after captain Kumar Sangakkara won the toss and elected to take first strike on a slow wicket.
   The Lankans slumped to 2-2 in the first nine balls and that became 34-4 before Sangakkara himself led the rescue act with a defiant unbeaten 64 from 52 balls.
   Sangakkara and Angelo Mathews put on 68 for the unbroken seventh wicket as Sri Lanka plundered 59 runs in the final five overs.
   Mathews returned unbeaten on 35 off 24 balls.
   Pakistan got off to a sensational start when teenage fast bowler Mohammad Aamir sent back the in-form Tillekaratne Dilshan with the fifth ball of the match.
   Dilshan, the tournament’s leading scorer with 317 runs, miscued a pull shot off the speedy left-armer and was caught at backward square-leg by Shahzaib Hasan for zero.
   Four balls later, Shahzaib grabbed his second catch at mid-off as Jehan Mubarak skied a leading edge off Razzaq, who shared the new ball with Aamir.
   Jayasuriya counter-attacked with a six and four in Razzaq’s second over, but the bowler hit back two balls later as the left-handed veteran edged a ball on to his stumps after making 17.
   Razzaq, who replaced the injured Yasir Arafat after ending his links with the rebel Indian Cricket League, struck again in his third over when Misbah-ul Haq dived to his right at slip to remove Mahela Jayawardene for one.

At least 10 people were killed in the latest unrest to shake Tehran, state television said on Sunday, as Iranian leaders took aim at Western ‘meddling’ in the post-election tumult that has triggered the worst crisis since the Islamic revolution.
   The opposition stepped up its challenge to the country’s Islamic rulers, with defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi firing off an unprecedented criticism of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after a day of deadly violence in Tehran.
   State television said 10 people were killed and more than 100 wounded in Tehran on Saturday, blaming ‘terrorists’ with firearms and explosives, bringing the overall toll reported by state media in a week of violence to at least 17.
   Meanwhile, a daughter and four other family members of Iran’s influential former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani have been arrested for provoking ‘riots,’ Xinhua quoted from Iran’s satellite channel Press TV on Sunday.
   Faezeh Rafsanjani and four other unidentified family members of Rafsanjani were arrested after they allegedly took part in ‘unauthorised protest rallies’ in central Tehran, Press TV said.
   Struggling to contain the massive street protests unleashed since the disputed June 12 election that returned Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to office, Iranian leaders lashed out at Western nations, foreign media and the exiled opposition.
   World leaders have voiced mounting alarm over the unrest, which has jolted the pillars of the Islamic regime and raised concerns over the future of the oil-rich Shia Muslim powerhouse.
   Witnesses said police and members of the Islamic volunteer Basij militia were patrolling flashpoint areas of Tehran but there did not appear to be any opposition demonstrations that have engulfed the capital every day for a week.
   The foreign media has been barred from covering the demonstrations as part of tight new restrictions on their work.
   Ahmadinejad bluntly told the United States and Britain to stop interfering after the foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, accused London of plotting for the past two years to sabotage the election.
   ‘By making hasty comments, you will not have a place in the circle of the Iranian nation’s friends. Therefore, I recommend you to correct your interfering positions,’ Ahmadinejad said in a statement.
   The BBC said its correspondent in Tehran had been ordered to leave within 24 hours while the authorities warned the British media of further action if the ‘interference’ continues.
   Dubai-based television channel Al-Arabiya also said its Tehran bureau had been ordered to remain closed indefinitely for ‘unfair reporting’ of the election.
   The British foreign secretary, David Miliband, said he rejected the charges that protesters were being ‘manipulated or motivated’ by foreign countries and denounced what he said were Iran’s effort to turn the election dispute into a ‘battle’ with the outside world.
   The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, — whose country is Tehran’s major European trading partner — called for a vote recount and a halt to violence against demonstrators while the Italian foreign minister, Franco Frattini, said his country was ‘worried’ by the loss of life.
   In his latest comments on Saturday, the US president, Barack Obama, who has appealed for dialogue with Tehran after three decades of severed ties, urged Iran to stop ‘all violent and unjust actions.’
   Iran’s deputy police chief Ahmad Reza Radan blamed ‘thugs’ from the exiled opposition group the People’s Mujahedeen of Iran for the violence.
   Mousavi, leading the massive wave of public opposition to an election he has called a ‘shameful fraud’, on Saturday accused the country’s rulers of ‘cheating’ and warned of a dangerous path ahead.
   He unleashed his broadside against Iran’s all-powerful leader after the police firing tear gas and water cannon clashed with thousands of protesters who defied an ultimatum from Khamenei for an end to their street rallies.
   Witnesses gave accounts of brutal violence against protesters by the Basij on Saturday.
   Mousavi, who was premier in the aftermath of the Islamic revolution, lashed out at Khamenei in an unprecedented challenge to the man who has ruled over Iran for 20 years.

At least 30 people were injured in a clash between the loyalists of the lease holders of the 2nd Buriganga bridge linking the capital city with Keraniganj and the supporters of the Keraniganj upazil chairman as well as the striking drivers of cabs and auto-rickshaws at the two ends of the bridge on Sunday afternoon.
   A motorcycle was set on fire during the clash while movement of vehicles over the bridge remained suspended for more about six hours.
   Witnesses and police said that the upazila chairman, Shahin Ahmed, in a huge motorcade tried to pass over the bridge without paying toll at about 2:30pm. As the lease holders’ men allowed only two of the vehicles, the chairman became angry and was locked in an altercation with them.
   The chairman left the scene and came again to pass over the bridge with his followers at around 4:00pm. Both the groups were locked in clashes and traded gun shots. Fifteen people, including the chairman, were injured in the clashes, the witnesses said.
   One of the lease holders, Mohammad Jahangir, alleged that the supporters of the chairman ransacked the toll plazas and looted over Tk 1.70 lakh.
   At that time, the auto-rickshaw drivers and rickshaw pullers were gathered at the Babubazar end of the bridge to bring out a procession in support of their ongoing strike.
   The loyalists of lease holders attacked the striking drivers of auto-rickshaw and cabs, and rickshaw-pullers. They also fired gunshots at them leaving at least 15 of them injured.
   The feuding groups chased each others and pelted brickbats during the clash. Crackers were also exploded.
   A motorcycle was torched on the middle of the bridge during the clashes.
   On information, police rushed to the spot. The lawmen fired rubber bullets and lobbed teargas shells to quell the clashing groups. They took position on the bridge during the clash.
   Movement of vehicles over the bridge remained suspended till 8:00pm due to the clash.
   Later, a senior police officer brought the two groups to a meeting which was continuing till filing of this report at 10:00pm.
   The injured were given treatment at different local hospitals.
   Earlier, movement of cabs, auto rickshaws and rickshaws over the bridge remained suspended for the 4th consecutive day on Sunday protesting against the increase of toll by the lease holders.
   Over 2,000 drivers of light vehicles and three-wheelers enforced an indefinite strike on Thursday as the new lease holders of the bridge increased the toll.
   They alleged that the local Awami League leader and new lease holder of the bridge, Sayed Ahmed, had increased the toll money from Tk 10 to Tk 15 for auto-rickshaw and CNG-run auto-rickshaw, maxi and taxi-cab while Tk 5 for rickshaws and rickshaw vans.
   Protesting at the toll hike, the auto rickshaw owners, drivers and local people staged demonstration and held a protest rally at Kadamtoli area on Sunday. They also intercepted the vehicles plying the bridge.
   The demonstrators also threatened to stop vehicular movement over the bridge if the additional toll collection was not stopped within 24 hours.

The speaker of Jatiya Sangsad, Abdul Hamid, on Sunday started allotting office rooms to the lawmakers in the parliament complex pledging more privileges for the legislators in the coming days.
   ‘We will try to increase perks and privileges for the lawmakers in course of time so that they can do their work easily,’ the speaker said while handing over office room allotment letters to lawmakers from both sides of the political divide.
   Ninety-two members of parliament were given office rooms in the first phase. The rest of the lawmakers will be given office rooms in phases, said the speaker.  It will make their work easier and help them keep in touch with their respective constituents.
   The offices of the lawmakers are housed in the old members’ hostel, which was vacated during the eighth parliament as lawmakers were given apartments to live in Dhaka.
   There are 192 flats in the members’ hostel at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, according to officials at the parliament secretariat.
   If needed a few of the lawmakers will be given their offices in the Nakhalpara MP hostel, the officials said. The ministers, whips and chairmen of the standing committees, who have their offices, will not be entitled to other offices.
   Among the newly allotted office rooms, 60 were given to the ruling Awami League, 21 to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, 10 to the Jatiya Party, an ally of the ruling Awami League, and one for an independent lawmaker.
   This is the first ever initiative by parliament to allocate office rooms to the lawmakers.
   Speaker Hamid said that he wanted to see the parliament as the centre of all activities and called upon the lawmakers to play their due role in the house.
   He assured the lawmakers of more privileges including a car from the transport pool for every MP ending the controversial duty-free car facility, hike in their perks and remuneration, an office room at upazila complex, computer facilities and a personal assistant in near future.
   ‘I hope the lawmakers will be able to do their work easily with the facilities,’ said the speaker.
   He said that he would introduce computer-chipped punch card for every lawmaker to enter the parliament lobby from the next session to ensure their security.
   He also pledged construction of swimming pools for the MPs.

A special judge’s court ordered senior Awami League leader Abul Hasanat Abdullah, convicted of twin charges of tax dodge and hiding assets information, to be sent to jail on surrender Sunday.
   Dhaka metropolitan special judge Amar Kumar Roy made the order after the former chief whip turned himself in at midday.
   He also ordered the jail authorities to arrange special medical treatment for Abdullah in jail.
   A special judge’s court in 2007 had sentenced him to nine years in a tax dodge case and 13 years in another case in 2008 for suppression of wealth-related information.

The Election Commission is planning to deploy a number of employees with video cameras to collect information and evidence of electoral code of conduct violation by major candidates in the Dhaka city Corporation elections likely to be held in December.
   ‘The persons deployed will be tagged with major candidates and follow most electioneering to collect evidence of code of conduct violation,’ election commissioner M Sakhawat Hussain told a group of reporters in his office on Sunday.
   He said the Dhaka City Corporation elections would be held by the end of December if the amended law could be passed in this budget session of the parliament.
   The Election Commission earlier called on the people willing to contest the city corporation polls to remove the posters, leaflets and banners they had pasted or put up on roadside walls greeting people on different occasions or seeking their blessings.
   The commission reminded them that election campaigns before the announcement of the polls schedule was a violation of the electoral code of conduct.
   But the people who have pasted posters and leaflets or put up banners violating the election code of conduct did not heed to the commission’s warning.
   The Election Commission observed some potential candidates were using such materials to highlight their qualities and also using political banners.
   The commission in a release on April 9 urged the authorities concerned, including the commissioner of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, to take legal action against such violation.
   The commission also requested the people willing to contest the DCC polls not to begin election campaigns until 21 days before the polls.
   According to City Corporation (Election) Rules 2008, no candidate or no one on behalf of a candidate can start election campaigns by pasting posters, hanging banners, erecting arches or setting up camps before the announcement of the election schedule, it said.

The establishment ministry has sought opinions from the top officials in civil bureaucracy on giving proposing a new name to the establishment ministry in line with its functions.
   Establishment secretary Iqbal Mahmood on Sunday sent letters to secretaries of other ministries asking for submitting by June 30 their well thought out opinion, proposing one or more names for the establishment ministry.
   The letter signed by the establishment secretary mentioned that the word establishment does not go with the ministry’s activities.
   It also said that the ministry had already taken initiatives to build up an ‘efficient and speedy public administration’ in line with the election manifesto of the present government.
   The establishment ministry, as part of the Awami League-led government’s plan to reform the civil administration, earlier issued a letter to its senior officers seeking opinions on the proposal for renaming the ministry, now under the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina.
   ‘The government is actively considering change of the establishment ministry’s name as the existing name does not correspond to its activities…It’s sometime confusing to many as to whether the ministry looks after the government establishments,’ a senior official of the establishment ministry told New Age.
   He said the world ‘establishment’ might be replaced by something like ‘human resource development’ since the ministry deals with appointments, promotion and postings along with other administrative matters.
   ‘Initially, we have collected opinions with proposal for new names from the ministry’s senior officials…We will soon place a concrete proposal in the secretary-level meeting on administrative development, based on the opinions of the secretaries of different ministries,’ the official said preferring anonymity.
   As per the Rules of Business, the establishment ministry is responsible for formulation of policy on regulation of services and determination of their terms and conditions.
   Its jurisdiction, among others, include simplification of systems, career development of government servants, including training and administrative research and reforms. The ministry also deals with cases of dismissal, removal, compulsory retirement, reduction in rank of officers of whom the President is the appointing authority.

Finance minister AMA Muhith has admitted that the proposed budgetary measure for legalising undisclosed money by paying only 10 per cent tax would give a ‘wrong’ signal’ to the new generation voters from the moral point of view.
   Some 24.3 million new voters might suffer from a sense of ‘moral degradation’ due to continuation of the controversial scheme, said the finance minister, echoing the view of leaders of the foreign investors’ chamber of commerce and industry at a meeting on Sunday.
   The FICCI president Waliur Rahman Bhuiyan pointed out that the measure will ‘only encourage the dishonest taxpayers and increase the pain of the honest taxpayers.’
   Demanding cancellation of the measure or imposition of a higher rate of tax for legalising untaxed money, he said that the Awami League-led coalition should feel accountable to their new voters without whose overwhelming support they would not have won the last general election.
   ‘These are valid questions,’ said a perplexed finance minister who has been encountering fierce criticism since the day he proposed only 10 per cent tax for legalising undisclosed money for investment in some specific sectors for the next three years.
   Muhith appeared dejected in the face of such questions during the meeting and said he had nothing to do about the measure alone. ‘I have to seek opinions of others cabinet members before saying anything about it,’ he said.
   The finance minister however suggested a new idea of imposing different rates of tax for different types of taxpayers, including honest, regular and those who want to invest their untaxed money into formal sectors.
   He said, ‘This is just an idea and need to be scrutinise through public opinion… I don’t know weather the society will accept it.’
   Muhith reiterated his stance for giving ‘unethical’ opportunity for increasing private investment although he admitted that the economy gained little from such measures in the past.
   The facility to legalise undisclosed money has been continued since 1976 with intervals and over the years, less than Tk 20,000 crores could be brought into the economy through such measure. And almost half of the total amount was legalised in the last two years when the caretaker administration was in power.

An activist of Bangladesh Chhatra League of the Jahangirnagar University unit was beaten up by the rival group activists of the party Saturday evening.
   Campus sources said at around 8:00pm at least 10 activists of Sammo group of the BCL, led by Joki, Avijit, Doyel and Himu, attacked Saiful Islam Saif, a 35th batch student of the urban and rural planning department, who is also an activist of Asad group, at the university’s Prantik gate and left him injured.
   Later, he was admitted to the university’s medical centre.
   The incident took place just after seven hours of the university vice-chancellor Professor Shariff Enamul Kabir’s claim about the congenial atmosphere prevailing on the campus.
   The vice-chancellor made the claim while delivering a speech in the foundation-stone laying ceremony of new JU hall (Shaheed Rafiq-Jabbar) Saturday morning.

Thousands of Maoist supporters clashed with the police in Nepal’s capital Sunday while protesting against the president, whose refusal to dismiss the army chief led to the recent collapse of the previous Maoist-led government. Several people were injured on both sides.
   The protesters gathered near the complex in Kathmandu that houses the offices of the prime minister and government ministries, according to an Associated Press cameraman at the scene.
   The police prevented the Maoist supporters from surrounding the complex, resulting in the clashes.
   Meanwhile, the UML led government has ordered the security agencies under its command to foil the Maoist’s scheduled programme throughout the country, reports Telegraphnepal.com.
   Reports claim that the Maoists cadres will organise sit-in protests in front of the gates of government secretariat – Singh Durbar in Kathmandu and gherao the district administration offices across the country.
   ‘If the government resorts to the use of force to foil our peaceful protest(s), the government will be no less repressive which could then be equated with the erstwhile Royal Regime,’ Kula Prasad KC alias Sonam — Maoists politburo member.

The education ministry in an order on Sunday asked all the educational institutions to begin classes in accordance with the earlier schedule.
   Clock in Bangladesh was advanced by an hour at 11:00pm on Friday to 12 midnight, but the timing of educational institutions will remain unchanged, it said.
   ‘For instance, if the classes of a school were scheduled to begin at 7:00am before June 19, the classes will even now begin at the same time,’ said the ministry order, singed by the education secretary, Syed Ataur Rahman.
   ‘Following newspapers reports on rescheduling of classes by many schools, we have decided to issue the order,’ a high official said.

The National Human Rights Commission on Sunday expressed its concerns about recent killing of a Bangladeshi cattle trader by the Indian border guards and urged India to stop such killing.
   The commission in a statement said it had expressed its concerns about the killing of Bangladeshi cattle trader by the BSF at Burimari in Lalmonirhat on June 18.
    ‘In the case of any alleged violation of law of any countries, legal action may be taken against the violators or the matter may be taken up with the Bangladesh Rifles,’ the statement said.
   The rights commission said, ‘Under such circumstances, the action of the BSF is regarded by the commission as violation of human rights and so the commission urges all concerned to end the recurrence such incidents in future.’
   As of June 21, at least 53 Bangladeshi have fallen victims of India’s Border Security Force, according to statistics available with the rights group Odhikar.

Pedestrians foiled a street urchin’s attempt to commit suicide on the Dhaka University campus on Sunday evening.
   Police said that Mohammad Ali, 14, climbed up a large tree in front of the official residence of the Dhaka University vice-chancellor at about 7:30pm, tied a rope around his neck and suspended himself from a branch.
   The sight of the boy dangling from the high tree branch prompted pedestrians to call the police who with their help brought him down in an unconscious state.
   The boy was taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where he was undergoing treatment.

A Chittagong court on Sunday decided to hold a test identification parade for arrested former National Security Intelligence deputy director retired major Liakat Hossain in the Chittagong arms haul case on June 24.
   The chief metropolitan magistrate, Helal Uddin Chowdhury, decided to hold the TI parade at the jail gate after hearing a petition filed by the investigation officer of the case, Mohammed Moniruzzaman, also an assistant superintendent of police at the Criminal Investigation Department.
   The court allowed the TI parade to be held in the presence of metropolitan magistrate Mahabubur Rahman when two police officials, Helal Uddin and Alauddin, who had a role in seizing the consignment of arms and ammunitions, will identify Liakat.
   The investigation officer said they sought the TI parade to be held as the former NSI deputy director was reportedly engaged in the unloading of the arms and ammunition. ‘The police officials will identify the former NSI official from among 10 people during the TI parade.’
   The Criminal Investigation Department arrested Liakat at Dhaka on May 26.
   The police recovered 4,930 firearms of different types, 2,7020 grenades, 840 rocket launchers, 300 rocket launcher accessories, 2,000 grenade launching tubes, 6,392 magazines and 11,40,520 bullets, while being offloaded on 10 trucks from two engine boats at the CUFL jetty on April 2, 2004.

The Rapid Action Battalion arrested a convicted member of banned Islamist outfit Jamaatul Mujahiden Bangladesh in a raid on his house at Binnakuri of Muktagachha in Mymensingh Saturday night.
   Tipped off, the battalion team raided the house of Hazrat Ali at around 9:00pm and arrested him.
   He was later handed over to the Muktagachha police. A case was filed there in this connection.
   Hazrat Ali was convicted for four years in a case in 2007 and remained fugitive since then.