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The committee the government formed to investigate the February 25–26 rebellion and killing in the Bangladesh Rifles headquarters in Dhaka has recommended ‘field general court martial’ to ensure quick and exemplary punishment of the perpetrators.
   The 11-member committee, headed by retired secretary Anis-uz Zaman Khan, in its 309-page report cited grievances of the BDR soldiers against their officers from the army as probable causes for the rebellion.
   Although the grievances were not that strong so as to stage such a big killing, some forces might have used the situation to break the chain of command and make the border force inoperative.
   The committee, however, did not mention anywhere in the report even the possibility of links between the incident and militant forces.
   The army’s 20-member court of inquiry, which submitted its report to the army chief on May 10, had mentioned grievances of the soldiers as the reason for the rebellion and it found no militant link with the incident.
   The government investigation committee recommended action against the people who failed to pre-empt the situation and also against the people who failed to take instant action after the incident.
   Although the report is yet to be made public, New Age could obtain a copy of the summery of the report.
   The committee in the report said the pre- and post-rebellion analysis depicted that the incident was ‘well-planned.’
   Intelligence agencies National Security Intelligence and the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence had sent reports to the Special Security Force before the prime minister’s February 23 visit to the BDR headquarters, making only some routine recommendations and without mentioning any odd situation there, the report said.
   Seventy-four people — including 57 army officers, a retired army personnel, wives of two army officers, 9 BDR soldiers, 3 passers-by, an army soldier and a police constable — were killed in the ‘mutiny and carnage,’ according to the report submitted on Thursday to the home affairs minister, Sahara Khatun.
   Bodies of two army officers still remain to be identified. The officers killed include a major general, a brigadier general, 16 colonels, 10 lieutenant colonels, 23 majors, 2 captains and 4 officers of the army medical corps.
   The report also suggested formation of a national crisis management committee to tackle such issues in future and to immediately raise a force with members from the Armed Forces to check recurrence of such incidents.
   The committee suggested reorganisation of the Bangladesh Rifles, formation of a national intelligence coordination committee and relocation of businesses for the intelligence agencies as long-term measures.
   Strongly criticising the role of the media during and after the rebellion, the committee called for formulation of a code of conduct for the print and electronic media during national security crisis.
   It said the electronic media on many occasions had tarnished the image of the army and at times instigated many negative issues in news and talk shows without knowing the whole matter.
   The committee also suggested updating laws of the Bangladesh Rifles and other paramilitary forces.
   The committee — consisted of the law secretary, BDR director general, representatives of the Prime Minister’s Office, cabinet division, army, navy and air force, police, home ministry and the judge advocate general — recommended that the military, paramilitary forces and other law enforcement agencies should not be involved in programmes such as Operation Dal Bhat.
   The committee found that the rebels had killed the officers, including the director general and the deputy director general, looted the armoury, burnt 16 vehicles belonging to the officers, vandalised 18 others, looted the house of the officers and carried out physical assault on the officers’ families during the rebellion.
   One hundred and thirty-three army officers, including 86 of the BDR headquarters and 47 others who came from different districts on the occasion of the BDR Week, were present when the soldiers took up arms against their offices on February 25.
   The officers who survived the killing include 3 lieutenant colonels, 14 majors, 15 officers of the army medical corps, 5 majors of the Operation Dal Bhat, a major who came for the annual parade, 5 majors who came to distribute invitation cards, 7 majors who came to receive awards, 8 regional officers and 14 civilian officers.
   The report said the committee for the sake of investigation considered it essential to interrogate the heads of some organisations and some important people and to gather information from the intelligence agencies, but the committee failed to do so for lack of cooperation.
   As a result, the main perpetrators of the rebellion and killing could not be identified and the main reason and the motive for the incident could not be found for lack of proper information and enough proof, the report said.
   The committee during the investigation requested the National Security Intelligence, Directorate General of Forces Intelligence, Rapid Action Battalion, Criminal Investigation Department and Special Branch to provide information and proofs they gathered in their professional analysis, but the agencies did not extended the expected cooperation.
   As the committee lacked tools and techniques to interrogate the suspects and unearth the truth, none of the people brought before the committee provided any important information or proof.
   The committee believed finding out the reasons and motive of the rebellion and identification of the people behind the incident was difficult and time-consuming.
   The investigation committee with the help of an assisting organisation found that many BDR soldiers and other civilians were involved in planning the February 25–26 killing, looting and other crimes in the BDR headquarters.
   Quoting the assisting organisation which was not named, the committee in the report said the plan had been carried out for about two months and the perpetrators held several meetings till the incident.
   Habildar Munir, sepoy Tarek and Ayub, assistant lance nayek Sayeedur and 25 or 26 other BDR soldiers before the December 2008 general elections met Barrister Fazle Noor Taposh, now a member of parliament. The Prime Coaching Centre’s owner Zakir was also attended the meetings.
   The investigation found three or four days after the elections, some of the BDR soldiers had met Taposh in his house, Sky Star, where the newly elected lawmaker said that it would not be possible to consider any of their demands but the one related to rations.
   In the middle of February, two deputy assistant directors, civilian Zakir and 10 or 12 soldiers also met lawmaker Sheikh Selim who told them that their demands were matters of the home affairs ministry.
   They then tried to meet the home minister and when they could not get any direction from political figures, they planned their next course of action and held a number of meetings in different places, including Zakir’s coaching centre near Gate 5 of the headquarters.
   The committee took 10 things into consideration, including trying to find whether there was any other conspiracy behind the rebellion and killing or any other force or group from outside had given support.
   The committee also tried to find whether it was an isolated incident, what the demands of the BDR soldiers were and how much they were justified, whether there were any efforts to meet the demands and whether the rebellion and killing a was a case of venting their grievances.
   The investigation also tried to figure out the beneficiaries of the incident and its long-term effects.

Borders guards are working in the frontiers with anxiety and disappointment over the government’s move to restructure the Bangladesh Rifles after the February 25–26 rebellion n its headquarters in Dhaka.
   Spot visits to frontiers such as Boikari and Bhomra in Satkhira, Benapole in Jessore, Moghalhat, Durgapur and Baniyatari in Lalmonirhat and Tamabil, Shreepur and Jaintapur in Sylhet on Thursday showed that border guards in the areas were anxious and bereft of hope.
   Although the guards claimed borders were secure, local residents alleged that cross-border smuggling had increased in recent days as the BDR soldiers were guarding the borders amid anxiety.
   The visits also found that nayek subedars were commanding soldiers in the border outposts and subedars in company offices.
   Some nayek subedars and subedars told New Age they were commanding the soldiers in guarding the borders at the directive of their officers in the army. The officers sometimes visit the outposts and company offices, they said.
   Expressing disappointment at the government move for the BDR reorganisation, the border guards said they were anxious about their jobs and future after they came to know of the move from media reports and their fellows.
   The Bangladesh Rifles has become an icon of national security for the performance of the soldiers since Bangladesh’s war of independence in 1971, they said, adding the paramilitary force should not be destroyed in the name of reorganisation.
   They also differed with the views expressed by some ministers about taking help from neighbouring countries for the reorganisation of the Bangladesh Rifles.
   Such a move will be disastrous for the national security, they said.
   It will be better not to change the name, uniform and the logo of the force, they said, adding that the people involved in the rebellion and the killing should be punished in an open, fair trial, but innocent soldiers should in no way be harassed.
   They also observed the rebellion had resulted from longstanding grievances of soldiers and such grievances should be addressed properly to stop the recurrence of any such incident.
   The New Age correspondent in Khulna said a soldier, working in the Bhomra frontier, said, ‘We are patriots. We have proved it by working in remote frontiers. So the Bangladesh Rifles should not be destroyed in the name of reorganisation.’
   ‘As members of a disciplined force, we have nothing to do but to follow all the government decisions,’ said a havildar working in the Satkhira border.
   Qualitative changes can be brought about in the Bangladesh Rifles, but it would be better not to change the name, uniform, logo and moto as the force has a long, glorious past, he said, adding the people involved in the rebellion and killing should be punished.
   A nayek subedar said they were worried about their jobs and future.
   The correspondent in Sylhet said the border guards in the outposts of Tamabil, Shreepur and Jaintapur seemed anxious.
   When they were asked about their condition, they said the countrymen knew well about the situation they were facing.
   A soldier said, ‘We hope the government finally will make a positive decision about the Bangladesh Rifles.’
   Another soldier said they had lost their moral strength after the rebellion and the government move to restructure the Bangladesh Rifles. ‘We want to serve the nation as we earlier did.’
   Help from neighbouring countries for BDR reorganisation will not be wise ‘as they are our counterparts,’ he said.
   Tamabil company commander nayek subedar Zaynal Abedin and Jaintapur border outpost commander nayek subedar Younus claimed that the frontiers were secure.
   Local residents of frontier upazilas such as Companiganj, Jaintapur, Goainghat, Kanaighat and Jakiganj, however, said the guards could not discharge their responsibilities properly as they were anxious about their future.
   A lcoal trader of Shantinagar near the Sangrampunji BDR camp at Tambil, said the guards could not work properly for which goods smuggling increased.
   According to sources in the Bangladesh Rifles, officials of the Sylhet sector headquarters are not so active in overseeing the activities of border guards in frontiers.
   Operation officer of the 21 Rifles Battalion under the Sylhet sector headquarters, Major Benjir, however, claimed their supervision of the border situation and efforts to curb smuggling remained normal.
   The correspondent in Jessore said the solders at the Benapole check post were performing their duties anxiously being panicked about their future.
   A number of Benapole port policemen said the border guards were panicked about being arrested, although the guards doing their duties in the frontiers were not involved in the rebellion.
   The BDR soldiers said they were worried about their job as the government initiated a move to restructure the Bangladesh Riles.
   A soldier on guard near the border said, ‘We have noting to do, but to hope that what the government does may be good for us.’
   Another soldier said, ‘What can we expect but that the government should not do anything to the soldiers who were not involved in the rebellion?’
   There are 13 BDR outposts along the Benapole border where about 80 solders perform their duties.
   A labour leader of the area told New Age all the BDR soldiers along the border were panicked about their future.
   The correspondent in Lalmonirhat said almost all of the soldiers on guard along the border of the district had expressed their dissatisfaction at BDR reorganisation.
   Some solders of the Moghalhat outpost camp in Lalmonirhat seemed worried. A soldier said they were not satisfied at the reorganisation of the Bangladesh Rifles.
   Some soldiers at the Durgapur outpost camp at Aditmari and Baniyatari said they were facing problems in border villages after the rebellion as the local residents insulted them.
   Change in name, uniform, moto and logo of the Bangladesh Rifles will only add to the insult of the soldiers, they said

The Awami League-led government seems to prefer contractual appointment on political considerations in key Bangladesh missions abroad such as the United States, India and the United Kingdom rather than sending career diplomats there.
   Such political appointments in strategically important missions, foreign policy experts said, may create resentment among the diplomats who have dreamt of such postings throughout their career.
   The government has already decided to send former Bangladesh ambassador to the United States Tariq A Karim to India and former Rahshahi University vice-chancellor Saidur Rahman Khan to London as high commissioners on a contractual basis.
   The government is also set to appoint Syed Muazzem Ali as Bangldesh’s ambassador to the United States.
   Former ambassadors close to the government, however, feel there is nothing wrong with contractual appointments as the countries of assignment give importance to the ambassadors who are ‘close to top government leaders.’
   Sources in the government told New Age the government wanted to begin with a rejuvenated team to attain extended goals of the ruling party’s domestic policies and to fulfil the people’s expectations reflected in the electoral mandate.
   ‘Our ambassadors and high commissioners must act as alter egos of the head of the government. Those people [persons made heads of missions] must reflect the state policy and programme to get better access to their designated destinations,’ Mostafa Faruque Mohammad, a former high commissioner in New Delhi, told New Age on Saturday.
   Mostafa Faruque, also a member on the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs ministry, said such assignments these days were economic as well as political jobs and therefore people need to have expertise and experience.
   A former senior diplomat said career diplomats could serve better than politically appointed people because of their expertise in related jobs.
   ‘It is not guaranteed that a people having a good political contact with the government serves better than a diplomat,’ he said. ‘Such appointments outside the service may create frustration among serving diplomats waiting for such posting.’
   Referring to Bangladesh’s previous posting in New Delhi, the diplomat said four, out of the 10, high commissioners including Faruq A Choudhury, Farooq Sobhan, CM Shafi Shami and Hemayetuddin later worked as foreign secretaries.
   He said working in strategically important missions give them a chance to prepare themselves for the post of top diplomat of the country.
   The government has also already appointed Saiful Haque, an expatriate Bangladeshi businessman in Russia, as the country’s ambassador in Moscow, replacing Mohamed Mijarul Quayes, who is considered a candidate for the post of foreign secretary.
   The government is also set to appoint Abul Barakat, an economist and teacher of Dhaka University, as head of the Bangladesh’s permanent mission in Geneva, former Bangladesh high commissioner in London Giasuddin as ambassador to Germany, Dhaka University teacher Neem Chandra Bhoumik as ambassador in Kathmandu, Abahani Limited director Shahed Reja, also a close friend to the late Sheikh Kamal, as ambassador in Kuwait and the finance minister’s younger brother Abul Momen as ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

The pace in the government’s resource mobilisation might decelerate next fiscal although the growth in income inclusive of revenue earnings and foreign grants is projected to increase by about 13.5 per cent to Tk 84,060 crore in 2009-2010 budget.
   Indicating a higher budget deficit in view of the government’s compulsion to spend more, officials engaged in the budget-making process attributed the probable deceleration in the income to global recession affecting the revenue sector and inflow of foreign grants.
   The government’s income growth marked a significant jump to 16.63 per cent in 2008-09 fiscal, when the aggregate amount of income was estimated at Tk 75,728 crore, as against Tk 64,927 crore in the previous fiscal year’s revised budget.
   Even in the already prepared revised budget for the current fiscal year, the income growth has been estimated at 14.14 per cent — still higher than the projected one for the next fiscal year. The government’s actual income this fiscal year ending June 30, 2009 is expected to stand at Tk 74,110 crore.
   ‘The government is unlikely to raise income at an optimum level that will be reflected in the next budget due to probable negative effects of the global recession on our revenue earning sectors and the inflow foreign grants, a senior official of the finance ministry told New Age.
   The government would have been able to increase its income by at least 40 per cent against the actual income shown in the current fiscal’s revised budget to keep the budget deficit below the ‘safe level’ of five per cent of the gross domestic product.
   The finance minister, Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, the other day said the budget for 2009-10 fiscal year would target fetching almost Tk 80,000 crore as revenue earning.
   According to the finance ministry’s estimate, the government’s income in the form of foreign grants is expected to amount to Tk 5,130 crore, which will be only 4 per cent higher than the grant amount provided by bilateral and multilateral agencies.
   ‘Foreign grants will decline quite naturally due to recession. But the government should have focussed on raising the revenue earnings,’ said AB Mirza Azizul Islam, former finance and planning adviser, predicting that earnings from the major heads of revenue board’s taxes and duties would not be ‘satisfactory’ considering the needs of the government.
   He said the government would have to raise its revenue to increase tax–GDP ratio, which is lowest in the world. ‘The country’s tax–GDP ratio should be raised to 11 per cent, he added. At present, the country’s tax-GDP ratio is only 9 per cent,
   National Board of Revenue sources said VAT would be worth Tk 22,795 crore in next fiscal year. For the current fiscal year, VAT target was fixed at Tk 20,116 crore, but NBR collected Tk 13,180 crore until March 2009.
   For next fiscal year, the country’s total proposed revenue would be Tk 78,930 crore, which will be raised by 14.09 per cent or Tk 9,729 crore compared to current fiscal year’s revised revenue target.
   Current fiscal year’s revised revenue budget is Tk 69,181 crore .
   National Board of Revenue earning will be Tk 61,000 crore, which will be increased by 15.09 per cent or Tk8,000 crore .
   Non-NBR earnings will be Tk 2,955 crore which will be raised by 16.98 per cent compared to current fiscal year’s revised amount Tk 2526 crore.
   Besides, the country’s foreign grants will be worth Tk 5,130 crore, which will increase by only 4 per cent. The government has only received Tk 657 crore as foreign grant until March 2009. The country’s foreign grant was fixed at Tk 4,929 crore in the revised budget.

Nepal’s parliament Saturday chose veteran communist leader Madhav Kumar Nepal as the nation’s new prime minister following the collapse of the Maoist-led government earlier this month.
   Madhav Kumar Nepal, 56, senior leader of the Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist Leninist, one of the Himalayan country’s oldest parties, was acclaimed for the post as he was the lone candidate.
   ‘He has been elected unopposed as the new prime minister of the federal democratic republic of Nepal,’ parliamentary speaker Subash Nemwang said.
   ‘It’s a huge responsibility. I will move forward by building the politics of consensus among all parties,’ said Nepal, who is backed by an alliance of 22 parties that holds 350 seats in the 601-member parliament.
   Nepal, garlanded by well-wishers after being chosen, is a veteran politician who has been a major player in the impoverished Himalayan country’s politics for decades.
   His election came after Maoist leader Prachanda quit as prime minister three weeks ago following eight months in office over a decision by the president to veto his bid to sack Nepal’s army chief, a longtime rival.
   The latest political crisis has raised fears about the future of a 2006 peace agreement which ended a decade-long Maoist insurgency that left at least 13,000 people dead.
   The Maoists stormed out of parliament Saturday before the new prime minister was chosen, branding the selection process ‘a
   farce.’ But they promised not to disrupt the peace process, saying they were committed to civilian government.
   The Maoists said they would boycott parliament under the new prime minister and vowed to keep up street protests until the president changes his mind on the army chief.
   ‘The whole process of choosing a new prime minister is a farce,’ senior Maoist leader Narayan Kaji Shrestha told parliament before members of the 238-strong ultra-left party exited the chamber.
   ‘We’re boycotting this session and we will not support the new government,’ he said.
   ‘But we will play an effective role in taking the peace process to a logical conclusion and draft a new constitution on time by staying in opposition,’ he added.
   ‘We want civilian supremacy to be maintained and not military supremacy,’ Shrestha said.
   The ex-rebels scored well in last year’s elections, winning more than twice the seats of their nearest rivals, the Nepali Congress, Nepal’s second largest party, but not enough for a majority.
   The CPN-UML is the third-largest party.
   The Maoists have filed a parliamentary motion against the president, saying the move to keep the army chief was unconstitutional and undemocratic.
   The row between Prachanda’s government and the head of the army, General Rookmangud Katawal, was centred on the fate of 19,000 former Maoist rebel fighters confined to United Nations-supervised camps.
   Prachanda demanded that they be integrated into the national army to cement the peace process.

The government has taken an initiative to rename the establishment ministry in keeping with its activities.
   The establishment ministry, as part of the Awami League-led government’s plan to reform civil administration, has already issued a letter to its senior officials seeking opinions on the proposal for renaming the ministry, which is now under the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina.
   ‘The government is actively considering a change in the establishment ministry’s name as the existing name does not correspond to its activities… It is sometimes confusing to many whether the ministry looks after the government establishments,’ said a senior official concerned.
   He said the word ‘establishment’ might be replaced with something like ‘human resource development’ as the ministry deals with appointments, promotion and postings along with other administrative affairs.
   ‘We are initially taking opinions with proposal for a new name from the ministry’s senior officials… We will also seek opinions of the secretaries of different ministries before placing a concrete proposal at the secretary committee meeting on administrative development soon,’ the official told New Age on Wednesday.
   As per the Rules of Business, the establishment ministry is responsible for the formulation of policy on regulation of services and determination of their terms and conditions.
   Its jurisdiction, among others, includes 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.
   The government, meanwhile, has taken another move to formulate fresh rules and regulations for the promotion, transfer and posting in civil administration, said official sources at the establishment ministry.

Unknown assailants tried to burn down a makeshift mosque in Athens on Saturday, injuring five Bangladeshi migrants who suffered burns and respiratory problems in the attack, the police said.
   The attackers broke the windows of a basement flat used as a mosque early on Saturday morning and threw gasoline inside before lighting it, a police source said.
   Four Bangladeshi men suffered respiratory problems and a fifth was burned, the police said. All were initially taken to hospital but later discharged.
   The incident followed clashes in Athens between Muslim immigrants and the Greek police during protests sparked by allegations that a police officer tore up and stamped on a Qur’an during an identity check earlier in the week.
   Nearly 1,000 Muslims rallied in the city’s central Omonia square on Friday in a demonstration organised by leftist, immigrant and anti-racism groups.
   Violence broke out at the end of the demonstration as around 100 protesters threw projectiles at the police, who tried to disperse the crowd with tear gas.
   Over seventy cars and five shops were vandalised and the police arrested 46 people. Seven protesters and seven police were injured in the clashes.
   A larger demonstration on Thursday involving some 1,500 Muslim immigrants also degenerated into violence with the police using tear gas to disperse protesters who threw dustbins and stones.
   The incident that sparked the protests occurred on Wednesday when the police stopped four Syrian immigrants to check their papers. One officer allegedly tore up a Qur’an and stamped on it. The police have opened an investigation.
   Another protest march will be held in Athens on Saturday afternoon.
   Athens has no licensed mosques and thousands of Muslims immigrants residing in the city are forced to use rented flats and warehouses for their prayers.

Sajeeb Wazed Joy, son of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, said on Saturday that the media was criticizing the government illogically, ignoring its success in different sectors, and urged newsmen to be objective and stick to facts, said an informed source.
   Joy, also an adviser to Sheikh Hasina, made this observation while addressing a section of reporters of various dailies, TV channels and news agencies. He met the newsmen at Hasina’s political office in Dhanmondi.
   ‘The government has had a lot of success, but in spite of this it seems that the media is criticizing the government illogically,’ said Joy as quoted by a journalist who attended the meeting.
   The PM’s son, who lives in the United States and arrived here on May 11 after the death of his father M Wazed Miah, requested the newsmen to be objective and impartial.
   ‘During the 5-month tenure of the Awami League-led government, the law and order situation has improved and prices of daily essentials have declined,’ said Joy. He urged the attending journalists to highlight the successes of the government.
   A journalist, while addressing the meeting, said that newsmen have often faced several restrictions while covering the ruling party and the prime minister.
   It was pointed out that reporters from the print media were not allowed near the podium to cover the May Day rally, organised by the Jatiya Sramik League at Paltan Maidan, where Sheikh Hasina delivered a speech, as they were not given any security passes for covering the rally.
   Journalists from the Ittefaq, Shamokal, Prothom Alo, Janakantha, Jugantor, ATN Bangla, NTV, ETV, Channel i, Bangla Vision and UNB were present at the meeting. The PM’s deputy press secretary, Mahbubul Huq Shakil, was also present at the meeting.
   Information minister Abul Kalam Azad later joined the meeting
   that lasted for nearly two hours.

Dismissing as ‘engineered rumours’ Sri Lankan government’s assertion that Vellupillai Prabhakaran had been killed in the fighting in the north, the Tamil Tigers have claimed that the LTTE supremo is alive.
   Days after the Sri Lankan military released a video footage of a corpse identifying it as that of Prabhakaran, the LTTE repeated its claim that its leadership was intact.
   ‘Our beloved leader is alive,’ a pro-rebel web site said, quoting Arivazhakan, the ‘Head of International Secretariat of the Intelligence Wing’ of Tamil Tigers on Saturday.
   The rebels termed as ‘engineered rumours’ the Sri Lankan government’s statement that Prabhakaran was killed in the combat on Monday.
   ‘These rumours have been set afloat to confuse the global Tamil community which has been voicing support for the liberation of Tamil Eelam,’ Arivazhakan said.
   The report also said that the rebel leadership ‘will make contact with its people at a suitable time in future.’ The LTTE had denied reports of Prabhakaran’s death on May 18 after the Sri Lankan military had claimed killing the Tiger leader.
   ‘Our beloved leader is alive and safe. He will continue to lead the quest for dignity and freedom for the Tamil people,’ the rebels’ international relations chief Selvarasa Pathmanathan had told Tamilnet web site a day before the footage of Prabhakaran’s body was released.

At least 10 students were injured in a clash between two factions of Bangladesh Chhatra Leauge, associate student body of the ruling Awami League, on Dhaka College premises over control of the campus early Saturday.
   New Market police chief M Kamaluddin told Bdnews24.com that two BCL factions in the North Hall, one led by Titu and the other by Tareq, fought over seat allotment for two new students.
   Ten students were injured during the clash. The police brought the situation under control, he said.
   ‘I have come to know that the college authority has sat with two factions’ leaders to settle the dispute,’ Kamaluddin said.
   Sources at Dhaka Medical College Hospital said the injured students received primary treatment early Saturday. Seriously injured Kamrul admitted to the hospital.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party is scheduled to submit a memorandum to the government today to protest against the deterioration of the law and order situation, the Awami league activists’ spree of land-grabbing and taking over of institutions and harassment of opposition party workers by filing false cases.
   The district units of the party will hand over identical memorandums to the deputy commissioners in their districts.
   In Dhaka, the memorandum is scheduled to be handed over at about 10:00am to the deputy commissioner’s office. Nazmul Huda, president of the Dhaka district unit of the BNP, and general secretary Aman Ullah Aman requested leaders and activists of the unit to meet at the party’s Naya Bazaar office before going to the DC’s office.
   The BNP, on April 23, announced the launching of agitation programmes from May 5 to June 8.

The Indian prime minister, Manmohan Singh, distributed key cabinet portfolios on Saturday after the Congress party’s resounding victory in national elections.
   Singh named outgoing foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee, 73, regarded as one of India’s canniest politicians, to the finance ministry to steer the revival of the economy which has slowed as a result of the global financial crisis.
   Singh brought in a new face to the cabinet as external affairs minister — Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna, 77, a former chief minister of southern Karnataka state and party veteran to guide India’s foreign policy during a period of heightened tensions with neighbouring Pakistan.
   Palaniappan Chidambaram, seen as having overhauled India’s security in the wake of the Islamist attacks on Mumbai last November that left 172 dead, will continue to head the home ministry, a government statement said.
   AK Anthony will retain charge of the defence ministry, said the statement, which added the new parliament would convene June 1.
   Sharad Pawar will keep the agricultural ministry while Mamata Banerjee will serve as railway minister.
   Both Pawar and Banerjee are key regional allies in the Congress-led coalition which won 262 seats in the 543-member national parliament, just 10 short of the 272 needed for a working majority.
   Singh, a 76-year-old, soft-spoken economist, is the first prime minister since the country’s post-independence leader Jawaharlal Nehru to be returned to office after completing a full term.
   ‘Portfolios of other ministers will be announced later,’ a government spokesman said without elaborating.
   Congress had campaigned hard on a poverty-alleviation platform for India’s rural millions, and voters also responded to the image of Singh as a steady, pragmatic leader capable of steering the country through the economic downturn.
   The alliance quickly garnered pledges of support from independents and others to take its voting strength to 322.
   But a row over cabinet positions between the Congress and a key southern coalition ally, the DMK, resulted in Singh finalising a shorter list of ministers with more expected to be sworn in next week.
   Mukherjee, who was finance minister in the early 1980s, served as acting finance minister after Chidambaramm was assigned to the home ministry.
   When presenting an interim budget earlier this year, Mukherjee said India would have to up its spending to stimulate the economy, expected by the central bank to slow to six per cent this fiscal year — the weakest since 2003 — from 6.5 to 6.7 the previous year.
   Before the worldwide slump hit, India’s economy had been growing by around nine per cent annually for several years.
   Frequently described by colleagues as ‘Mr Reliable,’ Mukherjee has been a regular face in successive Congress governments since 1973.
   Home minister Chidambaram, 63, a Harvard-educated lawyer, is known for his sharp mind and efficiency.
   ‘He inspires a lot of confidence as home minister,’ said Vinod Mehta, editor of the weekly Outlook magazine.
   Meanwhile, Krishna is best known for building Bangalore into an informational technology hub of international repute.
   ‘He may lack hands-on experience in foreign affairs but he brings a lot of ministerial experience and gubernatorial gravitas to the job,’ said strategic analyst C Uday Bhaskar.
   ‘The working of the Indian foreign ministry is institutionalised to a great extent so his experience should not be a handicap. He will grow in the job.’