BANGLADESH

BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia has held an emergency meeting with the top policymakers on the country's present condition.

"The agenda of the meeting will be briefed at a press meet at 12pm on Tuesday at the party central office at Naya Paltan," BNP acting secretary-general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told reporters on Monday after the meeting.

The meeting started at Khaleda's Gulshan political office from 10:30pm and ended at 11:45pm.

Responding to a query from the press, Fakhrul said, "The meeting's discussion included the country's current situation and the four-party alliance rally on Sept 27 at Paltan ground."

Apart from Fakhrul, party standing committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Mirza Abbas, Goyeshwar Chandra Roy, Nazrul Islam Khan and vice-president Sadeque Hossain Khoka attended the meeting.

The meeting began hours after police arrested BNP ally Jamaat-e-Islami's acting secretary-general A T M Azharul Islam, publicity secretary Tasneem Alam, central working committee member Mohammad Ijjat Ullah and six other members from its Moghbazar headquarters.

The arrests were followed by clashes between Jamaat activists and police at the city's Bijoynagar. The opposition activists in Dhaka set at least 15 cars on fire, including a police vehicle and ransacked another 25 at Dhaka's Bijoynagar during a fierce clash with the law-enforcers.

Detective Branch senior assistant commissioner S M Ashrafuzzaman told bdnews24.com said that they were arrested on charges of assault on police, arson and vandalism.

The clash in Dhaka has left at least 50 injured including police officials. Until 9pm, police arrested 78 while another 26 were arrested in Chittagong.

They were arrested eight days before the Sept 27 public rally of the four-party alliance where Khaleda would announce the fresh anti-government agitation programme.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina has reiterated Bangladesh's firm stance against terrorism and proposed United Nations-led counter-terrorism initiatives with 'a universal agreement on legal definition for terrorism'.

She also called for finalising the UN draft of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism with a 'clear' distinction between people's legitimate struggle for independence and foreign occupation in her seven-point recommendation made while delivering the keynote speech at a symposium.

UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon organised the symposium on 'Counter-terrorism Cooperation' on the sidelines of the 66th UN General Assembly.

Hasina described economic disparity, political and economic exclusion, prolonged and unresolved conflicts, and climate-induced loss of livelihood as the 'root' causes of terrorism, "which must be addressed through regional and global cooperation".

Condemning terrorism in all forms, Hasina said, "Countering terrorism and promoting global peace and security is our constitutional and foreign policy priority."

"Our foreign policy does not allow our territory to be used for terrorism or subversive activities against another state.

"Our government is determined to ensure a democratic, secular, tolerant, inclusive and equitable society," she said and added that Bangladesh subscribes to 13 universal anti-terrorism mechanisms, and maintains a 'zero-tolerance' policy against terrorism and religious extremism.

She also reminded the world leaders of the importance to keep 'the respect for human rights and the rule of law' high on the agenda for their fight against terrorism.

The prime minister also stressed on the need to keep the national capacity building of developing countries and LDCs, like Bangladesh, on top of the UN counter-terrorism agenda.

She went on to propose for a centre for counter-terrorism under the UN with a 'comprehensive' global database on terror outfits and suspects for coordination and intelligence sharing among various states.

She said, "Our commitment is also reflected in our position as a top UN peacekeeper and a trusted UN partner in the maintenance of global peace and development."

Hasina also talked of Bangladesh's success in destroying most of the 'known terrorist networks' together with their arms and ammunition, and the ban imposed by Dhaka on all terrorist groups blacklisted by the UN Security Council.

She said her government was currently implementing a national counter-radicalisation strategy through education, women's empowerment, and propagation of secular and moderate cultural values.

"Imams or religious leaders are playing an active role with the media in raising awareness against terrorism and religious extremism," she said and that she would not allow extremists to 'abuse' Islam as a pretext for acts of terror.

The prime minister extolled US secretary of state Hillary Clinton for her 'pioneering' role in ensuring her country's engagement in countering terrorism globally.

She recalled the Aug 21, 2004 grenade attack on an Awami League anti-terrorism rally in Dhaka and said, "Twenty-four people lost their life and over 500 got wounded by a grenade lobbed at us by a terrorist group, sponsored by a political party.

"I was lucky to escape unhurt, but only after impairing my hearing permanently."

She expressed her sympathy for the families of 2,997 people, including 60 Bangladeshis, who died in Sep 11, 2001 attacks on the twin towers in New York.

Authorities have raised CNG price as a precaution as they believe an inconsistent rise in public transport fares could cause unrest.

A day after the government raised diesel, petrol, octane, kerosene and furnace oil prices, the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) also raised the price of CNG to Tk 30 per unit on Monday.

The new price of CNG, a 20 percent rise, was declared to be effective from midnight.

A BERC circular said it hiked the price fearing that some CNG-fuelled transports could raise their fares even though CNG prices had not been raised. This would have caused law and order situation to deteriorate, the circular said.

The circular also explained why the standard procedure for price raise – public hearing – had been overridden for this decision. It said the tariff review process was so lengthy that the government might lose a large amount of revenue before a decision was reached.

State-owned oil-gas and minerals corporation Petrobangla proposed the government a price-hike of Tk 5 on feed gas in the morning. When approved, it sent a proposal to the BERC to raise prices at the consumer level.

The last CNG price hike was on May 12, by 49.25 percent – to Tk 24.90 from Tk 16.75 per unit.

Meanwhile, the price of feed gas (gas fields to distributors) has also been raised to Tk 23 from Tk 18.

The government on Sunday increased prices of all fuels by Tk 5 to Tk 8.

However, the CNG price raise has drawn criticism from many quarters.

CNG filling station and conversion workshop owners' leader Jakir Hossain Nayan told bdnews24.com the filling stations would face losses due to this raise.

Energy expert professor M Shamsul Alam, a teacher of Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology, said the government raising the price was out of order, as only the regulatory body was vested with that power.

"And not even the BERC can raise prices at their will. They must do it following a standard procedure," he added.

Following daylong clashes with the Jamaat-e-Islami activists in capital Dhaka and Chittagong, police have arrested the party's acting secretary general A T M Azharul Islam.

Ramna deputy commissioner Krishnapada Roy told bdnews24.com on Monday that he was detained in the evening from the party's Maghbazar headquarters.

Detective Branch senior assistant commissioner S M Ashrafuzzaman told bdnews24.com the party's publicity secretary Tasneem Alam, central working committee member Mohammad Ijjatullah and six other members had also been arrested at the office.

He said they were arrested on charges of assault on police, arson and vandalism.

Azharul is one of the six senior Jamaat leaders who are charged with crimes against humanity during the Liberation War of 1971 in the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT).

Five other senior Jamaat leaders – party chief Matiur Rahman Nizami, secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, executive council member Delwar Hossain Sayedee and assistant secretaries general Mohammad Kamaruzzaman and Abdul Quader Molla – have all been arrested and are now behind bars.

THE CLASHES

Rampant clashes between Jamaat activists and police broke out earlier in the day and continued for several hours in Dhaka's Bijoynagar and Muradpur in Chittagong.

The opposition activists in Dhaka set at least 15 cars on fire, including a police vehicle and ransacked another 25 at Dhaka's Bijoynagar during a fierce clash with the law-enforcers.

The clash in Dhaka has left at least 50 injured including police officials. Until 9pm, police arrested 78 while another 26 were arrested in Chittagong.

A Paltan Police Station duty officer told bdnews24.com in the afternoon that the clash had erupted after police had intercepted the pre-planned processions of Jamaat activists taken out from Motijheel and nearby areas.

The opposition activists, aided by student front Islami Chhatra Shibir, set fire to 15 vehicles, including a prison van, two motorcycles and some bus, cars and pick-ups, during the two-hour clash took place at Bijoynagar, Kakrail and Shantinagar.

Police fired some teargas shells to control the situation.

Superintendent Nizam Uddin of the city's Police Lines Hospital told bdnews24.com that at least 10 police officials have been admitted there with injuries sustained in the clash.

bdnews24.com senior correspondent Mohsinul Karim said police raided several buildings of the area around 5pm after the clash looking for Jamaat activists and picked some up.

CLASH IN CHITTAGONG

Adherents of Jamaat and Chhatra Shibir also clashed with police at the port city's Muradpur Monday afternoon.

They vandalised at least eight vehicles including two buses and a private car during the clash which started around 5pm.

The clash also left four police officials including Chittagong Metropolitan Police (Panchlaish zone) assistant commissioner Abdul Mannan injured.

Police and witnesses said the clash broke out when petrol police stopped a procession of over a hundred Shibir activists at Muradpur intersection.

Panchlaish Police Station sub-inspector (SI) Mohammad Akter, one of the injured, said 26 Jamaat and Shibir activists were arrested in the area following the clash.

Additional police have been deployed after the situation was brought under control around 6pm.

AC Mannan was taken to the city's Center for Specialised Care & Research (CSCR), a private clinic, with critical injuries in the head. He is now at the intensive care unit of the hospital.

Among the other injured SI Akter and Mannan's driver 'Ashraf' were released after they had been given first-aid while his bodyguard 'Ridwan' was admitted to Damparha Police Line Hospital.