BANGLADESH

Parliament on Tuesday passed the 'Wall Writing and Poster Sticking (Prevention) Bill-2012' allowing poster pasting and graffiti only in designated spots.

According to the bill, anybody violating the new law could be fined a maximum of Tk 50,000 and 30 days of imprisonment if the offender fails to pay the fine. Mobile courts will also be able to try the violators.

The bill was passed after speaker Abdul Hamid put it to voice vote.

The endorsement came after state minister for LGRD Jahangir Kabir Nanak tabled the bill on Nov 28 last year on. The cabinet on July 11 that year had approved the bill's draft copy.

The only mobile-phone operator on the stock exchange, GrameenPhone (GP), has declared another 65 percent cash dividend for 2011.

A GP source familiar with the company's financial details confirmed about the decision of the GP board of directors.

This announcement comes on top of a 140 percent dividend given earlier.

Also the largest telecom operator in Bangladesh, the company's board took the decision in a meeting on Tuesday evening, said the source who declined to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the media on the issue.

In July last year, GP declared the 140 percent interim cash dividend or Tk 14 per share of Tk 10 each for 2011 based on its half-yearly performance.

The interim dividend was much higher than that of 2010's 35 percent interim dividend and even higher than full year's 120 percent dividend of 2010.

he home minister has claimed that the main opposition's Mar 12 rally in Dhaka is aimed at 'saving war criminals', so the government will 'thwart' the bid 'peacefully.'

"They (BNP) will not succeed at any cost," Shahara Khatun, also a ruling Awami League's presidium member, vowed while speaking at a massive human chain programme organised by the 14-party Grand Alliance on Tuesday.

The human chain, stretching from one end of the capital to the other, was formed to protest what they called "conspiracy to foil war crimes trial and throttle democracy".

BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia declared the programme 'to topple the government' from a rally at Chittagong on Jan 9.

Joining hands around 3pm, the ruling coalition supporters formed the chain from Gabtoli to Jatrabari, lasting over an hour.

It stretched through Shyamoli, Asad Gate, Russell Square, Panthapath, Karwan Bazar, Shahbagh, National Press Club, Noor Hossain Square, Gulistan, Tikatuli and Sayedabad.

"BNP declared the Mar 12 programme to save war criminals. But, they will not succeed at any cost. On that day, our leaders and activists will peacefully keep them [the opposition] off the streets," Shahara said taking part in the programme at Gabtoli.

Syed Ashraful Islam, the LGRD minister and Awami League general secretary, had earlier announced the decision to form the 12-kilometre human chain between Gabtali bus terminal and Jatrabari crossing. The decision was taken at a meeting of the leaders of the 14-party alliance at the Awami League president's political office in Dhanmondi on Jan 29, he had said.

Ashraful had said that the human chain is an attempt to raise voice against a "conspiracy" at home and abroad to foil the trial of war criminals.

Among those who attended the meeting on Jan 29 were Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) president Hasanul Haque Inu, Workers Party president Rashed Khan Menon and party member Shirin Akther, Ganotantri Party leader Nurur Rahman Selim, Samyabadi Dal leader Harun Chowdhury and NAP leader Ismail Hossain.

An Awami League media release earlier in the said the party's leaders would take part in the human chain programme at different points of the city on Tuesday.

Former Jamaat-e-Islami chief Ghulam Azam, party's present chief Matiur Rahman Nizami, its secretary-general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujaheed, central executive committee member Delwar Hossain Sayedee, and assistant secretaries general Muhammad Kamaruzzaman and Quader Molla are facing charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, committed during the 1971 war.

They are all currently behind bars.

Facing similar charges, senior BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury is also in jail, pending trial, while former member of late president Ziaur Rahman's cabinet Abdul Alim is out on conditional bail.

The government formed the International Crimes Tribunal, lawyers' panel and an investigation committee on Mar 25 last year to try those involved in crimes against humanity during the Liberation War.

The search committee, formed to suggest names for election commissioners, submitted their recommendations to president Mohammad Zillur Rahman on Tuesday.

The recommendations were handed in around 6:30pm to at Bangabhaban.

Following a meeting of the committee earlier in the day at the Supreme Court Judges' Lounge, cabinet secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told journalists around 6:10pm: "We have finalised the recommendations. Now we are going to the president with the names."

Asked who names have been proposed, he said, " You will get to know about that there (in president's office)."

The Cabinet Division provided secretarial support to the panel headed by the Appellate Division's justice Syed Mahmud Hossain. The other members of the committee are High Court Division justice Md Nuruzzaman, Public Service Commission chairman AT Ahmedul Haque Chowdhury and comptroller and auditor general Ahmed Ataul Hakim.

The committee is to propose two names against each vacant post of election commissioners, including the chief of the constitutional body to the president who will have the final say as per constitutional provisions.

It received the names from political parties until last Tuesday. Ruling Awami League, Workers' Party and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal had sent names to the committee. But Jatiya Party, a key component of the ruling alliance, suggested no names.

The BNP-led four-party alliance snubbed the committee, calling it unconstitutional.

The president on Jan 22 formed the search committee, following a series of dialogues with political parties having representation in parliament, to reconstitute the commission.

The tenure of the incumbent commission ends in the middle of this month.

The BNP on Tuesday termed immediate past chief election commissioner A T M Shamsul Huda 'biased' and said it will not accept his reappointment.

"He (Huda) tried to break a large political party. This person is biased, not impartial. He doesn't tell the truth," acting secretary general of the party, Mirza Fakhrul islam Alamgir told a discussion in the city.

He urged the government to revive the caretaker government system, saying the 'ongoing political crisis' will not be overcome if the constitutional provision is not reinstated before constitution of a new Election Commission (EC).

"You (government) still have time. Come away from the path of violence and vengeance," the spokesperson said.

The BNP leader termed 'unconstitutional' the search committee, which officially proposed names of election commissioners later in the evening.

President Mohammed Zillur Rahman had formed the committee after talks with political parties last month as the terms of Huda and the other election commissioners M Sakhawat Hussain and Muhammed Sohul Hussain were expiring this month.

The issue of Huda's reappointment was discussed when some political parties proposed during the presidential dialogue that he be reappointed and several experts on the constitution said there was no legal bar.

The panel was to propose two names against each vacant post of election commissioners, including the chief of the constitutional body, to president who will have the final say as per constitutional provisions.

Ruling Awami League, Workers' Party and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal had sent names to the committee. But Jatiya Party, a key component of the ruling alliance, suggested no names.

The BNP-led four-party alliance has been saying from the beginning that they would not give any names to the committee, calling it unconstitutional.

The main opposition has dubbed the recommendations for election commissioners, handed over to the president by the search committee, as 'meaningless'.

"We feel, forming a new election commission is not the answer to the prevailing political crisis, instead formation of a non-partisan caretaker government holds the key," the party's standing committee member Khandker Mosharraf Hossain told as his instant reaction to Tuesday's submission of names.

"So, who mans the new EC or whom the search committee recommended is of no concern to us. We find it meaningless," the BNP leader added.

The search committee, formed to suggest names for the new election commissioners, in the evening recommended to the president that either former cabinet secretary Ali Imam Majumder or ex-home secretary Kazi Rakib Uddin Ahmed be made the chief election commissioner.

The committee also proposed eight other names against the remaining four vacant posts of election commissioners to the president who will have the final say as per the constitutional provisions.

"We told the president during the dialogue that the announcement to hold the polls under a caretaker government has to come before formation of the new Election Commission," Musharraf pointed out.

"...there is no alternative to the polls being held under a non-partisan caretaker government to ensure fair and acceptable elections."

He added that this was one of the key reasons why his party did not contribute to the formation of the new EC.

"A neutral poll is no longer only BNP's demand, it has become a national demand. If anything is done bypassing this, then the people will not accept. On the contrary, it will only worsen the political crisis."

The president on Jan 22 formed the search committee, following a series of dialogues with political parties having representation in parliament, to reconstitute the commission. The tenure of the incumbent commission ends in the middle of this month.

It received the names from political parties until Dec 31. Ruling Awami League, Workers' Party and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal had sent names to the committee. But Jatiya Party, a key component of the ruling alliance, suggested no names.

The BNP-led four-party alliance had snubbed the committee, calling it unconstitutional.

Detective branch police have detained Mohammad Nurul Islam, general secretary of Narsinghdi district's Sadar upazila unit of BNP, at the jail gate as he moved to walk free hours after securing bail in the case over the murder of Narsinghdi municipality mayor Lokman Hossain.

DB police inspector Gaurachandra Majumder told that the Tuesday evening arrest was carried out in line with "depositions of accused arrested over the murder of Narsinghdi Government College student union general secretary Billal Hossain Rony".

On Mar 15 last year, Chhatra Dal leader Rony was chopped and shot dead on the college premises in broad daylight and it is alleged that the murder was the result of a factional clash in BNP.

Rony's elder brother Abul Fazal had filed a case against 14, though Nurul did not find a mention there. Later, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) was assigned to probe the case.

Earlier in the day, the court of Narsinghdi district and sessions judge Mohammad Shahjahan granted him bail after chief judicial magistrate Nitai Chandra Saha ordered him back to jail on being produced before the court after a three-day remand.

Following the chief judicial magistrate court's order, lawyers for the accused moved to the district and sessions judge's court for his bail.

Doctors at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) had pronounced Lokman, 43, dead about three hours after he was shot by a masked gunman around 8pm in front of the Awami League office at Sadar Road in Narsinghdi on Nov 1.

Lokman's younger brother Kamruzzaman filed a murder case on Nov 3 accusing telecommunications minister Rajiuddin Ahmed Raju's brother Salahuddin Ahmed Bachchu and 13 others, mostly leaders and activists of Awami League.

Nurul, the number five accused in the murder case, was arrested at the Shahjalal International Airport in the capital by the immigration police on Jan 29 on his arrival from Malaysia.

He had gone to Malaysia before the murder was committed.

The search committee has recommended that the president pick either former CSP officer Kazi Rakib Uddin Ahmed or former secretary Ali Imam Majumder a the chief election commissioner.

It suggested eight more names against the four positions of commissioners, one being that of a woman.

The committee members handed their recommendations for the new election commissioners to Mohammad Zillur Rahman on Tuesday

The president received the recommendations around 6:30pm at Bangabhaban.

Cabinet secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan revealed the names to journalists at Bangabhaban.

The BNP has brushed off the recommendations 'meaningless' while ruling coalition ally Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JaSad) said the candidates are 'honest' and 'competent' even though the names put forward by political parties were not there

CEC contender Kazi Rakib retired as the education secretary in 2003. He had also been the home secretary and was chairman of different corporations in his career.


The other man in the fray, Ali Imam, was thrust into the office of cabinet secretary in December 2006 during the caretaker government led by president Iajuddin Ahmed. He held the post during the entire rule of the military-backed caretaker government. After his retirement, the 1977 Bangladesh Civil Service batch officer was reappointed for another year on contract and finally retired in November 2008, a month before the general elections.

A Comilla resident, he discharged duties as the establishment secretary under the past BNP-Jamaat-e-Islami coalition government.

The committee proposed eight other names, including a woman and a retired army officer, against the remaining four vacant posts of election commissioners to the president who will have the final say as per constitutional provisions.

They are retired additional secretaries Mohammad Abu Hafiz and Shah Mohammad Monsurul Haque, retired joint secretary Abdul Mobarak, former police chief Hadis Uddin Ahmed, retired brigadier general Jabed Ali, former Supreme Court registrar Fazlul Karim, former sessions' judge Mohammad Shahnewaz and chief executive officer of NGO Broti Sharmin Murshid.

BNP policymaker Khandker Mosharraf Hossain told in his instant reaction to the submission of names that who manned the new Election Commission or who the search committee recommended was of no concern to the opposition.

"We feel, forming a new Election Commission is not the answer to the prevailing political crisis, instead formation of a non-partisan caretaker government holds the key," he added.

JaSad president Hasanul Haq Inu told reporters that the names suggested by the panel have worked with 'integrity' and 'proficiency' and hoped that they will deliver in the EC as well.

The Cabinet Division has been providing secretarial support to the panel headed by the Appellate Division's justice Syed Mahmud Hossain. The other members of the committee are High Court Division justice Md Nuruzzaman, Public Service Commission chairman AT Ahmedul Haque Chowdhury and comptroller and auditor general Ahmed Ataul Hakim.

It received the names from political parties until Dec 31. Ruling Awami League, Workers' Party and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal had sent names to the committee. But Jatiya Party, a key component of the ruling alliance, suggested no names.

The BNP-led four-party alliance snubbed the committee, calling it unconstitutional.

The president on Jan 22 formed the search committee, following a series of dialogues with political parties having representation in parliament, to reconstitute the commission.

The tenure of the incumbent commission ends in the middle of this month.