BANGLADESH

BUET teachers on Tuesday called off their demonstrations and will return to classes on assurances from the Education Minister, but the students have refused to relent until Vice-Chancellor SM Nazrul Islam is removed.

Minister Nurul Islam Nahid had assured the BUET Teachers' Association leaders of withdrawing Pro-VC Habibur Rahman and dropping the two cases against the demonstrating students and teachers at a meeting on Monday midnight.

Afterwards, association leaders sat with the protesting students and general teachers since Tuesday morning separately to discuss the situation and minister's assurance while VC Islam in the afternoon ordered withdrawal of the cases filed with the Shahbagh police.

However, students at a press conference on the BUET campus in the afternoon declared they would not return to classes until their demands were met. Hours later, at another press briefing, their teachers declared that they were ending their demonstrations to resume classes.

At the students' press meet, chemical engineering student Merina Jahan renewed their demand that the government withdraw the VC and Pro-VC together.

"Our one and only demand is removal of the VC and the Pro-VC. We won't return to classes until our demands are met (fully)," she said while reading out a written statement.

"We believe we are not safe on the campus where there are people who have implicated us in false cases," she said.

The student said these people did not care even when they saw the blood of the students spilled on the campus.

She urged the Education Minister to come to the BUET campus. "Please come here. Listen to us. Take the decision after understanding our emotions and the reality."

Later at the teachers' press briefing, BUET Teachers' Association President Professor Mojibur Rahman said the teachers decided to return to their classes according to the minister's assurance to take necessary steps to meet the demands of the students and teachers.

He, however, said they were not going back on their demand for the ouster of the VC. "I hope the matter will be resolved through discussions."

Responding to a query on the students continuing with their demonstrations, Association General Secretary Professor Ashraful Islam told bdnews24.com : "This is a matter for the students. The Minister and Education Secretary will come to campus (Wednesday). We hope to reach a resolution on the matter on discussion with them."

"But some preparations are needed to be made for that to happen. New academic calendar has to be prepared as the university has been closed for a long time. It'll take two or three days."

Computer science Professor Humayun Kabir also told reporters that Education Secretary Kamal Abdul Naser told the teachers that he would pay a visit to the campus on Wednesday along with minister Nahid.

The university's Teachers' Association leaders sat with the students earlier in the day after the minister assured the teachers at a meeting on Monday midnight of removing the Pro-VC and dropping the two cases against the agitating students and teachers.

The 'assured' teachers on Tuesday morning informed the students about the whole situation and the minister's assurance leading them to decide to return to classes 'very soon'.

BUET teachers began their demonstration in April accusing the VC Nazrul Islam and Pro-VC Habibur Rahman of different irregularities in the administration. The students also joined their cause eventually.

In the wake of joint movement, the BUET authorities had advanced the Ramadan and Eid-ul-Fitr vacation by a month to close it on July 10 until Aug 24. The decision, however, failed to deter the protesters from going ahead with the movement.

The university activities resumed on Aug 25 but classes and exams did not take place as the teachers and students continued with their protest.

Education Minister Nahid met the teachers' association leaders on Monday midnight at his official residence and asked them to return to the regular curricular activities.

He and Prof Mojibur Rahman around 1am on Tuesday told reporters about the decisions of their meeting.

The minister told reporters, "We will withdraw the Pro-VC. The cases will be dropped as well very soon."

Nahid also assured them of taking steps against all irregularities plaguing the top engineering university in the country and hoped that all teachers will now resume regular academic activities.

But the meeting failed to agree on the removal of the VC which would have made the agitating students to call their demonstrations off.

However, BUET VC Nazrul Islam on Tuesday afternoon told bdnews24.com : "I have ordered withdrawal of the cases following the decision taken at the meeting between the BUET Teachers' Association and the Education Minister."

The BUET authorities had filed two cases with the Shahbagh police around Sunday midnight accusing around a hundred teachers and students of attacking the offices of the VC and Pro-VC, vandalism, ransacking records and looting Tk 300,000.

Foreign Minister Dipu Moni is going to meet US Acting Secretary of State William J Burns at the State Department in Washington on Wednesday.

Press Minister at Bangladesh Embassy in Washington Swapan Kumar Saha confirmed it on Tuesday night.

"The minister is having a meeting with the lawyers of Bangladesh-India maritime boundary case today and she will meet the acting Secretary tomorrow," he said.

Moni will also meet Michael Delaney, Assistant US Trade Representative, the US negotiator on Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, Saha added.

Dhaka and Washington are at loggerheads over TICFA as the US administration is reluctant to have anymore negotiation on the issue.

Sources at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the minister was expected to discuss issues including Grameen Bank.

The foreign minister on Sunday told reporters that concern of international community on Grameen Bank was 'baseless' and Bangladesh would engage with them wherever and whenever possible to remove their anxiety.

Meanwhile, Dhaka and Washington are going to hold first ever formal foreign secretary level talks on Sept 19 and 20, diplomatic sources said.

"Foreign Secretary Mohamed Mijarul Quayes will lead the Bangladesh side while Undersecretary of the State Department Wendy Sherman will be his counterpart," said an official of the ministry.

Trade, development and security issues will dominate the meeting, he added.

Under the partnership agreement between Bangladesh and US, there will be foreign secretary level meeting every year where both the parties will discuss to take the relationship forward.

The agreement was signed when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton came to Dhaka in May.

Before her visit, Sherman visited Dhaka and Bangladesh and US held first-ever security talks in April.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith on Tuesday came down hard on the World Bank as he accused its Institutional Integrity Unit of 'jihadi' attitude and said the cell had no accountability.

"The World Bank has an integrity cell. It's a jihadist institution and it must be corrected. I've worked with it," he said at a roundtable at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel in the city.

"Jihad, I mean in a bad sense. He who thinks that I'm doing a corruption inquiry, it's a jihad. He destroys it. And let's try to avoid it."

About the ethics of the investigations unit, he said, "The integrity unit doesn't believe in right means for right ends. This unaccountable office at this jihadi spirit they are very much against corruption."

The Anti-Corruption Commission organised the roundtable titled 'Role of Information and Communication Technology in Combating Corruption'.

The Finance Minister hinted last week that all the misunderstandings with the Washington-based lender had been cleared. But several newspapers on Aug 25 said the World Bank would not finance the Padma bridge project as the Prime Minister's Economic Affairs Advisor Mashiur Rahman did not agree to step down as per the fourth condition for reviving its pledged financing.

Asked about the latest development on the funding for the country's largest-ever infrastructure, he had told reporters that a formal statement would be made soon. But he did not issue any formal statement until Tuesday.

According to media reports, the Finance Minister on Monday expressed his desire to step down at the Cabinet meeting presided over by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. There was also heated exchange of words between Muhith and some other members of the cabinet at the meeting.

Muhith came up with his remarks on Tuesday at such a time when the government was trying to persuade the global lender to review the decision to not to release the promised loan to build the 6.15-kilometre bridge.

The World Bank on June 29 finally cancelled $ 1.2 billion fund for the $2.9 billion project, saying it had 'credible evidence' of high-level corruption by government officials, SNC-Lavalin executives and private individuals for the project.

Although the government later decided to build the bridge with its own resources, the Ministry of Finance has been trying simultaneously to bring the World Bank back on board .

The Bank put forward four conditions for any reconsideration of its funding support for constructing the bridge, which is expected to increase Bangladesh's GDP growth rate by 1.2 percent.

As per the WB conditions, Information and Communications Technology Minister Syed Abul Hossain, who was the Communications Minister when the allegation was raised, stepped down and former Bridges Division Secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan went on leave.

Four Bangladeshi workers were killed on Tuesday in a traffic accident in Oman.

The accident took place Tuesday where five Bangladeshis were also injured, Labour Counsellor of Bangladesh Embassy in Oman AKM Rabiul Islam told bdnews24.com by telephone.

He said the deceased were identified as Mohammad Helal, 27, Mohammad Belal Hossain, 25, Asaduzzaman, 30, all of Swandip, and Mohammad Jamal, 45, of Chittagong's Raojan.

Thirteen Bangladeshis along with nine Omanis and Indians were travelling to Al Ghani area, some 400 kilometres from capital Muscat, on a bus which collided with another bus at 4:00am Bangladesh time, Islam said.

"Three of the injured Bangladeshis are in critical condition."

The embassy would send the remains of the deceased as soon as possible, he added.

The High Court's judgement on the ruling of the Speaker was 'provocative and conspiratorial', Minister Without Portfolio Suranjit Sengupta said on Tuesday.

His remarks came during an unscheduled discussion on the first day of its 14th session of Parliament.

Suranjit said, "Parliament won't exist if the Speaker's ruling is not enforced, nor does this judiciary or these judges. Issuing a verdict against his [Speaker] ruling is not only provocative, but also conspiratorial."

Speaker Abdul Hamid issued a ruling in May saying High Court judge Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury violated the Constitution by making 'derogatory comment' about Parliament.

Following the observation, the bench of Justices Hasan Foez Siddique and ABM Altaf Hossain on July 24 declared the Speaker's June 18 ruling was 'non-existent in the eye of law' and 'has no legal basis after a petition sought the court's intervention over the Speaker's ruling that Justice Choudhury violated the Constitution's Article 78 (1).

Speaker Hamid pointed out on Tuesday, "The judiciary is certainly independent, but Parliament is sovereign."

He said that the Constitution was the highest law of the country and Parliament was its custodian. Addressing the MPs, Hamid said, "Let there be no doubt, let no one say this is a subjudice matter. We can most certainly discuss it here."

Suranjit later dubbed the court's verdict ad 'irresponsible'. "There is no martial law in which justices did not collude."

Earlier, Awami League lawmakers Tofail Ahmed and Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, speaking on a point of order after the question-answer session, set the House on fire.

Parliament became heated with the MPs demanding revival of Bangladesh's original constitution of 1972, which allowed Parliament to impeach judges.

A former Commerce Minister and a long time party stalwart, Tofail also questioned the qualifications of the judges of the bench.

He said, "Now the High Court judges are appointed on political grounds, and I don't think Justice Altaf Hossain has even completed the mandatory 10-year attachment with the High Court before being appointed to the bench."

"I strongly believe this verdict was not decided in the courtroom," Tofail added.

He said, "We appoint High Court judges on political grounds, and I don't think Justice Altaf Hossain has even completed the mandatory 10-year attachment with the High Court before being appointed to the bench."

He said the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs should keep an eye on these appointments.

Tofail ended with a proposal to revive Bangladesh's original constitution of 1972, which allowed Parliament to impeach judges.

Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal MP Mainuddin Khan Badal said the court's observation was 'obsolete, obscene and obnoxious'. "This is a rather ominous sign," he added.

Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim also spoke on the same issue before Tofail. "The justices have given a bizarre, eerie verdict. The justices have stepped beyond their line."

"An independent judiciary does not mean anyone can say anything according to their own wishes. Justices are not beyond law. The judiciary is independent, but not sovereign."

He also demanded formation of Supreme Judicial Council to 'impeach' the Supreme Court judges.

Addressing the Speaker, Tofail raised questions over the identity and qualification of Deputy Attorney General Biswajit Roy who argued at the hearing against the Speaker.

He also questioned Justice ABM Altaf Hossain's qualifications for being a judge.

The senior ruling Awami League MP claimed recently appointed Justice Zafar Ahmed, nephew of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury, did not complete the mandatory 10-year attachment with the High Court as an advocate.

Justice Zafar Ahmed was enlisted as a lawyer in High Court Division in 1995.

Awami League MPs Sayedul Haque, Sheikh Fazle Noor Tapash, Fazle Rabbi Mia, Worker's Party's Rashed Khan Menon, JaSaD MP Hasanul Haque Inu and Jatiya Party MP Mujibul Haque Chunnu also harshly criticised the judges.

Menon said, "The two judges have violated the Constitution's Article 78. A Supreme Judicial Council can be formed against them and a motion condemning it can be adopted in Parliament."

However, Tapash told Parliament, "A vested quarter wants to lead Parliament and the judiciary to confrontation. We cannot fall for this trap. The court has given its observation over the Speaker's ruling. It cannot be called a verdict."

"This is an observation, there is no legal binding," he pointed out.

At this point, Speaker Abdul Hamid told him the court gave its verdict, not just observation.

"As the Speaker of this Parliament, I would like to say that this is not a case over land dispute or murder charges. This is a discussion about the Constitution. It cannot be sub-judice."

He said he would comment further on the issue later.

Dr. Anwarul Abedin, The Honorable Founder and Chairman of AIUB is NO MORE. Innanillahi owa innaalaihi rajiun. Let us pray for the eternal repose of his soul.