সাত ব্যাংকে মূলধন ঘাটতি প্রায় সাড়ে নয় হাজার কোটি টাকা!

দেশের সাতটি ব্যাংকে মূলধন ঘাটতি রয়েছে। এর মধ্যে চারটি রাষ্ট্রায়ত্ত আর তিনটি বেসরকারি ব্যাংক। গত বছরের সেপ্টেম্বর পর্যন্ত এই সাতটি ব্যাংকে মোট মূলধন ঘাটতির পরিমাণ ৯ হাজার ৪১৭ কোটি ৪৩ লাখ টাকা। সোনালী, রূপালী, বেসিকসহ রাষ্ট্রায়ত্ত চারটি ব্যাংকের ঘাটতির পরিমাণ সাত হাজার ৬২৬ কোটি ২৩ লাখ টাকা। ফারমার্সসহ তিনটি বেসরকারি ব্যাংকের মোট মূলধন ঘাটতি এক হাজার ৭৯১ কোটি ২০ লাখ টাকা।

সোমবার জাতীয় সংসদে আবদুল মতিনের এক প্রশ্নের জবাবে অর্থমন্ত্রী আবুল মাল আবদুল মুহিত এ তথ্য জানান। অর্থমন্ত্রীর দেয়া তথ্য অনুযায়ী গত বছরের ৩০ সেপ্টেম্বর পর্যন্ত সোনালী ব্যাংকের মূলধন ঘাটতি তিন হাজার ১৪০ কোটি ৪১ লাখ টাকা, রূপালী ব্যাংকের ঘাটতি ৬৮৯ কোটি ৯০ লাখ টাকা, বেসিক ব্যাংকের মূলধন ঘাটতি দুই হাজার ৫২২ কোটি ৯৯ লাখ টাকা। অর্থমন্ত্রী বলেন, ‘রাষ্ট্রায়ত্ত ব্যাংকগুলোকে ২০০৫-০৬ অর্থবছর থেকে ২০১৬-১৭ অর্থবছর পর্যন্ত সরকার ১০ হাজার ২৭২ কোটি টাকার পুনঃমূলধনীকরণ সুবিধা দিয়েছে। যা ইতিমধ্যে ব্যাংকগুলোয় মূলধন হিসাবে যুক্ত হয়েছে।’ তিনি জানান, ২০১৭ সালের ৩০ সেপ্টেম্বর পর্যন্ত সরকারি মালিকানাধীন ব্যাংকে ঘাটতি ছিল সাত হাজার ৫৬৭ কোটি ৪৬ লাখ টাকা। এ সময়ে বেসরকারি ব্যাংকে  রিজার্ভ রয়েছে এক হাজার ৭৬ কোটি ৯৪ লাখ টাকা। মোট ঘাটতি প্রভিশনের পরিমাণ ছিল ছয় হাজার ৩৪৪ কোটি ৩৩ লাখ টাকা।

অর্থমন্ত্রীর দেয়া তথ্য অনুযায়ী সোনালী ব্যাংকের রিজার্ভ ঘাটতি দুই হাজার ৯০০ কোটি ৯১ লাখ টাকা, রূপালী ব্যাংকের এক হাজার ২৪৫ কোটি ৩৪ লাখ টাকা, বেসিক ব্যাংকের তিন হাজার ৪২১ কোটি ৫৪ লাখ টাকা। ন্যাশনাল ব্যাংকের ঘাটতি ৮৬১ কোটি ৬১ লাখ টাকা, প্রিমিয়ার ব্যাংকের ১৫৯ কোটি ৪০ লাখ টাকা এবং স্ট্যান্ডার্ড ব্যাংকের প্রভিশন ঘাটতি ৮৯ কোটি ৯ লাখ টাকা।

• তথ্যসূত্রঃ যুগান্তর/ফেব্রুয়ারি ২৭, ২০১৮ 

সরকারের কথা ও কাজে মিল থাকুক

কালো পতাকায় বাধা

বিএনপির চেয়ারপারসন ও সাবেক প্রধানমন্ত্রী খালেদা জিয়ার মুক্তির দাবিতে আয়োজিত কালো পতাকা কর্মসূচিকে পুলিশ যে কায়দায় বাধা দিয়ে পণ্ড করে দিয়েছে, তা কোনোভাবেই গণতান্ত্রিক আচরণ নয়। বরং এতে সংশ্লিষ্টদের বেপরোয়া মনোভাবটাই স্পষ্ট হয়ে ওঠে। খালেদা জিয়ার কারাদণ্ডকে কেন্দ্র করে বিএনপি হরতাল-অবরোধের মতো রাজপথ গরম করা কর্মসূচি দিয়ে একটা অরাজক অবস্থা তৈরি করতে পারে—এমন আশঙ্কা অনেকের মনে ছিল। কিন্তু বাস্তবে তারা সে ধরনের কোনো কর্মসূচি নেয়নি। এমন অবস্থায় কালো পতাকা প্রদর্শনের মতো নিরীহ ও নিয়মতান্ত্রিক কর্মসূচি পালনেও বাধা দেওয়ার ঘটনা দুঃখজনক। 

অতীতের নানা পর্বে বিভিন্ন ধরনের হিংসাত্মক কর্মসূচির দুঃসহ স্মৃতি আমাদের তাড়া করে। তবে এ কথা অনস্বীকার্য যে গণতান্ত্রিক মূল্যবোধ, সহনশীলতা ও রীতিনীতির অনুশীলন ছাড়া আমরা কাঙ্ক্ষিত গণতান্ত্রিক সমাজ প্রতিষ্ঠা কল্পনা করতে পারি না। গণতান্ত্রিক ব্যবস্থায় বিরোধী দল ও ভিন্নমতের জন্য অবশ্যই স্থান করে দিতে হবে। আদালতের রায় বা কোনো সিদ্ধান্ত পক্ষে গেলে একধরনের আর বিপক্ষে গেলে ভিন্ন ধরনের প্রতিক্রিয়া দেখানো আমাদের রাজনৈতিক সংস্কৃতির অবিচ্ছেদ্য অংশ। 

কোনো রাজনৈতিক দলের এমনকি মাঝারি পর্যায়ের কোনো নেতার নিতান্ত আটক বা দণ্ডের ঘটনায় সারা দেশে হরতালের মতো কর্মসূচির মুখোমুখি হওয়ার অভিজ্ঞতা দেশবাসীর রয়েছে। সেদিক থেকে বিএনপি নেত্রীর কারাদণ্ডের পর কোনো ধরনের হিংসাশ্রয়ী কর্মসূচি না দেওয়াকে একটি অগ্রগতি হিসেবে বিবেচনা করতে পারি। কিন্তু অবস্থা যদি এমন দাঁড়ায় যে বিএনপির নেতা-কর্মীরা রাস্তার পাশে ফুটপাতে দাঁড়িয়ে কালো পতাকাও প্রদর্শন করতে পারবেন না, তবে তাকে গণতান্ত্রিক আচরণ বলা যায় না। 

গত শুক্রবার শেখ রাসেল জাতীয় শিশু-কিশোর পরিষদ আয়োজিত অনুষ্ঠানে স্বরাষ্ট্রমন্ত্রী আসাদুজ্জামান খান বলেছিলেন, ‘সরকার কারও রাজনৈতিক অধিকার ক্ষুণ্ন করছে না। সরকার কোনো দলের গণতান্ত্রিক অধিকারে বাধা দেয় না। জ্বালাও-পোড়াও থেকে সরে এসে সুষ্ঠু রাজনৈতিক আন্দোলন করলে প্রয়োজনে বিএনপিকে সহযোগিতা করা হবে।’ এই আশ্বাসের ২৪ ঘণ্টার মধ্যে পুলিশ বিএনপির কালো পতাকা মিছিলে বাধা, তাদের কর্মসূচি ভন্ডুল করে দেওয়া, এমনকি নেতা-কর্মীদের নির্বিচারে গ্রেপ্তারের ঘটনা ঘটল। কিন্তু দেশবাসী বিস্ময়ের সঙ্গে দেখল যে সরকারের কথা ও কাজে মিল নেই।

এর আগেও আমরা ক্ষমতাসীন দলের নেতা-কর্মীদের তরফে বিএনপির আন্দোলনের বিষয়ে অসংযত ও অসহনশীল বক্তৃতা-বিবৃতি দিতে দেখেছি। আওয়ামী লীগের খোদ সাধারণ সম্পাদক বলেছেন, ‘বিএনপি আন্দোলন করতে ব্যর্থ হয়ে এখন নিয়মতান্ত্রিক আন্দোলনের কথা বলছে।’ তার মানে আওয়ামী লীগ কি চায় বিএনপি রাজপথ গরম করা কর্মসূচি নিক! 

মহান একুশের চেতনা জাতিকে একটি প্রতিবাদী সমাজ বিনির্মাণে প্রেরণা জুগিয়েছিল, সুতরাং জাতি যখন ভাষার মাস পালন করছে, তখন শান্তিপূর্ণ কালো পতাকা মিছিল কেবল অনুমতির দোহাই দিয়ে ভন্ডুল করে দেওয়া দুর্ভাগ্যজনক। আর পুলিশ যে কায়দায় কাজটি করেছে তা নিন্দনীয়। প্রচলিত আইনের কোথাও কালো পতাকা মিছিলের বিষয়ে আগাম অনুমতির কথা বলা নেই। সবচেয়ে বড় কথা, নিয়মতান্ত্রিক প্রতিবাদ ও সমাবেশের সব দরজা যদি সরকারই বন্ধ করে দেয়, তাহলে যে সম্ভাব্য চিত্রটি সামনে আসে, সেটি মোটেই কাঙ্ক্ষিত নয়। 

অতএব, আগে অনুমতি নেয়নি এই অজুহাত দেখিয়ে কোনো দলের নিয়মতান্ত্রিক ও শান্তিপূর্ণ কর্মসূচিতে বাধা দেওয়া যাবে না। আইনশৃঙ্খলা রক্ষাকারী বাহিনীর দায়িত্ব জনজীবনে শান্তি বজায় রাখা। কিন্তু তারা নিজেরাই যদি শান্তিপূর্ণ কর্মসূচিতে বাধা দিয়ে অশান্তি সৃষ্টি করে, সেটি কারও জন্য সুসংবাদ বয়ে আনবে না।

 Courtesy: Prothom Alo/সম্পাদকীয়/ Feb 26, 2018 

Form 'Banking Enquiry Commission' forthwith

Banking expert pleads as he sees financial sector riddled with problems, irregularities

The government should move to form a 'Banking Enquiry Commission' immediately to address the problems and irregularities that are 'eating away' at Bangladesh's financial sector, says an expert.

"The core problem in our banking sector today is a lack of good governance," former Deputy Governor of Bangladesh Bank Khondkar Ibrahim Khaled told a function arranged Sunday in Dhaka on a BIBM Research Almanac focused on the state of banking in the country.

"This is obvious that the banking sector is not running well. The problems have already been pinpointed and it is high time to act," said Mr Khaled, who had led one of recent probe bodies on financial-sector scam, namely stock-market manipulation and debacle.

In this context, he mentioned that the Finance Minister had already said that he would not form a Banking Commission right now. "But even if that is not possible, a Banking Enquiry Commission, at the very least, should be formed," the former Deputy Governor of the central bank said.

"Having such a commission would help us to get out of the problems that are eating away at our banking sector," he told the technical session of the daylong programme organized by Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management or BIBM.

Earlier, during the inaugural session of the event, Finance Secretary Mohammad Muslim Chowdhury asked the banking sector to get ready for increased technological changes that would happen within the financial sector in the years ahead.

"Human interface is already getting minimized, and within five to ten years time, most of banking operations will shift from human interface to technological interface," the Finance Secretary told the meet.

He said the time has come to ponder whether the term banker will exist in the near future or not.

"In this context, there are needs for increased research in our banking arena on the fintech issue and its possible impact."

Afterwards, a series of keynote papers on various research topics conducted by BIBM were presented at the event, in the institution's bid to focus on variegated issues facing banks and on possible remedies.

In a keynote paper called "Sustainability Reporting Practices in Banks of Bangladesh", the researcher pointed out that out of total of 30 listed banks in Bangladesh, only 15 had made separate sustainability disclosure in their corporate annual reports in between 2011 and 2015.

In this context, researchers said that the central bank should give pragmatic policy and motivational support apart from confirming publication of report by all banks.

Another research paper on the status of Fund Transfer Pricing in the commercial banks of Bangladesh showed that around 58 per cent of the country's banks have no FTP policy.

A faulty FTP methodology or a biased framework will send wrong signals by creating an unintended balance-sheet structure in the form of disproportionate mix of asset portfolios on the asset side and liquidity holes on the liability side, researchers said.

Therefore, banks in Bangladesh should implement matched maturity well-responsive FTP Framework by eliminating overreliance on offline systems requiring manual intervention and by revising the simplistic assumptions in the implementation of the FTP framework, they added.

In another keynote paper entitled 'Addressing Disaster Risk by Banks: Bangladesh Perspective', researchers showed that although Bangladesh is among the top five vulnerable countries on earth, the proportion of insured risks appeared to be even much lower than the Asian average.

In this context, they observed that a developed insurance market and attractive targeted insurance products might be the solution.

In addition, researchers at the event also identified a lack of board-level awareness about the magnitude of the impact of implementing Basel III as a challenge facing banks in Bangladesh.

"Basel-III requires the involvement of the senior management in the process of identification, evaluation and mitigation of risks," said a keynote paper titled 'Impact of Basel Accords in the Banking Sector of Bangladesh'.

"The senior management and the board members may use some sort of supervisory and monitoring techniques to ensure the technical and other executives are engaged in risk-mitigation activities and the board is satisfied with the action taken by them," it added.

• Courtesy: The Financial Express Feb 26, 2018

ACC admits failure in curbing massive corruption in country

Anti-Corruption Commission chairman Iqbal Mahmood on Sunday said that corruption was taking place in the country on a massive scale but they and other stakeholders failed to prevent it.

‘This is true that corruption is taking place in the country on a massive scale and we [ACC] and other stakeholders are responsible for it,’ he said at his office in reaction to the latest Corruption Perception Index (CPI) of Transparency International.

He also said that it was not possible for them to fight corruption at the pace it was taking place across the country. The CPI report, released on February 22, showed that Bangladesh moved two steps up in 2017.

Replying to a question on BASIC Bank scam, Iqbal said that the commission would not submit charge sheets in the cases filed in this link before detecting the destination of the embezzled money.

He admitted that the commission failed to complete the investigations of the cases in time and claimed that it was impossible to end immediately as the money was embezzled in different layers.  He said that the commission so far filed 61 cases and some other cases were in pipeline over the state-run commercial bank’s scam.

He also said that the commission was not working to implement any political agenda as he thought that the political parties had enough willingness to prevent corruption.

He denied the allegation that the ACC was dealing more cases against opposition leaders and said that a good number of ruling party people were also under ACC scanner.

• Courtesy: New Age Feb 26, 2018

  

Directors go scot free, bank officials chased

Shakhawat Hossain 

      

Lower and mid-level bankers are facing prosecution for loan scams while boards of directors get off scot-free and even some of them have been promoted although they have failed to prevent misappropriation of billions of taka from the state-owned banks in the past nine years.

The Anti-Corruption Commission has so far brought charges or arrested 41 bankers for their alleged involvement in the loan scams, including embezzlement of Tk 3,700 crore by Hallmark Group from Sonali Bank and Tk 6,000 crore from BASIC Bank, said commission officials.

The commission, however, brought no charge against directors including former BASIC Bank chairman Sheikh Abdul Hye Bacchu, they said.

On June 30, 2015, finance minister AMA Muhith told parliament that action could not be taken against Sheikh Abdul Hye Bacchu because of ruling Awami League leaders.

Besides, embezzlement of Tk 1,200 crore from five banks, including state-owned Janata Bank, and loan scam of Tk 5,500 crore by AnonTex Group in Janata Bank during the tenure of Abul Barakat-led board of directors raised questions about the role of directors appointed on political considerations, said experts.

They noted that such appointments increased significantly since the beginning of the back-to-back five-year tenure of the ruling Awami League in 2009.

Former interim government adviser Mirza Azizul Islam said that politically appointed directors could not avoid the responsibility of the loan scams that caused disaster in the state-run banks.

The country’s banking sector is now in total disarray, said Mirza Aziz, who was reportedly forced to resign in December 2006 as Sonali Bank chairman following his refusal to approve a Tk 15 crore loan for the then president Iajuddin Ahmed’s son Imtiaj Ahmed.

Six BASIC Bank officials –– deputy managing director Fazlus Sobhan, former Gulshan branch manager Shiper Ahmed, its commercial credit information department former manager M Selim, former Saidpur branch manager Ekramul Bari and general manager Joynal Abiden Chowdhury –– are now in jail as cases filed against 27 officials, including the six, by the Anti-Corruption Commission for loan scams are under investigation.

Twenty-five Sonali Bank officials, including former managing director Humayun Kabir (now in hiding), deputy managing directors Mainul Haque and Atiqur Rahman, general managers Nani Gopal Nath and Mir Mohidur Rahman, deputy general managers Sheikh Altaf Hossain and M Safiz Uddin Ahmed, and assistant general managers Kamrul Hossain Khan and Ezaz Ahmed, and Ruposhi Bangla Hotel branch former assistant general manager AKM Azizur Rahman are now facing trial for the Hallmark loan scams.

The commission in 2013 and 2014 dropped inquiries against former Sonali Bank directors Kazi Baharul Islam, Subhash Singha Roy, M Anwar Sahid, Abu Sayed Mohammed Nayeem, KM Zaman Romel, Satendra Chandra Bhaktha, M Shahidullah Miah, Kasem Humayun, Saimum Sarwar Kamal, Jannat Ara Henry who were the board members during the embezzlement of Tk 3,700 crore by Hallmark Group from Sonali’s Ruposhi Bangla hotel branch.

Saimum Sarwar Kamal, former Chhatra League leader of Chittagong University, became a member of parliament being elected uncontested in 2014 elections, boycotted by all opposition parties, with an Awami League ticket.

Subhash Singha Roy, former Chatra League leader, is now running a news portal abcnews24.com and Jannat Ara Henry, a schoolteacher in Sirajganj before being appointed as director to the Sonali Bank board of directors, became a joint secretary general of the central Awami League. 

KM Zaman Romel, son of AL lawmaker Khandaker Asaduzzaman, in 2016 became chairman of the Peoples Group comprising companies of shipping, garments, power plants, gas station and international trading.

Kasem Humayun, Bangla daily Sangbad executive editor, is now serving as Agrani Bank director.

Finance ministry officials said that two of the six public servants serving as directors to BASIC Bank during the period of loan scams in 2009-2014 had been promoted to secretary.

Shuvashish Bose, appointed BASIC Bank director while serving as Export Promotion Bureau vice-chairman, was made secretary to textiles and jute ministry in January and commerce secretary in March in 2017.

Syam Sunder Sikder was made a director at the bank while serving as the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation chairman in 2013. He was made secretary to the information and communication technology division in September 2014 and the telecom secretary in March 2017.

Fakhrul Islam, made a director while serving as Bangladesh Economic Zone Authority executive chairman, was promoted to secretary without any post in August 2014. Later, he went into retirement.

Quamrun Naher Ahmed, made a director while he was a joint secretary, was promoted to additional secretary. Another former director Neelufar Ahmed is serving at the Prime Minister’s Office.

AKM Rezaur Rahman, made a director while he was an additional secretary, was later appointed to the Sonali Bank board of directors.

Five of the former BASIC Bank directors, including Awami Juba League leader Anwarul Islam, also ARS Lube Bangladesh Ltd managing director, and ruling Awami League mouthpiece Uttaran assistant editor Anis Ahmed, were appointed from the private sector.

Anwarul Islam is serving as a director to the state-owned Dhaka Electric Supply Company Limited while Anis Ahmed is working as news editor of the magazine.

Another director from private sector was AKM Kamrul Islam. He is a partner of Islam Aftab Kamrul and Co.

Former BASIC Bank managing director Kazi Fakhrul Islam has been in hiding since his dismissal along with nine senior bank officials in May 2014.

The commission, following a High Court order, interrogated Sheikh Abdul Hye Bacchu in December.

On November 8, 2017, the High Court scolded the commission for keeping only small fry in jail demonstrating pick and choose policy about corruption suspects. 

Commission chairman Iqbal Mahmood said that they were scrutinising all the loans approved by the BASIC Bank board during Abdul Hye’s period.

Transparency International Bangladesh executive director Ifthekharuzzaman said that the commission should take immediate legal action against Abdul hye and other board of directors as their involvement in the loan scams was already detected in the investigation by the Bangladesh Bank.

He criticised the commission saying that Abdul Hye and other BASIC Bank directors had been interrogated following a High Court order.

The parliamentary standing committee on finance ministry on many occasions since the detection of the loan scams recommended that the commission should bring the controversial directors to justice.

Parliamentary body chairman Muhammad Abdur Razzaque said that the commission ‘mysteriously’ failed to prosecute the masterminds of the loan scams.

• Courtesy: New Age, Feb 26, 2018

ASK blasts police action on BNP protests

Rights body Ain O Salish Kendra on Sunday expressed deep concern over police action to foil Saturday’s black flag demonstration of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, demanding immediate release of their party chairperson Khaleda Zia.

ASK also strongly condemned the reported arrest of some 50 leaders and activists of the political opposition while police’s action left 100 BNP activists injured, said a press release from the organisation.

The rights body also blasted the law enforcers’ approach of charging baton, spraying hot water on the agitated BNP activists who had thronged in front of the party office at Naya Paltan in Dhaka on the day. ASK observed that holding meeting, protest rally and processions were democratic rights of a political party that is secured by the constitution.

On February 8, Khaleda Zia was sentenced for five years in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case. Since then, she has been kept at the erstwhile Dhaka Central Jail at Nazimuddin Road in the Old Town of Dhaka.

The black flag demonstration was announced protesting police’s denial on Thursday to permit the party’s rally at Suhrawardy Udyan or Naya Paltan in Dhaka.

The black flag demonstration was scheduled for one hour from 11:00am in front of the BNP central office. 

On Saturday, BNP claimed that while foiling the demonstration, police arrested more than 150 leaders and activists, including joint secretary general Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal and assistant climate secretary Mustafizur Rahman Babul and injured 230, including organising secretary Fazlul Hoque Milon.

• Courtesy: New Age Feb 26, 2018

Wounds yet to heal

Victims of Pilkhana carnage remembered

Tasim lost both his parents in just nine months.

After his mother died of a brain tumour, his father Maj Mizanur Rahman was killed in the Pilkhana carnage.

He was only 10 then.

He and many other families came to Banani graveyard yesterday to pay homage to the officers killed nine years ago. They placed wreaths on the graves of their loved ones.

Tasim came with his 70-year-old grandmother who cannot move without a wheelchair.

A total of 74 people, including 57 army officers, were killed when the mutineers revolted on February 25, 2009, during Darbar (yearly assembly) of the force in the capital's Pilkhana.

The mutiny had left the nation numb, as people stood aghast at the extent of the barbarity perpetrated at the Pilkhana headquarters of the paramilitary force, later renamed Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB).

Tasim, now an HSC student at a cadet college, remembered that it was a typical morning.

“We heard the first gunshots at the assembly hall, which was not far, two hours after my father left home. I was home with my three-year-old brother and my grand-mother. I called him, but the phone was switched off,” he told this correspondent at Banani graveyard.

Grieving families offered their prayers and laid flowers on the graves of their loved ones yesterday. Some demanded February 25 be declared martyred soldier day.

Many of them said they were waiting for the execution of the verdict in a case filed over the killings of their near and dear ones.

“Fifty seven army officers were martyred. I hope the day is valued with due respect,” Lucky Sarwar, sister of slain Maj Kazi Mosaddek Hossain, said. Lucky went to the graveyard with Mosaddek's daughter Laika to pay their homage.

The chiefs of three defence forces and the chief of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) first laid flowers on the graves.

The High Court announced the verdict in the case in November last year, but it is yet to release the full judgment.

 Deputy Attorney General KM Zahid Sarwar Kazal on Saturday said as the HC did not release the full verdict, neither the government nor the accused could file appeals with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court.

On November 27 last year, the HC confirmed death penalty for 139 out of the 152 accused who were handed capital punishment by a lower court for their involvement in the killings during the mutiny.

Terming the offenders “most brutal” and “cold-blooded” murderers, a three-member special bench of the HC pronounced the verdict in the biggest-ever criminal case in the country's history in terms of numbers of accused and convicts. 

• Courtesy: The Daily Star Feb 26, 2018

Editorial - Unacceptable police action

Where is the political space for the opposition?

Despite repeated assurances from the government that political space will be afforded to all, the way the police cracked down on BNP activists on February 24 seems to indicate otherwise. The home minister said that the government never obstructs any peaceful programmes, yet there are scores of incidents that show differently, including BNP's latest protest which, reportedly, was peaceful on the part of its activists, but not so on the part of police.

The activists were simply protesting the refusal of police to allow BNP permission to hold a rally by waiving black flags—exercising their fundamental right to free expression—when the police descended on them. What this does is make the claim of the ruling party about the government's willingness to give space to dissenting voices look increasingly hollow. And it also makes one wonder whether it is the order of the day that no political activities can be carried out, except only by the ruling party.

The home minister also said that the area needed to be cleared to ease people's sufferings. Police, echoing his views, said that BNP did not take permission to hold any rally. Yet, BNP activists weren't even allowed to leave the area in front of its own central office space, as police swarmed on them immediately as they sat down on the adjacent pavements, going as far as to use coloured water from water cannons.

What we want to ask is, was all that necessary? After all, the activists were strictly restricted to the immediate vicinity of BNP's office. Did the police really need to get so overzealous?

We have, in the past, strongly condemned BNP's violence. However, peaceful protests, political rallies, etc., are fundamental rights and sine qua non for any democracy worth the name.

• Courtesy: The daily Star Feb 26, 2018

NINE YEARS OF BDR REBELLION

No suggested probe done to identify plotters, plot

The reason, plot and plotters of the massacre during soldiers’ rebellion at the headquarters of Bangladesh Rifles, now renamed as Border Guard Bangladesh, in Dhaka and elsewhere in February 25-26, 2009 are yet to be identified even nine years after the rebellion.

The government even so far initiated no further investigation recommended by the two probe bodies the government had instituted to identify the reason, plot and plotters.

On February 25, 2009, several hundred BDR soldiers took weapons against their officers deputed from army at Durbar Hall during their annual gathering at the paramilitary headquarters in Dhaka. In the two-day rebellion, 75 people – 57 army officers, wives of two army officers, nine BDR soldiers, five civilians, an army soldier and a police constable – were killed.

Families of both slain officers and convicted soldiers said that the nation should know the reason behind the rebellion and the plot and plotters of the massacre, as neither any investigation nor any trial revealed them although the trials of all cases but one were completed.

‘The godfathers are untouched. Deep conspiracy theories are factually evident but no one dares to point the finger. Somebody will open the Pandora one day,’ retired major general Rezaqul Haider told New Age. Like him, many retired senior officials wanted to know who were behind the scene.

Slain colonel Kudrat Elahi’s son Saquib Rahman said, ‘I think the reason for this is that people are of the opinion that there were men behind the guns, who are yet to be unveiled.’ 

He said, ‘Unsure of what reasons they might have had to instigate such bloodshed, or who they were, but it was certainly not just the BDR soldiers. Thus, my honest answer would be, yes, I have received justice, but partially. I feel that demanding the trial of the conspirators will be a cry in the wilderness.’

Kamrul Hassan, eldest brother of a soldier initially convict but later acquitted by the High Court, said his family lost everything to get justice.

Families of the victims and convicts demanded that the reports of the government inquiry committee headed by former secretary Anis-uz-Zaman Khan and the investigation conducted by the army be made public, although none of the probes could reportedly identify the plot and plotters.

The report by Anis-uz-Zaman Khan recommended an investigation into the failure to gather intelligence about the planned mutiny. The government report also stated the committee was unable to determine the identity of the individuals who planned the mutiny and set it in motion.

The committee also found that many mutineers took up arms spontaneously, either because they believed the propaganda that the army was taking over, or because they were coerced or found it expedient to do so. The report emphasised the lack of cooperation it received from the various security forces in the country, including Directorate General of Forces Intelligence and Rapid Action Battalion. 

The committee noted that because they ‘did not have proper tools, technology, and technique for questioning the suspected persons to reveal the truth, almost no person presented or brought to the committee for questioning provided any important information or proof.’

A 20-member army team conducted an investigation, but the army did not make the results public. The Human Rights Watch obtained the army report and stated that the army report faulted the government for not having taken a stronger line against BDR before the rebellion. 

The rights group also urged the government to establish an independent investigative and prosecutorial task force with sufficient expertise, authority, and resources to rigorously investigate and, where appropriate, prosecute all allegations of unlawful deaths, torture, and mistreatment of suspects in the BDR mutiny, regardless of the perpetrator’s rank or institutional affiliation.

Home minister Asaduzzaman Khan on Saturday said that he found no move to launch further investigation into the incident.

According to a study conducted by Odhikar, at least 47 BDR personnel died while in custody. Over 17,000 soldiers faced different trials for their alleged involvement in the third rebellion took place in the force since the country’s independence in 1971.

Border guard special courts sentenced 5,926 soldiers for varying terms on munity charge in 57 cases, including 11 in Dhaka. The Dhaka Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court on November 5, 2013 sentenced 152 soldiers and a civilian to death, 161 people to imprisonment for life term and 256 others for varying terms ranging from three to 10 years with fine on charge of murder, arson and other criminal offences committed during the rebellion. The court acquitted 277 others of the charges. They were, however, yet to be released as they were either convicted by other courts or named in the explosives case.

In November 2017, a three-member special High Court beach of Justice Md Shawkat Hossain, Justice Md Abu Zafor Siddique and Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder upheld death sentences of 139 BDR soldiers.

Death sentences of seven other BDR solders and Md Zakir Hossain, then a local Awami League leader, were reduced to life terms. Four other BDR solders were acquitted of the charges and BDR deputy assistant director Habibur Rahman died in jail custody in February 2014 while his appeal against death sentence was pending with the High Court.

The court upheld life terms of 146 BDR soldiers, cancelled life term sentences of 12 others while two others died during pendency of their appeals.

‘Look, we have done investigation, and identified the plotters and their plot. The real perpetrators have already been identified by the investigation,’ said additional chief prosecutor Musharraf Hossain Kajol. 

Defence counsel Faruque Ahmed alleged that the prosecution was delaying the trial of the explosive substance case and only 52 prosecution witnesses had so far testified in the case. Due to the case, none of the former riflemen could come out of the jail over four years.

• Courtesy: New Age, Feb 25, 2018

সরকার দাবি করে মুক্তিযুদ্ধের সপক্ষের শক্তি, কাজ করে বিপরীত - সুলতানা

সাবেক তত্ত্বাবধায়ক সরকারের উপদেষ্টা সুলতানা কামাল বলেছেন, অর্পিত সম্পত্তি প্রত্যর্পণ আইনের বাস্তবায়ন নিয়ে নানা ধরনের বাহানা সৃষ্টি করেছেন আইনমন্ত্রী আনিসুল হক। তিনি বলেন, ১৭ বছর ধরে এই আইনের কোনো কার্যকর প্রয়োগ নেই। আইনমন্ত্রীর ভূমিকা নিয়ে  নানা প্রশ্ন তুলেছেন মানবাধিকার নেত্রী অ্যাডভোকেট সুলতানা কামাল। গতকাল শনিবার ঢাকা রিপোর্টার্স ইউনিটির সাগর-রুনি মিলনায়তনে এক সংবাদ সম্মেলনে সাবেক তত্ত্বাবধায়ক সরকারের এই উপদেষ্টা এসব কথা বলেন।

অর্পিত সম্পত্তি প্রত্যর্পণ আইনের জনবিরোধী বিধিমালা প্রণয়নের উদ্যোগের প্রতিবাদ এবং আইন বাস্তবায়ন প্রক্রিয়া দ্রুততর করার দাবিতে নয়টি সংগঠন যৌথভাবে ওই সংবাদ সম্মেলনের আয়োজন করে। সুলতানা কামাল বলেন, অর্পিত সম্পত্তি প্রত্যর্পণ আইন করা হয়েছিল অর্পিত সম্পত্তির নামে যাদের জমিজমা দখল করে  নেয়া হয়েছিল। তিনি বলেন, সেই জমিজমার আসল মালিক যারা, তাদের কাছে তা ফেরত দেয়ার জন্য আইনটি করা হয়েছিল।  আর এই বিষয়ে লক্ষাধিক মামলা এখন পর্যন্ত নিষ্পত্তির অপেক্ষায় রয়েছে। ঠিক সে সময় একটি উদ্যোগ নেয়া হলো।  যে জমিগুলো অর্পিত সম্পত্তির নামে রয়ে গেছে, সেগুলো এখন পর্যন্ত প্রকৃত মালিকদের কাছে ফেরত যায়নি।

সুলতানা কামাল বলেন, আইনমন্ত্রী নানা ধরনের বাহানা সৃষ্টি করে এই আইনটার প্রয়োগ বাধাগ্রস্ত করে রেখে দিয়েছেন। একবার বলছেন আপিল হবে, একবার বলছেন এটার বিরুদ্ধে রিট হবে, একবার বলছেন অনুশাসন, একবার বলছেন এটার বিরুদ্ধে অন্য কোনো পদক্ষেপ নেয়া যেতে পারে। কিন্তু তার সঙ্গে যোগাযোগ করে কোনো সদুত্তর পাওয়া যায়নি। : তিনি বলেন, ‘এটা অত্যন্ত দুঃখজনক অভিজ্ঞতা, অত্যন্ত দুর্ভাগ্যজনক। যাকে আমরা মনে করেছি মুক্তিযুদ্ধের সপক্ষ শক্তির একজন মানুষ। তার ব্যক্তিগত ইতিহাস, সেটাও আমরা অনেকে জানি। কিন্তু আজকের দিনে একটি অবস্থানে গিয়ে যে ভূমিকা নিচ্ছেন, সেটি আমাদের জন্য ভীষণভাবে হতাশাব্যঞ্জক। একেবারেই পাল্টে গেছেন তিনি। কিসের জন্য তিনি অনবরত বিপরীত কথাবার্তা বলে যাচ্ছেন?’

সুলতানা কামাল বলেন, ‘যদিও সরকার দাবি করে তারা মুক্তিযুদ্ধের সপক্ষের শক্তি। প্রকৃতপক্ষে দেখা যাচ্ছে অনবরত তারা একেবারে বিপরীতমুখী কাজ করে যাচ্ছে।’ সংবাদ সম্মেলনে আট দফা দাবি সংবলিত লিখিত বক্তব্য উপস্থাপন করেন বাংলাদেশ হিন্দু বৌদ্ধ খিষ্টান ঐক্য পরিষদের সাধারণ সম্পাদক আইনজীবী রানা দাশগুপ্ত। অন্যদের মধ্যে নিজেরা করির সমন্বয়কারী খুশী কবির, অর্পিত সম্পত্তি আইন প্রতিরোধ আন্দোলনের সুব্রত চৌধুরী, এএলআরডির নির্বাহী পরিচালক শামসুল হুদা উপস্থিত ছিলেন।

• Courtesy: Dainik Dinkal, Feb 25, 2018