Why are universities under attack?

EDITORIAL

Uphold the sanctity of the places of education

We deplore the heavy-handed police actions on Monday on the students of several private universities who were protesting against attacks on their peers. Why did police, supplemented by armed goons, fire rubber bullets and tear gas into campuses filled with students leaving scores injured? Can anyone not exercise his or her constitutional right to protest?

The students of several private universities were protesting inside or around their campuses. They clearly did not pose any threat to public safety. We understand the police were not called in by the authorities of those universities either. In fact, one university opened its gate for everyone under attack to take refuge. We, therefore, wonder why such heavy police presence was warranted in a sacrosanct place like a university campus in the first place. What's more disturbing is the fact that police, reportedly, had sought “assistance” from a pro-ruling party youth organisation to deal with the protests.

We believe the rights to protest and expression are an integral part of democracy. We cannot claim to be a democratic country when citizens are denied a minimum space for expressing their dissent. By handling almost every youth movement, regardless of its legitimacy and rationality, in a ham-fisted manner, the government runs the risk of alienating our young generation.

• Courtesy: The Daily Star/ Aug 08, 2018

Road Transport Bill, 2018 falls short

EDITORIAL

Will not deter reckless driving

The cabinet has given final approval to the proposed Road Transport Bill, 2018. There are some good measures in the proposed act like minimum educational qualification (Grade 8) and minimum age (18 years) to get a professional driver license, and introduction of a 12-point system which would lead to ultimately cancellation of license for violation of law. But looked in totality, the proposed bill fails to meet the expectations of all the stakeholders.

The draft bill has drawn flak from road safety experts to activists for good reasons. Although maximum punishment for causing death due to reckless driving has been increased from three years to five, it falls far short of the 10 years that campaigners had been demanding. The rationale for fixing a five-year jail term defeats our comprehension. Similar or lesser offences than “death by reckless driving” carry greater punishment. 

For example, robbery on highways at night carries a maximum 14 years and defamation on social media a minimum of seven years—as if one's life is less important than one's reputation. Even the High Court's verdict in 2014, that seven years' jail term was “insufficient” for a driver causing death by reckless driving, has been ignored.

The purpose of a law and the punishment therein for breach of that is to make citizens' life comfortable and safe and deter transgression of the law. We are afraid the proposed law would fail to do that. By going easy on reckless driving, the whole purpose of introducing a strict regime will be defeated. We had been waiting for long for a law that would bring some semblance of order in the transport sector by imposing strictest punishment for death due to careless and irresponsible driving. The proposed road transport bill dismays us.

• Courtesy: The Daily Star / Aug 08, 2018

Students sued, not attackers

Some students, arrested during Monday's clash between private university students and police, being produced before a Dhaka court in handcuffs yesterday. Such a treatment goes against the police regulations, which say the use of handcuffs or ropes is “often an unnecessary indignity”. Photo: Palash Khan

Leaving out the alleged ruling party men involved in attacks on road safety demonstrators and journalists, police have made students accused in cases filed over the last few days' violence in the capital.

The complainants in all the 29 cases filed with 16 police stations mentioned that the attackers were unknown students, many of whom were in school and college uniforms.

The case documents also state that some of the attackers were unidentified youths believed to be the infiltrators into the student movement sparked by the killing of two of their peers in a road crash on July 29.

This correspondent went through some of the case statements and talked to police officials in this regard. 

Anxious relatives throng Tejgaon Industrial Police Station to get other arrested students freed. Photo: Amran Hossain

Asked why they did not sue anyone belonging to the Awami League or its front organisations, a senior official of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, wishing anonymity, said, “Does any officer has the guts to file a case against ruling party activists unless a political decision comes to that end?”

Twenty-seven cases have been filed against several thousand unidentified students and youths for assaulting police, damaging government property and obstructing law enforcers from discharging duties.

Two other cases were filed by an AL leader for attacking the party president's office in Dhanmondi.

Alleged pro-AL men aided by police had pounced on demonstrators, prompting students to turn violent in some places including Jhigatola, Dhanmondi, Science Lab intersection, Uttara and Mirpur.

Many of them were in helmets and some carrying machetes. Some others were firing gunshots during running battles with the students.

A total of 22 private university students are placed on two-day remand by a Dhaka court on August 7, 2018 in two separate cases filed over vandalism and attacks on police. Photo: Palash Khan/Star

Besides, journalists covering the incidents and passersby were also beaten up.

Take the incident at Jhigatola on August 4.

Around 1:30pm, a group of pro-AL activists allegedly attacked some students who were checking papers and licences of vehicles in Jhigatola as part of their road safety campaign.

The students took the injured to nearby hospitals while some others informed it to their peers who were staging protests at Science Lab intersection.

A woman waits leaning against the boundary wall of Dhaka CMM court after her son, a North South University student arrested during Monday's clash with police, was produced before the court yesterday. Photo: Palash Khan

Several hundred students with brick chips picked from an under-construction building marched towards Jhigatola. They came under attack by armed men but retaliated by throwing stones.

They also threw brickbats at the AL president's office.

As a fierce battle ensued, at least 150 people including journalists and pedestrians were wounded. Rumours of death and sexual harassment had aggravated the situation.

Amid chase and counter chase, a red-shirted young man with helmet was seen brandishing a pistol and firing shots.

During the violence next day, ruling party men, mostly BCL activists, equipped with iron rods, sticks, machetes came out of the AL office. They caught several persons passing by and beat them up, thinking them to be protesters.

The first attack was carried out on August 2. It was on students in Mirpur by alleged ruling party men, many of whom had their faces covered or wore helmets.

The students were stopping vehicles to check license and registration papers in front of the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority office in the afternoon. The attack came after police tried to disperse them, witnessed said.

Over the incidents of violence, 29 cases have been filed under the Penal Code and 41 people, including 22 students of private universities, arrested.

Police also filed five cases under the ICT Act and arrested six, said Md Masudur Rahman, deputy commissioner (media) of DMP yesterday.

According to Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, at least 317 vehicles were vandalised and eight others were torched during the student protests that began after the July 29 crash.

Besides, a police official was attacked while brick chips were thrown at Rajarbagh Police Lines, Kafrul Police Station and some other police establishments, he told reporters earlier. 

After days of violence, normalcy returned in the city yesterday. There was no violence or road blockade in any university or elsewhere. The number of vehicles, particularly passenger buses, was relatively low on the streets.

Police freed 37 students, detained during the protests on Monday, and handed them over to parents yesterday.

Mohammad Rasheduzzaman, inspector (investigation) of Tejgaon Industrial Police Station, said, “We have released the students on bonds after guardians came to the police station for their release.”

Besides, Shahbagh police released three Dhaka University students nine hours after a group of BCL activists handed them over to the law enforcers amid demonstrations.

Early yesterday, some BCL men of Fazlul Huq Muslim Hall of DU beat up Tariqul Islam of mathematics department, Mashiur Rahman Sadik of ICT and Zobaidul Haque Rony of physics, alleging that the three spread rumours on Facebook.

Rony is an activist of Samajtantrik Chhatra Front while the two others appear to have no political affiliations.

BCL men called them to the dormitory's guestroom, quizzed them over their Facebook posts and beat them up before handing them over to police, students alleged.

22 STUDENTS REMANDED

A Dhaka court yesterday placed 22 private university students on a two-day remand in two separate cases filed over vandalism and attacks on police.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Abdullah Al Masud gave the order after officials of Badda and Bhatara police stations produced the arrestees before the court with seven days' remand prayer.

The arrestees are students of East West University, North South University, South East University and Brac University.

Their lawyers said in the court that the detainees were tortured in police custody. Some of the students were arrested while they were returning home after classes.

Police rejected the allegations.

Courtesy: The Daily Star /Aug 08, 2018

Shahidul Alam taken to BSMMU

Photographer Shahidul Alam was taken to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) this morning following a High Court order.

He was shifted to BSMMU from police custody around 9:30am, sources in Dhaka Metropolitan Police said.

Yesterday, the HC directed the authorities concerned of the government and police to immediately send the detained photographer to BSMMU for his treatment.

In response to a writ petition filed by his wife Rahnuma Ahmed, the HC also ordered the BSMMU authorities to examine Shahidul's physical condition and submit a report before the court by 10:30am tomorrow.

Shahidul Alam was picked up by plainclothes men on Sunday night and was placed on a seven-day remand by a Dhaka court on Monday in a case filed against him under the controversial Section 57 of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act. He was also “tortured in police custody.”

The bench passed the order following the writ petition filed challenging a lower court order that placed Shahidul on remand in the case.

• Courtesy: The Daily Star/ Aug 08, 2018

Record Boro yield, rice import fail to rein in rising prices

Market syndicates blamed

Rice prices rose steeply in the city market again despite an all-time high Boro yield and record import of the staple grain.

The price surge has left the consumers worried, who are already battered by the increasing prices of essentials, market experts said.

On Tuesday, Brridhan-28 was selling at Tk 55-Tk 57 a kg on the retail market while coarse varieties like swarna at Tk 46-Tk 50 a kg, registering a hike of Tk 4.0 in a week.

Fine quality rice like Miniket, jeerashail and najirshail saw an increase of Tk 5.0 per kg in seven days -- now selling at Tk 65-Tk 78 a kg.

The rice output in the just-concluded Boro season, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, was an all-time high of 19.5 million tonnes, but it failed to have an impact on the rice market.

Also, the last financial year (FY '18) saw a record rice production -- 36.2 million tonnes.

The food ministry data revealed that rice import was also all-time high in the last financial year -- 4.1 million tonnes.

Traders attributed the price hike to persistent high paddy prices, rains and re-imposition of higher import duty on rice.

But experts see market syndicates behind the price surge.

Wholesale rice markets in the city -- Badamtoli, Babubazar and Mohammadpur Krishi Market -- saw a hike of Tk 2.0-Tk 2.5, trading sources said.

Mohammad Asadullah, joint secretary of Badamtoli-Babubazar Rice Wholesalers Association, told the FE that the rice prices have been on the uptrend at mill gates for the last ten days.

The price of one sack of Brridhan-28 (50 kgs) has increased by Tk100-Tk150 during the period, he said.

President of Bangladesh Auto Major Husking Mill Owners Association (BAMHMOA) Md Abdur Rashid said paddy are now selling at much higher rate.

The price of Brridhan-28 paddy is Tk 850-Tk 900 a maund (40 kg) and jeerashail Tk 1000-Tk 1050, he said.

Many traders and well-off farmers are now stockpiling paddy for further profits, causing a short supply of the grain to the market, he added.

Md Jikrul Hoque, managing director of Jikrul Auto Rice Mill in Nilphamari, said continual rains have hampered paddy-drying process, resulting in such a hike.

Contacted, Sarwar Alam Kajol, a Naogaon-based importer, said the import of the staple grain remained almost halted following the re-imposition of higher duty.

He said the import cost of Indian ratna (similar to Brridhan-28) now stands at Tk 48-Tk 50 a kg, compared to Tk 44-Tk 46 a kg at local mills.

Imports have now declined to just 900-950 tonnes a day, which was more than 10,000 tonnes a day before the re-imposition of duty, he said.

Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) president Ghulam Rahman termed unusual the recent rice price hike against the backdrop of bumper Boro output.

He said CAB market reports showed milling cost of Brridhan-28 would not be more than Tk 40 a kg as per the trend in paddy prices, but the rice is being traded at Tk 55-57 a kg on the retail market in Dhaka.

Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) research fellow Towfiqul Islam Khan told the FE that consumers didn't get the benefits from record rice production and imports.

Such hike in prices is abnormal as there is no supply shortage, he said.

Millers, importers and their allied traders should be brought under close scrutiny to rein in any artificial price hike, he added.

He said the government stock of rice is now pretty good -- 1.3 million tonnes -- and it could be increased further.

The government should start its open market sale to stabilise the market so that the limited-income groups could buy rice at affordable rates, he suggested.

The expert also urged the government to take steps immediately to minimise the huge price gap between the farmers' end and the consumers' end.

• Courtesy: The Financial Express/ Aug 08, 2018

Country in the grip of ‘twin deficits’

Capital flight worsening situation, say economists

Fiscal deficits in developing economies including Bangladesh have direct impact on the current account imbalance, reflecting the 'twin-deficits'.

This new relationship was found in the latest study conducted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on 114 developing economies, including Bangladesh.

When an economy goes through both the fiscal deficit and the current account deficit (CAD) it is referred to as having 'twin deficits'.

Twin deficits phenomena returned to Bangladesh in the fiscal year, 2016-17, (FY'17) after five years and further widened in FY'18.

The country last experienced the twin deficits in FY'12.

Economists familiar with the development told the FE that the current deficit has been worsening since the mega projects were taken up, which in turn had been boosting the imports.

Many of them said that the capital flight might be involved in worsening the twin deficits.

In the meantime, the 'twin deficits' situation is expected to worsen further, as the central bank projects the current deficit may exceed US$ 10 billion or equivalent to over 3.5 per cent of the GDP this fiscal year.

The Bangladesh Bank (BB), in its latest Monetary Policy Statement, said the current account is widening due to higher trade deficit despite a rebound in the receipt of remittances.

The fiscal deficit is projected at nearly 5.0 per cent this fiscal year to June 30 next.

The central bank, in its latest monetary policy statement, predicted the current deficit may stand at approximately $ 10.12 billion.

Dr Ahsan H Mansur, executive director at the private think-tank Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh (PRI), told the FE there is a direct and visible relationship between the fiscal deficit and the current imbalance.

"The relationship is direct and instantaneous," he said, analysing the IMF study. This has emerged since 2017 when many mega projects were launched, he noted.

"The current account surplus, which is now a past event and the present reality has been evident since 2017." There is no breakdown for the Padma bridge imports.

But almost all materials including steel structures are imported from China. The payment for services required for the construction of the large bridge is also high. All technical persons were hired from China.

There is another mega project -- Karnaphuli tunnel -- is being constructed in the port city of Chittagong and the materials are being imported from China, so are services.

The BB statistics show that the import payment for iron, steel and other base metals have risen by more than 24 per cent in 11 months to May 2018 from the same period in fiscal year 2017.

It shows that import payment for the head stood at $ 4.39 billion in July-May, 2017-18 period against $ 3.534 billion during the same period a year earlier.

Similarly, the import trend of clinker also remained upward.The raw material is used for making cement and it is believed to be an important indirect import.

Dr Mansur said the government should now be careful about taking up its projects, especially against those which raise the imports.

"The IMF study is a message for Bangladesh although Bangladesh mostly fails to spend its allocation which it earmarks in the budget estimation."

The PRI economist, who was the IMF's middle-east division chief, said Bangladesh is slowly moving towards being debt-trapped if the present situation of its lending is considered.

The cheap funding, especially from the World Bank, is also a thing of the past, so projects funding is critically important for Bangladesh and should avoid 'reckless' borrowing, he said.

Dr Mansur, however, suggested ensuring economic viability of mega projects. "We need to be ensured there will be a good rate of return from the projects and there will no future burden."

He also said Bangladesh should now focus on equity financing for its projects instead of debt.

"This is true for Bangladesh as higher economic growth is likely to lead more deficits in government budget as well as in the current account imbalance, which will put more stress on our foreign exchange reserves," Dr AK Enamul Haque, chairperson and a professor of Economics at East-West University, told the FE

Dr Haque said for Bangladesh there is another risk because the current growth in the GDP is led by significant public investment in mega projects and in many cases expenditure in these projects are not linked with increase in employment growth in the economy.

"To my view, for Bangladesh, the most difficult issue is to ensure higher employment growth as we proceed to be one of middle-income countries in the world", Dr Haque said.

On the other hand, Dr Zahid Hussain, of Dhaka office of the World Bank, said Bangladesh's savings is less than that of investment implying that the money may siphon-off money from the country.

The gross national savings in the just-concluded fiscal year (2017-18) was just 28.07 per cent of the GDP against investment (public and private) of 31.47 per cent of the GDP.

Dr Hussain, lead economist at the Dhaka office of the WB, told the FE the 'unusual behaviour' in the country's gross national savings and investment reflects that there is a capital flight.

He hinted that there are many risks associated with twin-deficits; it may erode foreign exchange reserves, depreciate exchange rate and push up inflation in the economy.

"Due to worsening current account deficit the authorities may rapidly depreciate the currency or increase foreign borrowings to finance the external gap".

However, by using unanticipated government spending shocks for an unbalanced panel of 114 developing economies from 1990 to 2015, the IMF found that a one per cent of GDP unanticipated improvement in the government budget balance improves, on average, the current account balance by 0.8 percentage point of the GDP.

The study released more than a week back, provides the new evidence of the existence of the twin deficits in developing economies.

Courtesy: The Financial Express /Aug 08, 2018

Sheikh Hasina government orders vicious crackdown on students for demanding safe roads

Bangladesh Prime Minister has urged the students to go home after protest entered the eighth day. Thousands of students are injured and many are feared dead in this violent crackdown

Thousands of students have been injured, many have succumbed to their injuries, and girl students have been raped. |Photo Credit: Twitter

Dhaka: Around two weeks ago two students were killed by a privately operated bus in Bangladesh after which thousands of angry school and colleges students hit the streets demanding changes to Bangladesh's transport laws. Paralysing the overcrowded capital of 18 million, the unrest quickly spread beyond the capital. To tackle the protest, Sheikh Hasina government ordered a vicious crackdown on the students, the brutality of which can only be compared to the oppression carried out by the Pakistani military regime in 1971.  The government has also shut down mobile internet services across swathes of the country, officials and local media said. Thousands of students have been injured, many have succumbed to their injuries, and girl students have been raped. The media is silent about this murderous assault and many of outlets are actively conniving with the authorities to suppress the facts. Journalists who have decided to cover the protest have been arrested by government intelligence agencies. Ruling party student cadre, Bangladesh Chhatra League has been accused of participating in widespread violence against the students. 

 Rahat Karim Freelance photojournalist Rahat Karim attacked by supporters of Bangladesh government.      

  

                           Award-winning photojournalist Shahidul Alam, 63, was arrested at his Dhaka home late on Sunday; hours after his comments were broadcast by the Qatar-based TV station. An actress was also detained for spreading rumours after she shared a post on Facebook that two protesters were killed and the eye of another was gouged out.The lawlessness can be gauged from the fact that a car carrying US ambassador Marcia Bernicat was also attacked by "armed adult men" but she escaped unscathed. The embassy has condemned the "brutal attacks and violence" against the students' protesters by security forces, a charge the government denies. 

 Bangladesh’s cabinet has said that it will consider capital punishment for traffic accidents. While Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has urged students to go home, Shajahan Khan, a government minister with ties to powerful transport unions, questioned why there was such uproar over the two Dhaka children but no reaction when 33 people were killed in an Indian bus crash. 

 Hasina warned Sunday that a "third party" could sabotage the protests and put the safety of demonstrators at risk.Social media is full of shocking images of students, horrific videos and call for help from the international media agencies and rights groups from Bangladeshis. In most of the videos, unidentified men carrying rods, machetes and bamboo sticks can be seen attacking the students.Students are out there on the streets because the government has failed to ensure safe roads. However, their peaceful protest is being questioned as too “disruptive”.

Source - timesnownews.com

Journalists give government 72-hour ultimatum to arrest attackers

Journalists form a human chain in front o, Dhaka on Tuesday, July 7, 2018, demanding immediate arrest of those whsome of Journalists have given the government a 72-hour ultimatum to arrest those who attacked some of their colleagues covering the ongoing popular movement demanding safe roads.

Otherwise, they will go for tougher programmes, the journalists said at a human chain at the SAARC fountain in Karwan Bazar of Dhaka city on Tuesday morning.

As for the arrest, they said, it would not be difficult for the government because there are video footages of the attacks.

Another human chain has, meanwhile, been formed in front of the National Press Club for placing the same demand.

Hundreds of photojournalists, journalists and even freelancers took part in the 30-minute protest event that ended at 11:30am after starting at 11:00am. Bangladesh Photojournalist Association organised the event.

At least seven photojournalists were injured in attacks by unruly youths in the capital’s Jigatala and Science Laboratory areas on Sunday while taking snaps of an attack on protesting students, UNB reported.

The injured were identified as AM Ahad of international news agency the Associated Press (AP), Zawad of the Daily Janakantha, Palash of the Banik Barta, Rimon of US-based Zuma Press, Sharif of the Dainik Naya Diganta, freelancer Rahat and Enamul Hasan, a photography student of Pathsala South Asian Media Institute.

• Courtesy: The Financial Express /Aug 07, 2018

Shadow economy dominates the transport sector

Asjadul Kibria 

Road transport of the country is plagued with innumerable problems. The commuters face hassles on a daily basis. Inadequate and ramshackle buses, small vehicles, unplanned stoppages, disorganised routes, dilapidated roads and inefficient traffic management are taking a heavy toll on the people.

Civil society organisations, right activists and people in general have long been asking the government to fix the disorder on the road. But little progress has so far been made in this regard. Instead, chaos in the transport sector is on the increase. In fact, shadow economy dominates the sector and chaos is a clear reflection of that evil influence. 

The transport and communication sector contributes 11.0 per cent of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The value of the formal transport sector is estimated at Tk 1.09 trillion and annual growth rate stood at 6.33 per cent in the past year, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).

But there are reasons to believe that the actual extent of economic activities in this sector is much more than recorded in official documents. The most glaring example of shadow economic activities in the sector is the existence of extortion rackets which is an open secret. 

Shadow economy is sometimes termed as the black economy, hidden economy, gray economy or even informal economy. Generally, any economic activity which is hidden from official authority is considered a shadow economy. The reason for hiding or skipping may be regulatory, monetary or any other. Moreover, the activity may be legitimate or not. Most of the experts want to consider the legitimate but hidden economic activates as shadow economy. They are of the view that the shadow economy reflects mostly legal economic and productive activities that, if recorded, would contribute to GDP. Nevertheless, in many cases there is a mixture of legal and illegal activities.   

A minister has recently said that a bus has to pay illegal tolls, ranging between Tk 5,000 to Tk 7,000, for trips from Dhaka to different districts of the northern region.  According to a guesstimate, the amount of terminal-centric extortions in Dhaka stands Tk 100 million daily. Leaders of different unions of the transport owners and workers allegedly receive shares of the amount. Same is the case with the members of the law enforcing agencies and road transport regulators. Local political leaders and activists, particularly linked with the ruling party, are also said to have their stakes.

Extortion is not obviously recorded as a part of the official economic activities of the transport sector. Had it been included, what would have been the size of the transport sector GDP is anybody's guess.

A few initiatives were taken earlier to contain extortion. But very little could be done. Government even thought for legalising the extortion which drew huge criticism from different quarters. Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), in a policy brief in 2012, opposed the move. It, however, recommended for periodical subscription for the membership of the valid transport unions and suggested that the payment or transaction be made through the banking system. TIB also suggested annual auditing of all the financial transaction of the unions.

While the transport workers are generally infamous for their unruliness and bad behaviour to passengers, they live in povery. Most of the transport workers are underpaid and exposed to a number of criminal activities.  BBS data show that monthly average income of a transport worker is estimated at Tk 11,981. As it combines different types of transport workers, from skilled drivers to untrained bus helpers, the actual pay for most of the workers in the public transport would be much lower than this amount.  The minimum wage for the transport worker was set at Tk 6,300 per month in 2010. Since then it has not been revised so far.

There are 5.20 million transport workers in the country. Most of them have no formal arrangement which also indicates the dominance of shadow economy.  Usually they have to work on day-to-day basis with a target of revenue in intra-city routes.  This informal arrangement turns them, especially the drivers, reckless on reaching to the destinations earlier to get additional trip over others. Reckless driving is a major cause for the killings on the roads as well as accidents. 

LFS data does not show the number or proportion of the informal workers in the transport sector. It is, however, presumable that the ratio is in line with the national rate. According to LFS 2016-17, some 85.10 per cent of the country's employed people are working in the informal sector.

The number of bus is increasing every year.  Statistics available with Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) show that the number of registered buses and minibuses stood at 45,384 and 28,061 respectively by the end of June this year. Of these, some 17,570 buses and 2,417 minibuses got registration in the last seven years and six months. 

Nevertheless, these buses are not sufficient to meet the growing demand of commuters.  The Seventh Five-Year Plan (7FYP) also mentioned that buses are the only mode which can carry a large number of people at one time and has the potential to cater to all income groups. "But the number of operational buses is not more than 20 to 25 per cent of the number required to meet the demand. Moreover, bus service in Dhaka city is characterised by overcrowding, lengthy wait, difficulty in transferring from one route to another, long distance to and from bus stop," it added.

Inadequate bus is pushing the number of risky vehicles like human haulers across the country.  More than 10,000 thousand registered human haulers pressed into service in the last seven and half years in the country. Of these, around 2,600 are in Dhaka. Besides, many unregistered vehicles run the different parts of the country.  

Non-renewal of route permits and driving licenses is another gray area of the sector. When the authorities go on a drive to check documents of the buses and minibuses, the transport union leaders allegedly reduce the number of vehicles or even call a strike.

The shady investment and ownership in the transport sector is widespread.  Sources in the road transport ministry and BRTA mention that a large number of owners of the buses, minibuses and human haulers are not the actual owners. They are allegedly proxies for law makers, policy makers and members of the law enforcing agencies. As a result, it becomes very difficult for the authorities to take legal action against the unruliness in this sector.

One way to curb shady ownership is to form holding companies of transport owners. Experts have been suggesting the idea for long. An initiative is also there. But progress is very slow. It requires strong political will and legal binding to move in this direction. 

• Courtresy: The Financial Express/ Aug 07, 2018

Attack on media continues

An ominous sign

We are outraged at the attacks on journalists of different media outlets by the BCL over the last two days. Reportedly, on Sunday, some ruling party men swooped on the journalists who were performing their duty covering the ongoing student movement with sticks, iron rods and machetes. What is more appalling is the fact that this happened in the presence of the law enforcers who, reportedly, played the role of silent spectators. Not only that, the police even detained two photojournalists of a photo agency.

This, we repeat, is a violation of the media's constitutional right to free expression, press freedom and the right to information, and is totally unacceptable in a democracy. In this regard, we are also alarmed to learn that Shahidul Alam, an internationally acclaimed photographer and a social activist, was picked up from his home by the police on Sunday night and charged under section 57 of the ICT Act. 

The government's resistance to free flow of information is becoming increasingly sterner. What is even more worrisome is the fact that the so-called ruling party cadres are singling out journalists of particular newspapers among those covering the incidents with, we fear, very sinister motives. Targeting the photojournalists, and preventing them from doing their work has made very obvious the administration's effort to conceal the violent methods it is applying to suppress a popular demand. It cannot be lost on the policymakers that in this day of modern technology, nothing can remain unobtrusive, certainly not for long. Unfortunately, the image of the country has suffered, not because of what the students have done but because of the way the government has handled the issue.

• Courtesy: The Daily Star /Editorial/ Aug 07, 2018