e_Paper, Monday, July 03, 2017

Who poisoned Nibras’ mind?
• Nuruzzaman Labu
SPECIAL
“No idiot.” These were Nibras
Islam’s last words to his sister,
Bushra, when she asked him if he
was going to die. He sent them to
her by text on June 27, 2016, just
four days before participating and
losing his life in the terror attack on
the Holey Artisan Bakery.
Even a year after the incident,
his family still wonder what led
him to turn from a meek and gentle
boy into one of Bangladesh’s most
infamous terrorists.
Bushra was also the last person
Nibras spoke to in person before
disappearing in 2016, telling her to
take care of the family. He had also
left a note seeking their blessing
and assuring them of his return.
“I tried hard to know where he
was and what he was doing but he
never answered. He used to share
almost everything with me but he
did not share this. We could at least
have tried to bring him to reason if
he shared his transformation with
us even once,” Bushra told the Dhaka
Tribune.
In his initial texts to her on June
27, Nibras had asked his sister not
to make blasphemous remarks and
perform “Hijrat” as he did.
“We are an ordinary Muslim
family. We say our prayers but Nibras
was never too interested in
religion. We had to push him to
attend Jumma prayers on Friday.
But he started praying regularly after
returning home from Malaysia,
where he was studying at Monash
University, in 2015,” said Nibras’ father
Nazrul Islam.
“I thought it was a good sign
and never noticed something abnormal
in it. How am I supposed to
know that he was being misguided
through the internet? We could not
understand it. Otherwise we could
have saved our son.”
Nazrul suspects that someone
from Malaysia misguided Nibras.
“I demand extreme punishment
for those who brainwashed my son
and led him to take part in such
News 5
MONDAY, JULY 3, 2017
heinous act. My son was not supposed
to accept such a fate. I rolled
up my business to a certain extent
so that I could spend enough time
with him. I used to take him to the
playground all the time as he loved
to play games,” he said
With tears welling up in his
eyes, Nazrul sought the forgiveness
from those who had lost family
members in the attack and added:
“I had a friendly relationship with
my son. I nurtured him with all
my love and affection and that son
turned into a terrorist.”
Nibras’ mother Laila Bilkis was
similarly at a loss to explain why
Nibras transformed and why he
hid it from them. She said Nibras
had taken some old clothes with
him when leaving home for the
last time. When Laila asked him
about the clothes, Nibras said he
was going to exchange them with
new ones from one of his friend’s
shop.
Later, Laila discovered her son
had gone missing along with four
of his friends and left a letter in his
home.
“Please find out who brainwashed
my son and punish them,
so that no other mother loses her
child and no other incident like
the Dhaka terror attack ever takes
place,” Laila pleaded. •
Qatar defiant as deadline nears to resolve Gulf rift
• AFP, Doha
WORLD
A deadline was approaching Sunday
for Qatar to accept a series of
demands made by several Arab
states to lift a de facto blockade,
with no indications Doha was
ready to comply.
Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh
Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-
Thani said Saturday that the 13 demands
from Saudi Arabia and several
of its allies were designed to be
spurned.
“The list of demands is made to
be rejected,” Sheikh Mohammed
said.
“Everyone is aware that these
demands are meant to infringe
the sovereignty of the state of Qatar,”
he said at a news conference
in Rome after meeting his Italian
counterpart. “The state of Qatar...
Nibras Islam, one of the 5 militants that attacked and were killed at the Holey Artisan Bakery on July 1, 2016
is rejecting it as a principle,” he
said, adding: “We are willing to engage
in providing the proper conditions
for further dialogue.”
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab
Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt announced
on June 5 they were severing
ties with their Gulf neighbour,
sparking the worst diplomatic crisis
to hit the region in decades.
They accused Doha of supporting
extremism and of being too
close to regional arch-rival Iran,
which Qatar has strongly denied.
The crisis has raised concerns of
growing instability in the region,
home to some of the world’s largest
energy producers and several key
Western allies hosting US military
facilities.
On June 22 the Arab states presented
a list of demands and gave
Doha 10 days to comply. The ultimatum
is expected to expire at the
end of the day on Sunday, though
the deadline has not been officially
confirmed.
Riyadh and its supporters have
already severed air, sea and ground
links with Qatar, cutting off vital
routes for imports including food.
Threat of further sanctions
Qatari citizens were ordered to
leave the countries and various
steps were taken against Qatari
companies and financial institutions.
It is unclear what further measures
will be taken if Qatar fails to
meet the demands, but the UAE
ambassador to Russia Omar Ghobash
warned last week that further
sanctions could be imposed.
As well as expelling Doha from
the six-member Gulf Cooperation
Council, the Arab states could
tell their economic partners they
need to make a choice between
doing business with them or with
Qatar, he told Britain’s Guardian
newspaper.
Riyadh’s demands include ending
Doha’s support for the Muslim
Brotherhood, the closure of Al-Jazeera
television, a downgrade of
diplomatic ties with Iran and the
shutdown of a Turkish military
base in the emirate.
Qatar has long pursued a more
Obaidul: Army
to perform as
striking force
in next polls
• Tribune Desk
ELECTION
DT
Road Transport and Bridges Minister
Obaidul Quader on Sunday said
Army will be deployed during the
next general election as striking
force if required.
“Army will perform its duty as
per the constitution during the
next national polls. They will be
deployed if the Election Commission
decides to do so,” Quader told
the reporters at the secretariat
meeting room, reports the Bangla
Tribune.
He came up with the remark as
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)
Chairperson Khaleda Zia demanded
army deployment during the
election.
Quader said: “Elections took
place in her (Khaleda) regime too.
We will deploy army in the election
the way she did during her
time. How does she force us to do
something that she did not practice
herself?”
About Khaleda’s comment on
Swiss Bank accounts of Bangladeshis,
Quader said the whole
world know about the stories of
Tarek and Koko. It has been proved
by FBI and the courts of Singapore
and United States. AL does not
have such records. •
Qatar’s Minister of Defense Khalid bin Mohammad Al-Attiyah, right, and his
Turkish counterpart Fikri Isik review a guard of honour as they meet in Ankara,
Turkey, June 30, 2017
REUTERS
independent foreign policy than
many of its neighbours, who tend
to follow the lead of regional powerhouse
Saudi Arabia.
Doha has said it is ready for talks
to end the crisis and Kuwait, which
unlike most of its GCC neighbours
has not cut ties, has taken the lead
in mediation efforts. •
TEMPERATURE FORECAST FOR TODAY
LIGHT TO MODERATE
RAIN LIKELY
MONDAY, JULY 3
Dhaka 34 27 Chittagong 32 27 Rajshahi 32 26 Rangpur 31 25 Khulna 32 27 Barisal 32 27 Sylhet 31 25
DHAKA
TODAY
TOMORROW
SUN SETS 6:50PM
SUN RISES 5:16AM
YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW
34.8ºC 23ºC
Bhola
Rangamati
Source: Accuweather/UNB
PRAYER
TIMES
Cox’s Bazar 29 26
Fajr: 4:45am | Zohr: 1:15pm
Asr: 5:15pm | Magrib: 7:00pm
Esha: 8:45pm
Source: Islamic Foundation