DT e-Paper 29 July 2017

SECOND EDITION
SATURDAY, JULY 29, 2017 | Shrabon 14, 1424, Zul-qadah 4, 1438 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 5, No 82 | 24 pages plus 8-page sports supplement | Price: Tk10
Shahbaz Sharif
will be the
next prime
minister › 2
White House
tensions catch
fire with new
comm director
interviews › 4
Suspected
Gulshan attack
planner Rashed
arrested in
Natore › 5
DT
Sports Tribune
Sublime
Shrubsole
Political turmoil
in Pakistan as
Nawaz Sharif
ousted › 2
Mashud: I was a more attacking World Cup heroine Shrubsole Why Mbappe is
3 batsman early in my career 4 lives out Lord’s dream 6 highly rated
SPORTS SUPPLEMENT
Masud: I was a more
attacking batsman
early in my career › 3
World Cup heroine
Shrubsole lives out
Lord’s dream › 4
Why Mbappe is
highly rated › 6

2
SATURDAY, JULY 29, 2017
DT
News
Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif ousted in
Panama Papers probe
• Tribune Desk
WORLD
Pakistan’s Supreme Court disqualified
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
from office on Friday over undeclared
assets, plunging the nation
into political turmoil after a period
of relative stability.
Sharif swiftly resigned but in
a statement his spokesman said
there were “serious reservations”
about the judicial process after the
court ordered a criminal probe into
his family over allegations stemming
from the “Panama Papers”
leaks of international offshore
companies.
Sharif’s ruling Pakistan Muslim
League-Nawaz (PML-N) party,
which won a majority in parliament
in 2013, has decided unanimously
that Punjab Chief Minister
Shahbaz Sharif, Nawaz’s younger
brother, to replace the former as
prime minister of the country.
The incoming leader will have
to tackle worsening ties with the
United States, frayed relations
with arch-foe India, and persistent
threat from militants.
The ouster of Sharif, 67, who has
now served as premier on three
separate occasions, also raises
questions about Pakistan’s fragile
democracy. No prime minister has
completed a full term in power
EVENTS LEADING UP TO NAWAZ SHARIF’S OUSTER
April 4, 2016
The Panama Papers show involvement of
Sharif’s family in offshore companies.
April 22, 2016
Sharif asks the Supreme Court to form a
commission to investigate the Panama leaks
after pressure from the opposition. Cricketerturned-politician
Imran Khan demands an
independent probe by the high court itself.
April 24, 2016
Khan threatens protests against Sharif and
says the prime minister had lost “moral
authority” to rule.
May 16, 2016
Sharif proposes parliamentary commission
probe into the scandal; opposition walks out.
October 28, 2016
Khan accuses government of placing him
under virtual house arrest; supporters fight
police ahead of plan to shut down capital in
protest.
November 1, 2016
Khan backs down from a threat to paralyse
capital with a “lockdown” after violence breaks
since independence from British
colonial rule in 1947.
The verdict
The Supreme Court’s five-member
panel ruled unanimously that Sharif
should be disqualified, enacting
little-used Article 62 of the Constitution
which allows dismissal of
out with many of his supporters injured and
the Supreme Court agrees to hear arguments
to form a commission to investigate Sharif.
November 2, 2016
Supreme Court agrees to set up a judicial
commission to probe corruption allegations
against Sharif, stemming from Panama
Papers leaks.
April 20, 2017
Supreme Court rules there was insufficient
evidence to order Sharif’s immediate
removal but orders a Joint Investigation
Team to look further into the source of his
family’s wealth.
July 11, 2017
Judicial investigators rule Sharif’s family
accumulated unusual wealth; allies denounce
findings.
July 27, 2017
Longstanding political ally and Interior
Minister Nisar Ali Khan says he would
quit once top court rules on corruption
allegations, regardless of the verdict.
DT GRAPHICS / **SOURCE: REUTERS
any lawmaker found to be dishonest.
The court said Sharif failed to
declare income from a company in
United Arab Emirates ahead of the
2013 poll.
The controversy erupted last
year with the publication of 11.5m
secret documents from Panamanian
law firm Mossack Fonseca documenting
the offshore dealings of
many of the world’s rich and powerful.
Three of Sharif’s four children
were implicated in the papers.
The Supreme Court had ordered
an investigation in April.
That enquiry found there was a
“significant disparity” between the
Sharif family’s income and lifestyle
in its report, which was submitted
to the Supreme Court earlier this
month.
The findings sparked an uproar,
including the claim that documents
regarding Sharif’s daughter and her
link to some of the family’s London
properties were “falsified”, dated
2006, but typed in Microsoft’s Calibri
font, which was not released
for commercial use until 2007.
Sharif has been ousted by graft
allegations once before, when
he was sacked by the country’s
then-president during his first term
as prime minister in 1993. He was
removed from office in his second
term by a military coup in 1999.
‘Victory day’
The court verdict marks a major
political victory for opposition
leader Imran Khan, a former cricket
star who last year threatened
mass street protests unless Sharif’s
wealth was investigated. Khan had
pounced on the leaking of the Panama
Papers, which revealed Sharif’s
family had bought posh London
apartments through offshore
companies.
“Today is a victory day for Pakistan,”
said Khan. “Today onward,
big thieves will be caught.”
Khan himself is also under Supreme
Court investigation on allegations
he failed to declare sources
of income, a charge he denies. •
Shahbaz Sharif will be the
next prime minister
• Tribune Desk
WORLD
Activists of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party gather to celebrate the Supreme Court (SC) decision against Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif, in Peshawar on July 28, 2017. Pakistan’s Supreme Court on July 28 disqualified Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from
public office over long-running corruption allegations, a decision that ousts him from the premiership for the third time in a
chequered political career
AFP
Pakistan’s ruling Muslim League-
Nawaz (PML-N) has finalised name of
Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif
to replace Nawaz Sharif as prime minister
of the country.
According to Geo News, the decision
was taken at a meeting of the
ruling party after Supreme Court disqualified
Nawaz Sharif as the prime
minister.
Citing sources, the TV channel said
the meeting left the final decision to
choose the new candidate for the
coveted post to Nawaz Sharif.
Shahbaz Sharif will be put to a
vote in the National Assembly, a rubber
stamp affair as the PML-N holds a
strong majority in the house.
The young Sharif is currently chief
minister of powerful Punjab province,
the Sharif family stronghold. He
would have to step down from that
role and be elected to the National
Assembly before he was eligible to
Shahbaz Sharif
AFP
become prime minister.
That will require a party loyalist to resign
from his seat in the national parliament,
sparking a hasty vote that Shahbaz
would contest on the PML-N ticket.
Shahbaz is considered more intelligent
but less charismatic than his
older brother.
He has controlled Punjab, Pakistan’s
most populous and prosperous
province, for much of the last decade,
presiding over a series of big ticket
infrastructure projects, including Pakistan’s
first metro bus service. •

News
SATURDAY,
3
JULY 29, 2017
DT
Small power, big costs
Why is the government authorising more small power plants?
• Aminur Rahman Rasel
POWER
The government is planning to approve
the construction of at least
20 oil-based small-scale power
plants within a short time, directly
contradicting its own proclaimed
policy of exiting oil-based power
production.
The new plants will have a total
capacity of 3,000MW, but all
of them are small, ranging from
50MW to 300MW. Experts say
these small plants will increase the
cost of power production sharply.
Power plants under the capacity
of 300MW are considered small.
The government’s own master plan
for power advocates for larger power
plants because of their cost-effectiveness
and fuel efficiency and says
oil-based production should stop.
A Power Development Board
(PDB) official, seeking anonymity,
said some of these plants will be established
through deals under the
Speedy Supply of Power and Energy
(Special Provision) Act 2010, which
allows ‘quick disposal’ of power sector
contracts, bypassing provisions
of the normal tender process.
Meanwhile, the government’s
plans to establish large-scale power
plants are making little or no progress.
Experts say there is a lack of
proper planning and supervision
from the concerned ministry, leading
to a situation where the power
supply is now largely dependent on
small-scale plants.
The Power Division, a unit of
the Ministry of Power, Energy and
Mineral Resources, has already
received proposals from around
35 different private companies for
setting up diesel and furnace oilbased
power plants to generate
over 6,600MW. Each of these companies
have offered to establish
plants with capacity of 50MW to
300MW electricity.
The Summit Group has proposed
a 310MW plant in Kodda,
Gazipur and another 300MW plant
in Mirsarai, Chittagong. Bangla
Trac has proposed a 300MW and a
100MW plant in any suitable location.
Doreen Power has proposed a
215MW plant in Manikganj. United
Enterprise has proposed a 200MW
plant in Mymensingh, Precceson a
150MW plant in Chittagong, Orion
a 100MW plant in Santahar, Bogra,
Energy Pac a 100MW in Thakurgoan
and Midland Power a 50MW
plant in Ashuganj.
Bigger is always better
BD Rahmatullah, former head of
the Power Cell, said the smaller
plants pose risks for the grid, while
large plants provide stability and
improve its durability.
“Also, because smaller plants
are less fuel-efficient than large
power plants, the cost of power
production will go up. That burden
will ultimately fall on the consumer,”
he said.
“The construction cost of these
plants is also high, and you need
more land for them.”
The government agrees, on paper.
The Power System Master Plan
2016, which is likely to come into
effect soon, calls for “an exit strategy
from the reliance on expensive
oil-based rental power.”
The master plan, prepared with
support from Japan International
Cooperation Agency (Jica), is
aimed at guiding the government’s
power and energy policy up to the
year 2041.
The plan says the government
should review the “exponential increasing
of oil based rental power
plants and development constraints
of domestic primary energy.”
Bangladesh’s current oil annual
demand is around 5 million tons,
and the self-sufficiency rate is only
5%. The reliance on imported oil
leaves the country’s economy vulnerable
to sudden shifts in oil prices
in the international market. The
government heavily subsidises the
price of oil.
The Power System Master Plan
says the government should move
away from oil product subsidy.
“Energy subsidy is a tough challenge,
because there’s always a concern
that drastic increase of fuel and
electricity prices may trigger another
negative effect on the national
economy,” the PSMP 2016 says.
Why the small-mindedness?
Power-sector analysts said the government
wants to generate around
3,000MW of additional power by
March 2018, with the upcoming
general elections in mind. PDB officials
said oil-based plants are an
attractive option right now as the
price of fuel oil is currently low in
the international market.
But despite the low prices of oil,
the economy is already burdened
with the high costs of oil-based
power. The cost of electricity per
unit from a gas-run plant is less
than Tk2 while the cost of electricity
per unit from a diesel or furnace
oil-run plant is Tk14-18.
There are now 45 oil-based
SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN
The Power System Master Plan 2016, which is likely to come
into effect soon, calls for ‘an exit strategy from the reliance
on expensive oil-based rental power’
power plants in the country, of
which 36 are furnace oil-based and
have a total generation capacity of
2,800MW; the remaining nine are
diesel-based plants with a total capacity
of 1,032MW.
Although the government has
made major efforts to boost the
power generation sector in its two
terms, all of the power plants that
have been established are fuel oilbased
and privately owned. Not
a single large-scale power plant,
which might help control costing,
has been established so far.
Experts think it is unlikely that
the government will be able to
make any of the large under-construction
coal-based power plants
operational within this tenure.
As all the proposed power plants
are also oil-based, consumers will
ultimately be victims of periodic
retail power price hikes.
The government is nevertheless
pushing for the smaller plants,
even going so far as to push financiers
to come to the aid of the companies
bidding to construct the
plants.
Earlier this year the Power Ministry
asked the Finance Ministry to
amend the bank company law to
speed up loan facilities for these
companies. On June 21, State Minister
for Power Nasrul Hamid attended
a meeting with top bankers,
urging them to give Tk20,000 crore
in loans for the power sector.
“We have decided to build some
new power projects to generate
3,000MW electricity within a short
period of time,” Nasrul Hamid had
previously told this reporter.
‘Load-shedding as excuse’
After there were bouts of
load-shedding this summer, the
Power Ministry told government
policymakers that it needed to
build more small-scale power
plants to meet the deficit.
PDB officials say the key reasons
behind the load-shedding
were electricity towers damaged
in storms, maintenance work of 10
power plants and gas crisis.
The maintenance reduced the
generation by 1,900MW, while the
gas crisis has cut it down by another
800MW.
But interestingly, when these
problems are solved, the gap between
the shortage and the capacity
of the new power plants would
stand at only around 300MW.
On June 11, State Minister for
Power Nasrul Hamid told Parliament
that the government is implementing
various programmes
for increasing power generation
capacity up to 24,000MW by 2021.
‘New plants could become a
burden’
Energy Adviser to Consumers Association
of Bangladesh Prof M
Shamsul Alam thinks that the government
has allowed the power
sector to turn into a money-making
opportunity for vested interests.
“Costly power plants are being
established so power generation is
becoming costlier. It goes beyond
the affordability of people. The
government is creating a business
group which has no connection
with the people, rather personal
financial gain is given priority,” he
said.
Dr Ijaz Hossain, a professor of
chemical engineering at Bangladesh
University of Engineering
and Technology, asked: “Are these
small power plants a quick fix to
the failures in building the big
ones?”
When asked about the issues,
PDB Chairman Khaled Mahmood
would only say: “We have taken up
the initiative because of the deficit
of electricity. We follow the decisions
taken by the government.”
Nasrul Hamid could not be
reached despite several attempts
to get comment for this story. •

4
SATURDAY, JULY 29, 2017
DT
News
White House tensions catch fire
with new comm director interviews
• Tribune Desk
WORLD
Open warfare erupted inside US
President Donald Trump’s inner
circle as his new communications
director, Anthony Scaramucci,
attacked senior White House colleagues
in obscene comments published
on Thursday.
Scaramucci blasted White
House chief of staff Reince Priebus
and Trump’s chief strategist,
Steve Bannon, in an article in The
New Yorker based on a telephone
conversation on Wednesday night
between one of the magazine’s correspondents
and Scaramucci.
Amid a stream of vulgar language,
the former Wall Street financier
named to the communications
post last Friday called Priebus
a “(……profanity) paranoid schizophrenic”
and accused Bannon of
trying to build his own brand “off
the (…..profanity) strength of the
president.”
In a Twitter message after the
article appeared online, Scaramucci
said: “I sometimes use colourful
language. I will refrain in this arena
but not give up the passionate fight
for @realDonaldTrump’s agenda.”
Asked about the article, White
House press secretary Sarah
Sanders said the administration
was focused on healthcare and
other items.
“He used some colourful language
that I don’t anticipate he’ll
do again,” she told reporters. Any
apology “needs to happen personally
between them,” she said.
Priebus and Bannon had no
comment.
Trump himself made no public
comment on his aide’s outburst.
Some of Trump’s advisers have
questioned Priebus’ competence
and his position appeared weak.
Republicans close to the White
White House
Communications
Director Anthony
Scaramucci talks
to the media
outside the
White House in
Washington, DC
on July 25, 2017
REUTERS
House said Trump’s family had also
been critical of his chief of staff.
The drama was the latest sign of
disarray within the Trump White
House even as it tries to advance
healthcare and tax reform legislation.
The president himself is
preoccupied with an investigation
into Russian meddling in last year’s
presidential election and has been
fiercely critical in recent days of
his own attorney general, Jeff Sessions.
The scathing remarks by Scaramucci
came as he and other Trump
loyalists ratcheted up pressure on
Priebus, a former Republican National
Committee chairman, who
does not have years-long ties with
Trump.
There has been speculation
that Priebus, who steered the party
apparatus behind Trump’s unorthodox
candidacy in last year’s
election, is on his way out because
Trump has no major legislative
achievements in his first six
months in office. •
Construction
of four new
haats along
Indo-Bangla
border delayed
• Shilajit Kar Bhowmik, Tripura
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
The construction of four border
‘haats’ along the India-Bangladesh
border at Meghalaya has been delayed
pending a joint inspection by
officials from both countries.
India and Bangladesh have approved
the setting up of the weekly
markets along the shared border
to increase bilateral trade and improve
the living conditions for border
residents.
“We’ve received a letter from
Bangladesh where it expressed
its inability to conduct the joint
inspection due to floods,
landslides and other natural calamities
there,” said an official of
the Meghalaya state government
in India.
According to officials, India’s
central government has already
earmarked funds for the project.
The approved border haats
will be set up at Bholaganj and
Ryngku in East Khasi Hills district,
at Nolikata in South West Khasi
Hills, and at Sibari in South Garo
Hills.
Meghalaya already has two
border haats at Kalaichar in South
West Garo Hills and at Balat in East
Khasi Hills. •

News 5
SATURDAY, JULY 29, 2017
Suspected Gulshan attack planner
Rashed arrested in Natore
• Arifur Rahman Rabbi, Dhaka,
Nazmul Huda Nasim, Bogra
and M Kamal Mridha, Natore
MILITANCY
Aslam Hossain Rashed alias
Rashedul Islam alias Rash, suspected
to be a coordinator and one
of the key planners of the Gulshan
attack, has been arrested from Natore.
The Counter Terrorism and
Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit,
Police headquarters, Bogra and Natore
police jointly conducted drives
and arrested him from the Shingra
Bus Stand area around 5am yesterday.
Bogra Additional Superintendent
of Police Arifur Rahman Mondol
confirmed the matter.
DMP Commissioner Asaduzzaman
Mia said Rashed was brought to
Dhaka yesterday evening and he
would be placed before the court
for a remand prayer today.
According to CTTC sources,
Rashed was very close to Tamim
Chowdhury, who masterminded
the Gulshan terror attack and was
killed in a Narayanganj den.
The sources claimed that
Hate crime in Britain: Anxiety among Bangladeshi
communities on the rise
• Munzer Ahmed Chowdhury
WORLD
Acid attacks have emerged as a new
weapon in communal violence in
Britain with Bangladeshi communities
becoming a primary target of the
aggression.
Four of the eight acid attacks in the
last month alone have been carried out
in different Bangali-inhabited areas of
East London. The latest acid attack was
on two Bangladeshi youths at Tower
Hamlets on July 25.
Such hate crimes against the Muslim
community in Britain have risen sharply
since the terrorist attacks in Manchester
and London. Muslim women
have also been facing physical assault
because of their attire.
Bangladeshi community activists in
London organised a meeting chaired by
Councilor Maiyum Mia to discuss and
PHOTO: COLLECTED
Rashed was involved in the arms
supply and planning of the attack,
as well as in the reconnaissance of
the attack location at the Holey Artisan
Bakery. He left home in 2016.
Locals of Kanchanpur village in
Manda upazila of Naogaon district,
where Rashed’s house was said to
be located, said that he was known
to them under the name Aslam Ali
Mohon.
protest the series of acid attacks.
Maaj Selim, a renowned face in
Britain’s anti-racism movement whose
father was killed by white supremacists
in Birmingham last year, said: “What
is going on in Britain right now is not
acid attacks, it is racially-motivated acid
terrorism.”
KM Abu Tahir Chowdhury, a senior
leader of the Bangladeshi community
in Britain, said that more than 400 acid
attacks have been recorded in London
and Wales by London metropolitan
police in the last six months.
“Most acid attacks have been taking
place in the Newham, Barking and
Tower Hamlets areas, where a large
number of Bangladeshi people live,”
Tahir added.
Asked about the reason behind
such frequent attacks, Tahir replied:
“The current government of Britain has
reduced the number of police officers
in the name of budget cuts, which is
They added that Rashed and
his family had left the area around
seven years ago, after his father Abdus
Salam had been convicted in a
cheque fraud case.
Rashed’s paternal uncle Abul
Kalam, who still lives in their village
home, confirmed to the Dhaka
Tribune that Rashed’s father
had been absconding since he was
sentenced to a year in prison by
a Naogaon court for the cheque
fraud case, while his family had
moved to Rajshahi.
Kalam added that locals had
thought Rashed had died in crossfire
with Rapid Action Battalion
(RAB) about two years ago, though
the picture of the deceased shown
by RAB at the time did not match.
He further said that Rashed
had been known to be a good boy,
and there had been no indication
that he would become radicalised.
Rashed completed his SSC at a local
school in Kanchanpur and had
been admitted for HSC at a college
in Rajshahi.
Manda Police Station Inspector
(Investigation) Mahbub Alam
said that Rashed had no previous
history of crime according to their
records, though his father is indeed
a vital reason behind the increased
number of crimes.”
He said that 41 policemen were
recruited in Tower Hamlets with council
listed as an absconding convict in a
cheque fraud case.
Rashed’s mother Nasima Khatoon
refused to identify the arrested
youth as her son until she saw
him face to face or a photo.
“My son is Aslam Ali Mohon, not
Rashed,” she said
She added that her son had been
missing from his rented mess in
Rajshahi since early June, 2016.
Meanwhile, Home Minister
Asazuzzaman Khan Kamal said at
a programme yesterday that the
investigation regarding the Holey
Artisan Bakery was entering the final
stages.
“As I said earlier, citizens of our
friendly countries have died in this
attack. So, police are working to
submit a perfect charge sheet. In
the end, we will be able to submit
a charge sheet in the fastest time,”
he said, adding that Rashed was a
key planner of the Gulshan terror
attack.
At least 20 hostages and two
police officers were killed in the
attack at Holey Artisan Bakery on
July 1, 2016.
Earlier police claimed that 22
people were involved in the Holey
Artisan attack while five attackers
funding during the tenure of the borough’s
former mayor, Lutfur Rahman.
“The number has been reduced to
six in recent times. It is quite difficult
A police official seen pouring water on the body of one the victims who was
attacked by a suspected noxious substance on July 25 COURTESY: DAILY MAIL
DT
– Nibras Islam, Rohan Imtiaz, Meer
Saameh Mubasser, Khairul Islam,
Shafiqul Islam – directly took part
in it.
Tamim and seven other suspects
– Abdur Rahim alias Sarwar
Jahan, Tanvir Qadri, Major (retd)
Zahidul Islam alias Murad alias
Jahangir alias Julhas, Nurul Islam
Marjan, Abu Raihan Tarek, Abdullah
and Faridul Islam alias Akash –
were killed during operations.
Officials with knowledge of the
investigation said Sarwar was a top
leader of New JMB who supervised
the whole attack.
Earlier this month, CTTC chief
Monirul Islam said five militants
– Sohel Mahfuz alias Hatkata Mahfuz,
Basharuzzaman alias Chocolate,
Mizanur Rahman alias Choto
Mizan, Rashedul Islam alias
Rash, and Hadisur Rahman Sagor
– played important roles in the attack.
“If we can arrest at least three of
them, it will help submit a charge
sheet,” he said.
Of them, Hatkata Mahfuz was
arrested on July 8 while Basharuzzaman
and Mizanur Rahman died
in a gunfight with police in Chapainawabganj.
•
to maintain law and order in such a
big area with such a small number of
policemen,” he said.
Former Conservative Party councilor
Dr Anwara Ali said the government
has to undertake three initiatives to
prevent acid terrorism.
“Firstly, the availability and sale
of corrosive substances must be
controlled. Secondly, strict punishment
should imposed on perpetrators and
thirdly, awareness campaigns need to be
arranged across the country,” she said.
President of the UK-Bangla Press
Club Reza Ahmed Faisal Chowdhury
Shoaib said: “In 2014, some 200 acid
attacks took place in London while the
number increased to 431 in 2015.”
“According to the statistics, it can
be derived that an acid attack has been
taking place every 20 hours.” •
This story was first published on
the Bangla Tribune
TEMPERATURE FORECAST FOR TODAY
LIGHT OR MODERATE
RAIN LIKELY
SATURDAY, JULY 29, 2017
Dhaka 34 28 Chittagong 33 28 Rajshahi 34 27 Rangpur 33 27 Khulna 34 27 Barisal 33 28 Sylhet 33 26
DHAKA
TODAY
TOMORROW
SUN SETS 6:43PM
SUN RISES 5:27AM
YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW
35.8ºC
24.7ºC
Jessore
Rangamati
Source: Accuweather/UNB
PRAYER
TIMES
Cox’s Bazar 32 27
Fajr: 4:55am | Zohr: 1:15pm
Asr: 5:15pm | Magrib: 6:55pm
Esha: 8:45pm
Source: Islamic Foundation

6
SATURDAY, JULY 29, 2017
DT
News
Russia hits back over sanctions,
orders US diplomats to leave
• Reuters, Moscow
WORLD
Russia told the US on Friday that some of its
diplomats had to leave the country in just
over a month and said it was seizing some US
diplomatic property as retaliation for what it
said were proposed illegal US sanctions.
Russia’s response, announced by the Foreign
Ministry, came a day after the US Senate
voted to slap new sanctions on Russia,
putting President Donald Trump in a tough
position by forcing him to take a hard line
on Moscow or veto the legislation and anger
his own Republican Party.
President Vladimir Putin had warned on
Thursday that Russia had so far exercised
restraint, but would have to retaliate against
what he described as boorish and unreasonable
US behaviour.
Relations between the two countries,
already at a post-Cold War low, have deteriorated
even further after US intelligence
agencies accused Russia of trying to meddle
in last year’s US presidential election, something
Moscow flatly denies.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday
that the United States had until September
1 to reduce its diplomatic staff in Russia to
455 people, the same number of Russian diplomats
it said were left in the US after Washington
expelled 35 Russians in December.
It said in a statement that the decision
by Congress to impose new sanctions confirmed
“the extreme aggression of the United
States in international affairs.”
“Hiding behind its ‘exceptionalism’ the
United States arrogantly ignores the positions
and interests of other countries,” said
the ministry. •
Outgoing Indian president Pranab Mukherjee waves after inspecting a guard of honour during a
ceremony at the Presidential Palace in New Delhi on July 25, 2017
AFP
Has Pranab Mukherjee
helped Bangladesh?
• Ranjan Basu, Delhi
WORLD
As outgoing Indian President Pranab Mukherjee
prepared to ride the presidential limo for the last
time on July 25, many in the upper echelons of the
Bangladesh government could well have been sad
to see him go.
Under Pranab, the first Bengali president in the
history of India, the relationship between the two
countries has been understandably the warmest
since independence.
His first international visit was to Bangladesh,
while Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and President
Abdul Hamid are just two of many high-ranking
Bangladeshi government officials to have visited
the Indian president’s official residence during
Pranab’s tenure. Indeed, from Tofael Ahmed to
Obaidul Quader, all top Bangladeshi ministers to
have visited India within the last five years have
been to the Indian president’s residence.
However, whether this warm relationship has
actually influenced diplomatic ties and is likely
to change under new Indian President Ramnath
Kobind is more difficult to answer.
Veteran diplomat Deb Mukherjee, Delhi’s former
High Commissioner in Dhaka, once said: “To be honest,
personal relationships definitely have an impact
[on diplomatic relations]. It adds warmth to the diplomatic
atmosphere. But at the end of the day, personal
relationships can never be the defining principle in
diplomatic relationships. This means that no matter
how close the premiers of two countries are, it has
no bearing on diplomatic relations between the two.”
The fact that the Teesta Water-Sharing Agreement
remains unsigned is a testament to Deb Mukherjee’s
words.
Suggesting that progress in such agreements
may have stalled in spite of the president’s intentions,
grassroots West Bengal MP Mamtaz Sanghamita,
a member of the Indian Foreign Ministry’s
Parliamentary Standing Committee, told the Bangla
Tribune: “You have to keep in mind that while Mr
Mukherjee was president, the ruling party in Delhi
was such that he had no hand in their foreign policy.
The president has little say in the foreign policy
of the country, let alone during a government with
which he does not always agree!”
“There is no way to deny that when the two
Bengali communities from across the border meet,
there is a Bengali sentiment between them. Mr
Mukherjee’s wife was from Norail. And since the
time he began engaging in congressional politics,
he had family ties with Sheikh Hasina. It is not easy
to ignore these facts,” she added.
However, these same ties which led to a close
relationship between the outgoing Indian president
and current Bangladesh government also had
an inverse effect on his relationship with opposition
party BNP. BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia notably
did not meet with Pranab Mukherjee during his
state visit to Bangladesh, citing hartals in Dhaka.
As such, while Pranab Mukherjee’s tenure as
president did see a particularly warm relationship
between Bangladesh and India, this did not really
translate itself into results in the diplomatic arena.
The outgoing Indian president still has his critics
in Bangladesh, and with Teesta remaining a longstanding
sticking point in negotiations between
both sides, they are not entirely without merit. •
This story was first published on the Bangla Tribune.

News
SATURDAY,
7
JULY 29, 2017
DT
No asphalt on the road, how
about crops instead?
• Mohammed Afzal Hossain,
Tangail
NATION
Residents of a populous region
in Tangail took umbrage with the
negligence of a major road, and
planted paddy on the unpaved
road to make their complaints evident
to the local government.
The Kachua-Sharashia-Basarchala-Mahanandapur
The six kilometer-long road
stretching from Kachua to Mahanadpur
passes through Sharashia,
Basarchala and almost 10
other villages. It has been in dreadful
condition for over 15 years. The
lack of paving irked the locals to
such an extent that they decided to
protest in an innovative way.
The road is used by thousands
of people every day, yet the local
government’s negligence has prolonged
the suffering.
At least 15 educational institutions
are in the area including Kachua
Primary School, Kachua High
School, Sharashia-Basarchala High
School, Sharashia Primary School,
Mahanandpur High School, Mahanandpur
Primary School, Sunstar
BM College and several kindergartens.
There are two community
clinics and five major local bazaars
on the road.
Locals plant paddy on the road in Tangail
Teachers and students alike
have to fraught the arduous crossing
of the road in monsoon. There
are numerous complaints of people
tripping and falling in the mud.
The poor condition of the road
also makes it difficult for farmers
to take their produce to the local
bazars for sale.
Abul Hossain, an eggplant farmer,
said: “I planted eggplants over
three acres of land. I could have
US orders Venezuela embassy
families out, crisis deepens
• Reuters, Caracas
WORLD
Riot security force members run after demonstrators at a rally during a strike
called to protest against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government in
Caracas on July 27, 2017
REUTERS
The US government ordered family
members of employees at its
embassy in Venezuela to leave on
Thursday as a political crisis deepened
ahead of a controversial vote
critics contend will end democracy
in the oil-rich country.
Violence continued to rage on
the street, with another seven people
killed during the latest opposition-led
strike against President
Nicolas Maduro’s planned election
for a powerful new Constituent Assembly
on Sunday.
Adding to Venezuela’s growing
international isolation, Colombian
airline Avianca suddenly stopped
operations in the country on
Thursday due to “operational and
security limitations”.
Maduro’s critics were planning
to pile more pressure on the
unpopular leftist leader by holding
roadblocks across the nation
dubbed “The Takeover of Venezuela”
on Friday.
The government banned protests
from Friday to Tuesday, raising
the likelihood of more violence
in volatile Venezuela. Many people
have been stocking up food and
staying home.
As well as ordering relatives to
leave, the US State Department
on Thursday also authorised
the voluntary departure of any
US government employee at its
compound-like hilltop embassy in
Caracas. •
DHAKA TRIBUNE
made a fortune on them, but I ended
up spending a fortune on transporting
them.”
Afroza Akhter, an eighth grader
at Kachua High School, lamented
the misfortune of having to traverse
three kilometers of rough terrain
which renders the students
haggard for the rest of the day.
The Dhaka Tribune asked a local
government official, Kazi Fahad
Quddus, about what they were doing
about it. He said that a proposal
to pave the road has been sent to
the administration.
The local government’s lack of
assurance did not impress any of
the locals. They are still fuming
over the losses for being unable to
transport crops to the bazaars.
A local, refusing to be named,
said: “They won’t pave the roads?
Fine, we’ll plant crops on the road
then!” •
Saudi coalition
downs Yemen
rebel missile
near Mecca
• Reuters, Riyadh
WORLD
A ballistic missile fired by Yemen’s
Houthi rebels toward the Muslim
holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia
was shot down late on Thursday.
Air defence forces downed the
missile over the Wasaliyah area of
Taif province, 69km from Mecca,
without causing any damage, the
coalition said in a statement carried
by Saudi state news agency SPA.
The statement called the missile
launch “a desperate attempt
to spoil the haj pilgrimage,” due to
begin next month.
The Iran-aligned Houthis and allied
militias loyal to former Yemeni
President Ali Abdullah Saleh said
on their official news agency they
had launched a Burkan-1 missile
into Saudi Arabia, but said it was
aimed toward the King Fahd air
base in Taif.
The coalition blamed a lack of
control over the Yemeni port city
of Hodeidah and misuse of permits
for aid shipments for the continued
smuggling of missiles into Yemen.
Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Arab allies
have intervened in Yemen’s civil
war since March 2015 in a campaign
to restore the ousted internationally
recognised government of President
Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. •
US Senate health bill collapses
in bitter blow to Trump
• AFP, Washington, DC
WORLD
US Republicans failed spectacularly
Friday in their latest effort
to dismantle Obamacare, leaving
the party shocked and in disarray
and signalling the potential death
knell for President Donald Trump’s
dream of repealing his predecessor’s
health reforms.
The vote, held in the dead of
night, came down to the wire, with
the decisive moment resting with
Senator John McCain, recently diagnosed
with brian cancer, who
sided with two moderate Republicans
and all Democrats in opposing
the legislation.
“This was a disappointment, a
disappointment indeed,” Senate
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
told colleagues after one of the
most tense votes in years on the
Senate floor.
The collapse marks a major setback
for Republican leadership and
for Trump, who had campaigned
relentlessly on a pledge to repeal
and replace the Affordable Care Act
that passed into law under his predecessor
Barack Obama in 2010.
Friday’s vote, which capped
a series of failed efforts in recent
months to get an Obamacare repeal
measure over the line, was on
a so-called “skinny repeal” bill that
would have rolled back only parts
of Obamacare but kept the bulk of
the law intact.
It crashed to defeat, 49-51, leaving
Trump’s singular legislative
initiative, and Republicans’ seven-year
pledge to rip out the health
care law, in tatters.
Trump, who had long cajoled
and strong-armed Republicans in
a bid to get them into line, swiftly
spoke out about the failure, apparently
unmoved by Democratic
pleas for the parties to work together
and improve the existing law.
“3 Republicans and 48 Democrats
let the American people
down,” Trump tweeted. “As I said
from the beginning, let ObamaCare
implode, then deal.” •

8
SATURDAY, JULY 29, 2017
DT
News
Final draft of SOP to bring
back illegal Bangladeshis
from Europe set for August
• Sheikh Shahriar Zaman
MIGRANTS
The government expects to complete
the draft paperwork to repatriate
illegal Bangladeshi immigrants
living in EU member
countries by the end of next month.
An official of the Bangladesh
Foreign Ministry said a written request
to hold talks had been sent
to the EU, so that the draft of the
Standard Operating Procedures
(SOPs) can be finalised by August.
The official said: “We don’t want
thousands of Bangladeshis living
in different countries of Europe
with valid papers to face problems
because of some irregular immigrants.
Besides, the matter is also
tarnishing our image.”
According to EU data, as of 2016
around 200,000 Bangladeshis were
living in 27 European countries (excluding
the UK) with proper documents
for residence and employment.
The EU bloc issued 26,000 residency
permits to Bangladeshis
in 2014, 21,000 in 2015 and nearly
25,000 in 2016. However, as of June
this year, only 4,100 Bangladeshis
had received the permits.
Regarding the lower number of
residency permits granted, another
Talk of sea border with Britain riles May’s DUP allies
• Reuters, Dublin
WORLD
Northern Irish protestant politicians
who are propping up British
Prime Minister Theresa May’s minority
government reacted with
fury on Friday to a report that Ireland
wants the Irish Sea to be its
border with Britain after Brexit.
official of the Bangladesh Foreign
Ministry said: “The reason behind
the reduction in permit issuance is
that many irregular Bangladeshis
are currently staying in Europe, especially
in Italy.”
EU statistics revealed that over
8,000 Bangladeshis entered Italy
illegally in 2016, and that over
8,500 had done so up to July 19 of
this year.
As a result of the increase in
intrusions, the EU has urged the
Bangladesh government to arrange
for the repatriation of illegal Bangladeshi
immigrants living in EU
member countries.
The Foreign Ministry official
added: “Some 17,300 Bangladeshis
sought political asylum in Europe
till 2016. Among them, 11,800 were
rejected and most of the remaining
applications will also possibly be
rejected.”
“Those whose applications were
rejected have no right to stay in Europe.
They will be brought back here
after verifying their nationality.”
The official said the exact number
of Bangladeshis living in European
countries illegally was unknown.
Another official said the country’s
embassies in different European
countries had issued around
4,500 travel permits from January
2015 to March 2017 in order to return
Bangladeshis who had been
living there without papers.
“The government is not insincere
in bringing back irregular Bangladeshis,
as it tarnishes the nation’s
image and puts Bangladeshis with
permits in trouble. Furthermore,
EU countries are taking a tougher
stance in giving residency permits
to qualified Bangladeshis as a result
of the irregulars,” he added.
The ministry official further said
that the legal system of certain EU
countries sometimes created problems
with repatriation, as a person
cannot be repatriated without verifying
their nationality.
“Some irregular Bangladeshis
could not show any passport, NID
or driving licence for verification of
their nationality. It becomes tough
to identify them if they give the
wrong address,” he said
He also identified the behaviour
of some Bangladeshis facing deportation
as a roadblock to repatriation.
“Some Bangladeshis start shouting
and even attack someone when
they are brought to an airport for
deportation. Some airlines do not
allow such passengers to board,”
the official said. •
The story was first published on the
Bangla Tribune
Undocumented
Bangladeshis told to leave
KSA or face deportation
• Agencies
MIGRANTS
The amnesty for undocumented
workers to leave Saudi Arabia
without penalty and fines will not
be extended further, according to
a Saudi high official involved with
the process.
This is likely to result in the
deportations of a large number of
Bangladeshis who have been working
in the kingdom without the
proper paperwork.
The four-month-long amnesty
under the so-called ‘Nation Free
of Violators’ campaign came to an
end on Monday - one month later
than initially planned.
“Four months given to violators of
residency and labour laws to leave the
Kingdom voluntarily were enough,”
Maj Gen Solaiman Al-Yahya, director
general of the KSA Passports Department,
was quoted as saying by the
Saudi daily al-Madina.
Al-Yahya warned that those who
did not benefit from the amnesty
will be apprehended and punished.
“These are reckless people who
have no respect for the law. Therefore
they will be penalised,” he said.
“The amnesty was a golden opportunity
for the violators to leave voluntarily
and be able to come to the
Kingdom any time legally”.
According to Maj Gen Solaiman
Al-Yahya, over 15,000 of the
600,000 violators who left the
They described the idea as “absurd”
and “unconstitutional”. One
senior member of the Democratic
Unionist Party (DUP) suggested it
now meant “a very hard border”
returning to the island.
It is a particularly sensitive issue
given the decades of violence in
the province that ended in a peace
deal less than 20 years ago.
The border between the Irish Republic,
a member of the European
Union, and the British province of
Northern Ireland will be the only
land frontier between the United
Kingdom and the European Union
once Britain leaves the bloc in early
2019.
Politicians in London, Dublin,
Belfast and Brussels have all said
they want to avoid the return of a
“hard border” on the divided island,
although no progress has yet
been made. It is one of the key decisions
to be made before a Brexit
agreement can be reached.
In the latest wrinkle, The Times
newspaper reported that the Irish
government’s preferred option is for
customs and immigration checks to
be located away from the land border
and at ports and airports.
That would effectively draw a
new border in the Irish sea, possibly
meaning one between Britain
and its province.
Ian Paisley Jr, one of the 10 DUP
members of the British parliament
allowing May’s government to stay
in power, went on Twitter to condemn
the idea.
“1 of 2 things will now happen
1. A very hard border 2. Ireland will
wise up and leave the EU,” he said.
May has said she wants the
post-Brexit border to be as seamless
as possible. Dublin, meanwhile,
fears anything resembling
the land border posts of the past
could pose a risk to peace.
Kingdom have returned legally on
new work visas.
Al-Yahya explained that those
who benefitted from the amnesty
were not given Murahal (deportee)
fingerprinting, so it was easy for
them to come back leg\\ally.
He warned that those who completed
their departure procedures
during the amnesty period, but
who remained in the Kingdom, will
be fined and deported. He said a
“massive crackdown campaign” in
which 19 government departments
will participate will soon start to
apprehend violators.
Envoy urges irregular BD nationals
to return from Saudi
The Bangladesh ambassador in
Riyadh, Golam Moshi, has urged
every “irregular” Bangladeshi to return
home and gain re-entry to the
country through legal channels.
“They (irregular Bangladeshis in
KSA) can go to Saudi Arabia legally
again. There’ll be no problem,”
UNB quoted him as saying.
The ambassador also urged the
Bangladesh nationals in the KSA
not to tarnish Bangladesh’s image
there by getting involved in illegal
activities.
He was addressing an opinion
exchange meeting in Dammam, a
city in Saudi Arabia, on Thursday,
according to a press release.
The ambassador said the embassy
in Riyadh will remain receptive
to the needs of Bangladeshi expatriates
in the Kingdom. •
Anti-Brexit campaigners, Borders Against Brexit protest outside Irish Government
buildings in Dublin, April 25, 2017
REUTERS
About 30,000 people cross the
current, invisible frontier each day
for work and many farms straddle
both sides of the border.
Any hindrance to cross-border
trade would hit Northern Ireland
harder. The Republic accounts for
25% of Northern Irish exports outside
the UK, compared with just
1.4% going the other direction. •

News
9
SATURDAY, JULY 29, 2017
DT
2 teenagers held for
brutally torturing
boy in Satkhira
• Asaduzzaman, Satkhira
NATION
Police have detained two teenage
ice factory workers from
Dangipara area of Satkhira Sadar
upaizla for allegedly torturing
a minor boy by inserting
an ice-bar into his rectum.
Satkhira Sadar police station
Sub-Inspector Selim Reza held
Shamim Hossain, 15, son of Nur
Islam from Brahmarpur union,
and Nazmul Hossain, 15, son of
Shafiqul Islam from Dhulihor
union, on Thursday evening.
Dablu Miah, 9, son of Bablu
Mia from the same area, used to
go to Ashik Super Ice Bar regularly
to get ice-creams for free.
When he called on the ice
factory workers for an ice
cream on Thursday afternoon,
the duo caught him, inserting
an ice bar into his rectum.
Returning home, the boy revealed
the matter to his father,
who instantly filed a complaint
with the police station. Police
acted promptly and held the
accused from the factory.
The tortured boy also underwent
medical tests, which
confirmed that his injury was
not too serious, said police,
who also held the ice factory
owner for interrogation.
Incidents of child torture
by inserting objects into the
rectum have regular over the
last couple of years.
A child named Md Rakibul
Islam was killed on August
13 in 2015 when three adults
pumped air through his rectum
in a garage in Khulna.
On July 24 in 2016, a 10-yearold
boy named Sagar Barman
was killed in the same manner
at Zobaida Textiles in Rupganj
upazila of Narayanganj.
And on December 14 last
year, Md Yamin, 17, succumbed
to his injuries at Dhaka
Medical College Hospital
after being tortured in the
same way by his colleagues
at a spinning mill in Narayanganj’s
Sonargaon area. •

DT
10
Editorial
SATURDAY, JULY 29, 2017
TODAY
Our red buses
You are not alone in experiencing this
obnoxious traffic situation day in and
day out. We’re all in the same boat
together
PAGE 11
BIGSTOCK
The case for Arabic
To be a conscious Muslim, one must
learn the language of the Holy Qur’an
and the hadith as well, as Muslims
believe that it is also the language of
hereafter
The sixth river
PAGE 12
Pakistan’s cockpit is overcrowded with
would-be pilots determined to snatch
the joystick from the designated captain
PAGE 13
Enrich Bangla, not Urdu
Why would the new stream of madrasas focus on
Urdu education?
Perhaps the desire to emphasise those
languages comes from the somewhat misguided
notion that Urdu is more Islamic than Bangla; that Urdu is
somehow closer to Arabic.
What Bangladeshi Islamic scholars should be focusing on,
is not Urdu education, but on translation of relevant Islamic
texts from Arabic, Persian, Urdu, and even English into
Bangla.
Making works of Islamic scholarship accessible to readers
of Bangla would go a much longer way than this futile move
to push for Urdu.
Furthermore, it makes no sense to assume all madrasa
students will go on to become Islamic scholars. The ones who
do may opt to take up Urdu at a later stage in their education.
There is no way to defend the spending of tax-payer
money on enriching Urdu in the way that has been proposed.
Money in your mobile
Making works of Islamic
scholarship accessible
to readers of Bangla
would go a much longer
way than this futile
move to push for Urdu
Be heard
Write to Dhaka Tribune
FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath,
Shukrabad, Dhaka-1207
Send us your Op-Ed articles:
opinion.dt@dhakatribune.com
www.dhakatribune.com
Join our Facebook community:
https://www.facebook.com/
DhakaTribune.
The views expressed in opinion
articles are those of the authors
alone and they are not the
official view of Dhaka Tribune
or its publisher.
Mobile banking usage has surged in
Bangladesh -- this is welcome news.
More and more people are now
utilising mobile financial services, with
the average daily use having broken Tk1,000 crore
barrier.
This is the way forward.
Bangladesh needs to capitalise on the
opportunities that services such as these provide, as it
allows people from all walks of life to take part in the
economy of our country.
MFS is particularly beneficial to poor people, as it
serves as a great alternative for those who do not have
access to conventional banking services.
This is indeed the path to financial inclusion.
This is indeed the path
to financial inclusion

Opinion 11
DT
SATURDAY, JULY 29, 2017
Our red buses
We are all stuck in the same traffic
Breaking rules is not the way to go
LARGER
THAN LIFE
• Ekram Kabir
One of my journalist
friends, one day, while
sitting in an infuriating
traffic jam in Gulshan,
saw a government vehicle
suddenly going in the wrong
lane in order to avoid the road
congestion. So he also directed his
chauffeur to follow that car.
The policeman, however,
stopped his car, but let the
government vehicle go. My friend,
then, told the on-duty traffic
personnel: “If you can let him
go, you have to let me go too. If
you don’t let me go, you have to
stop that car.” The traffic official
couldn’t challenge his statement
and let him pass through the
wrong lane.
Well, everyone isn’t as fortunate
as my friend.
The police don’t let us pass;
they only let the fortunate pass on
the “wrong” side of the road. Most
of us, the commoners, have to wait
in the snail’s-pace queue in order
to reach our destinations.
The Bangali commoners are a
tolerant lot; we, sort of, believe
that sitting tight on the road
inside the vehicles is our destiny,
ordained by God Almighty upon
Bengali commoners.
However, many times, we wish
we could follow -- but most of the
times we don’t dare -- the officials
who, we thought, were meant to
serve the interests of the common
lot.
We the commoners may not
always follow the footsteps of our
officials, but a bunch of young
people, studying in the capital
city’s public universities, consider
the officials as their idols.
On their route to universities
and back home, they are, these
days, seen to follow the footsteps
of the officials who they want to
become one day.
The students of our public
universities are seen taking
the wrong lanes when they are
going to the campus or returning
home. The newspapers are full of
front-page pictures of their traffic
violations.
Recently, some students, on a
double-decker bus of a university,
had attacked a police sergeant who
reportedly tried to prevent them
from going through the wrong
lane. We have also heard from
many people who have seen the
students taking wrong lanes.
Old habits die hard
The unwanted practice of going
through the wrong lane is
becoming a habit of the students
of public universities.
Moreover, they become
arrogant whenever the pedestrians
or the traffic personnel tell them
not to do so.
We feel let down when they
commit such an act of violation.
We don’t feel let down when the
government officials take the
wrong lane. No matter how wrong
that would seem, we know the
government officials won’t listen
to what the commoners would
expect them to do. That’s them.
But when it comes to university
students, the common people
do have some expectations.
University students of this country
have contributed to our history
and economy so amazingly that we
have immense respect for them.
The glory of the past
It’s the students who made all our
national revolutions successful;
the students of the universities
contributed the most during the
War of Liberation as well as in the
run-up to our liberation.
The students played a great
role in our national politics even
after our liberation; they had
successfully ousted an autocrat
who vowed not to give up.
Students who are violating
traffic laws would, one day,
become our own government
officials and run the state of
affairs.
When they become those
officials, they would, we believe,
certainly continue to break the
laws of the roads. We certainly
don’t wish to have officials who
would break the laws that they are
supposed to uphold.
We do understand that they, the
students -- while going to attend
classes or returning home from
class -- are in a hurry. We know
that traffic in Dhaka is horrendous,
and it is frustrating to be on the
road, sitting in one place for hours.
You are not alone
You, dear students, are not alone
in experiencing this obnoxious
traffic situation day in and day
out. We’re all in the same boat
together. We the commoners also
have important tasks to achieve,
we also have to return home to be
with our families.
No matter how painful it is,
we the commoners sit tight in
the vehicles and don’t think of
breaking the laws.
We, dear students, expect you
to lead by example; please be an
example yourself. •
Ekram Kabir is a fiction writer.
MEHEDI HASAN
You are not alone in experiencing this obnoxious traffic situation day in
and day out. We’re all in the same boat together

12
SATURDAY, JULY 29, 2017
DT
Opinion
The case for Arabic
We use many Arabic words in everyday life, so learning it should not be too hard
• Khan Sarifuzzaman
On the last Eid day, we
were listening to a
religious khutba by
an Imam, along with
around 7,000 people who stood for
prayer at Kolatia Eidgah ground,
Keraniganj.
The speech was full of emotion.
But, within a short span of
time, my heart was filled with
grievances and questions such as:
What type of a nation are we, who
cannot understand the religious
sermons delivered in mosques?
So passionately the Imam
was presenting his lecture, that
even the movement of his hands
demonstrated his fervent spirit,
but what a sorry audience, because
we could hardly understand the
lecture delivered in Arabic.
The same thing is repeated
on every Friday, during khutba
while crores of Muslims across
the country -- young and old
-- pass the time by only looking
at the Imam as part of religious
obligation but understanding
nothing. Every day, almost every
Muslim is reading or reciting the
holy Quran and the hadith but
most of us don’t understand, let
alone learn anything from these
great sources of knowledge.
The purpose of this writing is
to show some rationale of learning
Arabic.
One of the causes of religious
misconceptions, extremism, and
militancy is the failure to learn and
develop proper religious concepts
from our scriptures written in
Arabic, which are recited in our
regular salat (prayer) and ibadat
(servitude). We, such an ignorant
nation, regularly read, as well as
listen to sermons and lectures,
but we do not, or even try to,
understand its meaning.
Other benefits
Bangladeshis residing in the
Middle East form the largest
community of Bangladeshi
diaspora worldwide. Out of the
3,975,550 Bangladeshis abroad,
approximately 2,820,000 live
within the Middle East, 0.075% of
Reading the Qur’an with understanding
the Middle East population, with
half of them in Saudi Arabia, and a
quarter of them in the United Arab
Emirates.
Saudi Arabia alone has been
the largest source of remittance
as non-residents Bangladeshis
(NRBs) living there sent $2.694
billion from the kingdom in 11
months until May of the 2015-16
fiscal year.
According to available statistics
at Bangladesh Bank, Saudi
Arabia, followed by the UAE, are
the highest contributors to our
remittance. Bangladesh received
a total of $7.72bn from all eight
countries in the Middle-East,
including the two countries (Saudi
Arabia and UAE) in 2014-15.
If the government, the NGOs,
and agencies teach Arabic in short
or long courses in a planned way
before sending our workers to
Middle East countries -- then our
unskilled workers would face
much less hassle in setting up
since they can communicate with
native people.
In the school, college,
university, and madrasa curricula,
the government should include
To be a conscious Muslim, one must learn the language of the Holy
Qur’an and the hadith as well, as Muslims believe that it is also the
language of hereafter
communicative Arabic lessons
beside Bangla and English.
Moreover, because of the Arabic
language skill, the demand of
Bangladeshi workers obviously
will augment in Arab countries as
well as other Arabic-spoken places
of the world.
Language and history
We got the English Language as a
colonial legacy, but earlier, during
the Muslim rule in India, its official
language was Farsi as well, as its
source of law was Islamic sharia
law written in Arabic.
For the long rule of Muslim
Nawabs and Sultans along with
the arrival of Arabian merchants
and Islamic preachers in Bengal,
the Bengali language is a fusion of
Arabic words.
Given that out of all foreign
words in the Bengali language,
Arabic words contribute to it the
most -- learning Arabic should be
easy for us.
Arabic, which is a very rich and
easy language amongst all other
dominant languages in history,
reminds us of the glorious Islamic
civilisation that led half of the
world for 1,400 years.
Communication, especially
language skill, is one of the most
important factors for all sorts of
economic activities in this age of
globalisation. Above all, to be a
conscious Muslim, one must learn
the language of the Holy Qur’an
and the hadith as well, as Muslims
believe that it is also the language
of hereafter. •
Khan Sarifuzzaman is an MPhil
researcher on Middle East Politics
in Dhaka University, and Assistant
Professor of BGS, Social Science Faculty,
Scholars School & College, Dhanmondi.
BIGSTOCK

Opinion
13
SATURDAY, JULY 29, 2017
DT
The sixth river
Pakistan is running on autopilot
Disqualified, disgraced
Pakistan’s cockpit is overcrowded with would-be pilots determined to
snatch the joystick from the designated captain
• FS Aijazuddin
Punjabis have a feline thirst
for blood.
When the Lion of the
Punjab -- Maharaja Ranjit
Singh -- predicted that, after him,
his kingdom would be overrun by
the red of British occupation, he
had not anticipated how deep that
colour would seep into the soil of
his beloved Punjab. It tinctures
even today, 175 years after his
death, the politics of this region.
The release of a film titled The
Black Prince is a reminder of how
much or how little the politics
of the Punjab has changed. This
low-budget film (about $5 million
worth) recounts the life of Ranjit
Singh’s “accepted” son Maharaja
Duleep Singh, from his turbulent
accession to Ranjit Singh’s golden
throne in 1843 to his death as an
indebted pauper in a seedy hotel
in Paris in 1893.
Gifted with nothing more than
a contested lineage inherited
from his father Ranjit Singh and
from his mother Rani Jindan a
pair of beautiful eyes (an admirer
described them as “magnificent
orbs”), Duleep Singh, still a
child, witnessed the murderous
convulsions that followed Ranjit
Singh’s death.
Understandably, he converted
from Sikhism which he associated
with barbarism to the more
genteel alternative -- Christianity.
Transported to England, there he
became a bejeweled, colourful
ornament at the court of Queen
Victoria. He acquired a huge
unaffordable estate in Norfolk
where he could indulge himself in
a sport in which he excelled. He
was regarded as one of the top five
shots in the United Kingdom.
He returned to India in 1861 and
being reunited with his mother, by
then almost half-blind, he brought
her back with him to London.
Within two years, the
redoubtable Rani managed to
dismantle the Christian persona
his tutor Dr John Login and
Queen Victoria had assiduously
REUTERS
fabricated.
From being three-quarter
British/one quarter Sikh, he
became a full-blooded Punjabi
determined to reclaim his
sovereignty.
His ambitions however
exceeded his resources. Dismayed
by the ennui of the Tsar of Russia
who he had hoped would assist
him organise an uprising against
the British, Duleep Singh retreated
penniless to Paris where he
died, un-mourned, a footnote in
Punjab’s history.
A moveable Wailing Wall
To modern Sikhs, hungry for
heroes, Duleep Singh’s reversion
to his paternal faith is a case study
in belated nationalism, ripe for
resurrection. Ignoring the advice
of the writer Khushwant Singh
not to make a heroic figure out
of Duleep Singh (he could see
the fault-lines in the marble they
proposed to use), reconstructions
of his life such as the film The
Black Prince serve Punjabis as a
moveable Wailing Wall, a reminder
of their lost heritage, of glories
squandered, of nationhood
forfeited.
The producers of the film,
like Duleep Singh himself, face
an uphill task in re-awakening
Punjabi nationalism. One reason
may be the attitude of Punjabis
on either side of the border. The
only Sikh visible in Lahore’s
Cineplex cinema where the film
was screened recently, had bought
a ticket to see a 3D action thriller
showing in an adjacent hall,
because he had no idea who The
Black Prince was or Maharaja
Duleep Singh.
The river runs red
History has shown that blood
flows like the sixth river of the
Punjab. Its banks are murder and
mayhem.
Pakistan’s first Prime Minister
Liaquat Ali Khan was assassinated
in Rawalpindi in 1951. Pakistan’s
first post-1971 Prime Minister
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was hanged
in Rawalpindi jail in 1979. His
daughter Benazir Bhutto -- herself
twice prime minister -- lost her life
in Rawalpindi in 2007. A sitting
Governor of the Punjab Salmaan
Taseer was gunned down in
Islamabad in 2011.
And in 2015, the Punjab Home
Minister Shuja Khanzada was
murdered.
One has lost count of those
hundreds of others -- civilians
and officials -- who have been
martyred in suicide attacks
or bomb blasts because they
happened to be in the wrong place
at the wrong time.
Future historians will detect
a level of sophistication Punjabis
have perfected in recent years.
Today’s political assassinations
use weapons that leave no smell
of cordite or trace of gunpowder.
They are cloaked in a lawyer’s
brief. Liquidations are conducted
in broad daylight, amplified by the
media.
There can be no rationalminded
Pakistani who predicts
a productive outcome of the
gladiatorial contest between the
PTI and the Jamaat-i-Islami and
their victim, Nawaz Sharif.
Nawaz Sharif was disqualified
for being unable to justify his
wealth, and so will Imran Khan.
Both could be faulted by the
Supreme Court for suffering from
accounting amnesia.
But one thing is clear. Pakistan
is flying on autopilot. Its cockpit is
overcrowded with would-be pilots
determined to snatch the joystick
from the designated captain.
Napoleon, a contemporary
of Ranjit Singh, once explained:
“Anarchy is the stepping stone to
absolute power.”
Pakistan’s high-flying suicidal
litigants might heed that canny
Frenchman’s warning. •
FS Aijazuddin is an art historian. This
article was previously published in
Dawn.

14
SATURDAY, JULY 29, 2017
DT
Kids
colour it
maze

Kids
15
SATURDAY, JULY 29, 2017
DT
MAGIC TRICK
The rubber-y pencil
BOOK
Bees and flowers
illusion.
What you’ll need:
• A pencil with a rubber end
• Lots of practice
The “rubber pencil” is one
of the most common tricks
every magic=ian knows of.
You can fool all your friends
and impress them by using a
normal pencil and making it
look like it is made of rubber
that wiggles and jiggles. It is a
super easy magic trick which
is actually a really cool optical
How to do it:
All you have to do is hold
the end (the rubber end) of
the pencil with your index
finger and thumb loosely.
Hold it sideways, facing your
audience, and wave it fast,
moving your hand up and
down vertically. This will make
the pencil bounce, but it will
look like it is bending. •
DIY
Masks galore
Bhonbhonia the bee and the
promegranate flower are
great friends. One day, when
Bhonbhonia comes to visit
his friend, he sees the flower
with a little boy named Mishu.
Bhonbhonia is scared and hides
behind a tree.
The bee whispers to the
flower, “Who is the little boy?”
The flower smiles and says,
“He is my friend too!”
Bhonbhonia shyly asks, “Can
he read? Can he sing and dance?
Can your friend draw?”
The flower replies, “Mishu
is very nice! He can do
everything!”
Bhonbhonia claps happily
but still feels shy.
Will Mishu and Vonvonia
ever become friends? Read
Bhonbhonia written by Mahfuz
Jewel and find out what
happens next to Bhonbhonia,
Mishu and the pomegranate
flower. The Bangla book
for children comes with
wonderful illustrations by artist
Sabyasachi Hazra. •
Animal facts
TRIVIA
Make these awesome funky
masks yourself, following
these easy steps.
Things you’ll need:
• A plate
• Chart paper
• Pencil
• Straw
• Scissors
• Colours (pencil/wax/poster)
and decorative items such
as ribbons, buttons, glitters
and cotton
• Scotch tape
Instructions:
• Get a plate that’s the same
size as your face.
• Place the plate on the chart
paper and trace the outline
with a pencil.
• Cut out the shape with the
help of an adult.
• Get an adult to hold the
cut-out shape on your face
and mark the place where
your eyes are. Ask them
to cut out holes in those
places.
• Now decorate the mask
anyway you like!
Place the straw near the end
of your mask where your chin
is and attach it to the back of
your mask with scotch tape. •
ARMADILLOS
• Armadillos are
mammals that look
like small rats with
a pointy nose, long
sharp claws and a
body covered with
bony plates like a
shell.
• Armadillo comes
from the Spanish
word, meaning “little
armoured one.”
• Armadillos can be pinkish,
dark-brown, black, red,
gray or yellowish in colour.
• They have poor eyesight
but are excellent diggers,
climbers and swimmers.
• They can hold their
breath for six minutes
underwater.
• They sleep 16-18 hours per
day in their burrows.
• Armadillos dig around
in the ground to look for
insects,
baby birds, eggs, roots and
fruit and fire ants.
• Four identical armadillos
are born from one egg and
are called quadruplets.
• Armadillos live for four to
seven years in the wild and
12-15 years in captivity.
They are an endangered
species. •

16
SATURDAY, JULY 29, 2017
DT
Downtime
CROSSWORD
CODE-CRACKER
ACROSS
1 Drinking vessels (4)
3 Cautious (4)
7 Born (3)
8 Sky-coloured (5)
11 Says further (4)
12 Flies upwards (5)
13 Choose by vote (5)
15 Diplomacy (4)
18 Hazard (4)
19 Sovereign (5)
20 Best part (5)
21 Let it stand (4)
23 Danger (5)
24 Favourite (3)
25 First man (4)
26 Serpents (4)
DOWN
1 Mouth of a volcano (6)
2 Temporary stops (6)
4 Also (3)
5 Lower in price (6)
6 Acceptance (3)
9 Firework (6)
10 Consume (3)
11 Shrewd (6)
14 Elevated (6)
16 Makes vigilant (6)
17 Sings with vibratory
effect (6)
19 Tear (3)
21 Mineral spring (3)
22 Greek letter (3)
How to solve: Each number in our
CODE-CRACKER grid represents a
different letter of the alphabet. For
example, today 21 represents V so fill V
every time the figure 21 appears.
You have two letters in the control
grid to start you off. Enter them in the
appropriate squares in the main grid, then
use your knowledge of words to work out
which letters go in the missing squares.
Some letters of the alphabet may not be
used.
As you get the letters, fill in the other
squares with the same number in the
main grid, and the control grid. Check
off the list of alphabetical letters as you
identify them.
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
CALVIN AND HOBBES
SUDOKU
How to solve: Fill in the blank spaces with the
numbers 1 – 9. Every row, column and 3 x 3 box must
contain all nine digits with no number repeating.
PEANUTS
YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS
CODE-CRACKER
CROSSWORD
DILBERT
SUDOKU

What’s on
17
SATURDAY, JULY 29, 2017
DT
EVENTS AROUND TOWN TODAY
MUSIC
MOVIE
THEATRE
HAJAR BOCHORER BANGLA GAAN
When 6.30pm
Where Jatiyo Natyoshala, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy,
Dhaka
What Organised by Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy and
Government Music College. Free entry.
AN EVENING OF SONGS BY NURJAHAN ALIM TUNI
When 6.30-8:30pm
Where Kobi Sufia Kamal Auditorium, Bangladesh National
Museum, Dhaka
What A celebration of the 86th birth anniversary of legendary
singer Abdul Alim, the singer’s father. Free entry.
STAR CINEPLEX
Where Bashundhara city, Dhaka
What Movie Showtime (July 29)
The Mummy (3D): 2:10pm, 7:20pm
Nabab (2D): 3:50pm, 7pm
Dunkirk (2D): 11:20am, 1:50pm,
3pm, 5:15pm, 7:30pm
A Dog’s Purpose (2D): 11:30am, 5pm
CAREER
PATHABHINOY UTSHOB
When 7pm
Where Studio Theatre Hall,
Bangladesh Shilpakala
Academy, Dhaka
What Organised by Lok
Natyodol, will include Hamlet,
Payer Awaj Pawa Jay, Shesh
Shonglap, The Zoo Story and
more.
DISCUSSION
OPEN SPACE
When 11am--2pm
Where National Press Club, Topkhana Road, Dhaka
What A dialogue session on women empowerment, sexual
harassment and consent. A part of Project Britto.
DEBATE ON SECULARISM
When 5-7pm
Where Center for Bangladesh Studies, House 29, Road 1,
Dhanmondi, Dhaka
What A discussion and debate on secularism and secularity.
War for the Planet of the Apes (3D):
10:50am, 1:40pm, 4:10pm, 7:15pm
Spiderman Homecoming (3D):
10:50am, 1:45pm, 4:30pm,
4:40pm, 7:10pm, 7:30pm
Baby Driver (2D): 11:10am, 1:30pm
Despicable Me 3 (3D): 11am, 1pm
BLOCKBUSTER CINEMAS
Where Jamuna Future Park, Dhaka
What Movie Showtime (July 29)
Transformers: The Last Knight
(3D): 11:30am, 2:30pm, 4:55pm,
7:25pm
Spiderman Homecoming (3D):
11:30am, 1:45pm, 2:10pm, 4:30pm,
7:20pm
The Mummy (3D): 12:30pm, 5pm,
7:30pm
Rajneeti (2D): 12pm, 3pm, 6pm
Baywatch (2D): 12pm, 2:30pm,
5pm, 7:30pm
Despicable Me 3 (3D): 11:40am,
2:55pm, 5:30pm
Dunkirk (2D): 12:30pm, 2:50pm,
5:10pm, 7:30pm, 7:55pm
WOMEN RECRUITMENT OPEN DAY
When 10am-2pm
Where Ballroom 1, The Westin Dhaka, Main Gulshan Avenue,
Plot 1, Road 45, Dhaka
What Recruitment opportunity at the Westin Dhaka.
Requirements include good communication skills.
WORKSHOP ON IT CAREER GUIDANCE
When 10am-2pm
Where United International University Auditorium,
Dhanmondi 15, Dhaka
What Introducing students to the world of work and career
development in the IT sector.
Zurhem and BMW team up to
promote Bangladeshi luxury couture
With an aim to create strategic
benefits for both their client
bases and give local buyers an
experience of world-class, high
end couture that are proudly
designed and made in Bangladesh,
Zurhem and BMW have signed a
partnership deal.
From BMW, Dewan Sajid
Afzal, GM, Executive Motors Ltd.
Bangladesh and from Zurhem,
Saadat Chowdhury, chairman, and
Mehruz Munir, CEO, signed the
MoU.
As part of the arrangement,
every BMW buyer will receive a
made to measure designer Zurhem
suit. The biannual fashion shows
exclusively featuring Zurhem’s
fall/winter and spring/summer
collections will also be powered
by BMW. Both brands feel that this
partnership will expand the luxury
TG and boost confidence in local
couture.
To celebrate the occasion, an
intimate dinner was hosted by
BMW at its showroom in Tejgaon,
Dhaka on July 22, 2017. Among
notable guests at the dinner were
cricketer Tamim Iqbal; Farzana
Chowdhury, CEO, Green Delta
Insurance Ltd; Md Zia Uddin,
chairman, Active Fine Chemicals
Ltd; and Nawshin Khaer, board of
trustees, Bengal Foundation. •

DT
18
Sports
SATURDAY, JULY 29, 2017
Action from the Bangladesh Premier League opener between Abahani and Saif Sporting at Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday
Australia cricket manager hopeful of
Bangladesh visit next month
• AFP, Dhaka
Australia’s cricket authorities are
hopeful that a Bangladesh tour due
to start in less than a month will
go ahead despite a player rebellion
over pay, a senior team official said.
The scheduled two-Test series
has been placed in jeopardy by the
long-running dispute, which has
pitted Australia’s top cricket stars
against the game’s governing
body.
“There is obviously a lot of work
to be done. But we are hopeful
and optimistic that the tour will
go ahead,” Gavin Dovey, Australia
cricket team manager told reporters
in the Bangladesh city of
Chittagong late Thursday.
The fate of the series depends
on the resolution of a revenue sharing
deal between Cricket Australia
and players. An Australia A tour of
South Africa has already been cancelled
because of the dispute.
Cricket Australia said Thursday
it will take the bitter row to independent
arbitration if an agreement
cannot be reached by early
next week.
Dovey made his remarks at the
end of a four-day tour by a Cricket
Australia team to inspect facilities
and security arrangements in
the South Asian nation.
The team visited the Zahur
Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in
Chittagong which is to host the second
Test from September 4-8.
Australia are scheduled to arrive
Bangladesh on August 18. The first
Test is at Dhaka’s Sher-e-Bangla
National Stadium on August 27-31.
Australia have not played a Test
in Bangladesh since Ricky Ponting’s
team visited in 2006, six years
after Bangladesh were granted Test
status.
They were due to play two Tests
in Bangladesh in October 2015 but
the tour was cancelled amid security
fears after attacks by Islamist
extremists in the Muslim-majority
nation.
Australia refused to send their
team to last year’s Under-19 World
The Australian delegation team visited the port city of Chittagong yesterday to inspect the facilities
MD MANIK
Cup in Dhaka over security worries.
Bangladesh hosted England last
year, drawing the Test series 1-1.
“We were very disappointed
not to come in 2015 but obviously
the safety and security of the
players and the team is paramount,
irrespective of whether we tour to
Bangladesh or anywhere else in the
world,” Dovey said.
Bangladesh has promised headof-state
style security for Australia’s
cricketers this time. •
RABIN CHOWDHURY
Abahani begin
with exciting
victory
• Shishir Hoque
Holder Dhaka Abahani Limited
kicked off their Bangladesh Premier
Football League 2016-17 season campaign
with a 3-2 victory over Saif
Sporting Club in a thrilling encounter
at Bangabandhu National Stadium
yesterday.
Prolific Nigerian striker Emeka
Darlington netted a quick brace in
the first half to give the traditional
Sky Blues the perfect start but goals
from Topu Barman and Jewel Rana
just before and after the break left
the reigning champion stunned.
Thanks to veteran defender Nasir
Uddin Chowdhury’s header in
the dying stages of the game, Abahani
sealed all three points.
The victory means the five-time
professional league champion are
unbeaten in domestic football since
the start of the last season’s premier
league. This was Abahani’s first win
in the league’s opening match after
two seasons. They drew against
Chittagong Abahani Limited and
Rahmatganj Muslim Friends Society
in the last two seasons.
Tall Gambian midfielder Landing
Darboe started on the bench as
Croatian head coach Drago Mamic
continued to field his starting XI
with veteran Ghanaian defender
Samad Yussif and Emeka. Two U-19
youngsters in the shape of Saad Uddin
and Tutul Hasan Badshah started
in the first match of the league
for the very first time.
Saif Sporting brought in five national
players from Abahani to make their
top-flight debut this season, among
which defenders Ariful Islam and
Topu and Hemanta Vincent Biswas
started the game, along with new
signing, Colombian forwards Lordaba
Escarpeta and Valencia Olaya.
Emeka gave the Sky Blues the
lead in the 21st minute with a precise
header from a Waly Faisal
cross following Rubel Miah’s short
corner. Emeka doubled the lead
seven minutes later from a penalty
after Saif Sporting defender
Rahmat Miah brought down Saad
inside the danger zone.
Topu, the former Abahani defender,
pulled one back moments
before the first-half whistle with an
opportunist header after Rayhan
Hasan failed to clear a free-kick
from Jamal Bhuiyan. Jewel came
off the bench to equalise the margin
four minutes into the second
half, heading home from the edge
of the six-yard box, following a Rahim
cross from the left side.
Nasir put Abahani ahead again in
the 84th minute heading home from
the right side of the box after Rayhan’s
long throw-in was headed back by Saif
Sporting defender Rahmat Uddin. •

Sports
Rajshahi to face All Stars in MCC final
• Ali Shahriyar Bappa
from Cox’s Bazar
Acme Rajshahi will face Expo All
Stars in the grand finale of the
Masters Cricket Carnival in Cox’s
Bazar’s Sheikh Kamal International
Stadium in tomorrow.
In the first semi-final, Rajshahi
beat Titans Khulna Masters by
three runs.
And later, the All Stars defeated
Basundhara Dhaka division by 16
runs.
Khulna v Rajshahi
Rajshahi edged Khulna in a hardfought
contest.
Khulna skipper Habibul Bashar
won the toss and elected to field.
The star-studded Rajshahi batting
line-up was checked by controlled
bowling by the Khulna
bowlers.
In-form Rajshahi opener Hannan
Sarkar got out in the third over
for eight.
Khaled Mahsud Pilot’s 24 and
Alamgir Kabir’s late 17-run innings
BRIEF SCORES
RAJSHAHI 92/6 in 15 overs (Mashud
24, Neaz 2/22) beat KHULNA 89/7 in
15 overs (Neaz 14, Alamgir 2/13) by three
runs
ALL STARS 113/8 in 15 overs (Seezan
64, Shafiq 3/18) beat DHAKA
DIVISION 97 in 14.1 overs (Sanwar 23,
Talha 3/28) by 16 runs
19
SATURDAY, JULY 29, 2017
Rafique: Preparation key for bowling long spells
• Ali Shahriyar Bappa
from Cox’s Bazar
Left-arm spinner Mohammad
Rafique, who played 33 Test matches,
125 ODIs and a solitary T20I
for Bangladesh, is the first Tigers
bowler to take 100 wickets in both
five-dayers and one-day cricket.
Following his retirement, there
has been an influx of left-arm spinners
in the country, thanks in no
small part to the 46-year old’s exploits.
Having hung up his boots,
Rafique is busy with business at
the moment although he has plans
to soon form a cricket academy in
Keraniganj.
In the sidelines of the Masters
Cricket Carnival, Rafique talked
with Dhaka Tribune about his playing
career, including some of his
most memorable memories, and his
future plans, among other topics.
Here are the excerpts:
How are you passing your time
these days?
I’m doing business at the moment.
I have worked with Rangpur Riders
in the BPL T20. Earlier I worked
with Abahani. I performed Hajj recently.
That’s why I had taken break
from cricket. Recently a stadium is
being constructed in my local area.
The work will end soon. I have a
plan that after Eid-ul-Adha, I will
soon establish a cricket academy
there in the name of Keraniganj.
You’re out on the field after many
days. How does it feel?
It feels great obviously. When
I play on the field, I act like a
professional. Honestly, now I can’t
beat a young player in terms of
running or fitness or shot-playing.
But preparation for game is still
same like my playing days.
Do you miss T20s?
Actually whatever we played in
our time, that was our best cricket.
I always played power cricket.
May be if I was here in these times,
probably I could have been the best
player in T20s. There is no regret
actually. Cricket is changing day
by day. Bangkok is organizing sixa-side
tournament now. Recently
the ICC introduced a new type of
play, which comprises 100 balls. So
cricket is changing.
Akram confident of
Australia arrival
• Ali Shahriyar Bappa
from Cox’s Bazar
Former Bangladesh cricketer Mohammad Rafique bowls during the Masters Cricket Carnival 2017 in Cox’s Bazar
Bangladesh will start their conditioning
camp in Chittagong from Friday
by playing practice games, ahead of
the Australia Test matches at home.
“National team is performing
well in the camp in Dhaka. They are
doing batting and bowling in the
nets there. Bangladesh will start
their conditioning camp in Chittagong
by playing practice game.
We have a scheduled Test in Chittagong
against Australia. So our
main target will be to cope with the
wicket and condition soon,” Akram
Khan, chairman of the BCB cricket
operations committee, told the media
in Cox’s Bazar yesterday.
Akram is currently in Cox’s Bazar
for the Masters Cricket Masters
Carnival.
Australia’s tour of Bangladesh is
still hanging in the balance as the
ongoing dispute between Cricket
Austalia and its players has not
resolved yet. Akram however, expressed
hope that the series will
take place as scheduled.
“It’s an internal problem of CA.
But we are taking preparation for
the series as per schedule. We are
thinking positively about the series.
This series is very important
for us as we have the South Africa
tour after that,” he said.
BCB has not renewed the contract
of batting coach Thilan Samaraweera
after the 2017 Champions Trophy.
Akram informed that an appointment
will be made soon in that regard.
“We are negotiating with a batting
coach. Probably he will arrive
within a few days. He will work
particularity with lower-order batsmen.
We are hiring him for short
term. If he fits with us well, then
he can be with us for a long time. I
can’t tell the name as per the code
of conduct but can say he is an Australian,”
concluded Akram. •
Do you recollect the memories of
your Test century against the West
Indies?
It was memorable obviously. I
scored 111. Could have been better
if I scored more.
There are less spectators in the
Dhaka Premier League these days.
Why is that?
I played DPL since 1984. In those
days, gallery was full. That time
we did not have money but
players were hungry to perform
better for themselves and also
for the development of cricket.
But nowadays, there are lots of
money involved in the DPL. But
unfortunately, spectators are not
there in the field. There are some
COURTESY
reasons. People get fewer facilities
in fields like foods or other things.
Whenever matches are being
hosted at BKSP or Fatullah, there
are no such facilities available.
Only two teams go there. We played
at Bangabandhu National Stadium
and Abahani ground. There were
lots of spectators there. We need
to increase more fields. Mirpur
Stadium is okay. But we need
to start cricket in Bangabandhu
National Stadium as well. We
played there for years. During that
time, both cricket and football
were played there in the same year.
If Bangabandhu National Stadium
is open for DPL cricket again along
with the other grounds then I think
spectators will increase.
DT
You were the main left-arm
spinner in the side back in your
times. Later, many spinners,
especially left-armers, donned the
red and green jersey. Any plans to
work with them?
I always want to work with young
players. Even when I was a running
player I informed the management
that I want to work with young
bowlers in future. But that never
happened. I tried several times.
But no significant offer came from
the board or management.
You were the highest wicket-taker
in both Tests and ODIs. How did
you see this?
Records are made to be broken one
day. We played very less cricket
than the current team. We probably
played Asia Cup once after every
three years. These days, Bangladesh
play almost 60-70 matches in
around three years. So these days I
could have played more matches. I
was the first Bangladesh bowler to
take 100 wickets in both Tests and
ODIs. These records will stay forever.
No one will overtake me as the
first 100 wicket-taker, even after
500 years (smiles).
You have bowled long spells in
your Test career. What was the key
behind bowling long spells?
Actually a bowler has to do a lot of
practice and must have determination
for such habit. If you play
a Test and want to bowl a long
spell then you have to plan and
take preparation in order to bowl
around 40 overs per day. You have
to be mentally tough to do that. •
helped Rajshahi to 92 from their
stipulated 15 overs.
Neaz Morshed and SA Babu took
two wickets for Khulna.
Khulna made a moderate start
while chasing. Bashar (12) was
bowled by medium-pacer Hannan
in the fifth over.
Four Khulna batsmen, including
Bashar, reached double figures but
was unable to score big as Khulna
eventually fell three short of the
target.
Eight runs were required in the
last over and at one stage, four runs
were needed off the final delivery.
Rajshahi bowler Alamgir was
cleaned up by Khulna’s Mohammad
Selim in the last ball of the
innings.
Alamgir was adjudged man of
the match for his all-round performance.
All Stars v Dhaka division
All Stars captain Hasibul Hossain
Shanto won the toss and elected to
bat first.
Opener Mehrab Hossain Opee
lost his wicket early but the other
in-form opening batsman Ehsanul
Haque Seezan played another brilliant
innings of 64 off 40 balls to
guide his side to 113 for the loss of
eight wickets in 15 overs.
Shafaq al Zabir took three wickets
for 18 runs for Dhaka division
while Mohammad Rafique bagged
one wicket conceding 25 runs.
Dhaka were bundled out for 97
in 14. 1 overs while chasing.
Captain Sanwar Hossain topscored
with 23 while Rafique
scored 17.
Talha Jubaer took three wickets
for Dhaka while Masudur Rahman
Mukul took two. •

20
SATURDAY, JULY 29, 2017
DT
Sports
Neymar storms
out of training
• Reuters
Brazilian striker Neymar stormed
out of a Barcelona training session
on Thursday as speculation mounted
about a world-record move to
PSG. A personal appearance in
China next week was cancelled because
he was said to be “busy with
transfer business”.
Pictures of Barca training in
Miami for today’s game against
arch-rival Real Madrid in the International
Champions Trophy
showed Neymar having to be kept
apart from team mate Nelson Semedo
before removing his bib and
stomping away from the session.
Suggestions that he might have
weighty matters on his mind increased
when Chinese travel agent
Ctrip posted on its official Weibo
account that it has had to cancel an
event with Neymar because he is
“busy with transfer business”.
Ctrip said the event was scheduled
for Shanghai next Monday.
PSG have reportedly held discussions
with Barcelona about a transfer
for the 25 year-old that would
smash the world record 89m pounds
Manchester United paid for France
midfielder Paul Pogba last year. •
Cook misses
ton but Stokes
takes fight to
South Africa
• Reuters, London
Alastair Cook missed out on a 31st
Test hundred but Ben Stokes continued
to take the fight to South Africa
with an unbeaten counter-attacking
half-century as England
forged on to 269-6 at lunch on the
second day of the third Test at The
Oval yesterday. Cook, who had batted
throughout the rain-interrupted
opening day to anchor his side’s
struggle to an overnight 171 for four,
added six runs before being trapped
lbw for 88 by Morne Morkel.
The dismissal brought together
Stokes and Jonny Bairstow, no
strangers to putting the Proteas to
the sword after their epic stand of
399 in Cape Town last year, and the
pair again combined sweetly in a
sixth-wicket partnership of 75.
Stokes raced to the 10th
half-century of his Test career off
72 balls before consolidating to
move more sedately to 64 by lunch
with seven thumping boundaries.
After South Africa had taken
the second new ball, Bairstow was
quickly snaffled for a 52-ball 36 by
Faf du Plessis at slip off Kagiso Rabada.
The touring side were again
hampered in their new ball assault
by not being able to call on key
paceman Vernon Philander. •
Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Neymar take part in a training session in Miami on Thursday
Rooney returns in Everton win
• AFP, Liverpool
Wayne Rooney made his second
competitive “debut” for his boyhood
club Everton on Thursday,
as Leighton Baines grabbed a 1-0
Europa League third-round qualifying
victory over Slovakian side
MFK Ruzomberok.
The former Manchester United
and England captain had revealed
in the build-up to the match at
Goodison Park that it had been a
lifelong ambition to play for Everton
in Europe.
Thirteen years after leaving
Merseyside for Old Trafford, Rooney
finally fulfilled that ambition although
it was a frustrating evening
for manager Ronald Koeman and
his new-look Everton side.
The £75-m ($98m) sale of Romelu
Lukaku to United has funded
a close-season of big expenditure
by the club and Rooney joined
England defender Michael Keane,
former Ajax captain Davy Klaassen
and ex-Southampton full-back
Cuco Martina in making debuts.
And while Rooney’s return was
greeted with the expected enthusiasm
by a sold-out, if reduced-capacity,
Goodison Park crowd, last
season’s third-placed Slovakian
team provided dogged opposition.
It was not until the 65th minute,
when a Kevin Mirallas corner was
headed out to Baines 25 yards from
goal, that Evertonians could finally
relax in this first leg tie.
Everton's Wayne Rooney vies with MFK Ruzomberok's Matej Kochan during the ir
Europa League third qualifying round, game one in Liverpool on Thursday AFP
Baines struck a magnificent shot
but it still required a kind deflection
off Erik Daniel to wrong foot goalkeeper
Matus Macik and fly into the
visitors’ goal.
Early signs had been promising
for Everton when Ruzomberok
captain Dominik Kruzliak sliced
the ball horribly as Klaassen surged
into the area and almost put the
ball into his own goal before the
keeper cleared.
Then, on 19 minutes, Rooney
spied his first sight of goal back
in an Everton shirt after another
flowing attack, which ended with
Klaassen sweeping the ball wide
for Baines to pick out the striker
who spun and sent a powerful shot
wide.
Just before the half-hour, Dominic
Calvert-Lewin, hero of England’s
under-20 World Cup win this
summer, showed great skill to win
a tackle on his way into the box and
his short cross found Rooney who
slipped as he shot goalwards.
Calvert-Lewin was involved
again a minute later, this time setting
up Klaassen with an intelligent
pass, but the Dutchman shot
into the side-netting with the goal
seemingly at his mercy.
It was looking an increasing
danger that those misses might
prove costly and before the break
Daniel was given acres of room
to deliver a 22-yard shot which
Maarten Stekelenburg kept out,
diving sharply to his right. •
Sanchez
due back
with Arsenal
tomorrow
• AFP, London
AFP
Amid persistent reports that Alexis
Sanchez wants to leave Arsenal,
Gunners boss Arsene Wenger says
the Chile forward will return to
training tomorrow.
Sanchez missed Arsenal’s
pre-season tour to Australia and
China while he rested after playing
for his country at the Confederations
Cup.
The former Barcelona star’s absence
couldn’t quell speculation
he could be on the way out of the
Emirates Stadium after refusing to
accept Arsenal’s offer of a new contract.
Sanchez’s current deal runs out
at the end of the forthcoming season
and with Arsenal so far unable
to meet his reported demand
for wages of £300,000-per-week
($393,000, 336,000 euros), he has
been linked with Paris Saint Germain,
Manchester City, Juventus
and Bayern Munich.
Despite Sanchez’s apparent desire
to leave, Wenger, who reportedly
clashed with the striker after
dropping him for a match at Liverpool
last season, has remained
steadfast in his belief he will be
able to persuade the 28-year-old to
stay. •

Sports
21
SATURDAY, JULY 29, 2017
DT
Kohli, Mukund punish SL as India eye big win
• Reuters, Galle
1ST TEST, DAY 3
INDIA 1ST INNINGS 600 in 133.1 overs
(Dhawan 190, Pujara 153)
SRI LANKA 1ST INNINGS (OVERNIGHT
154/5) R B
Mathews c Kohli b Jadeja 83 130
Perera not out 92 132
Herath c Rahane b Jadeja 9 13
Pradeep b Pandya 10 26
Kumara b Jadeja 2 12
Extras (w 1, lb 4) 5
Total all out (78.3 Overs) 291
Fall Of Wickets
6-205 (Mathews), 7-241 (Herath), 8-280
(Pradeep), 9-291 (Kumara)
Bowling
Shami 12-2-45-2, Umesh 14-1-78-1, Ashwin
27-5-84-1, Jadeja 22.3-3-67-3, Pandya
3-0-13-1
INDIA 2ND INNINGS R B
Dhawan c Gunathilaka b Perera 14 14
Mukund lbw b Gunathilaka 81 116
Pujara c Mendis b Kumara 15 35
Kohli not out 76 114
Extras (w 2, lb 1) 3
Total three wickets (46.3 overs) 189
Fall Of Wickets
1-19 (Dhawan), 2-56 (Pujara), 3-189
(Mukund)
Bowling
Pradeep 10-2-44-0, Perera 12-0-42-1,
Kumara 11-1-53-1, Herath 9-0-34-0, Gunathilaka
4.3-0-15-1
India lead by 498 runs
DAY’S WATCH
FOOTBALL
TEN 2
International Champions Cup
5:30PM
Chelsea v Inter Milan
4:00AM
Manchester City v Tottenham
6:00AM
Real Madrid v Barcelona
CRICKET
TEN 3
10:30AM
India Tour of Sri Lanka
1st Test, Day 4
STAR SPORTS SELECT HD 1
4:00PM
South Africa Tour of England
3rd Test, Day 3
12:00AM
Natwest T20 Blast
Essex v Gloucestershire
A dominant India spared Sri Lanka
the ignominy of a follow-on but
Virat Kohli and Abhinav Mukund
struck fluent half-centuries to
tighten the touring side’s grip on
the first Test yesterday.
The world’s top-ranked Test
team shot out their depleted host
for 291 to take a 309-run first innings
lead and were 189-3 after
third day’s play at the Galle International
Stadium.
Sri Lanka, already a batsman
short after Asela Gunaratne fractured
his thumb, received a new
setback when Rangana Herath,
leading the side in absence of ailing
regular skipper Dinesh Chandimal,
left the field with a hand injury.
India captain Kohli was unbeaten
on 76 at stumps, after adding 133
runs with Mukund whose dismissal
for 81 signalled the end of the
day’s play.
Earlier, Sri Lanka resumed on
154-5 and could have been in bigger
trouble but for Dilruwan Perera’s
gutsy 92 not out.
Angelo Mathews held the key to
Sri Lanka’s survival and the former
captain made 83 before Ravindra
Jadeja (3-67) sent him back.
The spinner sent down a flighted
delivery and Mathews moved
towards leg and slapped it straight
to Kohli at short cover. Mathews hit
11 boundaries and a six.
Perera enjoyed an eventful stay
at the crease.
Two balls after an appeal for a
catch off his boot was turned down,
Perera was adjudged lbw to Jadeja.
The decision was overturned after
replays suggested the ball would
have sailed over the stumps.
Perera hit Ravichandran Ashwin
India’s Virat Kohli plays a shot during the third day of their first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle yesterday
for a six and took a single off the next
ball to bring up his fifth Test fifty.
Jadeja dismissed Herath for nine
and debutant Hardik Pandya castled
Nuwan Pradeep for 10 to claim
his first Test wicket.
Perera was eight runs away from
his maiden Test century when he
ran out of partners. His belligerent
knock included 10 fours and four
sixes.
Perera then returned to dismiss
Shikhar Dhawan for 14 after India
opted against enforcing the follow-on
and Lahiru Kumara sent
back Cheteshwar Pujara for 15. •
Warner hits back in bitter Australia pay row
• AFP, Sydney
Australia vice-captain Dave Warner
has accused Cricket Australia of
wrongly blaming players for not
resolving a bitter pay dispute saga
which threatens next month’s Test
tour to Bangladesh.
CA chief executive James Sutherland
upped the ante on Thursday
when he said unless intensive talks
over the next few days produced
a compromise, his organisation
would seek the intervention of an
industrial umpire to end the impasse.
The Australian Cricketers’ Association
hit back, saying CA was
to blame for the crisis dragging on
and that it had “lost the players”
through its hardball tactics.
Warner, who has been outspoken
in the push for players to keep
a 20-year revenue-sharing arrangement
in place against CA opposition,
also fired back at the governing
body.
“This Baggy Green (cap) means
AFP
the world to me,” he wrote on Instagram
late Thursday beneath a
picture of himself in his Test kit.
“Myself and all the other players,
female and male, want to get
out there and play.
National
Volleyball
semis today
• Tribune Report
The semi-finals line-up of the National
Volleyball Championship
final round 2017 was confirmed
yesterday.
Bangladesh Army, Bangladesh
Navy, Power Development Board
and Titas Gas reached the last four
in the men’s 28th edition of the
national championship while Chittagong,
Rajshahi, Team BJMC and
Bangladesh Ansar moved to the
semi-finals of the women’s 23rd
edition.
Bangladesh Army, Bangladesh
Navy, PDB and Titas defeated Bhola,
Pabna, Khulna and Chittagong
University by 3-0 sets respectively
while Narail, BJMC, Bangladesh
Ansar beat Khulna, Bangladesh
Police and Chittagong University
respectively by the same margin in
the women’s event. •
Swimmer
Sagor finishes
82nd in World
Championship
• Tribune Report
Bangladesh swimmer Mahfizur
Rahman Sagor finished second out
of 10 participants in the heat of the
men’s 50m freestyle event yesterday
in the 17th Fina World Championship,
which is being held in
Budapest, Hungary.
With a timing of 24.16s, Sagor’s
position however, was 82nd in the
heat summary, among 118 athletes
who competed in a total of 13 heats.
The Bangladesh Navy swimmer
took second spot in the fifth heat of
the day out of 10 participants. •
“We offered Aus$30m ($24m) of
our money to grassroots as a peace
plan. It was ignored. We asked for
mediation twice before and it was
rejected. Now CA says there is a
crisis.
“The players are unemployed
and some are hurting financially
but continue to train. Administrators
all still being paid. How is it our
fault no deal is done?”
After months of negotiations,
the players and CA have failed to
reach agreement, leaving 230 cricketers
unemployed since the end of
June when their contracts expired.
Sutherland went on the attack
after knocking back recent compromise
proposals from the ACA, who
remain adamant that players must
receive a percentage of the game’s
gross revenues. •

22
SATURDAY, JULY 29, 2017
DT
Showtime
Bhaijaan to host Bigg Boss 11
D-Rockstar
Shuvo to
release
new
album
this Eid
• Showtime Desk
Winner of the first D-Rockstar,
Shuvo moved to Australia back
in 2014 to pursue higher studies.
Much to the delight of his fans, the
singer has returned home for good.
Shuvo continued to indulge in
music while studying and being
involved in other fields, such as
event management. “To be honest,
I was very homesick. I kept coming
back the whole time I was in
Sydney and I finally decided that
living abroad wasn’t for me. So,
I came back after finishing my
studies and I want to do music full
time from now on,” Shuvo said.
Shuvo studied music
production in Australia and wants
to put everything he studied to
good use in his career. He is set to
release a new album during Eid
ul Adha. A music video of a song
titled “Atopor” from the upcoming
album has already been released.•
• Showtime Desk
After having certain personal clashes in the last
two seasons of the show, rumours had been
making rounds suggesting that Salman Khan
will refrain from hosting Bigg Boss 11. However,
Bigg Boss had other plans in mind and was not
ready to let Bhaijaan go so easily. The makers of
the show have finally confirmed that the actor
will be hosting the 11 th season of the popular
reality show.
Sources confirmed that Salman Khan will
be flying down all the way from Morocco to
shoot the promos for the latest season on
Sunday, July 30. Furthermore, reports
suggest that the show will have an
entirely new theme, which will be
unveiled with the first promo to
be released soon. The channel is
likely to start the show earlier
than previous years, starting
the season in September
instead of October.
Another report also
claimed that there is
a new twist in the
selection of commoners
for this season. “They
need to be in pairs of
mother-daughter,
father-son, siblings,
to make it (the show)
more interesting and
create sparks as they
will be able to reveal
something new about
each other’s past,
which could be spicy
and controversial,”
a source close to the
makers confirmed.•
WHAT TO WATCH
Big Game
Zee Studio HD, 6:20pm
A young teenager camping in the
woods helps rescue the President
of the United States when Air
Force One is shot down near his
campsite.
Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Onni
Tommila, Ray Stevenson
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
Zee Studio, 11:25pm
Video game adventuress Lara Croft
comes to life in a movie where she
races against time and villains to
recover powerful ancient artifacts.
Cast: Angelina Jolie, Jon Voight,
Iain Glen
Cars
Star Movies, 4:39pm
A hot-shot race-car named
Lightning McQueen gets
waylaid in Radiator Springs,
where he finds the true
meaning of friendship and
family.
Voices: Owen Wilson, Bonnie
Hunt, Paul Newman
Apocalypto
Sony PIX, 9:00pm
As the Mayan kingdom faces its
decline, the rulers insist the key to
prosperity is to build more temples
and offer human sacrifices. Jaguar
Paw, a young man captured for
sacrifice, flees to avoid his fate.
Cast: Gerardo Taracena, Raoul
Max Trujillo, Dalia Hernández
I Am Legend
HBO, 11:39pm
Years after a plague kills most
of humanity and transforms
the rest into monsters, the
sole survivor in New York City
struggles valiantly to find a
cure.
Cast: Will Smith, Alice Braga,
Charlie Tahan

Showtime
23
SATURDAY, JULY 29, 2017
DT
Bollywood
mourns the
untimely
death of Inder
Kumar
• Showtime Desk
Bollywood actor Inder Kumar,
best known for his performance in
Wanted alongside Salman Khan,
passed away on Friday, July 28, at
the age of 45. Sources close to the
actor’s family confirmed that Inder
suffered a massive heart attack at
around 12:30am, at his residence
in Andheri, Mumbai.
The actor has appeared on
several films including the likes of
Kahin Pyaar Na Ho Jaaye, Tumko
Na Bhool Paayenge and Khiladiyon
Ka Khiladi. He was also seen
donning the role of Mihir Virani
in Ekta Kapoor’s long running TV
soap Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu
Thi. It has been learnt that Inder
was currently working on a film
titled, Phati Padi Hai Yaar.
Several actors and actresses
took to social media to condole
the untimely death of the actor.
Actress Raveena Tandon, who
worked with Inder in Kahin Pyaar
Na Ho Jaaye back in 1996, posted
on her Twitter handle: “Omg
shocking news.worked with him in
‘khiladiyon ka khiladi’ Too young
to go.May his soul rest in peace.
God give strength to his family.”
Veteran actor Anupam Kher
wrote, “Deeply saddened by
untimely demise
of #InderKumar.
Have acted with
him in few films.
He was very
simple, humble
and a very
committed actor,”
while Abhishek
Bachchan shared,
“God! Just read of
the passing of Inder Kumar. Very
sad. He was such a nice guy and
actor. Always was very kind to
me. Rest in peace.”
Actor Riteish Deshmukh
posted, “Too young to go, deeply
saddened by the passing away
of the actor #InderKumar - he
always met with a smile. #RIP
condolences to the family.” •
Nolan reveals why he keeps Tom Hardy’s face out of his films
• Showtime Desk
Filmmaker Christopher Nolan
has explained why he decided to
cover up Tom Hardy’s face again
in Dunkirk after The Dark Knight
Rises.
The Inception director and actor
have reunited for the highlyacclaimed
World War II drama,
which hit theaters on July 21. The
pair’s third reunion for Dunkirk
once again features Hardy’s face
being largely obscured on-screen
due to his character’s air mask. It
was similar to the time when the
actor played the role of Bane in
The Dark Knight Rises.
When Christopher Nolan was
asked if the two costume choices
were a coincidence, the director
told Press Association, “I was
pretty thrilled with what he did
in The Dark Knight Rises with two
eyes and a couple of eyebrows and
a bit of forehead. So I thought,
‘Let’s see what he can do with no
forehead, no real eyebrows, and
maybe one eye.’
“Of course Tom, being Tom,
what he does with single eye
acting is far beyond what anyone
else can do with their whole body,
that is just the unique talent of the
man, he’s extraordinary.”
But it’s not only Christopher
Nolan, Hardy’s face was also
covered up for the beginning parts
of George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury
Road and behind a scraggly beard
in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s
The Revenant.
Nolan, who has been linked
with directing a James Bond
movie, has also backed Hardy to
play the iconic spy. •

24
SATURDAY, JULY 29, 2017
DT
Back Page
RUSSIA HITS BACK OVER SANCTIONS,
ORDERS US DIPLOMATS TO LEAVE › 6
RAFIQUE: PREPARATION KEY
FOR BOWLING LONG SPELLS › 19
BHAIJAAN TO HOST
BIGG BOSS 11 › 22
INTERNATIONAL TIGER DAY TODAY
Sundarbans tiger census to confirm
population by 2019
• Hedait Hossain, Khulna
WILDLIFE
It will take two years to determine
the exact number of Royal Bengal
Tigers living in the Bangladesh part
of the Sundarbans, according to officials
conducting a census in the
country’s lone natural tiger habitat.
The Forest Department is conducting
the census in collaboration
with WildTeam, an NGO working
for tiger conservation in the country,
under the Bengal Tiger Conservation
Activity project funded by
the USAID.
The census, which began in November
last year, is using camera
trapping methodology to determine
the overall tiger population
in the world’s largest mangrove
forest, of which around 60% lies
within Bangladesh.
The most recent census which
concluded in 2015 recorded a tiger
population of only 106 in the Bangladeshi
Sundarbans, down from
440 in 2004. Project officials will
want to know if this number has
held up, or fallen further.
Data collection for the current
census has already been completed
in the Satkhira range of the mangrove
forest and will be extended to
the Khulna, Sharankhola and Chandpai
ranges by the end of 2019.
Sources familiar with the project
said the primary monitoring
and count using the cameras in
Satkhira began on December 1 and
ended on March 15. A total of 45
officials and experts divided into
six teams conducted the survey to
determine the tiger population in
Satkhira range.
In addition to recording tiger
numbers, the project is also tracking
their population density, movement
and activity.
“We set up 804 cameras at 402
stations in the range to collect data
of tiger movement and density in
the area,” said Md Sayed Ali, divisional
forest officer at the Sundarbans
West Zone. “Each camera
takes a photo every 5-10 seconds.”
Using photos taken by the cameras,
the population in Satkhira
range will be determined by analysing
the stripes on the tigers –
each tiger has its own unique set of
stripes, similar to fingerprints for
humans.
“We will have the accurate number
of tigers in Satkhira
by September,” Sayed
added.
Besides the camera
trapping method, the
team has also surveyed
tiger activity in the canals.
Amir Hossain Chowdhury,
director of the
census project, said:
“The photos are being
analysed using the latest
technologies. Once
the analysis is done, we
will get an idea about the
population density and
footprints of tigers in
Satkhira range.”
Once the census in
Satkhira is complete, the
project will progress to
survey the other three
ranges of the Sundarbans,
he added.
“It might take two
more years to complete
the survey in the entire
Sundarbans and find the
exact number of tigers in the forest,”
Amir said.
The Forest Department has undertaken
the project following the
SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN
declaration at the International Tiger
Forum which took place in St
Petersburg, Russia in 2010.
According to the Wildlife Management
and Nature Conservation
Division, the previous census began
in November 2013 and ended in
2015, also using a camera trapping
method.
At that time, the census covered
just the areas with high population
density, which amounted to only
26% of the 6,017 square kilometres
of the mangrove forest inside
Bangladesh.
Thirty officials conducted the
census using photos collected by
90 cameras, and recorded only 106
tigers living in the Sundarbans.
The population was 453 in 1982
and 440 in 2004, according to the
Forest Department. It attributed
the massive drop in numbers in
just a decade to illegal poaching of
wildlife and increasing human-tiger
conflict.
At least 49 tigers were killed
between 2001 and 2014, while 232
people were killed in tiger-human
conflict during the same period, an
official of the Forest Department
said.
The Royal Bengal Tiger has been
listed as “endangered” on the IUCN
Red List of Threatened Species
since 2010. •
Editor: Zafar Sobhan, Published and Printed by Kazi Anis Ahmed on behalf of 2A Media Limited at Dainik Shakaler Khabar Publications Limited, 153/7, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Dhaka-1208. Editorial, News & Commercial Office: FR Tower,
8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka 1207. Phone: 9132093-94, Advertising: 9132155, Circulation: 9132282, Fax: News-9132192, e-mail: news@dhakatribune.com, info@dhakatribune.com, Website: www.dhakatribune.com