Elections 2019.

[Banglar Bir]

 

[Banglar Bir]

Is seeking democracy my offence, emotional Khaleda asks court
Prothom Alo English Desk | Update: 23:45, Oct 26, 2017

BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia appears before the court at 11:45am on Thursday. Photo: Prothom AloFormer prime minister and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson Khaleda Zia on Thursday claimed herself innocent and said the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case is a ‘false’ one as it was filed against her with a ‘political motive’, reports UNB.

“All the cases filed against me are false ones. What crime did I commit for which I have to appear before the court repeatedly? I want to restore democratic governing system and people’s rights, and establish peace instead of conflict. Is it my offence for which I’m facing so much harassment and so many cases,” said Khaleda in an emotion-choked voice.

The BNP chief made the remarks and burst into tears in the courtroom while giving her self-defence statement in Zia Orphanage Trust graft case before the makeshift court of Special Judge-5 at Bakshibazar for the second day.

In her over an hour-written speech, the BNP chief also alleged that many warrants have been issued for her arrest one after another in recent years in ‘false’ cases filed against her.

“I was evicted from the house with which I had four decades of memories. The current government has confined me to my Gulshan residence keeping me isolated from people. ..During my confinement, I received the death news of one of my sons who had been undergoing treatment aboard,” Khaleda said with tears rolling down her cheeks.

Mentioning that there were many cases against Awami League President and current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on various charges, including corruption, abuse of power, extortion and irregularities, she said, “But she (Hasina) is lucky enough that she has not to appear before court like me.”

Khaleda said she has been trying to appear before court at this advanced age amid her busyness and various problems as she has respect for the law, court and the judiciary.

Earlier on 19 October, Khaleda started placing her self-defence statement in the case.

Dhaka Special Judge Court-5 Judge Md Aktaruzzaman recorded her statement and fixed November 2 the new date for hearing on the case.

The court also asked the BNP chief to conclude her statement on that day.

On 3 July 2008, the Anti-Corruption Commission filed the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case with Ramna Police Station accusing Khaleda Zia, her eldest son Tarique Rahman, and four others for misappropriating over Tk 21.0 million (2.10 crore) that came as grants from a foreign bank for orphans.

On 8 August 2011, the commission filed the Zia Charitable Trust graft case with Tejgaon Police Station accusing four people, including Khaleda Zia, of abuse of power in raising funds for the trust from unknown sources.
Khaleda defends herself in court
http://en.prothom-alo.com/bangladesh/news/164459/Is-seeking-democracy-my-offence-emotional-Khaleda

 

[Banglar Bir]

 

[Banglar Bir]

 

[Banglar Bir]

Giving democracy a bad name
Tribune Editorial
Published at 06:54 PM October 30, 2017

Photo: FOCUS BANGLA
Petty politics and thuggery cannot be allowed to hijack the democratic process, which is essential for any striving middle-income nation to succeed
The attack carried out on Khaleda Zia’s motorcade in Feni is no laughing matter.

Such an attack must be condemned fully, and by all fronts.

No matter the situation, the government’s job is to protect the citizens of this country, whatever their political affiliation.

And Khaleda Zia is no exception. This was an attack the authorities must take seriously — it needs to be fully investigated so that we can get to the bottom of it and hold the perpetrators responsible.

It must be made clear that this sort of behaviour is an unacceptable flouting of the law, and those responsible will be brought to book.

What is worse is that the attack took place while the former prime minister was on her way to provide aid to the persecuted Rohingya.

It must be understood, unequivocally, that this conduct gives democracy a bad name, and ruins the political climate of our growing nation.

The fact that there have been four such attacks in the last two years is troublesome. This only serves to highlight the audacity of those involved in these attacks.

In this regard, there can be no impunity.

Petty politics and thuggery cannot be allowed to hijack the democratic process, which is essential for any striving middle-income nation to succeed.

Surely, the prime minister would never condone attacks like this.

The ruling party needs to rein in the undesirable elements within its structure that threatens to give the party a bad name.

Attacks like the one on Khaleda Zia’s motorcade represent a toxic side of our political culture — and this culture needs to change.
http://www.dhakatribune.com/opinion/editorial/2017/10/30/giving-democracy-bad-name/

 

[Banglar Bir]

 

[Nilgiri]

The ruling party needs to rein in the undesirable elements within its structure that threatens to give the party a bad name.

Bad name doesnt matter. Winning matters. BAL should ensure it wins at any cost. It needs to be a party with a country philosophy on steroids....because the country itself is so cheap and trashy.

 

[UKBengali]

Bad name doesnt matter. Winning matters. BAL should ensure it wins at any cost. It needs to be a party with a country philosophy on steroids....because the country itself is so cheap and trashy.

What do you consider holes in India like Uttar Pradeh and Bihar in that case?

300 million Indians living at sub-Saharan levels of poverty.

 

[Nilgiri]

What do you consider holes in India like Uttar Pradeh and Bihar in that case?

300 million Indians living at sub-Saharan levels of poverty.

They doing a lot better than Bangladesh and sub-sahara (which are rough equivalents themselves when 3rd party neutral data is compared) too....given both these regions have no credible statistic analysis to begin with....and 3rd party data always shows major dissonance from what is claimed (check economist liveability index for example). Same 3rd party data that shows up consistently regarding Bangladesh immigrants in UK and USA economic, health and development wise as well.

In BD domestic case for example:

https://defence.pk/pdf/threads/repository-for-bd-statistics-bbs-quality-credibility.525379/

BBS has limited capacity to produce many of these statistics in accordance with relevant international standards and good practices.

So yeah BD = cheap+trashy country. You have to try really really hard to be this corrupt and stagnate at that corruption level too:

https://www.transparency.org/news/feature/corruption_perceptions_index_2016

Same for your 3rd party measured intelligence projection (USPTO grants and science paper output per capita). In those you do far worse than "sub-saharan africa".

Just go back to stitching clothes, fully reliant on LDC quotas and sops (and the crash when those end).... and counting it as success and believing in your corrupt govt's claims to feel better in mean time. It will just make the reality all the more extreme for you when it cannot be shoved under carpet anymore. Maybe thats what you lot prefer, extreme procastination to provide extreme polarisation instead of doing paced and genuine methodical improvements. After all the political atmosphere comes from your own attitudes.

 

[UKBengali]

They doing a lot better than Bangladesh and sub-sahara (which are rough equivalents themselves when 3rd party neutral data is compared) too....given both these regions have no credible statistic analysis to begin with....and 3rd party data always shows major dissonance from what is claimed (check economist liveability index for example). Same 3rd party data that shows up consistently regarding Bangladesh immigrants in UK and USA economic, health and development wise as well.

In BD domestic case for example:

https://defence.pk/pdf/threads/repository-for-bd-statistics-bbs-quality-credibility.525379/

BBS has limited capacity to produce many of these statistics in accordance with relevant international standards and good practices.

So yeah BD = cheap+trashy country. You have to try really really hard to be this corrupt and stagnate at that corruption level too:

https://www.transparency.org/news/feature/corruption_perceptions_index_2016

Same for your 3rd party measured intelligence projection (USPTO grants and science paper output per capita). In those you do far worse than "sub-saharan africa".

Just go back to stitching clothes, fully reliant on LDC quotas and sops (and the crash when those end).... and counting it as success and believing in your corrupt govt's claims to feel better in mean time. It will just make the reality all the more extreme for you when it cannot be shoved under carpet anymore. Maybe thats what you lot prefer, extreme procastination to provide extreme polarisation instead of doing paced and genuine methodical improvements. After all the political atmosphere comes from your own attitudes.

ok dude.

 

[Banglar Bir]

Khaleda accused of sedition over alleged meetings with ISI officials
Md Sanaul Islam Tipu
Published at 04:51 PM November 01, 2017
Last updated at 05:00 PM November 01, 2017

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia comes out of a Dhaka court on October 19, 2017 after securing bails in two corruption cases Mehedi Hasan/Dhaka Tribune
A pro-Awami League lawyer has alleged that the BNP chief held secret meetings with Pakistani intelligence officials in London last month

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has been accused of sedition for allegedly holding secret meetings with officials of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in London during her three-month stay.

Pro-Awami League lawyer Moshiur Rahman Malek filed a complaint in this regard at the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday.

Advocate Malek, founder and chief of Bangabandhu Foundation, alleged that Khaleda held the meetings with the ISI officials at a Taj Hotel in Westminster on July 17 and 18.

Metropolitan Magistrate Abdullah Al Masud recorded the plaintiff’s testimony and set November 9 to issue an order on the matter.

Malek has also pleaded the court to issue an arrest warrant for Khaleda, who returned home on October 18 from the UK.

The BNP chief’s meetings could lead to instability in Bangladesh and degraded relations between Bangladesh and India, he alleged.

After several media reports suggested that Khaleda had held such meetings with Pakistani intelligence officials, Malek claimed, Bangabandhu Foundation’s London branch looked into the allegations and confirmed them.

The former prime minister had left Bangladesh on July 15 for London. She had stayed at her elder son Tarique Rahman’s home in Westminster the next three months.
Khaleda returned home last month after receiving medical treatment for her eyes and knees.
http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/court/2017/11/01/khaleda-sedition-isi-meeting-london/

 

[Banglar Bir]

Attack on Begum Zia’s motorcade isn’t good politics
Faruque Ahmed

The attack on BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia’s motorcade at Feni on Saturday on the way to Chittagong to visit Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar and also on way back to Dhaka is no doubt an outrageous act aimed at creating new volatility in the political front.

A local daily in Feni published by renegade Awami League leader Jaynal Hazari reported that the attack came from the ruling party goons controlled by local MPs who were elected in the voter-less 2014 election.
They don’t want Begum Zia to take part in next election so that they can be re-elected uncontested. Their problem is that they have no public support to face opposition challenge in a free and fair election.
Trading blames shame onlookers
They want to keep BNP away from election creating violence while Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina seemingly wants an inclusive election.
The online edition of the Hazari daily, which was reproduced by Manabzamen in Dhaka, said an enraged BNP chairperson had telephoned India’s Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj on arrival at Chittagong Circuit House.

She informed the Indian leader of her plight in the light of her assurance during their recent visit in Dhaka that the next election will be participatory and that the government will create the necessary election environment.

There is no more detail about the telephone call but it shows India is openly becoming a power broker in Bangladesh politics. It ensured Awami League winning in last election supporting the election to go without BNP and its allies.
Now only time will tell how the forthcoming polls will take place with the cabinet in power and parliament not being dissolved.

Begum Zia blamed the government for the attack and BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir claimed that media reports and footages clearly show ruling party men have carried out the attack.
The silence of police obviously suggested they enjoyed government protection.

The Daily Star produced a lengthy report and some footage in the electronic media of the incident identifying at least two youth as Chatra League leaders from the Feni colleges.

But Awami League General Secretary and communication minister Obaidul Qadir shot back saying BNP activists had created the chaos. BNP wanted big news to show its popularity but it did not happen. So, he claimed, BNP’s party men resorted to create the chaos to blame the government.

In Saturday’s attack on Begum Zia’s motorcade, 45 people were injured and 30 vehicles vandalized and cars carrying media men were damaged. Over three dozen AL cadres took part in the attack equipped with iron rods and sticks.
It will only cause chaos
On way back to Dhaka, the cadres also swooped on her motorcade at Feni and set two busses on fire causing a panic. But ruling party men have lodged cases with local police stations accusing local BNP men for the arson and attack on BNP chairperson’s motorcade.

Observers apprehend the attack on Begum Zia’s motorcade made it clear that there is no scope for a violence a free electioneering as national election is drawing closer.

BNP was politically inactive over the past few years since the 2014 election. Whenever they tried to organize any party programs ruling party cadres together with the law enforcing agencies made sure that that BNP can’t hold any public functions.

This is first time it decided to use the party chief’s motorcade to Cox’s Bazar as a silent political showdown. As the visit was non-political to see the Rohingya refugee, Begum Zia refrained from holding any wayside meeting or addressing party workers.

Earlier Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has also visited the camps and saw for herself the plight of the hapless refugees as her government is trying to mitigate their suffering.

This is a humanitarian call to come to the help of distressed people and Begum Zia like many other notables from home and abroad went on the same mission.
But the repeated attacks show some people want to deny BNP leaders and workers their right to stand by the side of the helpless refugees.

Besides, many in the government tend to believe BNP has no claim for political space in public life and the message was clear that any attempt to political showdown would be scuttled.
The point is not the person who came under attack but attack on the country’s major opposition leader. This is a direct attack on democracy and rule of law and such volatile action will only lead to greater chaos in the society.
The fear factor is working
If it is the sign of how the political situation will evolve in the run up to next election scheduled for either late 2018 or early 2019, the message is really frightening. It shows the culture of violence is still alive in the country’s political life like the disaster that engulfed the nation before the previous election of 2014.

If muscle power and vandalism is allowed to rein, the nation’s expectation of a free and fair election in peaceful environment will totally fall apart.

People still remember that ruling party men had blocked BNP chairperson’s convoy at Kanchpur Bridge prior to 2014 election on its way to Chittagong. Ruling party cadres also attacked her motorcade in the city’s Kawran Bazar and Bangla Motor area and some other places to block her City Corporation election campaign in April 2014.

Many wonder BNP’s motorcade itself was not anything to claim political victory of a party long inactive in political front.
Awami League also has no reason to look at it as a defeat.
If the motorcade was allowed to pass off peacefully the ruling party could claim credit and get lot of praise.

But intolerance and also fear of challenge that may come from the major opposition in next election may be haunting the ruling party; which is not however well founded. Awami League has done lot of development work and can claim people’s support.

In fact Joynal Hazari appears right when he said some party leaders having no political support are trying to create volatility at the cost of party’s image ahead of election for another voter-less election. But it is being proved to be counter-productive.
http://www.weeklyholiday.net/Homepage/Pages/UserHome.aspx

 

[Banglar Bir]

A violent winter of Bangladesh politics
Afsan Chowdhury, November 3, 2017

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s convoy was attacked on the way to Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar, though the victims were almost all media workers travelling in the convoy. On her way back, two public buses were torched just as her convoy passed. The incidents occurred at Feni, Khaleda’s constituency.

Accusations and counter accusations are of course on as was expected, but that violence has become the most consistent and reliable factor in Bangladesh politics has once again been proved.

BNP has the attack itself as evidence to prove AL’s complicity. Media has also shown footage which shows AL workers. The police had also stood silently as the attack was on.

AL has countered the claim by saying that it didn’t stand to gain from the attack as Khaleda Zia and the BNP have got a lot of publicity out of this which hardly serves AL’s interest.

But the attack has another dimension which is that media workers’ vehicles which carried the logo of various TV stations were attacked and workers injured. Both have claimed that this is the evidence that the other side was involved which is a telling point. When media workers are attacked as a group, it shows that politics is unable to exist with media whose job is to ensure transparency. There is a whiff of trouble in the early days of a dusty winter.
A roll call of problems
It could be coincidental, but problems have escalated in Bangladesh since the arrival of Rohingya refugees. The sudden entry of an unexpected element has added a very disturbing ingredient with both national and international inputs. In fact, Khaleda Zia was on her way to distribute relief at the Rohingya camps. And with the refugees, international politics and intrigue have also arrived making more toxic spices that make politics even more volatile and unpredictable.

If Rohingya refugees are a crisis, the reports of elements in the armed forces planning something have become uneasily regular. And that they are surfacing in the Indian media, always the first to know with deep roots in Bangladesh society politics and security agencies, is making matters more uneasy.

The first report about an attempted assassination bid of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the second report about Justice Sinha planning something of a takeover and the last one of a meeting of serving and retired army officers, have all been indicators of a disturbing trend, though all reports have been denied by the government. However, that hasn’t settled nerves.

Justice Sinha’s extremely inglorious exit was a reminder of the blurred lines between the formal and the informal state institutions which shows the weakness of the state structure. Given that scenario, a settled peaceful power transfer capable regime may not be immediately possible.

But the direct attack on media workers was very significant showing how the ruling class is no longer able to sustain scrutiny and tolerance. Given the way the economic sector functions, the presence of media claiming their right to know is a contradiction of the system, hence it has to be cowed down for the sake of the system. Just as political and economic opponents are rubbed out and infighting is common, media is now facing the blows more directly, more rapidly.

The media owners are almost all loyalists as the money required to mount a station needs huge investment and no tycoon is foolish enough to get on the wrong side of any government. The problem is that, in a digital age, local media is not the only source of information. Hence to draw audience, media has to be much more even handed than they would like to be but media is controlled by the market with Indian media having a strong presence. Censorship now has limits.

All these spikes have occurred in the last three months – Rohingya refugee entry, the 16thamendment crisis and Justice Sinha’s exit amidst allegations of corruption damaging the judiciary’s image, several reports of coup attempts and assassination bids, political violence and physical attacks on media have all happened in a very short span of just three months. In Dhaka’s conspiracy theory -deluged mind, it may indicate a play of forces trying to benefit from extreme uncertainty or uncertain about Bangladesh’s national and international position. To those not into conspiracy theory as the explanation for everything in politics, it means the near disabled system has been stretched to the point.

If a breakdown occurs, there will be no surprise and if it doesn’t and more of the same continues, there will not be too much lamentation from the people though political activists may sigh. But it does indicate that conventional practices are rapidly coming to an end in a society where political opponents are looked upon as mortal enemies. That’s not exactly how politics functions.
https://southasianmonitor.com/2017/11/03/violent-winter-bangladesh-politics/

 

[Banglar Bir]

9:39 PM, November 08, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 10:08 PM, November 08, 2017
‘Malaysia wants to see inclusive polls in Bangladesh’
Says Fakhrul after meeting with Malaysian delegation

A Malaysian delegation holds a meeting with party Chairperson Khaleda Zia at the latter’s Gulshan office in Dhaka on November 8, 2017. Photo: Mohammad Al-Masum Molla
Star Online Report
Visiting Malaysian parliamentary delegation told BNP that Malaysia wants to see an inclusive parliamentary election in Bangladesh, claimed party Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
“They (Malaysian delegation) want an inclusive and acceptable election to be held in Bangladesh. They repeatedly said they are waiting to see a peaceful transfer of power through a fair election,” he said.

Fakhrul was talking to the reporters after a Malaysian delegation held a meeting with BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia at the latter’s Gulshan office today.

However, the Malaysian delegates did not talk to media.

Saying that the discussion was in a friendly atmosphere, Fakhrul said Malaysia has got democratic practice after passing through various odds and obstacles.

Commonwealth Women Parliamentary Association Chairperson Dr Noranini Ahmad led the three-member delegation. Deputy opposition leader of Malaysian parliament was also among the delegation.
http://www.thedailystar.net/politic...-wants-see-inclusive-polls-bangladesh-1488313

 

[Banglar Bir]

Khaleda Zia: I have forgiven Sheikh Hasina
Tribune Desk
Published at 03:36 PM November 09, 2017
Last updated at 03:59 PM November 09, 2017

Khaleda Zia will continue her self-defence on November 16 in Zia Charitable Trust and Zia Orphanage Trust graft cases
Mehedi Hasan/Dhaka Tribune
Khaleda says she will not behave vengefully towards Hasina
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has said that she has forgiven her arch political rival and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in spite of the latter’s ‘vengeful behaviour’ towards her.

She made the statement on Thursday, the fourth day of her self-defence in the Zia Orphanage Trust and Zia Charitable Trust corruption cases.

Recalling the last caretaker government’s tenure, she told the court that she did not compromise with the interim administration. She alleged that the Awami League won office by secretly joining hands with the interim government.

“We accepted the result for the sake of the Constitution and democracy and had spoken about assisting the government,” she said. “Everyone knows how they behaved.”

Khaleda, a former prime minister, said her party had always tried to create a moderate and tolerant political atmosphere.

“Despite Sheikh Hasina’s continuous indecent remarks and vengeful behaviour, I have forgiven her,” she said. “I will not behave vengefully towards her.”

She asked the Awami League to work together for creating a tolerant and beautiful political culture which, she said, was necessary for democracy, so that the future generations can learn something good.

Khaleda will continue her self-defence on November 16.
This article was first published on Bangla Tribune
http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/politics/2017/11/09/khaleda-zia-forgiven-sheikh-hasina/