::: Star Weekend Magazine :::

News Notes

Dhaka Paralyzed by Floods
The misery of flooding has reached the capital. Especially, in low lying areas in the eastern part of Dhaka, where the water has reached the knee deep level and above, city dwellers are going through hell trying to fight the flood water. Most of the houses have water in the ground floor. This foul smelling water is usually black. People are commuting in rafts and boats and many have left their houses to stay with friends or relatives. With the shortage of drinking water, there is a real fear of an onslaught of water borne diseases. There is also the strong fear that the DND (Dhaka-Narayanganj-Dhaka) dam may break down with the force of the river waters as the water level is rising. Last Sunday, cracks were seen in the dam causing panic among the residents of the surrounding areas. Residents, police and staff from the roads and highways department got together and repaired the crack, which apparently occurred because rats had probably bitten off part of a pipe in the dam causing flood water to get in. For many of the 60 lakh people who live in these areas, this could be a temporary reprieve.

Floods Taking Hundreds of Lives
More than 200 people have died, either drowned in the floodwater or after being afflicted by diarrhoea and other water borne diseases. There is fear that as the flood situation worsens many more will die, due to lack of access to clean drinking water. Moreover, people have no access to medicine and relief has been slow or inadequate according to villagers. Meanwhile, railroads and dams all over the country are also being damaged by the flood waters causing further misery. This year's flood is affecting at least 41 districts and more than 20 million people. The devastation of the floods all over the nation has prompted the Awami League to withdraw their dawn-to-dusk hartal on Saturday, July 24, 2004.

HC Hearing on Election Farce
The Election Commission's reply to the High Court (HC) regarding the army deployment in each polling centre is the official admission of a well-known fact. Although the electorates are already aware of the truth, the HC hearings complete the picture. The Election Commission (EC) report signed by acting Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Safiur Rahman came after the HC asked the EC to submit a report on whether the army was deployed at all polling centres during the by-poll in the Dhaka 10 constituency. The EC report also reviewed the media reports on the by-election. The HC bench of Justice Abdul Wahhab Miah and Justice Zinat Ara also issued a contempt rule on July 12 on four government officials who were instructed on June 29 to deploy necessary numbers of army personnel at polling centres. The HC issued the rule after Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh (BDB) candidate Abdul Mannan filed a contempt petition against the Prime Minister's Principal Secretary Kamal Uddin Siddiqui, Defense Secretary KM Ehsanul Haq, Home Secretary Omar Farooq and acting Principal Officer of Armed Forces Division at the PM's office Iftekhar Illias Rasul. When the EC asked Returning Officer Mia Mostak Ahmed to submit a report on army deployment, he did not send it in time. On a surprise visit, the acting CEC inspected nine polling centres in the Ramna-Tejgaon constituency where he did not find the army.

2nd Anniversary of Attack on Residents of Shamsunnahar Hall
The second anniversary of the Shamsunnahar Hall attack passed with the authorities remaining on guard to ward off any untoward incident. As no charges were ever brought against people involved in the attack, the demands for punishment remained a top priority for the protesting students of Dhaka University. While large contingents of police remained alert in the campus, the students belonging to different organisations marked the occasion with processions and demonstrations. Shamsunnahar Hall residents brought out silent processions wearing black masks and badges. At the Raju Memorial Monument, cultural organisations that took part in the mid-July movement staged functions. The Bangladesh Chhatra Federation arranged for an exhibition of the photographs and newspaper clippings of the student upsurge that led to the resignation of the then Vice Chancellor Prof Anwarullah Chowdhury and Proctor Prof Nazrul Islam. The day's programme began with a candlelight procession from the Central Shahid Minar. Bangladesh Chhatra League tried to march towards the hall but police obstructed them in front of Shibbari. Many other organisations belonging to the Progressive Student Alliance observed the day to press home their demands. Two years back, in the early hours of the morning of July 23, police stormed the hall gate and dragged about 100 female students from their rooms after breaking down the hall gate. The judicial probe commission headed by justice M Tafazzul Islam submitted a 500 page report to the home ministry on September 3, 2002. Unfortunately, the police personnel that the report held responsible for the atrocity were never brought to the book. On top of that, the nine suggestions of the DU inquiry committee that advised transfer of employees of the hall and action against the house tutors and a JCD activist, are yet to be taken into consideration.

Humayun Azad's son flees from Kidnappers
The son of the noted writer Humayun Azad managed to run away from his abductors about two hours into his kidnap on Dhaka University campus on July 5. The family suspects the abductors to be the same gang that nearly killed Azad on February 27 in front of Bangla Academy. Three unknown bearded men about 30 kidnapped Anannyo Azad, a class ten student, from in front of British Council at 6:15 pm on his way back to their house at Fuller Road. According to Anannyo, he was stopped by the men on the pretext of having a talk with him. As he refused, two of the men grabbed him by his hands and dragged him to a dark road in SM Hall. There were five to six more guarding the area and they asked Anannyo about his father's next visit abroad but he refused to tell them. At that point they got furious and slapped Anannyo, which broke his glass. They threatened that if he did not give information regarding his father they would not release him. At one point Anannyo managed to flee while only one of them was holding him. "I pushed him hard, jumped over a wall and ran for my life," said the young boy to a Daily Star journalist. He also let the newsman know that men in similar garb were seen hanging around the place since the attack on his father. However, the Ramna Police Station said they did not know anything about the incident.