Hasan welcomes BNP's position against hartal

State Minister for Environment and Forests Dr Hasan Mahmud has welcomed the decision of the main opposition BNP for not enforcing any more hartal on the people of the country.

The state minister, also the Environment Affairs Secretary of Awami League (AL), said this to journalists at his office in the city Thursday, reports BSS.

"It's a very good signal that BNP could realise the public perception against hartal, vandalism and anarchy and bestowed their confidence in people," he said.

Dr Mahmud said all of us should avoid politics of conflict and confrontation and put in efforts to resolve all political issues through discussion and good sense of amity.

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Police go tough on hartal supporters

Dhaka, July 10 (bdnews24.com)?Police have continued their clampdown on the activists of 12 parties, mostly Islamist who are enforcing a 30-hour countrywide lockdown.

Two of the 12 parties claimed that police arrested over 550 of their supporters around the country since the beginning of the hartal at 6am on Sunday.

Islami Andolan Bangladesh (IAB), which at the last moment backed away from the alliance of the 12 parties, alone claimed that over 500 of its activists have been arrested while Khelafat-e-Majlish put their figure at 50.

The shutdown is being enforced to push for restoration of 'Absolute Faith and Trust in Allah' in and dropping of secularism from the constitution.

The other parties are Sammilita Olama Mashayekh Parishad, National Democratic Party, Islami Oikya Andolon, Bangladesh Muslim League, Bangladesh NAP, NAP Bhasani, Jatiya Ganatantrik Party, Islamic Party and Nezam-e- Islami Party.

Opposition BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami extended their support to the general strike.

The IAB office at Purana Paltan was cordoned off by police since morning, who also obstructed its supporters on several occasions from parading down the streets.

The bdnews24.com correspondent reported from the spot that whenever the IAB supporters were trying to come out, they were facing arrest.

Lawmen obstructed IAB processions at many parts of the city and elsewhere in the country, party leaders said.

IAB publicity secretary Ahmad Abdul Qaiyum claimed that police had arrested over 500 of its supporters from across the country since morning.

Police earlier on Saturday had detained 56 of their activists, he added.

The outfit's Dhaka city unit chief A T M Hemayetuddin alleged that they were barred to exercise their democratic right. "The police role proves that the country is ruled by an autocratic government. But our movement will continue," he told bdnews24.com.

Meanwhile, pickets of Khlefat-e-Majlish were not seen on the streets after 10 people, including its secretary-general Nezam Uddin, were arrested in the early hours of the hartal.

Police picked up 50 supporters of Khelafat from across the country as they tried to bring out processions in support of the hartal, its publicity secretary Jalal Uddin told bdnews24.com.

Although opposition BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami, which had enforced a 48-hour countrywide general strike from 6am on Wednesday, extended their support to the blockade, they were not seen on the streets.

The BNP headquarters at Naya Paltan had been cordoned and locked by police since morning. Several hundred law enforcers were deployed there.

In Panchabati and Kanchpur of Narayanganj, over 50 people including 10 policemen were injured in clashes.

Apart from fighting pickets on the streets, reinforced lawmen kept offices of several parties in the city besieged since morning.

A good number of buses alongside CNG-driven auto-rickshaws were seen on the capital streets.

Even then, rickshaws dominated the streets like other hartal days.

Ten mobile courts are also in force in the city to hold summary trials.

bdnews24.com/arr/kt/pks/sht/bd/1515h

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11-party hartal not to protect Islam: IAB

Dhaka, July 9 (bdnews24.com) ? Chief of Islami Andolan Bangladesh (IAB) Syed Rezaul Karim has said the 11 pro-Islamic parties called the 30-hour nationwide general strike to serve their own political interests, not to protect Islam.

"Although those parties are Islamic, they do not properly abide by Islamic principles... It won't be wise for us to observe any programme with them. So, we'll observe Sunday's hartal on our own," Karim, known as Peer of Chormonai, said on Saturday.

Addressing a press conference at its Purana Paltan headquarters, Karim threatened to launch harsher programmes if the government obstructed their hartal.

At another press conference, Abdur Rob Yusufi, a senior leader of Khelafat-e-Majlish, said, "We all do politics and we should have a purpose. But now our objective is to have Absolute Faith and Trust in Allah reinstated in the constitution."

He said they would observe the hartal to defend their faith in Allah as His soldiers. "We'll wage tougher programmes in case of any obstruction during the hartal. The hartal will be extended, if necessary," he warned.

The Hindu community on Friday called for postponing the general strike considering their 'Ulta Rath', popularly known as Bahuda Yatra, and the festival of Chariots of Lord Jagannath, on Monday.

The like-minded 11 parties, known as close allies of the main position BNP, on June 30 called the countrywide 30-hour general strike from July 10, demanding restoration of 'Absolute Faith and Trust in Allah' in the constitution.

The parties are Khelafat-e-Majlish, Bangladesh Khelafat Andolon, Sammilito Olama Mashayekh Parishad, National Democratic Party, Islami Oikya Andolon, Bangladesh Muslim League, Bangladesh NAP, NAP Bhasani, Jatiya Gonatantrik Party, Islamic Party and Nezam-e- Islami Party.

IAB on June 29 called the countrywide dawn-to-dusk general strike on July 10 (Sunday) to press for its demands.

The main opposition BNP and its key ally Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami on Friday extended their support to their shutdown.

bdnews24.com/arr/skb/sam/2115h

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OMS on despite hartal

Dhaka, July 10 (bdnews24.com) ? Unlike the previous hartal days, the open market sale (OMS) of rice continues in the city despite shutdown, allowing the low-income people to buy it at fair prices.

Ahmed Hossain, the DG of food directorate, told bdnews24.com, "Pressure mounts on us in case of disruption in the OMS programme. So, we resumed the operation [Sunday]. And it'll continue during hartal in the future, too."

bdnews24.com ran a report last week on the miseries of commoners in the city due to suspension of the OMS programme during hartal.

Twelve political parties, mostly Islamist, enforced the 30-hour non-stop shutdown demanding that 'Absolute Faith and Trust in Allah' be restored in the constitution and secularism be dropped.

The main opposition BNP and its ally Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami extended their support to the hartal programme.

BNP and its allies enforced a 48-hour non-stop shutdown from Wednesday.

Under the OMS programme, food directorate sends out 150 trucks across the city five days a week to sell rice among the poor at subsidised rates. Some trucks also sell flour alongside rice.

A person can buy maximum five kgs of rice a day at Tk 24 a kg and three kgs of flour at Tk 20 per kg. The programme runs from 9am to 5pm.

Deputy-inspector of the directorate Mostafa Kamal told bdnews24.com at Naya Bazar that people started gathering in queues after 10:30am. "Some of them may return home without rice due to the pressure."

Majibur Rahman, a rickshaw-puller, who was in a queue in front of Bangla College at Mirpur, said he rushed to the spot when he came to know that the OMS programme.

"We find it difficult to mange food for our family members when we can't buy rice at a lower price," he added.

The poor people were seen in long queues at Mirpur Mazar, Shewrapara bus stand, Kalyanpur Natun Bazar, Kazipara bus stand and near Sony Cinema Hall.

OMS dealer Zakir Hossain said they were instructed on Saturday night to continue the programme during the shutdown.

"We face greater crowd when there is disruption in the OMS programme," he told bdnews24.com.

bdnews24.com/si/ra/pks/sam/1745h

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Half-day hartal in Sirajganj Sunday

Sirajganj, June 24 (bdnews24.com)?Opposition BNP has called a half-day shutdown in Sirajganj for Sunday to protest the arrest of municipal mayor and BNP leader Mokaddes Ali.

Sirajganj district BNP president Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku told bdnews24.com they would hold protest rallies on Friday and Saturday against the arrest of Ali, also BNP district unit general secretary.

A half-day long lockdown will be imposed on Sunday, added Tuku, a former state minister for power.

On June 15, at least 20 people were injured in a clash between BNP and Awami League activists in the district headquarters.

Three cases were filed with Sirajganj Sadar police in this connection, which has already resulted in the arrest of several top leaders of the district BNP.

The municipal mayor was arrested from the Sonargaon Hotel in the capital in the early hours of Friday. He was brought back to Siranganj around 9am on Friday.

Ali was out on bail and his arrest was illegal, Tuku claimed.

Rejecting Tuku's claim, district police superintendent Mosharraf Hossain explained "the bail order sent to us by the High Court did not include his (Mokaddes Ali's) name."

bdnews24.com/corr/cs/kms/aik/tk/1259h

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Hartal alternative: Quader formula

Dhaka, June 17 (bdnews24.com)?Awami League presidium member Obaidul Quader says staging peaceful rallies could be an alternative to general strike.

"Please, don't harm people trying to hit Awami League. Hartal is a tool that only inflicts sufferings on the poor," Quader said on Friday, referring to the opposition's shutdowns.

He made the suggestion at a discussion on budget and opposition politics, organised by Bangabandhu Academy at the Dhaka Reporters' Unity.

Quader, a former Awami League junior minister for sports, invited BNP to parliament to join discussions on the much-talked-about caretaker government issue.

"The government won't bow under the pressure of movement, but logical arguments in dialogue can work," he told the discussion.

BNP and the government have been at loggerheads over the caretaker issue since May 31, when prime minister Sheikh Hasina said there was no scope to retain the system as the court abolished it. She rather preferred polls under a fortified Election Commission.

Hasina recently asked the BNP to join parliament and place an 'alternative formula' on the issue.

The opposition maintains that they would not join the next general elections without a caretaker government in place.

Opposition chief Khaleda Zia on Thursday rejected the proposal for discussion.

She said: "She [Hasina] keeps saying over and over something that is not there in the verdict. The verdict says 'the Constitution (13th Amendment) Act. 1996 (Act 1 of 1996) is prospectively declared void and ultra vires the constitution'. Which means the system is not void yet.

"The verdict will be effective only after holding of the next two elections under the caretaker system. This is, in fact, mentioned in the latter part of the verdict," she added.

If the caretaker provision is retained, the former prime minister said, she was willing to join such discussions either 'inside or outside parliament'.

The Supreme Court on May 10 repealed the 13th Amendment to the constitution that introduced the caretaker government. But the court said the next two general elections could be held under unelected governments and gave parliament the liberty to decide on the issue.

Quader said the apex court had repealed the system in the first part of the verdict--the legal part--and in the latter part--political--it asked to consider peace, discipline and security.

To resolve the issue, he said, "The ice of crisis has to be melted first."

bdnews24.com/mmr/pks/sam/1720h

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