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Widowed and alone 21-year-old Umme Kulthum had hoped for a fresh start in Bangladesh, but was forced into prostitution instead, falling victim to what aid groups and officials say is a growing trafficking scourge targeting refugees. Women and children make up the majority of the more than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims who have fled violence in Myanmar for neighbouring Bangladesh, many escaping with only the clothes on their back and desperate to survive any way they can. Confined to congested tent cities near the border without any prospect of work, refugees are willing to take whatever comes their way -- and many have fallen prey to traffickers, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Young girls in particular are at high risk, with the IOM documenting cases of refugees being lured with promises of marriage or jobs in big cities that end instead in forced labour or sex work. "In one case, a number of adolescent girls, who were promised work as domestic helpers in Cox's Bazar and Chittagong, were forced into prostitution," the IOM said in a statement this week. Kulthum lost her husband in the ethnic violence that tore through Myanmar's Rakhine state this year. Separated from her parents and children during the journey to Bangladesh, she was approached by a man after arriving in Kutupalong, a gigantic camp housing hundreds of thousands of refugees. His marriage proposal offered a brighter future away from the squalor of the camp and a chance to lay her unhappy memories to rest. But the couple were never married. Instead Kulthum -- not her real name -- said she was taken to a brothel, where she was dosed with methamphetamine and forced to have sex with up to seven men a day. She later learned the man who promised to marry her had been paid 8,000 taka ($100) to deliver her there. "I became scared, but didn't have the least idea what was in store for me," she told AFP in the border district of Cox's Bazar. "I was sold to become a prostitute," she said, weeping at the memory of the ordeal. Police crackdown Human trafficking networks have expanded as the refugee population has climbed and are now "rife" throughout the camps, the IOM said. Bangladesh has deployed its top police unit, the Rapid Action Battalion, to Cox's Bazar to crack down on traffickers, many of whom manage to evade detection despite restrictions on non-authorised personnel entering the refugee camps. "The traffickers are not sitting idle. They are targeting women and children, especially those coming alone," the battalion's chief in Cox's Bazar, Major Ruhul Amin, told AFP. Traffickers also attempt to separate refugees from their families during the chaos that accompanies their arrival in Bangladesh, Amin said. A checkpoint in the coastal town of Teknaf set up a month ago has already rescued 30 women and children from the clutches of traffickers, he added. Another security official, who asked to remain anonymous, said there had been cases of criminal syndicates organising fake passports for Rohingya women who are then sent abroad, especially to Malaysia and the Middle East. The IOM said it was also aware of cases of Rohingya refugees being trafficked overseas. Falling prey Dhaka has prohibited the Rohingya from leaving the camps, fearing an influx in its bigger cities, and has set up checkpoints along the roads leading to the tented settlements. More than 20,000 Rohingya have been turned back but aid workers say that unless the refugees are taught about the dangers of trafficking, they will keep trying to leave the camps in search of a better life. Local charity worker Mohammad Hossain Shikder runs workshops in the camps to educate refugees about the tactics employed by people smugglers. "They will always come up with a lucrative and believable offer, like a job in a garment factory or marriage to a well-off person," Shikder told a group of 20 young men and women in Kutupalong. "Sometimes, parents are convinced by upfront payments of 40,000 taka or more. They are sold dreams that a woman can even make 500,000 taka, which is an impossible amount." For many of the stateless refugees stuck inside the camps, the prospect of earning a living is enough to lure them into the trap laid down by traffickers. Months after she was sold into prostitution, Kulthum managed to escape from the brothel, but found herself back in Kutupalong, penniless and alone. Eventually she returned to the sex trade and now lives in a seedy hotel room in Cox's Bazar. "One day I hope to find my children and parents again. I am saving money for them," she said.

Language movement veteran of 1952 and son of legendary linguist Dr Mohamed Shahidullah, Mohamed Takiullah died at a city hospital yesterday morning. He was 91. Takiullah, who was put on life support for the last few days, breathed his last in the city’s Square Hospital at 11.10am, family and hospital sources said. He left behind a son, a daughter and wife and a host of relatives and admirers to mourn his death.  “My father was admitted to the hospital with lung infection last month,” said journalist Shanta Maria, daughter of Takiullah. His body was taken to Communist Party office and his Namaj-e-Janaja was held at the Dhaka University Central Mosque after Maghrib prayer. Central committee of the CPB expressed deep shock at the demise of Takiullah, a former general secretary of Dhaka city committee of the party, and prayed for eternal peace of the departed soul.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday announced to establish two more leather industrial estates in Chittagong and Rajshahi divisions for further flourishing the leather sector. “We will set up two new leather industry estates — one in Chittagong division and other in Rajshahi division — for further promoting the country’s leather sector. Establishing such a zone only in Dhaka is not right, it will have to spread all over Bangladesh,” she said. Sheikh Hasina also said the government has taken a decision to keep the issue of continuing 15% cash incentive for the next five years under active consideration on a priority basis. The move was taken to boost local and foreign investment in the leather sector and make it sustainable, she said. The prime minister said this while inaugurating Bangladesh Leather Footwear and Leathergoods International Sourcing Show (BLLISS) 2017 at International Convention Centre, Bashundhara in the capital yesterday. Sheikh Hasina opened the three-day show at the ICCB through videoconferencing from her official Ganabhaban residence. The premier urged the foreign investors and buyers to invest more in Bangladesh’s leather sector for further strengthening the country’s economy. “I call upon the foreign investors and buyers for investing in a larger volume in Bangladesh’s leather sector and sourcing more in leather goods for further strengthening the country’s economy,” she said. The Ministry of Commerce and the Leathergoods and Footwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association of Bangladesh (LFMEAB) have jointly organised the event to attract more investment in the leather sector. The theme of the show is “Think Ahead, Think Bangladesh”. Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed was present at the function at ICCB as the special guest, while eminent entrepreneur Syed Manzur Elahi and LFMEAB President M Saiful Islam spoke. The pre-recorded speeches of Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu,  State Minister for Foreign Affairs Mohamed Shahriar Alam and acting FBCCI president Sheikh Fazle Fahim were played at the function. An audio- video presentation on the past, present and the future of Bangladesh’s leather sector was made at the function. Leaders of industrial sector, world famous brands and international buyers from 15 countries including China, India, Vietnam and Thailand are participating in the show. The premier expressed her hope to attain $5bn export earnings from the leather, leather goods and footwear sector out of the estimated overall export earning of $60bn as per the Vision 2021. In this connection, she sought expansion of business of local and foreign entrepreneurs engaged in leather and leather goods sector to achieve the goal. Stressing the need for bringing diversification in leather goods to increase export, Sheikh Hasina said the entrepreneurs will have to develop the products and find out new export markets. “I think our products will have to be international standard,” she said and assured of providing necessary help from the government in this regard. Elaborating various steps of her government for expansion of the export markets of the leather and footwear products, Sheikh Hasina said the ministry of commerce is actively working to formulate and implement annual action plan in this regard. “Steps have also been taken to set up a testing and calibrating centre to maintain international quality and standard of leather goods and footwear products,” she said. The premier said such initiatives would play a very significant role for the development and diversification of exportable products as well as expansion of the export markets. Sheikh Hasina said her government is providing tax rebate, 100% Export Performance License, 10% cash assistance for exporting finished leather goods from the leather industry park and 15% cash incentive in the case of exporting leather goods and footwear products. The premier said an environment-friendly leather industrial estate has been set up in Savar for flourishing the leather sector and saving the Buriganga. Steps are being taken so that mills and factories could be built in surrounding areas in Savar Leather Industrial Estate, she said.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said Bangladesh is facing an unprecedented crisis over providing humanitarian assistance to tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees staying in the country’s southeast region. “The present situation is worse compared to any other in the past,” she said.  The prime minister was replying to a question from lawmaker Abdul Matin in  parliament. She said the Rohingya crisis in Rakhaine state in Myanmar has turned complex in the recent days due to the military crackdown and violence. Hasina expressed her firm conviction that her government would be able to resolve the Rohingya crisis peacefully with the help of the international community despite many obstacles. Replying to a question, the prime minister said the government will take steps for rehabilitation of the local people of Ukhiya and Teknaf areas of Cox’s Bazar district who lost their livelihood due to the influx of Rohingya refugees in their  localities. Hasina said Bangladesh has received the support of the international community for repatriation of the Rohingya to their homeland in the Rakhaine state of Myanmar. “The whole world community stood by Bangladesh for the generosity that we have shown to the displaced people, welcoming our steps taken for their shelter,” she said. The prime minister said the international community is working together for repatriation of the Myanmar nationals to their country. Replying to a supplementary question from Abdur Rahman Bodi, a parliament member from Cox’s Bazar, the prime minister said influx of Rohingya caused huge damage to nature of the area and livelihood of the local people. So the government has taken decision to provide food support as well as new occupational opportunities to the local people who are suffering the most because of the Rohingya influx, the prime minister said.  The government yesterday called on regional forums like Asean (Association of South East Asian Nations) to address the Rohingya crisis. During a meeting with the new High Commissioner of Singapore to Bangladesh Derek LohEu-Tse, Foreign Minister Mahmood Ali sought Singapore’s support in the effort for early repatriation of Myanmar nationals from Bangladesh and also for securing a durable  solution of the Rohingya problem. Congratulating the High Commissioner for his new assignment, Ali expressed satisfaction over the close relations between Bangladesh and  Singapore. The Minister stressed on further deepening of bilateral cooperation in trade, investment and other areas of mutual interest. They also discussed about the prime minister’s expected visit to Singapore early next year. The High Commissioner also met State Minister for Foreign  Affairs Shahriar Alam.

Dozens of new islands have emerged from the waters around Bangladesh over the last decade, providing a possible solution to the existential threat that rising sea levels pose to the low-lying coastal nation. The government said on Monday that 29 islands with a combined area of 125,370 acres (507sq km) had emerged from the Bay of Bengal  since 2007. Every year Himalayan rivers carry an estimated 1bn tonnes of silts and deposit them in the Bay of Bengal off the coast of Bangladesh, forming islands in the shallow waters. Many of these islands, known as chars in Bangladesh, are already inhabited and experts say they could mitigate the threat posed by global warming. “Every year Bangladesh has new land emerging and new land being devoured by rivers and sea,” said Maminul Haque Sarker, head of the Center for Environment and Geographic Information Services. He said studies by the Dhaka research centre had shown a net gain of territory of around  12-14sq km. Most of the new land is near the estuary of the Meghna river, which is the confluence of the main tributaries of the two main Himalayan rivers of the Ganges and the Brahmaputra.  One of the islands has controversially been earmarked as a possible temporary base for the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar currently living in squalid - mostly makeshift - camps in southern Bangladesh. The United Nations says 615,000 refugees from the Muslim minority have crossed into Bangladesh from its Buddhist neighbour since late August. The influx has overwhelmed existing facilities in the densely populated country, and authorities have struggled to find alternative land to house them. A recent World Bank study projected that 40% of productive land in southern Bangladesh would be submerged by the year 2080 due to a rise in sea levels. A decade ago the influential Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said a 1m (3ft) rise in sea levels would flood 17% of Bangladesh and create 20mn refugees by 2050.  Local scientists, however, criticised the study for failing to take into account the silt islands, which are highly fertile. Water expert Zahirul Haque Khan said dams could be set up to trap the vast amounts of sediment that flows from Bangladesh’s rivers into the sea every year. “Bangladesh can gain hundreds of square kilometres of new land by trapping silt through cross dams and engineering interventions,” said Khan, director of Institute of Water Modelling in Dhaka.

Many people, who have falsely claimed to be freedom fighters, continue to enjoy government allowances by obtaining court orders, Liberation War Affairs Minister Mozammel Haque told parliament yesterday. “It is shameful for our nation that fake freedom fighters are still receiving allowances. It is true. Because when we tried to drop their names from the list, the court stayed the scrutiny of freedom fighter lists before completion of the scrutiny process,” he said. The court also ordered to continue the allowances to those people even though the government stopped the allowance initially after finding fake names in the scrutiny process, he said, replying to a supplementary question from Jatiya Party lawmaker Nurul Islam Milon. “So we’re obliged to provide the allowance; it is unfortunate and we continue the legal fight in the court to review and withdraw such order,” the minister said. He said cases are being filed with the court on grounds of violation of fundamental rights as the court considered recognition as freedom fighter a fundamental right. “But it is not a fundamental right. Those who fought in the 1971 Liberation War and took part with arms will be freedom fighters. It is not an equal right to all  citizens.” “We’re in trouble due to misinterpretation of law. I would like to draw attention of the court from the legislature that becoming freedom fighter is not a fundamental right of any citizen. Only those who took part in the Liberation War will be freedom fighters,”  Mozammel said.  In reply to another supplementary question from Jatiya Party lawmaker Kazi Firoz Rashid, the minister said the court ordered him to include even a man, who had been only four years old in 1971, in the list of freedom fighters. “We’ve asked the court how we can make a four-year-old child as a freedom fighter. The court even ordered to provide him with the arrears of 23 years,” he said. He hoped that they do not face such embarrassing situation in the future as they continue their best efforts  contesting the legal battle.  Answering a supplementary question, the minister said the government is yet to prepare 12 sub-district-level lists of  freedom fighters.  The government has decided to bring the grandchildren of freedom fighters under the 30% quota facility in government jobs.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday launched a compiled book with analytical articles on Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s historic March 7 Speech and its e-book format and mobile application. The PM inaugurated it at a Cabinet meeting. Briefing reporters after the meeting at the Bangladesh Secretariat, Cabinet Secretary Shafiul Alam said the publication titled Bangabandhu’s March 7 Speech: Political Epic is a publication compiled with the write-ups of country’s renowned writers based on 26 sentences of the Father of the Nation’s historic March 7 Speech.  The ICT Division released the publication.  The writers who contributed to the publication with various write-ups include Mustafa Nur-Ul Islam, Abdul Gaffar Chowdhury, Prof Emeritus Anisuzzaman, Prof Muntasir Mamun, Prof Arefin Siddique, Dr S A Malek, Selina Hossain and some other intellectuals,  educationists and writers. In the preface of the book, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina wrote, “The heartfelt demand of the people of Bangladesh was resounded by this epoch-making speech of Father of the Nation. The killings, oppression, and torture by occupation forces on the Bengalees were pictured through this speech, and the main goal of this speech was the necessity and desire of the emergence of an independent state.” Hasina also said that Bangabandhu directed the nation, “Remain prepared with  whatever you have.”  At the final stage of the struggle for independence, she said, Bangabandhu through his historic speech had united the whole nation, and then started making preparations for the War of Liberation. The ICT division published the book in a bid to properly present the historic March 7 Speech of Bangabandhu in various digital platforms. The book has been designed by renowned artist and former professor Hashem Khan.

Legal experts in Bangladesh yesterday expressed reservations over the powers of Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to inquire into alleged corruption charges levelled against immediate-past chief justice (CJ) Surendra Kumar Sinha after Law Minister Anisul Huq told newsmen that the ACC would probe the charges. Incidentally, with the 16th constitutional amendment struck down unanimously by the six-member full bench of the Supreme Court (SC), the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), comprising three senior-most judges of the apex court, has been revived. “Unless the SJC is again declared null and void by the present five-member bench, there is no authority in Bangladesh to examine the charges against Justice Sinha,” said Moudud Ahmed, a senior lawyer. Only SJC can examine graft charges against judges and recommend punitive action to the president who is the appointing authority, he added. Interestingly enough, no single charge against Sinha  has been verified. Attorney General Mahbubey Alam yesterday said the resignation of Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha has caused no constitutional void in the country. “The CJ’s resignation will not leave any effect on the country’s judiciary.”  On October 3, the chief justice went on leave for one month on health ground and later extended the duration of the leave for another 10 days. He later went to Australia. The government on October 2 gave Justice Abdul Wahhab Miah, the senior most judge, the responsibility to act as chief justice during the leave of Justice Sinha. The Supreme Court on October 14 issued a notification, saying the judges of the SC earlier that month decided not to sit at the bench with Chief Justice Sinha against the backdrop of a series of graft and other “grave” charges brought to their notice by the president.  Transparency International, Bangladesh (TIB) said the Anti-Corruption Commission cannot work independently against influential people.  Ifekhar Uzzman, executive director, TIB, said, “This cannot be said the ACC is working against influential suspects independently, particularly those who are involved in scams.”  TIB chief said the anti-graft agency must take steps against influential suspects and prove that it is conducting probe into the allegations independently.  The ACC has legal instruments and power to act independently, he said, but it fails to do so for lack a strong  and visionary leadership.   Replying to a question about internal corruption of the ACC, Iftekhar said officials of the then Bureau of Anti-Corruption were involved in corruption and later, removing the bureau, the ACC was formed as per the Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2004 aiming to make it free from corruption. “But, the bureau officials were included in the commission and that’s why the problem still remains there in the commission ... we often get direct or indirect allegations that the ACC officials are involved in corruption as well,” he said.

A senior United Nations official said yesterday she would raise the issue of persecution of Myanmar’s Rohingya minority, especially sexual violence and torture, with the International Criminal Court (ICC).  Pramila Patten, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, also said around $10mn is needed immediately to deliver specialist services for survivors of gender-based violence. Patten was speaking in the Bangladeshi capital after a three-day visit to the Cox’s Bazar region, near the border with Myanmar.  There she met women and girls who are among hundreds of thousands of Rohingya that have sought refuge in Bangladesh following a crackdown by Myanmar’s military on the predominantly Muslim minority. “When I return to New York I will brief and raise the issue with the prosecutor and president of the ICC whether they (Myanmar’s military) can be held responsible for these atrocities,” Patten said after visiting several camps.  “Sexual violence is being commanded, orchestrated and perpetrated by the Armed Forces of Myanmar, otherwise known as the Tatmadaw.” “Rape is an act and a weapon of genocide.” She said she would brief the UN secretary-general on the situation in Cox’s Bazar and that her office’s annual report, to be presented to the Security Council in March, would include a dedicated section on Myanmar. Patten said brutal acts of sexual violence had occurred in the context of collective persecution that included the killing of adults and children, torture, mutilation and the burning and looting of villages. “The widespread threat and use of sexual violence was a driver and ‘push factor’ for forced displacement on a massive scale, and a calculated tool of terror aimed at the extermination and removal of the Rohingya as a group,” she said. “The forms of sexual violence we consistently heard about from survivors include gang-rape by multiple soldiers, forced public nudity and humiliation, and sexual slavery in military captivity. One survivor was in captivity for 45 days by the Myanmar army.” Patten said that since the first mass influx of refugees into Bangladesh in August, gender-based violence specialists had delivered services to 1,644 survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, “although this is only the tip of the iceberg”. “We need full funding for this humanitarian crisis from the international donor community. The burden is too heavy to be borne by the government of Bangladesh alone,” she added, calling for about $10mn of international funding. Patten said she had been denied access to Myanmar itself. Myanmar warned on Wednesday that a scolding delivered by the UN Security Council could “seriously harm” its talks with Bangladesh over repatriating more than 600,000 Rohingya. The United Nations has denounced the violence during the past 10 weeks as a classic example of ethnic cleansing to drive the Rohingya Muslims out of Buddhist majority Myanmar.

They came in boats, others on flimsy rafts, some even swam. Over 750 Rohingya Muslims made their escape from Myanmar yesterday to reach Bangladesh, where the greatest danger is malnutrition and disease in teeming refugee camps.  Over 613,000 Rohingya have already taken refuge in the camps since a Myanmar military clearance operation forced them to abandon their villages in northern Rakhine state. Rohingya who have reached Bangladesh have recounted horror stories of rape and murder. A top UN official described the military’s actions as “ethnic cleansing”. Aung San Suu Kyi, the de facto leader of Myanmar’s less than two-year-old administration, was in Vietnam yesterday, attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) summit. She was expected to hold talks with several leaders on the sidelines of the gathering, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Having won the Nobel Peace Prize for defying the generals who ruled predominantly Buddhist Myanmar with an iron fist for nearly half a century, Suu Kyi’s reputation as a stateswoman has suffered due to her failure to speak out more strongly over the Rohingya crisis. Under a constitution written before the junta gave way, the civilian administration still has to share power with the generals, and has little say over defence and security issues. Still, leaders at APEC, and two other regional summits to be hosted by the Philippines in the coming days, are expected to exert pressure on Suu Kyi to do more to stem the crisis. And on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will meet with Suu Kyi in Naypyitaw, the Myanmar capital, with senators back in Washington pressing to impose sanctions targeting the military. International Rescue Committee, the leading aid agency headquartered in New York and led by former British foreign minister David Miliband, reckoned that up to two-thirds of the 300,000 Rohingya remaining in Myanmar will join the exodus to Bangladesh in the coming months. The IRC in a statement highlighted the extremely dangerous health conditions for Rohingya living in camps in the port city of Cox’s Bazar. A nutrition survey led by its partner Action Contre la Faim had found 40,000 Rohingya children faced malnutrition and required life-saving assistance. It said 95% of the population was drinking contaminated water — and agencies had reported that two-thirds of Cox’s Bazar’s water was contaminated with faeces.  “The conditions we are seeing in Cox’s Bazaar create a perfect storm for a public health crisis on an unimaginable scale,” said Cat Mahony, the IRC’s emergency response director in Cox’s Bazar. “The situation will only deteriorate with more arrivals and a greater strain on already overstretched resources.” Still, Rohingya too scared to stay in Myanmar were ready to risk their lives crossing the waters around the mouth of the Naf river to reach Bangladesh. They were helped yesterday by another day of calm seas, though more than 200 have drowned attempting the crossing during the past two months. Bangladesh officials said significant numbers were arriving on rafts they had built from bamboo, lashing plastic jerrycans to the poles for extra buoyancy. They said more Rohingya had swum across on Thursday. A Reuters photographer saw up to ten rafts landing on the beaches of Teknaf, at the southern tip of Cox’s Bazar, yesterday. People reaching the shore have told Reuters that there are thousands living in desperate conditions on the strand of beach by the river’s mouth at Pa Nyaung Pin Gyi, as they waited for a chance to cross over. Dil Mohamed, 30, from Buthidaung, one of the Rakhine regions that bore the brunt of the military operation, finally made it across with his wife and three children after weeks of living on the sand because he could not afford to pay a boatman.

Bangladesh has assigned a total of 106 medical teams led by Cox’s Bazar civil surgeon and is providing medical services to around 450,000 Rohingya sheltering in the country’s southeastern region bordering Myanmar.  “We have 32 medical teams under our Health Ministry and 74 more joint teams with our donor agencies to provide primary healthcare services among the Rohingya refugees,” Health and Family Welfare Minister Mohammad Nasim told newsmen yesterday. He said in line with the directives of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the health ministry is providing the maximum possible medical services to the refugees “within our limited resources considering it a humanitarian issue”. Besides, cholera immunisation campaign was introduced to protect newly arrived Rohingya and the local communities from life-threatening diseases where 650,000 children were administered with vaccines. Massive motivational campaign was also launched to keep their family size smaller alongside providing them with kits containing birth control pills and other contraceptives also to prevent outbreak of sexually transmitted diseases (STD).  “We have already mobilised several medical teams to create awareness among Rohingya about sexually transmitted diseases and birth control methods and provided them with contraceptives kits,” Nasim said. Apart from this, the Bangladesh government’s disease monitoring wing Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) distributed measles and polio vaccines and vitamin tablets among them, he added. Rohingya after fleeing Myanmar, generally suffer from diarrhoea, acute respiratory throat infection, pneumonia, chronic skin disease psoriasis and fever due to intake of contaminated food and water, Cox’s Bazar district civil surgeon Dr Abdul Salam said. Special arrangements have also been taken for pregnant women and the people, who have high blood pressures, diabetes and other long-term diseases, he said. According to the International Organisation for Migration, over 820,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar to southeastern Bangladesh till November 4.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said yesterday Bangladesh wants to co-operate with India and other neighbouring countries for creating a ‘zone of peace’ in South Asia where all can live together as good neighbours and pursue constructive policies for the benefit of all. “We’re ready to co-operate with India and other countries in the immediate neighbourhood for creating a ‘peace area’ in South Asia where we can live together,” she said. In this regard, the prime minister mentioned the vision of Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who conceived the idea of regional co-operation in 1972. “This remains our constant guide. I’m sure these connectivity initiatives will further consolidate this vision,” she said. Sheikh Hasina said this while jointly inaugurating the end-to-end immigration and customs of Maitree Express, flagging off the Bandhan Express (Khulna-Kolkata) and launching of train communication on newly-built second Bhairab and second Titas Railway Bridges with her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee through a videoconference from Prime Minister’s official residence Ganobhaban. Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also joined the videoconference. Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali, PM’s Economic Affairs Adviser Dr Moshiur Rahman, PM’s Political Affairs Adviser HT Imam, State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam, Indian High Commissioner (Ambassador) to Dhaka Harsh Vardhan Shringla, and secretaries concerned were present at Ganobhaban. As friendly nations, Hasina said, there has been an excellent relationship between the two countries and continuation of such relationship is very much essential. With the inaugurations of these services, she said, a new door of relationship has been opened up between the two countries, and this will further strengthened in the future. Hasina said not only in rail, it is also the expectation of her government to create bonds among the people of the two countries and thus unleash socio-economic development of the two nations. She said Bangladesh-India relations are in fact setting new high standards of bilateral cooperation in the region and beyond. “I’m sure we would be having many more similar, happy occasions in the days ahead for the greater benefit of our peoples. I look forward to working with you in our joint endeavour to that end.” She said today is yet another happy occasion in Bangladesh-India relations. “On this important day, I’m extremely happy to join you to formally launch the end-to-end immigration and customs of Dhaka-Kolkata Maitree Express and flagging off Khulna-Kolkata Bandhan Express service.” The prime minister said this is the fulfilment of a long cherished dream as these initiatives along with a new International Passenger Terminal at Chitpur, Kolkata will facilitate comfortable journey between Dhaka-Kolkata and Khulna-Kolkata. She also wished all the success of the Maitree Express and Bandhan Express services. “I’m also confident that these services would give a boost to cultural exchanges and tourism between our two peoples. I hope this fine display of mutuality of our relationship will further strengthen our bilateral relations,” she added. The prime minister said the two countries are having close cooperation in railways sector. “Since 2009, it has been strengthened further. Our two countries are also working to re-open our pre-1965 rail links for cargo transport between Bangladesh and India.” “I understand some of these are already functioning and the necessary works for the rest are in progress. I thank the government of India for supporting the railways projects through Line of Credit (LOC) funds.” Hasina said she was also happy that two railway bridges at Bhairab and Titas are also being inaugurated which will contribute to faster connectivity between Dhaka and Chittagong. Mentioning that connectivity is one of the main pillars of our cooperation, she said: “Our two countries are not only connected through rail, road, inland water and air, but we are connected through internet bandwidth, coastal routes, power grid.” She said these new modes of connectivity are adding diverse dimensions to our overall connectivity architecture. “I’m happy to note that we’ve recently extended our connectivity to space.” The prime minister also invited Modi, Swaraj and Banerjee to visit Bangladesh. Later, exchanging views with Railways Minister Mazibul Hoque and cross-section of people at the Bhairab end, Hasina said the second Bhairab Bridge will be named after late president Zillur Rahman. Taking a swipe at the BNP-Jamaat government for plotting to destroy the rail sector, Hasina said: “I then opposed the move and after assuming office, my government created a separate Ministry for the Railways.” She also opined that not only rail, but also roadways, waterways, and airways would be required for the country for ensuring overall development. Bangladesh Railway officials said the two new bridges were built on the Bhairab and Titas rivers as a second track was constructed for simultaneous operation of up and down train services from Dhaka to Chittagong and Sylhet. The train on the route would start ferrying passengers from November 16 and according to the schedule, it would leave Kolkata at 11am (Indian time) and reach Khulna within just four and a half hours. The two railway bridges were constructed with the Indian Line of Credit (LoC). The 982.20m long and 7m width Bhairab Railway Bridge was built at a cost of 5.67bn taka, with construction beginning in 2013. Under an agreement with Bangladesh government, India’s Ircon-Afcons JV constructed the bridge having both dual gauge and broad- gauge facilities. The new Titas Bridge is 218.7m in length and is 7m wide, built at a cost of 1.61bn taka by another Indian company, Gannon-Flcl Consortium, under a similar agreement with the government. The construction work of the second Titas Bridge started on in 2014 and ended last month. The up train from Dhaka would move through one bridge, while the down one would use the other while the trains connecting Dhaka with the major two cities could ply without any crossing at Bhairab and Akhaura stations. The bridges will reduce travel time between Dhaka and Chittagong as well as Dhaka and Sylhet and the railways would be able to run the dual gauge and broad gauge trains at 100kph and 120kph speeds respectively.

A Bangladeshi professor internationally respected for his work on extremism has gone missing, police said on Thursday, with activists fearing the worst amid a spate of disappearances in recent months. Mubashar Hasan, an assistant professor of political science at Bangladesh's North South University (NSU), has not been seen since Tuesday afternoon, his family said. "We are very concerned. We hope law enforcement agencies will find him and return him to us," his uncle Monzur Hossain told AFP. Hossain said his nephew, a former journalist, had become increasingly concerned about his safety just before his disappearance. Hasan had installed CCTV cameras around his home just last week after an unidentified man paid him a visit at home, his uncle said. Police said Hasan's mobile phone was switched off early Tuesday evening after the prominent professor of political Islam attended a conference. "We are trying our best to find him. There is no shortage of sincerity on our part," Anwar Hossain, deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, told AFP. Rights groups in Bangladesh say Hasan disappearance is the ninth high-profile case since July, with opposition political figures, a businessman and journalists among others to vanish. "He has done some research on Islamist extremism in Bangladesh. His disappearance could be linked to his work," prominent rights activist Nur Khan Liton told AFP. Hasan joined NSU, Bangladesh's most prestigious private university, after completing a doctorate overseas on political Islam in Bangladesh. His research on extremism in Bangladesh -- a Muslim-majority nation plagued by homegrown militancy -- has been published in respected journals and international media. More than a dozen progressive academics, bloggers and rights activists have been murdered by militant groups in Bangladesh in recent years, most in brutal machete attacks. Dozens of Islamist extremists have been killed and 200 suspects arrested in the government offensive against extremism since July last year, when militants killed 22 hostages, including 18 foreigners, at an upmarket cafe in Dhaka. Opposition parties have accused Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government of arresting tens of thousands of their supporters and activists since 2014, when they boycotted a controversial general election amid concerns it would be rigged. The government has also been accused of enforced disappearances and unofficial detention of critics and opponents in secret jails.

Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid yesterday said there is no alternative to unlocking the huge potentials of the country’s vast sea area and using the maritime resources for the nation’s further development. He called on navy men to keep themselves ready to ensure the security of maritime boundary and resources. President Hamid was speaking at a commissioning function of four warships that were formally handed over to the Bangladesh Navy at Titumir Naval Base Jetty in southwestern Khulna port city. “A vast sea area of Bangladesh is full of fish, mineral oil, natural gas and other undiscovered valuable mineral ones. It also has huge economic potentials. So, there’s no alternative to using the potentials for the development of the nation,” the  president said. He also observed that the whole world is now focusing on marine resources as the limited land resources is being used  frequently everywhere. “Bangladesh has a 710km coastal area, and about 30mn people of this area are directly and indirectly dependent on the sea for their livelihood. As over 90% of trade and business with foreign countries are being conducted via sea routes, ensuring strict security measures in marine areas is a must for the national economic development,” the president said. Stressing the importance of performing duties with honesty, fairness, efficiency and maintaining discipline and professionalism, Hamid asked the navy members to get always ready to ensure sovereignty of maritime boundary, security of ship movement at different routes, and resist smugglers and pirates. He also asked them to continue their all-out efforts to uphold the country’s image in the world arena. Hamid, also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, said a significant number of warships, maritime helicopters and maritime patrol aircraft have been included in the fleet of navy during the period of the current government and opened a new chapter of strengthening the power of the navy. The president said the present government has already taken short- and long-term plans for the navy that are expected to be materialised by 2030.

Bangladesh and China have been enjoying very strong three dimensional relationships, Bangladesh Information Minister Hasanul Huq Inu said yesterday. “Relationship between our two peoples date back to thousands of years ago. This relation gradually cemented between the two governments and the two states,” he said. “So Bangladesh and China now enjoy a very strong three-dimensional relationships that are people-to-people, state-to-state and government-to-government,” Innu added. The minister said this while speaking at the inaugural ceremony of an eight-day photo exhibition and film festival that have been organised at Bangladesh National Museum in Dhaka as part of celebrating 2017 as “the year of exchange and friendship” between  Bangladesh and China. Bangladesh National Museum, Chinese embassy in Dhaka, China Radio International, Overseas Chinese Association in Bangladesh jointly organised the events which were jointly sponsored by China National Film Museum, CRI-SMF Confucius Classroom, China.com and Huawei  Technologies. Last October, China and Bangladesh agreed to strengthen cultural and people-to-people exchanges and announced the year 2017 as the Year of Friendship and Exchanges between China and Bangladesh. “The events will help us know more about Bangladeshi and Chinese people and create further close relationships,” Inu said. He said such events also pave the opportunity for both the two peoples to exchange knowledge on their lifestyles. “I do believe that the photo exhibition and film festival will help further deepen relationship between Bangladesh and China.” Scores of photos that depicted lovely moments caught on Chinese and Bangladeshis’ cameras are being displayed in the exhibition. A wide array of Chinese movies will be screened during the week-long festival.

Rohingya refugees who entered Bangladesh by boat walk towards refugee camps after landing in the Bangladeshi district of Teknaf yesterday. The UN Security Council on November 6 called on Myanmar to rein in its military campaign in Rakhine state and allow hundreds of thousands of Muslim Rohingya driven from their homes to return. In a unanimous statement backed by China, the council strongly condemned the violence that has forced more than 600,000 Rohingya to flee across the border to Bangladesh.

Bangladeshi counter-terrorism police said on Monday they had arrested a militant wanted for the 2015 killing of a US blogger critical of religious extremism. The militant, identified as Abu Siddiq Sohel, 34, a member of the al Qaeda-inspired militant group Ansar Ullah Bangla Team, is suspected of taking part in the killing of writer Avijit Roy, deputy police commissioner Masudur Rahman said. Roy, a US citizen of Bangladeshi origin, was hacked to death by machete-wielding attackers in February 2015 while returning home with his wife from a Dhaka book fair. Roy's widow, Rafida Ahmed, was maimed in the attack. Sohel, who was identified after analysing CCTV footage, was arrested in the capital Dhaka on Sunday night, Rahman told Reuters. Bangladesh, a country of 160 million people, is struggling to control attacks by militant groups on secular bloggers, atheists, foreigners and religious minorities. The most serious recent attack came in July 2016, when gunmen stormed a restaurant in the diplomatic quarter of Dhaka and killed 22 people, most of them foreigners. Al Qaeda and Islamic State have also claimed responsibility for a series of killings over the past few years, including Roy's. Authorities have consistently ruled out the presence of such groups, blaming domestic militants instead. However, security experts say the scale and sophistication of the restaurant attack suggested links to a wider network. 

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson Khaleda Zia yesterdya told a Dhaka court on Thursday that filing of ‘false’ graft cases is part of a conspiracy to make her ineligible in the next general election. She came up with the remarks while placing her self-defence statement before the special court at Bakshibazar in the capital in Zia Orphanage and Zia Charitable Trust corruption cases. She alleged that the cases were filed in order to prevent her from doing politics, and to make her ineligible for the general election. “Many ministers and ruling party men made various comments in media about me before the end of trial. Even a minister said I’ll be sent to Kashimpur jail. Isn’t it contempt of court?” “I’m, therefore, in doubt weather I would get justice from the court,” said the BNP chief adding, “It’s their ulterior motive to annihilate me and my family from politics in a planned manner.” The court set November 9 as the next date for hearing. On July 3, 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 21mn taka that came as grants from a foreign bank for orphans. On August 8, 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. Meanwhile, 19 BNP leaders and activists were arrested in two cases filed by police over two incidents of attacks on Dhaka-Chittagong highway while party chief Khaleda Zia was heading to Cox’s Bazar for distributing relief among Rohingya refugees and returning to Dhaka. Thirteen BNP men were arrested in a case filed over torching two buses on Dhaka-Chittagong highway while the Zia’s convoy passed through Mahipal of Feni on October 31. Three of the arrestees are Phulgazi sub-district unit president of Chhatra Dal M Kamal Hossian, Sonagazi municipality BNP president Abu Mobarak Dulal, Feni municipality former commissioner and also BNP leader Delwar Hossian Babul, said Superintendent of Police  (SP), Feni SM Jahangir Alam Sarker. Sub-Inspector Nur Uddin of Feni Model police station filed the case against 69 people, mentioning 29 names on Wednesday night. Meanwhile, Feni Model Police Station officer-in-charge Rashed Khan Chowdhury said police arrested six people in another case filed for attack on Khaleda’s motorcade in Feni on way to her Cox’s Bazar visit on October 28. Feni court police inspector AKM Najibul Islam filed the case, accusing 30 unnamed people. Immediately after the incident, police detained six people, including the buses’ drivers and their helpers, a local leader of Sramik Dal and a Chhatra Dal activist. Police also filed another case with the same police station, blaming feud between two former BNP lawmakers.

A Bangladeshi auto-rickshaw driver is suing for damages after his phone number was used in a movie, leading to a barrage of calls from female fans of the film’s star that he says nearly destroyed his marriage. Ijajul Mia said yesterday he had received hundreds of calls every day since the release in June of Rajniti, in which the country’s top movie star Shakib Khan is seen giving the number to his girlfriend. “The use of my number in the movie made my life completely miserable,” he said. “Every day I got hundreds of calls from mostly female fans of Shakib Khan. They would say ‘Hello Shakib, I am your fan. Do you have two minutes to talk to me?’” Mia said he had been asked to leave his family home since the movie’s release and his wife had threatened to leave him. He argued that he couldn’t take a new number because his clients knew the old one and he would lose business. “I am a married man with one daughter. When these calls started coming, my wife thought that I was having an affair,” he said. One fan even travelled 500km (300 miles) to see him after learning where  he lived. Now Mia wants to sue Khan, who also produced and directed the movie, for damages of 5mn taka ($60,975).  His lawyer M A Majed said he had filed the suit this week, but the district judge was initially hesitant to accept it. “The judge ordered an investigation after we submitted evidence showing how these phone calls have almost destroyed the life of Ijajul,” Majed said.

Myanmar has blamed Bangladesh for delaying the start of a repatriation process for hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslim refugees, saying it feared Dhaka could be stalling until it receives multi-million dollars of international aid money.  More than 600,000 Rohingya have fled predominantly Buddhist Myanmar to neighbouring Bangladesh since late August to escape ethnic violence that accompanied a brutal military counter-insurgency operation in Myanmar’s Rakhine state. Zaw Htay, a spokesman for Myanmar’s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, said Myanmar was ready to begin the repatriation process any time, based along the lines of an agreement that covered returns of Rohingya to Myanmar in the early 1990s. He said Bangladesh had yet to accept those terms.  “We are ready to start, but the other side did not accept yet, and the process was delayed. This is the number one fact,” Zaw Htay, Director-General of the Ministry of the State Counsellor’s Office, told journalists on Tuesday. A memorandum of understanding on border liaison posts was signed with Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan following talks in the Myanmar capital, Naypyitaw, last week, but there was no progress on reviving the old agreement.  Zaw Htay linked the delay by Bangladesh to the money raised so far by the international community to help build gigantic refugee camps for the Rohingya. “Currently they have got $400mn. Over their receipt of this amount, we are now afraid of delaying the programme of deporting the refugees,” he said in comments carried in a front-page article in the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper yesterday.  “They have got international subsidies. We are now afraid they would have another consideration as to repatriation,” he said. The Bangladesh government issued a statement last Thursday saying that Myanmar had not agreed to 10 points put forward by its minister at last week’s talks, including the full implementation of the recommendations of an Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, chaired by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, for a sustainable return of Rohingya. Khan told Bangladesh media last Friday that the two sides were unable to form a joint working group but said it should be set up by the time Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali goes to Myanmar for talks on November 30. The Myanmar government has said it would accept the Rohingya once it was established that they had lived in Myanmar.  Zaw Htay said Myanmar was awaiting a list of Rohingya refugees from the Bangladesh side.  The United Nation’s new interim resident co-ordinator for Myanmar began his new job yesterday. Knut Ostby, a Norwegian, has taken over the humanitarian and diplomatic role at a time of growing strains with the Myanmar government over the handling of the Rohingya crisis.  Meantime, while Myanmar and Bangladesh work out how Rohingya can eventually go home, the grim exodus from Myanmar continues.  Seven Rohingya, including three babies and two children, drowned trying to make the perilous sea crossing up the coast from Myanmar to Bangladesh earlier this week.