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25 April 2013

The World News Headlines Myanamar’s ‘ethnic cleansing’

This Week Kerry calls out NATO

The US Secretary of State, John Kerry, has said that NATO needs to consider its role in the Syrian crisis, including how prepared it is to respond to a potential chemical weapons threat. “We should also carefully and collectively consider how NATO is prepared to respond to protect its members from a Syrian threat, including any potential chemical weapons threat,” he said.

urma’s quasi-civilian government has been hit by allegations of “ethnic cleansing” and “crimes against humanity” this week as Human Rights Watch (HRW) released its report into the sectarian violence that ravaged the country’s western Arakan state last year. At least 200 people were killed and more than 125,000 made homeless as mass arson, looting and cold-blooded murder erupted between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and stateless Muslim Rohingya. HRW accuses Rakhine groups of instigating the bloodshed and the state authorities of allowing them to continue unabated. Fresh and seemingly unconnected Muslim-Buddhist violence then hit elsewhere last month, posing serious questions regarding the state’s ability — or willingness — to maintain order as the country emerges from half a century of brutal junta rule. The report was released the same day that the country’s President, Thein Sein, was awarded a peace prize by the International Crisis Group, and the E.U. lifted trade, economic and individual sanctions on Burma. According to HRW, Rakhine mobs attacked Muslim communities in four townships in June and then nine townships in October, razing villages and burying “hog-tied” corpses in mass graves. The 153-page report details how at least 70 Rohingya were killed in a single daylong massacre in Yan Thei village in Mrauk-U township. “First the soldiers told us, ‘Do not do anything, we will protect you, we will save you,’ so we trusted them,” a 25-yearold survivor told HRW. “But later they broke that promise. The Arakanese beat and killed us very easily. The security did not protect us from them.”

US aid to Syria to double Rushanara Ali, Member of Parliament for Bethnal Green and Bow, has launched another scathing attack on the Government

‘Government letting down our area’ says Ali

ushanara Ali MP is backing Labour’s proposals for a Compulsory Jobs Guarantee to tackle long-term unemployment, following the release of the latest unemployment figures. According to the Office for National Statistics, long-term unemployment showed no signs of falling in Bethnal Green and Bow, following an annual increase of 3% to March 2013. Rushanara said: “Here in Bethnal Green and Bow long term unemployment has continued to rise in the last year. It is getting clearer by the day that this government is letting down our area. “We urgently need action to create jobs and get local people into work. This is why we in the Labour Party are calling for

a compulsory jobs guarantee, which will get any adult out of work for more than two years, or young person out of work for a year, into a job – one they would be required to take.” Liam Byrne MP, Labour’s Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, responding to the ONS Labour Market Statistics, said: “Three years on its now as clear the Government’s plan is failing, and failing badly. Not only are more people unemployed than at the election, it’s soaring up. Seventy thousand more people are now on the dole than last month, youth unemployment rose by 20,000 and long term

unemployment rose yet again. “Yet just to add insult to injury this Government is slashing tax credits and child benefit but giving millionaires a tax cut. Families are £891 worse off because of tax and benefit changes and pay packets are now £1,700 smaller than at the last election. “With the IMF warning George Osborne to change course and unemployment getting worse, it’s clear the time has come for a fresh approach. Ministers must now take the decisive action we need to get Britain working again starting with Labour’s compulsory jobs guarantee to get anyone out of

‘We urgently need action to create jobs and get local people into work’

work for more than two years back into a job; a job people must take or lose their benefits.” l Labour councillors last week proposed a review into steps which could be taken to protect residents from the Tories Bedroom Tax. The councillors called on the Mayor explore the option of re-classifying homes in order to avoid the draconian welfare attacks of the Government which could leave 4,515 households in the borough faced with higher bills or evictions. Proposing the review Labour’s Deputy Spokesperson for Housing, Cllr John Pierce, said: “The Bedroom Tax will put massive pressure on families to either cut back further or move home and will affect some of the most vulnerable in our society.”

London on brink of widespread schools places shortage

ondon is on the brink of an unprecedented school crisis with 118,000 children facing being left without a place, shock figures reveal today. Urgent action is needed to tackle the shortfall which could reach “chronic” levels in three years. London Councils, which represents all local

authorities in the capital, asked the Government for more than £1 billion to build new schools. Peter John, head of children’s services at London Councils, said: “Boroughs are working harder than ever to ensure every child has a school place. But we are fast reaching the limit of how many extensions and conversions

can be made to existing buildings — soon the only way of creating extra places will be by building new schools.” The number of school age children in London is increasing at twice the rate of the national average and will reach 1.25 million by 2016, leaving a shortfall of 118,000 school places, according to today’s

report by London Councils. Boris Johnson accepted there is a need for more government funding, but said councils must allow more free schools to be built. He said: “There’s a lot of prejudice against free schools on the part of the education establishment and they need to lose it and need to build more.”

Boris: stress over schools

John Kerry, the US secretary of state, has said that the United States would double its non-lethal aid to opposition forces in Syria to $250m. Kerry on Sunday stopped short of a US pledge to supply weapons to rebels fighting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

India, China soldiers row

India has accused Chinese soldiers of launching an incursion far into Indian territory, the latest flare-up of tension between the two Asian giants over their de facto boundary in the Himalayas. “Chinese troops entered 10km into Indian territory on April 15 and pitched tents in the Depsang valley in the Ladakh region of eastern Kashmir,” an Indian official said on Tuesday.

Mass hunger strike at camp

More than half of the men held at the Guantanamo detention camp have joined an escalating hunger strike to protest their open-ended detention, a camp spokesperson has said. The US military counted 84 of the 166 prisoners as hunger strikers by Monday, and was forcefeeding 16 of them liquid meals through tubes inserted in their noses and down into their stomachs.

Canada alleges terror plan

Canadian authorities say they have arrested and charged two men with an al Qaeda-linked plot to “carry out a terrorist attack” against a passenger train thanks to the help of the Muslim community. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police on Monday named the two accused as Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, and Raed Jaser, 35, from the Montreal and Toronto areas respectively.

25 April 2013

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News This Week 28 killed in Iraq gun battle

In northern Iraq, at least 28 people were killed and more than 70 wounded in clashes between security forces and gunmen in Hawija, in Kirkuk province, according to a senior Iraqi army officer who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

Israel accuses Syria

The Syrian government is using chemical weapons against rebel forces, the head of the Israel Defense Forces’ intelligence research and analysis division said Tuesday. “In all likelihood, they used sarin gas,” Brig. Gen. Itai Brun told a conference in Tel Aviv. This comes as a civil war between the government and rebels rages across Syria, which borders Israel.

Bomb hits French embassy

A car bomb exploded just outside the French embassy in Tripoli early Tuesday morning, injuring two French security guards and a local girl, officials said. The blast was so powerful it blew the front wall off the embassy. Windows of nearby buildings in this upscale, largely residential neighborhood were also blown out.

France gay marriage law

France is set to become the latest nation to legalise same-sex marriage Tuesday, despite vocal opposition from conservatives, when legislation goes before lawmakers in the lower house for a final vote. The bill, which would also give samesex couples the right to adopt, was approved in the Senate earlier this month.

One-way ticket to Mars

A Dutch company called Mars One began looking Monday for volunteer astronauts to fly to Mars. Departure for the Red Planet is scheduled for 2022, landing seven months later in 2023. The space travelers will return date is … never. They will finish out their lives on Mars, representatives from the nonprofit said. “It’s likely that there will be a crematorium,” said CEO Bas Lansdorp. “It’s up to the people on Mars to decide what to do with their dead.”

Enam Ali pays tribute to Margaret Thatcher

Bangladeshi restaurant owner Enam Ali MBE, whose daughter once presented a bouquet to Margaret Thatcher, has paid tribute to the former Prime Minister. Enam Ali MBE , owner of Le Raj Bangladeshi restaurant in Fir Tree Road, Epsom, Surrey told of how she touched his life when they met at the House of Commons and Epsom Downs Racecourse. Mr Ali said his daughter Justine Ali , now 22, gave flowers to Mrs Thatcher when Justine was just five

years old at Bourne Hall in Spring Street, Ewell. Mr Ali said: “Margaret Thatcher is the lady who really inspired me to observe politics. She opened my eyes as to how important politics is and

I am very fortunate to have met her on various occasions.” He hailed her privatisation revolution and its impact on the world, adding: “She was a change maker and we are all enjoying in the world

because of privatisation. “She was a great woman and her death is a great loss for the country.” Reigate and Banstead MP Crispin Blunt said Baroness Thatcher “changed the UK and the world for the better”. He said: “The death of Margaret Thatcher marks the passing of our greatest peacetime Prime Minister. “In 1979, Margaret Thatcher took the helm of a country which was regarded as almost ungovernable by its own elected government; it was rent through with industrial strife,

and was suffering from what was internationally known as ‘the British disease’.” He added: “Internationally, Britain was regarded as weak, and the West was in retreat from the threat of the Soviet Union, with its increasing hegemony in the developing world, and unchallenged grip on central and Eastern Europe. “By the time she left office all of this had been reversed. “Her clarity of purpose, her courage, and her determination in seeing through numerous epoch-making challenges, place her in the pantheon of greatness.”

Murad Qureshi criticises Mayor over health reforms

he Mayor of London’s new Health Board fails to include key experts from the health sector, says Labour Group Health spokesperson Murad Qureshi. The new strategic Health Board aims to address the health needs of Londoners, despite the Government refusing to award the Health Board statutory status. As Mayor of London Boris Johnson has responsibility for health inequalities across the capital. Previously, the Mayor formed the shadow London Health Improvement Board, which was responsible for public health only but this disbanded last month. The new board will not initially be funded to deliver projects or programmes. Labour Group Health spokesperson Murad Qureshi

Murad Qureshi said: “The membership for Boris’s new Health Board seems to have been decided off the cuff. He hasn’t included any representatives from patient groups, the voluntary sector or the London Ambulance Service. “How can the Health Board, which is supposed to be a pan-London ser-

‘London faces major health challenges in the coming years including the closure of seven A&Es, the growing problem of obesity and a burgeoning, ageing population’ vice, being truly representative if it fails to provide insights into these key areas? “To give the Health Board the gravitas it needs to be truly effective Boris must include representatives from the London Ambulance Service and voluntary groups, both of which will be pick-

ing up the slack as cuts to health services hit home. “London faces major health challenges in the coming years including the closure of seven A&Es, the growing problem of obesity and a burgeoning, ageing population. “The Health Board will need to be in a position to be taken seriously by the NHS, the Department of Health and Londoners. “Yet, the Government did not see fit to give the London Health Board statutory status. “This could prove to be a huge mistake as it will be hampered in how much it can do to improve Londoners’ health. Boris needs to place greater importance on the health of Londoners and demand that the London Health Board be given a statutory status,” added Mr Qureshi.

Exhibition shows how Muslims helped Jews during war

new exhibition aims to celebrate the role Muslims played in saving Jewish lives during the Holocaust. The Righteous Muslim Exhibition is being launched at the Board of Deputies of British Jews in Bloomsbury, central London. Photographs of 70 Muslims who sheltered Jews dur-

ing World War II will be displayed alongside stories detailing their acts of heroism. The exhibition hopes

to inspire new research into instances of collaboration between the Muslim and Jewish communities. Yad Vashem, Israel’s official memorial to victims of the Holocaust, honours nearly 25,000 so-called “righteous persons” who risked their lives to protect the Jewish community during Nazi Germany’s reign of terror. Some 70 Muslims have re-

cently been added to the list. The exhibition explores their stories. Among the “righteous” are the Hardaga family from Bosnia who provided shelter for the Jewish Kavilio family when German forces occupied Bosnia in 1943. Half a century later, the Hardagas were themselves saved by the Kavilios during the Bosnian Civil War.

Rushanara Ali calls for ‘jobs guarantee’

P Rushanara Ali is calling for a compulsory ‘jobs guarantee’ scheme to tackle the growing long-term unemployment crisis in London’s East End where people would have to take on work—or lose benefits. Three more people out of every 100 are now out of work compared to a year ago, according to latest Office for National Statistics figures released on Monday. “Urgent action is needed to create jobs and get people into work,” the Bethnal Green & Bow MP insists. “We are calling for a compulsory ‘jobs guarantee’ to get adults out of work for more than two years or youngsters out of work for a year into jobs—one they would be required to take.” Unemployment has soared with 70,000 more now on the dole in Britain than a month ago, with youth unemployment alone rising by 20,000, she pointed out. Labour claims families are £891 worse off with benefit cuts, while pay packets have shrunk by £1,700 compared to three years ago.

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25 April 2013

News Brick Lane drug dealers locked up

Whitechapel protest by women over attacks in Bangladesh

London women protest attack on Bangladeshi journalist

‘human chain’ protest has been held by women in London’s East End over attacks on their rights in Bangladesh. Campaigners gathered at the Martyrs monument at Whitechapel’s Altab Ali Park to form a ‘Manob Bandhon’ line to protest at the attack on Bangladesh TV journalist Nadia Sharmin (pictured below), alleged to have been carried out by religious fundamentalists. Speakers at yesterday’s rally condemned the assault, claiming extremists were causing a regression against women’s emancipation and “hell bent on turning Bangladesh into a Taliban state”. They demanded safety

and equal rights for women in Bangladesh and the arrest of those responsible for the attack on April 6. The protest movement in east London’s Bengali community is demanding “justice” for the families of victims of the Bangladesh war of independence against West Pakistan more than 40 years ago. The country has been hit by a wave of violence since November when a war crimes tribunal was set up to try those charged with crimes against humanity during the 1971 conflict. The violence has involved attacks on government officials, police and civilians, as well as looting, burning cars, trains, buses and property.

ive drug dealers who sold to weekend revellers in Brick Lane have been locked up in a young offenders’ institute. The group, who sold Class A drugs to party-goers in the smoking area outside nightclubs, were targeted in a police operation throughout last summer. Amine Sugule, Abdi Rahman Shireh, Abdi Yusuf, all 20, were sentenced alongside 19-year-olds Mohammed Jama and Usaama Ahmed at Snaresbrook Crown Court last week. Det Insp John Cracknell said: “This investigation is an excellent example of the impact the police can have on organised criminal groups when different departments and other stakeholders work in partnership. “The operation was borne out of intelligence gathered by Tower Hamlets borough. However it was led by the London Crime Squad,

‘The operation was borne out of intelligence gathered by Tower Hamlets borough’

has taken this long to get to this stage, given that the recent initiative to ban originated in discussions that took place prior to the Animal Welfare Act 2006. Nonetheless, the draft legislation should be welcomed as finally reflecting public, Parliamentary and expert opinion.” The Born Free Foundation has argued for many

decades that a travelling circus simply cannot meet the needs of wild animals. Will Travers OBE, the Foundation’s CEO, commented: “I hardly dared imagine we would see such a day when, year after year, meeting after meeting, the NGOs participating in the various Circus Working Groups churned through the evidence, debated the practicalities, fought against Defra’s institutional inertia and Government opposition to a ban. “Our supporters have been amazing as have our colleagues in other organisations. One more form of wild animal exploitation is on its way out.”

Abu Qatada appeal refused

The Court of Appeal has refused the government permission to take its fight to remove Abu Qatada from the UK to the Supreme Court. Home Secretary Theresa May had wanted the Supreme Court to overturn a decision by a lower court to halt the cleric’s deportation.

Fake bomb detector fraud

Abdi Rahman Shireh

Amine Sugule

A millionaire businessman who sold fake bomb detectors to countries including Iraq and Georgia, knowing they did not work, has been convicted of fraud. James McCormick, 56, of Langport, Somerset, is said to have made £50m from sales of the devices.

Wimbledon prize money up

Mohammed Jama

Usaama Ahmed

which gathered overwhelming evidence that led to all the subjects pleading guilty at the earliest opportunity.” The five men sentenced all pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs. Two further members of the gang of eight cannot be named for legal reasons, while one was sentenced at an earlier hearing.

Sugule, of Smythe Street, Poplar was sentenced to twoand-a-half years in a young offenders’ institute (YOI); Shireh, of Harford Street, Stepney was given three-and-a-half years at a YOI; Yusuf, of Abbot Road, Blackwall, received two years at a YOI; Jama, of Knapp Road, Bow received 15 months at a YOI; and Ahmed, of Bacon Street, Shoreditch received two-and-a-half years at a YOI.

Plan to ban wild animals at circus Sex assault man jailed raft legislation has been announced that would see it become an offence to use wild animals in travelling circuses in England from 2015. Virginia McKenna OBE, Founder of the Born Free Foundation, said: “It has taken a long time – too long – but at last the end is in sight. I know for many, many people this will be a reason to rejoice. I want to thank everyone who has worked so hard to make a ban a reality, including Parliamentarians of all Parties. Victories for common-sense and compassion are all too rare. “It is disappointing that it

This Week

detective has warned of the dangers of arranging to meet up with people they have previously only had contact with on social media after a man was jailed for the attempted rape and sexual assault of a 14-yearold girl and a girl aged 17. Adil Hoque targetted the “vulnerable” teenage girls using Twitter and Blackberry Messenger. The 20-year-old of Sheringham Avenue, Manor Park, was sentenced to eight years in a young offenders institute at Inner London Crown Court on Friday, and given a further 18-month sentence to run concurrently.

The All-England Club has announced a 40% increase in prize money for the 2013 Wimbledon Championships and plans for a retractable roof for Court One. Players will receive a total of £22.6m at this year’s event, up £6.5m on last year, with the men’s and women’s singles winners receiving £1.6m each.

HSBC cutting 3,000 jobs

HSBC is cutting 3,166 UK jobs. The bank said the positions would mostly go from its wealth management division, but it hoped to redeploy more than 2,000 of the affected staff.

Cohen takes over BBC

BBC One controller Danny Cohen is to be the new director of television. Mr Cohen, whose commissions include Call The Midwife and The Voice, will take over from the acting director of BBC TV Roger Mosey.

Hundreds to buy £1 houses

Adil Hoque, sentenced He had been found guilty of attempted rape at a trial in October 2012 and further convicted on the sexual assault charge at a re-trial in March this year. Hoque used Twitter to talk to a 17-year-old girl whom he then offered to drive to college on May 11, 2011.

More than 600 people are interested in buying rundown homes in Stoke-on-Trent for £1 each, the city council has said. Thirty-five derelict homes, mainly two-bedroom terraced properties, will initially be sold off in the Cobridge area, with a further 89 to follow.

Ferguson praises van Persie Sir Alex Ferguson says Robin van Persie has had “as big an impact as anyone” he can remember at Manchester United after helping them win the Premier League.

25 April 2013

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Features B’desh raises its sights

ith hundreds of rivers and a population of close to 150 million people, Bangladesh boasts an efficient and entrepreneurial work force that has been changing the profile of the country. The country has natural endowments which increase the potential for development. Bangladesh has an educated, adaptive and industrious work force ready to work at low wages. While the labor force comprises more than 54 million, 57.3 percent of the population is under 25, boasting a younger generation for recruitment who are intelligent and easily trainable. Bangladesh has a dynamic youth full of aspiration to transform themselves into efficient human resources and to ensure their participation in socioeconomic development and other nation-building activity. With such aspirations, the country is likely to achieve its objective of becoming a digital haven and a middleincome country by 2021, when it celebrates its 50th anniversary of independence. More than 8 million of the Bangladeshi work force, including professionals such as doctors, engineers, paramedics, nurses, teachers, bankers and IT workers, are employed worldwide, including in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is the most valued destination for this work force. There are approximately 1.2 million Bangladeshis in the Kingdom, the largest number of Bangladeshis in any country. The Bangladeshi government has introduced various measures, such as machinereadable passports and smart cards containing information, along with a biometric impression of migrant workers primarily targeting the Saudi market for manpower export.

Unrest costing billions in trade Bangladesh is losing billions of dollars in income as a result of the ongoing unrest caused by the government’s targetting of opposition parties, especially Jamaat-e-Islam

angladesh may have missed $3 billion worth of potential new business in readymade garments this year as buyers shifted to other countries or held back orders while it battled strikes and political violence, the head of a trade body said on Tuesday. The country has been rocked by protests and counter-protests since January, when a tribunal set up by the government to investigate abuses during the war of independence against Pakistan began convicting leaders of an Islamist party. At least 100 people have died in clashes and business confidence has been rattled. “At least $500 million worth of garment orders have been diverted to our next-door neighbour India since January,” said Muhammad Atiqul Islam, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA). “We may also have received up to 40 percent less orders from our foreign customers,” he told a news conference. On Tuesday, much of the country was again shut down in response to a 36-hour strike called by the opposition which accuses the government of using the war crimes tribunal to persecute them. Islam said the slowdown in the developed markets of the United States and Europe was already hurting Bangladesh’s exports of garments and business leaders were trying to find alternative markets. “We were exploring new markets in countries like Russia, Brazil, Japan, Chile, Argentina, India, China and South Africa,” he said. “New buyers from those countries had just started to come in to explore our country ... but left without placing any orders due to political violence and unrest,” Islam said. Vietnam and Cambodia had picked up orders in recent days, he said. Shipments of goods had been disrupted because of the strikes, prompting threats by foreign buyers to cancel orders. Garments account for more than 80 percent of Bangladesh’s export income and employ more than 4 million people.

‘Hartals create an unfriendly and unstable environment for investment by disrupting the production and trading activities and increasing the cost of doing business’

Meanwhile, a report released by the World Bank says the readymade garment industry of Bangladesh is suffering from a severe image crisis in the international markets because of concerns about labor safety arising from recent fire incidents in two garment factories, which resulted in a combined casualty of 119 workers. Because of the worldwide concern over labor safety and standards, large RMG factories are starting to remove subcontracting from small factories that are noncompliant, states the report titled ‘Bangladesh Development Update – April, 2013’. According to the report, international retail giants such as Walmart and Inditex are considering a zero-tolerance policy and cutting ties with suppliers who are non-compliant (or subcontract to non-compliant factories). In the short term, such an action might result in some companies not being able to meet shipment deadlines. Furthermore, the recent fire incidents have led the US and EU to rethink the Generalized System of Preference (GSP) facilities provided to Bangladesh. The United States Trade Representative has started the process of evaluating the GSP facility which might lead to a withdrawal, suspension or limitation of duty-free access. Although, only 0.54 percent of Bangladesh exports to the US in 2011 were under the GSP scheme, cancellation of the facility might send strong adverse signals about production conditions in Bangladesh, and might lead buyers to reconsider Bangladesh as a major source of apparel, the report warns. On the other hand, the report says, Europe, the largest export market of Bangladesh, is also contemplating actions against Bangladesh to ensure full compliance in labor safety. EU has revised its GSP scheme which will be in effect from January 1, 2014. Under the revised scheme, although Bangladesh is assessed to benefit most under the “everything but arms” (EBA) category, the textile and apparel exports may suffer heavily, predicts the World Bank. The report cites unprecedented political complexity in Bangladesh as an immediate hindrance to faster economic growth. It states, “Hartals create an unfriendly and unstable environment for investment by disrupting the production and trading activities and increasing the cost of doing business.” Additional reporting by Serajul Quadir; editing by Anis Ahmed and Sanjeev Miglani

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10 January 2013

The World News Headlines This Week Gang rape case: five in court

Walmart, the world’s largest retail company, has been found to have had ties to a garment factory in Bangladesh where 112 workers were trapped and killed in a fire in late November 2012. The company, which buys $1 billion in garments from Bangladesh each year, initially tried to deny any connection

Mayor fires off angry letter over Banglatown

ayor of Tower Hamlets Lutfur Rahman has published a letter clamming planned changes to the borough’s electoral wards following the conclusion of a public consultation. In the strongly-worded letter, Mr Rahman called on the Local Government Boundary Commission to scrap its plans to re-name wards after the tumultuous consultation period came to an end on Monday. Mr Rahman’s detailed his response to the plans, writing that he objected in the “strongest possible terms” to the pro-

posals to scrap ‘Banglatown’, the removal of ‘St Dunstan’s’ from the Stepney Wards, and the re-naming of East India and Lansbury as Poplar North. Referring to the move to drop the name ‘Banglatown’ from the Spitalfields and Banglatown ward, he wrote: “I struggle to comprehend why any individual or political entity would regard dispensing with this name as desirable, aside from as a very cynical blast on the proverbial dog whistle, aimed at attracting support from people who resent the Bangladeshi com-

‘Renaming the (Banglatown) ward as merely ‘Spitalfields’ would be a hugely reactionary, retrograde and provocative step’

Mayor Lutfur Rahman munity’s presence in t he area. “Accordingly, renaming the ward as merely ‘Spitalfields’ would be a hugely reactionary, retro-

grade and provocative step”. The Commission is due to publish its final recommendations in Spring this year. Its draft proposals had also attracted criticism for removing the names of former Labour Party leader George Lansbury and former Bishop of London St Dunstan from

ward names in the borough. Mr Rahman concluded: “I hope that you will consider my submission, as well as the views of hundreds of local residents expressed in related petitions, extremely carefully when arriving at a final decision.” eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk

Five sentenced to death for murder in Dhaka of Saudi diplomat

special tribunal sentenced to death five Bangladeshi men for killing a Saudi diplomat in an apparent street crime earlier this year. Initial speculation about the shooting had focused on Iran, which denied the accusations. The suspects told investigators they were trying to rob the diplomat and shot him accidentally. Khalaf bin Mohammed Salem al-Ali, a 45-year-old official in the Saudi Embassy’s consu-

lar section, was killed near his home in Dhaka in March. Tribunal Judge Mohammad Motahar Hossain handed down the verdict Sunday, chief prosecutor Rafiqul Islam said. One of the men was tried in his absence, Islam said. He said the men can appeal the verdict. Iran has been accused of other international attacks or attempted attacks against diplomats, including Saudis. Days after the shooting, Saudi Arabia sent investigators to assist

Khalaf bin Mohammed Salem al-Ali was killed near his home in Dhaka Bangladeshi detectives. The defendants pleaded not guilty at the trial. After their arrest in July, the four men told investigators they tried to rob the

diplomat as he was going for a walk on the deserted street and shot him accidentally during a scuffle. Police said the men were ar-

rested after a revolver and a car used in the killing were found in their possession. Muslim-majority Bangladesh enjoys good relations with Saudi Arabia, which is a top destination for Bangladeshi migrant workers. Relations between the countries were tested in October last year, when Saudi Arabia beheaded eight Bangladeshi workers who were found guilty of robbing and killing an Egyptian.

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Five men accused of raping and murdering an Indian student were read the charges in a nearempty courtroom on Monday after the judge cleared out lawyers for bickering over whether the men deserved a defence. The 23-year-old physiotherapy student died two weeks after being gang-raped and beaten on a moving bus in New Delhi, then thrown bleeding onto the street. Protests followed, along with a fierce public debate over police failure to stem rampant violence against women. With popular anger simmering against the five men and a teenager accused in the case, most lawyers in the district where the trial will be held refuse to represent them.

British soldier shot dead

A British soldier serving with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan has been shot dead by a man in an Afghan army uniform, according to the US-led military coalition. In a statement released on Tuesday, ISAF said that the incident, which took place in southern Afghanistan on Monday, was “under investigation”. “The British soldier was killed when a suspected Afghan soldier opened fire first at Afghan troops and then at British soldiers,” said Major Martyn Crighton, an ISAF spokesman. “In the subsequent engagement, the attacker was killed by British troops.”

Many killed in drone attack

At least eight people have been killed in two suspected US drone attacks in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal areas, security officials say.Both attacks took place in the Mir Ali area of the North Waziristan tribal district in the early hours of Tuesday. In Khiderkhel, eight missiles were fired at a compound, killing at least four people, security sources told Al Jazeera. In Essakhel, meanwhile, two missiles were fired, killing at least three people.

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Messi named world’s best

Barcelona and Argentina star Lionel Messi has been named world footballer of the year for the fourth time in a row, marking another unprecedented achievement. He pipped Andres Iniesta and Cristiano Ronaldo to the title. No other male footballer has been named the best on the planet in four separate years, let alone four in succession.

Features struggle for African-Americans drew parallel from that struggle. Nihad Awad, the national executive director of Council on American Islamic Relations pointed out that the war crimes tribunal’s workings are proven to tainted with outside influence but still the tribunal meted out death penalties. He declared that CAIR stands against such blatant injustice. Naeem Baig, the national president of ICNA expressed his solidarity with the struggle for justice of the Bangladesh masses. Abu Nooruz Zaman and Imam Delwar Husain spoke on behalf of Muslim Ummah of North America. They urged the participants to get involved in strategic advocacy in the US and educate the opinion makers and policy makers of America about the destruction of democracy in Bangladesh at the hands of the current government. Shahana Masum Ali, the coordinator for Bangladesh Development and Women’s Rights spoke about the persecution of the women by the current Bangladeshi government. She demanded an immediate end to this persecution. Dr. Shaik Ubaid, the cochair of Muslim Peace Coalition USA said that destablisation of Bangladesh will destablize the region. He urged the Bangladeshis to protect the Hindu minority. He pushed for a truth and reconciliation commission to heal the country. attacks on democracy and rule of law by the Bangladeshi government and ask them to use the US leverage to reverse the undemocratic actions. Among the more than 30 speakers representing tens of different organisations were many Bangladeshi-American leaders, imams and youth representatives. Arab American representatives, a few politicians and a representative of the Rohingyas, the most persecuted people in the world who live in the neighboring Burma also addressed the rally. Many speakers alluded to the violent crack down on the media and demanded immediate release of imprisoned journalists, especially Mahmudur Rahman. Abdul Aziz Bhuyan asked the participants to call Ms Marie Orler at 212-963-1293 and tell her “not to recruit police from Bangladesh on peacekeeping forces who are terrorising their own citizens in Bangladesh”. Earlier the rally was commenced with the opening remarks of Mubashir Ahmed, the national coordinator of Americans United for Human Rights, who demanded an immediate end to the police crackdown on peaceful protesters and for the death sentences to be vacated. All the speakers demanded a new and fair international war crimes tribunal and a resolution was approved unanimously by the enthusiastic crowds who had come from the tri-state area, many on more than 40 buses that were rented by different organisations.

Times Square rally The Bangladeshi community in Times Square, New York came out in their thousands to protest the Bangladesh government‘s crackdown on opposition parties and especially the Jamaat-e-Islami party

housands of demonstrators in the famous Times Square area of New York, in the US, demanded end to the government crackdown in Bangladesh which has been targeting opposition politicians, especially Jamaat-e-Islam. The protest was held on Saturday, April 13, to bring attention to the wide scale abuse of human rights in Bangladesh and to avert an impending civil war. The rally extended for five blocks and most of the participants were from Bangladesh. The crowd was addressed by many national and local leaders representing all the major Muslim organisations and ethnicities in the US. Imam Ayub Baqi, the chair of the justice committee of the umbrella organization of the New York area Muslims, The Islamic Leadership Council of New York and the Council’s former president, Imam Abdul Latif Al-Amin, both leaders of civil rights

‘The government is trying to weaken the party by arresting its leaders and activists. Our movements and protests will not submit to such threats. We want the election to be held under a neutral government’

25 April 2013

Latest developments in Bangladesh unrest An alliance of opposition parties in Bangladesh has called for a 36-hour general shutdown, or hartal in protest at the continued detention of seven senior officials of the Bangladesh Nationalist party (BNP). The protest, which was due to start on Tuesday, is the latest in a series in the increasingly politically volatile south Asian state. All businesses and shops will be expected to close. Though intensive strikes, demonstrations and clashes in the capital Dhaka and elsewhere in the country have diminished in recent weeks, tensions remain high. The seven BNP officials were detained in April on charges of inciting violence and vandalism in the country during the unrest earlier this year. Supporters say the charges are trumped up. Much of the unrest in recent months in the poor but developing country was initially provoked by the first verdicts passed by the new international war crimes tribunal, set up by Sheikh Hasina, the prime minister and daughter of the wartime leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, to investigate atrocities committed during the 1971 conflict. The tribunal is deeply controversial as those who are largely targeted belong to Jamaat-e-Islami, an Islamist party which is a key ally of the BNP. The leader of the opposition BNP, Khaleda Zia, the widow of the independence war’s best-known military commander, has accused Hasina of using the tribunal to hound political enemies. However, BNP activists say their concern is not with the tribunal itself but with constitutional changes implemented by the current government which will allow it to hold on to power until coming elections later this year or early in 2014, rather than hand over first to a caretaker administration. “The government is trying to weaken the party by arresting its leaders and activists,” said Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, a standing committee member of the BNP. “Our movements and protests will not submit to such threats. The country is moving towards a massive unrest. We want the election to be held under a neutral government.”

Yunus honour ‘for all of us’ Opinion

Rashed Ahmed Former UN regional administrator in Kosovo

t is truly an event of historic magnitude for Bangladesh — presentation of Congressional Gold Medal award to Professor Yunus. It is not only a personal honour for Yunus and Grameen, it is also an unprecedented honour to all our people. Nothing can be more fortuitous than the timing of the award. One can sense the unseen hand of divinity as it were, at a time when the nation is plagued by almost unprecedented despondency, despair, talk of civil war; a gathering storm on the horizon; if it comes it will imperil our freedom and democracy. The bestowing of the highest civilian US award on Yunus has lifted our sagging morale and spirit — a rekindling of the spirit of our Liberation War. Yes! We can do it again. Our Nobel Laureate has once again shown the way. The significance of the Congressional Award to Yunus can hardly be overemphasised. At a time when we are knocking the portals of foreign countries to help resolve our internal conflicts, the message is clear: A country which can produce the likes of Yunus should need no foreign counselling to solve its problems, which is its own making. The solution has to be indigenous and through our own initiative; our inherent talent; our ability; and the collective wisdom and will of our people. This can be realised with the support of the silent majority working in the fields, factories and our homes — the backbone of the nation. The silent majority have so often in history become vocal when required and were in the forefront of the movements which shaped and changed our history. It is time to act through unity and consensus. It is time to find a lasting solution to the political impasse.

Professor Yunus, being awarded