The leader and the young

A few days ago, in a general knowledge competition, a secondary school student was asked who had made the statement: "Urdu and only Urdu shall be the state language of Pakistan." He thought a little and knitting his brows answered confidently: "Moulana Bhasani." Somewhat taken aback, the questioner gave him another chance, which one of his teammates grabbed and replied rather more assuredly: "It's Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman." The shrewd questioner did not go any further. There was no reaction among the students. To call Sita the mother of Rama may be a stupid mistake, but to replace Bhasani or Bangabandhu with somebody from a diametrically opposite position is not merely a slip of the tongue. It is an awful mistake. If the students had the slightest idea about Bangabandhu and the pretty long story of our Liberation War, they would not have made the mistake, even with their ignorance of the correct answer. With this single example at hand, I should not jump to the conclusion that the young generation of our country knows nothing about the founding father of the nation. The young are in the dark about the true story of our Liberation War, about its friends and foes. But then again, there is no reason for taking it easy. How can the saviour of a nation be the votary of its enemy's language? Even a kid knowing the ABC of our independence history will not commit such a blunder. Does it not then prove that our young generation is not well aware of our greatest national leader Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman? Maybe they are not to blame for that. As a matter of fact, there has been a conspiracy to make the youngsters oblivious of Bangabandhu. It began with his assassination on the inauspicious August night of 1975. Ever since then, the country fell mostly under the sway of despotic military rule accompanied by the corrupt politicians and opportunist bureaucrats, and of pseudo-democrats and religious fundamentalists.They have one thing in common i.e. Bangabandhu-bashing. They tried to indemnify the killers of Bangabandhu and rewarded them with lucrative portfolios. They took sustained efforts to erase the image of Bangabandhu from the minds of the young by distorting history. They tried to obliterate the memories of Bangabandhu from the pages of history, inscriptions of monuments, and from whatever held recollections of Mujib. The general knowledge contestant's failure to answer a basic question of our national history is the result of the cold and calculating conspiracy of anti-Mujib campaign. The anti-Mujib campaigners are not, however, as powerful as history itself. History takes its own course, maybe after quite a long time. But this is inevitable. So, anti-Mujib campaigners have vainly tried to change the course of history, eventually making a mockery of it. What they had done at best is that they had fooled some people for sometime, or what they can still do is that they can fool some people for all time, but they can never fool all people into believing a false story for all time. So our young generation cannot be kept uninformed of the true history of our independence much longer. But how? A sense of history cannot be given by a push of the button. It requires enlightenment, which our young generation is more or less devoid of. They are unaware of things related to our Liberation War. They are keen more on punk lifestyle, hard rock, soft porn, net-chat and even yaba, than in the story of their motherland. It is like an old wife's tale to them. This is, however, a sweeping generalisation but, for sure, a thing that matters. The good ones among this generation are also less attentive to these. They tend to apply their talent and energy only to have a competitive edge and consequently grow into salable human commodity. So, both the degenerate young and the so-called good ones are short of knowledge of the birth of Bangladesh and its architect Bangabandhu. To look into one's own history and culture, and to go for the quest for national identity and cultural heritage have become an imperative in these postcolonial days. Ours is not a beggarly socio-political and cultural legacy. We fought valiantly a war of independence under the leadership of Bangabandhu. Like Washington was in America, Lenin in Russia, Churchill in Britain, De Gaulle in France, Mao Tse Tung in China, Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam, Sukarno in Indonesia, Kamal Ataturk in Turkey, Patrice Lumumba in Congo, Jomo Keneyatta in Kenya, Benbella in Algeria, Mandella in South Africa, Castro in Cuba, Mahatma Gandhi in India, Jinnah in Pakistan -- so was Bangabandhu in Bangladesh. He was really bangabandhu, friend of Bangladesh. And hence he could utter: "Standing on the gallows, I will tell I am a Bengali, Bangla is my country, Bangla is my language." On the black night of March 25, when he was advised to go into hiding, he flatly refused and retorted: "I must share the sufferings of my people along with them. I must share. I cannot leave them in the face of fire. I cannot." Really he did not flee to safety from the war-torn country. Rather, he willingly fell the first prey to the marauding force. Love for motherland had prompted him to take such a risk. Afterwards, for long nine months, day after day and night after night in the dark room of the prison camp, he longed for the freedom of his country. The unbearable suffering in the dungeon could not sap the strength of his patriotism. Such a big man should not be cast into oblivion. The young should be aware of the fact that Bangabandhu was the fearless fighter of the Language Movement of 1952; the pioneer of Democratic Movement of 1962; the originator of the Six-point Movement of 1966; the life-force of the Mass Movement of 1969; the enviable victor of the Election of 1970 and, above all, the greatest hero of the Liberation War of 1971. He is undisputedly the architect of independent Bangladesh and, therefore, the Father of the Nation. To be unaware of this is ignorance. To deny this is an offence against independence.

The sinister darkness in which Sheikh Mujib died

In AUGUST 1975 was a transitional time in Bangladesh. Mujib was making radical administrative changes and adopting measures that would have a tremendous social impact. There was only one political party in the country now -- the Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League (BAKSAL). BAKSAL on which all sections of the people, including the armed forces and the police, were represented, would be an integral part of the administration. The importance of bureaucrats would diminish, when the governors-designate of the districts took up their new offices on 1 September 1975. The army was to be split and made to join in productive work at the district level. It was a revolutionary step.The evening of August 14, 1975 did not seem different from any other evening in August.Dhaka University was preparing to welcome Mujib the next day.Mujib was arrested in March 1948, when he was a law student, for leading a black-flag demonstration against Jinnah on the highly emotional issue of making Bengali one of the two State languages.Mujib was arrested again next year for leading a strike of lower grade university employees. When he was released, he found that he had in the meantime been rusticated from the university.He would be visiting the university the next day as the Chancellor.Following the exploding of a hand grenade on the university campus, security arrangements for Mujib's visit to the university were tightened. Bomb blasts and grenade explosions had, ever since the Pakistani army's crackdown on Bengalis on the night of March 25/26 , 1971, become almost a part of life in Dacca and did not disturb one's sleep. But there were rumours Mujib returned home from Gano Bhaban around 8.30 pm. Russell, Mujib's ten-year-old son, was all excitement. He was one of the six boys chosen by the Principal of the University Laboratory School to welcome Mujib when he visited the university the next morning.Kader Siddiqui, better known as Tiger (Baga) Siddiqui for his exploits in the Liberation War, was one of the governors-designate. When he was going to the Post Graduate Hospital in Dhaka to see his ailing mother on the evening of August 14, he saw a tank near Karwan Bazar. There was another tank near the hospital, which is almost opposite the Radio Station.After seeing his mother, Kader drove down to Motijheel. Yet another tank; three tanks within a radius of one kilometre. He turned back. There was still another tank near the Engineer's Institute, hardly two hundred metres from the hospital. It was a little past 11 pm. Kader Siddiqui drove on to the Rakkhi Bahini camp near Gano Bhaban in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar. Anwarul Alam Shahid, Deputy Director of the Rakkhi Bahini, told Kader Siddiqui that the Bengal Lancers had been authorised to take out three tanks. But why were there four tanks? Shahid said, "You may have seen one tank twice." Could be. Shahid was a former student leader and had fought in the liberation war. There was no reason to doubt what he said.Tank manoeuvres were a Thursday-night routine and twice a month the Bengal Lancers and the Second Field Artillery held combined exercise.It was late by the time Kader Siddiqui returned home. He asked his sister not to wake him up in the morning. He had been leaving home early for many days now, but the training program for governors-designate would end tomorrow with a lunch meeting at which all the ministers would be present. He could take it easy.Brigadier Jamil, the President's Security Chief, spent a restless night. His wife was ill, and he had to escort the president to the university in the morning. It was not a new duty for him, but he was very uneasy. He had been appointed Director of the Field Intelligence Unit, but handing over charge of the Unit to him had somehow not been completed still. Jamil's wife asked him to go to sleep. "I can't sleep," he said.Khandaker Moshtaque Ahmed too spent a sleepless night. There were a number of visitors to 54 Agha Mashi Lane, Moshtaque's house in old Dhaka. One of the visitors was his nephew Major Rashid.Taheruddin Thakur was like a cat on hot bricks that night. Any call would make him jump. He tried to calm his nerves with prayers. He had a bath and got ready as if he had to keep an appointment at an unearthly hour. A guest in the house wondered why Taheruddin was so tense.Kamal, Mujib's son, came back home after midnight from the university campus, where last-minute touches were being given to the preparations to welcome Mujib. At the same time finishing touches were being given to a plot at the Dhaka cantonment.When it was still dark, Col. Farook addressed the Bengal Lancers, whom he had trained to hunt in killer packs. The Lancers in their black overalls were like the hordes of Satan in Milton's Paradise Lost.Farook spat fire and venom. He said that Mujib had sold the country to foreign powers and was going to break up the army and disband the Lancers. He played on their fears and incited them in the name of Islam. It was time to strike.They moved out in three columns. Their targets were less than two kilometres away.In the glimmering before dawn, the Rakkhi Bahini hurriedly took up positions in front of their camp near the MNA's hostel in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar. Most of them were wearing lungis and were bare-footed. While some living in the area were still wondering what was happening, the Rakkhi Bahini were withdrawn. A tank raced down the airport runway, bridged a wall and trained its gun on the camp.Thirty tanks were deployed at strategic points in the city.The houses of Mujib, his brother-in-law Abdur Rab Serneabat and his nephew Sheikh Fazlul Huq Moni were surrounded simultaneously.Soldiers started shooting at Mujib's house from all directions. Bullets were whizzing in through the windows on the first floor, where all the bedrooms were. A bullet grazed the hand of Sheikh Nasser, Mujib's younger brother.They all took shelter in Mujib's dressing room, which was the least exposed. It was a repetition of March 26, 1971, when Pakistani troops had encircled the house. Mujib rang up some officers. Begum Mujib tore a strip from her sari and bandaged Nasser's hand.Kamal came down and asked the guards to take action, but they had been 'neutralised.' While Kamal was still trying to persuade the guards to act, Major Huda entered the house with some men. The guards saluted him. One of the men with Huda shot Kamal.Meanwhile, Brigadier Jamil was hurrying to Mujib's house. When his jeep was only a few hundred metres from Mujib's house, some soldiers who were waiting near Subhan Bagh mosque barked: "Halt." Jamil identified himself. They knew who he was; they had been posted there to intercept him. "We have orders to shoot anyone who passes this way," they threatened. When Jamil did not heed their warning, they shot him.Soldiers were by then swarming all over Mujib's house. They found a room closed on all sides -- it was Rehana's bedroom. They forced a door open, sending a cupboard full of things crashing to the floor."Let me see what they want," Mujib said and came out of the room as he had done on the night of March 26, 1971. He had faced the Pakistani soldiers. These were his own men.Mujib was wearing a checked lungi and a white kurta.Mujib met Huda on the staircase. "It is you. What do you want?" Mujib asked. "We have come to take you," Huda said. "Do you think it is fun?" Mujib thundered. "I will not allow the country to be ruined." Huda was unnerved. A servant cried: "Kamal Bhai is dead." Havildar Moslemuddin, who was coming down from the terrace, swore and opened fire from behind with an automatic weapon, riddling Mujib's body with bullets.Soldiers were picking up whatever they could. "Take whatever you want but don't kill us," Begum Mujib pleaded. But hearing the burst of firing, she came out. "You have killed him, kill me," she wailed. She was silenced forever.Jamal, his wife Rosy, and Sultana, Kamal's wife, were still in the dressing room. A burst from a sten gun and the three were dead.The gunmen found Nasser in a bathroom and shot him. Russell was cowering in a corner. "Take me to my mother," he whimpered. "We will take you to your mother," one of the homicidal maniacs said. A police officer pleaded for Russell's life: "He is only a child." The officer was killed. One arm of Russell had been shot off, yet he begged: "Don't kill me, don't kill me." The answer was a bullet. Russell lay dead by his mother's side.Farook and Rashid were late in reaching Mujib's house. Farook went up to satisfy himself that all had been killed. He telephoned someone.

Memories of Bangabandhu

WHAT was he then? An angel? A superman? Or what? He was none of the kind. He was rather something which very few of us in the country could ever be. He was a total human being with all the qualities of head and heart. A tremendously amiable disposition with his whole existence deeply planted into the alluvial soil of Bangladesh. That was precisely why he couldn't don the personality of a so-called 'gentleman' with double standards. Very truly he was an integral part of the land, its hopes and aspirations.Politics was deeply ingrained in his veins right from his student days. Yet, he was never found to have indulged in politics of personal aggrandisement. He didn't belong to that group of people who feign to have been born with a silver spoon between their lips. He came rather from a very common middle class family in rural Bengal thriving on a few acres of agricultural land beside a peaceful homestead. He had his early schooling at his birthplace and, coming of age, he moved to Calcutta. He was at Islamia College and lived in the historic Baker Hostel. Here he had his full political grooming. From this college he graduated in 1947.Yes, I have been so long talking about the greatest Bangalee of the twentieth century, the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. His leadership qualities, dipped in an unending stream of robust manliness, stole the limelight as far back as in 1943. Around this time and by virtue of his immense contribution to his party he was universally regarded as one of the very few highly committed student leaders of the All India Muslim Students' League -- a student wing of the All India Muslim League. At the same time, Sheikh Mujib was a very powerful and active member of the All Bengal Muslim Students' League. Among his eminent contemporaries were Fazlul Quader Chowdhury, Mohiuddin Ahmed, Nooruddin Ahmed, Shah Azizur Rahman, Shamsul Huda Chowdhury and Abdul Wasek. He was elected a councillor of the All India Muslim League in 1943. Suited much to his immaculate physical stature, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was an imposing personality that could easily subdue obdurate political antagonists. He made his mark among his fellow workers indelibly and he was instantly spotted by none other than Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy and Abul Hashim. The last election in undivided Bengal was held in 1946 on the issue of Pakistan. In the campaign Sheikh Mujib played a pivotal role, particularly in his assigned district Faridpur and in the other adjacent districts of Barisal, Khulna, Jessore, and Kushtia. He used to move around on motor launches, steamers and boats with Suhrawardy to campaign for the Muslim League. One of the most potential contenders against them was the Krishak Proja Party of Sher-e-Bangla A. K. Fazlul Huq. And this was the first time that I met the young. lanky, ever vibrant Sheikh Mujib -- in 1946. I was then a student of class nine and had to join the publicity campaign on the same boat that carried Suhrawardy and Mujib among many others. Most of the places we travelled to by motor launch with Shaheed Suhrawardy and Sheikh Mujib used to be inaccessible strong holds of Sher-e-Bangla. Naturally, reaching people for votes in favour of the Muslim League as against the Krishak Proja Party of Huq Saheb was considered to be an absolutely absurd proposition. At all those places Huq Saheb had already made almost atrocious aspersions among the innocent villagers against Suhrawardy. The few supporters of the Muslim League were seen desperately dissuading Mr. Suhrawardy from getting down to the shore where a large hostile crowd, evidently Huq Saheb's supporters, with black flags, were seen chanting ugly slogans. Suhrawardy was undaunted and determined to go ashore and talk to the people. Sheikh Mujib and a few other student leaders, besides a number of armed national guards, surrounded the leader who held in his hand a microphone. After initial entreaties Mr. Suhrawardy introduced himself to the crowd telling them that he regarded Sher-e-Bangla as one of his 'Murubbis' -- a most revered one. And he added that when Huq Saheb was reported to have doubted Suhrawardy's faith in Islam he was terribly shocked. Yet he thought that he would remove the undesirable notion and misunderstanding created among the local people about his adherence to the dictates of Allah in the Holy Quraan, the norms and principles that should guide every Muslim. He didn't take a second's breather and commenced reciting from the Holy Book and simultaneously translating each piece in his broken Bangla. The result was simply magical, making the entire crowd dumbfounded in a moment. Sheikh Mujib evidently took his first lesson in crisis management from his philosopher and guide. My second and last meeting with Sheikh Mujib took place sometime in the later part of 1952, perhaps after his release from jail (due to his active involvement in the language movement in February of the same year). It was in my hometown Barisal at the gate of the very popular Baron's Restaurant on Sadar Road. He was being escorted by Abdul Karim, a NAP (Bhashani) leader. Karim Bhai was about to introduce me to him when Mujib Bhai stopped him and asked me by name how I was and where my elder Kazi Bahauddin (one of his closest associates of the time) was. He asked me to tell my brother that he was in our town. This was again a highly astonishing feature of this great man. His memory was unbelieveably rich as he could remember anyone by name even after several decades. Sher-e-Bangla had the same quality.Down memory lane the most tragic and diabolically abhorring episode I shall narrate now was all in a dream. In order of chronology it could be the last physical encounter with him. But it was not since I met him when I was deep asleep. It happened, coincidentally, at past midnight of August 13, 1975. I saw Sheikh Mujib climbing down the wooden stairs of a two-storied tin shed bare-footed. I distinctly recall that I was standing at the foot of the stairs. He asked me in his typical style: "Bhai, thou shall not mind if I ask you to bring down my footwear from the room above. I forgot to bring it." My reply was: "I will just do that now. Kindly wait here." Then I ran up and again hurriedly rushed down with his pair of shoes. But he was not there. I cried out loudly and continued audibly for at least 2-3 minutes. I couldn't resist myself. My wife, sleeping beside me, rose in fear. "What happened? Did you have a bad dream?" I sobbed and recounted the whole episode to her. She tried to console me but I couldn't stop for quite some time. And in about twenty-four hours, in the early hours of August 15, 1975, he was gone -- except for his two daughters Hasina and Rehana. All others in the house at Road 32, Dhanmondi Residential Area were ruthlessly murdered. Thus, the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who gave us an independent country Bangladesh lost his life with almost all the members of his family. It is a pity that the four-party alliance government led by BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami cancelled the official observance of August 15 as National Mourning Day. And it is again our good fortune that the highest seat of judiciary has reversed the decision of the BNP-led government and restored the solemn importance of the day. The caretaker government of Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed has, happily for all of us, initiated measures to observe the day with due honour and dignity. Whosoever goes to power subsequent to the December 2008 national elections and those in later years will, we trust, do the same.

State mourning for Bangabandhu today: President, CA, 3 services chiefs pay homage

The nation mourns the assassination of Bangladesh's founding-father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman today with state level arrangements to observe the day.Following a High Court order, the Caretaker Government reinstated August 15 as National Mourning Day and a public holiday to commemorate the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The last BNP-led alliance government had cancelled the state observance of August 15 in 2002. The day was declared as the National Mourning Day when Hasina led his Awami League back to power after 21 years in political wilderness.On this day in 1975 Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was killed along with most of his family members at his Dhanmondi residence by a group of army officers. Two of his daughters, former premier Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana survived the putsch as they were abroad. An indemnity was awarded to the assassins barring trial of the miscreants and their masterminds.The delayed trial in the former premier's assassination was initiated in 1996 to bring the killers, all former military officers, to justice and a Dhaka court in 1998 handed down death sentence to 15 of them. However, the sentences are yet to be executed.The national flag will fly half-mast at all government and semi-government offices to show respects to the slain leader on the 33rd anniversary of his assassination.President Professor Dr Iajuddin Ahmed, Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed and chiefs of the three forces would place wreaths at the grave of Bangabandhu at Tungipara, in Gopalganj district this morning and offer fateha there.A special guard of honour by the armed forces will be paid to Bangabandhu. President Prof Dr Iajuddin Ahmed and Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed paid their deep tributes to the memory of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on the eve of his 33rd death anniversary, recalling his heroic leadership for the country's independence.In a message, Prof Iajuddin said the nation with deep respects recall the contribution of Bangabandhu, the harbinger of Bangladesh's independence struggle and architect of independent and sovereign Bangladesh."Bangabandhu was uncompromising in realizing self-rights by enduring oppression and torture. His political farsightedness, valour, oratory and robust leadership had inspired the nation into the war of independence," said the President.In another message, Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed said Bangabandhu, an unforgettable personality and ever-shining ideal in the nation's history, had faced torture and imprisoned for long in order to establish people's rights. "His call for independence and freedom had inspired and unified the whole nation."The CA lauded Bangabandhu for his ceaseless struggle against subjugation, exploitation, misrule, deprivation and injustice."He had created an unprecedented mass awareness across the country, which is rare in world history. The Bengali nation had achieved the great independence due to his uncompromising, fearless and farsighted leadership," said the head of the caretaker government.Our correspondent from Tungipara reports that special security arrangements have been taken at Tungipara ahead of scheduled visits by the president, chief adviser and chiefs of the three forces.Special Security Forces have been deployed around the mausoleum complex of Bangabandhu. Troops staged preparatory parades in honour of the supreme leader of Bangladesh's liberation war.In observance of the 33rd death anniversary of Bangabandhu, different political parties including Awami League, Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), Ganatantri Party, Workers Party, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) and Jatiya Party have chalked out elaborate programmes.Socio-cultural organisations, professional bodies and people from all walks of life will organise different programmes including placing wreaths on Bangabandhu's portrait at Dhanmondi and also at the Banani graveyard, holding discussion meetings, milad mahfil, feeding of destitute etc.Senior Awami League leaders paid homage yesterday at Bangabandhu's mazar at Tungipara as part of the party's two-day programme.National and party flags of Awami League will be hoisted half-mast and black flags also be hoisted at Bangabandhu Bhaban and all the party offices at 6 am today.The leaders and activists will place wreath at the portrait of Mujibur Rahman at the Bhaban at about 8 am.At Banani graveyard, wreaths will also be placed on the graves of all those who were killed with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on August 15, 1975 at 8.30am.Other programmes include destitute feeding and milad mehfil and prayer at all religious institutions.Acting General Secretary of the party Syed Ashraful Islam in a statement called upon the countrymen, including leaders, activists and supporters, to observe the mourning day "in a befitting manner".CPB President Monjurul Ahsan Khan and General Secretary Mujahidul Islam Selim in a statement yesterday said an axis of local and foreign enemies of Bangladesh were mastermind of the assassination.CPB demanded release of all the secret documents of intelligent agencies of various countries to unearth hidden story of the bloody coup."The motive behind the assassination was to backtrack Bangladesh from its progressive line. The patrons of the assassins, who assumed power after the August 15 bloody coup successively, led the nation towards past and brought detrimental amendments to the constitution," the party said. CPB demanded execution of the killers and restoration of four fundamentals that were enshrined in the constitution of 1972.CPB will organise a discussion meeting at its central office at Paltan in the caipital today as part of its countrywide programme to mark the death anniversary of Bangabandhu.Ganatantri Party will also arrange discussion meeting at its Maya Kanan central office at Kakrail in the city.

Promoting tourism in SAARC countries

The centuries old civilization, affluent and exclusive cultural diversity, exquisite gastronomy invitation, exceptionally diverse and vast array of geography, wonderful archaeological monuments, historic sites of religious worth and above all very friendly people of South Asia, make the region a very attractive place for intra-regional as well as worldwide tourism. Easily the region can woo all kinds of tourists from momcation to baby boomers at a single row because of the regional connected boundaries. The SAARC Leaders constantly signify the importance of tourism and give emphasis to the need of taking measures for advancing tourism in the region.The Leaders, during the Second Summit, underscored that concrete steps should be taken to facilitate tourism in the region. Tourism has been an important dimension of most of the subsequent Summits. At the Twelfth Summit held in Islamabad in January 2004, the Leaders were of the view that development of tourism within South Asia could bring economic, social and cultural dividends.There is a need for increasing cooperation to jointly promote tourism with South Asia as well as to promote South Asia as a tourism destination by improved air links and uninterrupted highways. To achieve this and to commemorate the twentieth year of the establishment of SAARC, the year 2005 has been designated by the Leaders as "South Asia Tourism Year". Member States are required to individually and jointly organize special events to celebrate it.Working Group on Tourism The Working Group on Tourism was established by the Council of Ministers during its Twenty-fourth Session held in Islamabad in January 2004. This was done after a comprehensive review of the SAARC Integrated Program of Action by the Standing Committee at its Fourth Special Session held in Kathmandu in August 2003.After that, the collective initiative for promoting South Asian Tourism has been almost unseen and unspoken for. The sense of its importance has not been exhibited in the recent 15th SAARC Summit as well. The subject of tourism has been shadowed by the issues of food crisis, climate change and terrorism. But ironically tourism may play an effective role to combat those above manmade threats towards peace and prosperity. The Working Group in 2004 made a number of recommendations for promotion of tourism in the SAARC region e.g.Printing of a SAARC Travel Guide,Production of a documentary movie on tourism in SAARC,Promotion of sustainable development of Eco-Tourism, Cultural Tourism and Nature Tourism,Collaboration in HRD in tourism sector by having programs for exchange of teachers, students, teaching modules and materials, Promoting Cooperation in the field of tourism with other relevant regional and international tourism organizations.In reality these recommendations are yet to be regular and are having less priority among more stressed issues of the region. In 2006 SAARC Tourism Ministerial meeting was held in Cox's Bazar. The gist of the meeting was almost remaining rhetoric in the promotion of tourism. Another sincere and serious SAARC tourism meeting should be called for pretty soon. The following mostly expected issues can be discussed in the meeting or underscored for the promotion of SAARC Tourism:Regularization of recommendations of the 2004's working groupsSAARC PassportSAARC Tour Operators and Travel AgenciesSAARC Tourism Board SAARC Chain HotelsInstitute of SAARC Hotel and Tourism ManagementSAARC AirlinesSAARC currency SAARC Transportation etc.The promotion of tourism in the region is the intense demand of the hours. Tourism could be the only recipe for uplifting peace, prosperity, fraternity, poverty reduction, for which SAARC had been originated, in the region.

Terrorism, food, climate likely to top agenda (15th SAARC Summit)

Terrorism, food security and climate change are likely to top the agenda at the 15th Summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation starting Saturday in Sri Lanka's capital, to be attended by the regional heads of states.
The eight-member regional grouping will approve the Colombo Declaration at the conclusion of the summit on Sunday. Chief adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed left Dhaka Thursday night for Colombo. Foreign affairs adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury and foreign secretary Touhid Hossain were already in the Sri Lankan capital to attend pre-summit meets. Enhancing cooperation in curbing terrorism, guaranteeing food and energy security and facing climate change as a region are the issues most likely to gain focus. Delhi will seek greater cooperation from SAARC countries following the recent series of bomb blasts in major Indian cities and the July bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul. Dhaka, among others, will try to seek a greater consensus on the issue of climate change and consequent sea-level rise, which could inundate a huge portion of Bangladesh and engulf almost the whole of the Maldives island chain. The region's foreign ministers, at the two-day Council of Ministers meeting ahead of the summit, discussed ways to activate the SAARC food bank to fight the global food crisis. Foreign adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, addressing the ministerial meeting on Thursday, called on SAARC ministers to tackle the major regional and global contemporary problems of food security and climate change, as well as trade. He urged SAARC to remove all non-tariff barriers that impeded commerce and posed difficulties for the least developed countries of the region. Fakhruddin is expected to hold three sideline meetings with India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Colombo.

Justice not meted out 33 years into murder

The nation today observes the 33rd death anniversary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the architect of its independence, as uncertainty still hangs over the trial of his killers.After a six-year break, the day is being commemorated at state level.In line with a High Court (HC) ruling, the government recently reinstated August 15 as National Mourning Day and a public holiday in remembrance of the father of the nation who with most of his family was killed by a band of army men on this day in 1975.The BNP-led alliance government had stripped the day of its state status in 2002. But the HC on July 27 this year declared the decision illegal. August 15 was first declared National Mourning Day by the Awami League (AL) government in 1996.Three separate attacks on this day 33 years ago left as many as 24 people killed. Bangabandhu's two daughters--Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana--could escape the bloodbath as they were abroad at that time. The victims include Bangabandhu's wife Begum Fazilatunnesa Mujib, sons Sheikh Kamal, Sheikh Jamal and nine-year-old Sheikh Russell, daughters-in-law Sultana Kamal, Parveen Jamal, brother Sheikh Naser, nephew Sheikh Fazlul Huq Moni and his wife Begum Arju Moni, brother-in-law Abdur Rab Serniabat, 13-year-old Baby Serniabat, Serniabat's son Arif and four-year-old grandson Babu, three guests, four servants, and Bangabandhu's security chief Colonel Jamil Uddin Ahmed. Bangabandhu united the Bangalees to throw off the shackles of Pakistani oppression and steered them to independence. His stirring speech before a crowd of lakhs raring to stake everything for freedom on March 7, 1971 left an indelible imprint on the nation's memory. For 21 long years, his killers had been immune from prosecution thanks to Indemnity Ordinance. The infamous law was finally repealed in 1996, paving the way for trial. A murder case was filed on October 2, 1996. In November 1998, the trial court awarded death penalty to 15 former army officers for killing Bangabandhu and his family.The HC upheld the death sentence of 12. Of those, Syed Farooq-ur Rahman, Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan, Muhiuddin Ahmed, AKM Mahiuddin Ahmed (Lancer) and Bazlul Huda are behind bars while six are holed up abroad. Aziz Pasha, the other one, has died.Those still at large are Shariful Haque Dalim, AKM Mahiuddin, Rashed Chowdhury, Nur Chowdhury, Abdul Mazed and Moslemuddin.After the changes in January last year, the five on death row had filed appeals with the Supreme Court. But the appeals remain shelved as the Appellate Division is still shy of a judge to form a three-member bench required to hear those.State counsel of this case Anisul Huq yesterday told The Daily Star that they did not appeal to the SC for hearing the appeals in view of the shortage of judges. Abdullah-al Mamun, a counsel for the convicts, said the appeals lie unheard because the chief justice has yet to constitute a bench for hearing.Along with Awami League (AL), different political parties, student and socio-cultural organisations have taken up elaborated programmes to mourn the August 15 killings and demand execution of the verdict in Bangabandhu murder case.President Iajuddin Ahmed and Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed will place floral wreaths at Bangabandhu's tomb at Tungipara in Gopalganj. The president yesterday issued a statement to pay respect to the independence leader. The same day AL central leaders laid wreaths and offered special prayers at the grave of Bangabandhu. AL acting president Zillur Rahman in a statement thanked the government for reinstating the day as National Mourning Day.

Child labour

It is universally acknowledged that today's children are the future leaders of any nation. But in our countr,Bangladesh, we see that a lot of children are working in various fields. We often find them as a rickshaw-puller, table boy at restaurant, labourer in construction sites, worker in factories, hawker, etc. To eliminate this inhuman phenomenon, many NGOs are working hard, but they have not achieved much so far. The number of working children is increasing day by day. The issue has to be addressed as a matter of top priority