A bus requisitioned by police is burning near the BNP headquarters at Nayapaltan in the capital yesterday around 7:00pm, an hour after the opposition's dawn-to-dusk countrywide hartal ends. Photo: CourtesyStaff correspondent
The country's business community has expressed grave concern as the hartal called by main opposition BNP demanding trace of its missing leader Ilias Ali steps on the third consecutive day.
Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), the apex trade body, yesterday called a media briefing for today to urge the political leaders to keep from hartal and find an alternative to solve the deepening political crisis.
“The economy of the country is heading towards uncertainty as the businesses are being adversely affected by political strikes,” said AK Azad, president of FBCCI.
Hartal is not the solution, he said, “We want political leaders to figure out an alternative so that the economy of the country is not hampered.”
Amjad Khan Chowdhury, president of Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said businesses suffer as goods transportation as well as the domestic market is seriously disturbed on hartal days.
He said he could not transport dairy milk to the capital from the northern region of the country for hartal.
Readymade garments sector, the main foreign currency earner, has also expressed deep concern over the continuation of hartal.
In a statement yesterday, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturer and Exporters Association (BGMEA) said they could not transport goods up to Chittagong port for export due to hartal. As a result, they would have to count discount for delayed shipment or send their consignments by air, which was very expensive.
With inadequate supply of power and gas, and weak infrastructure, the prolonged hartal would only add to the suffering of the readymade garment sector, which was already going through a tough time for the ongoing financial meltdown in two important export destinations, the EU and the US, said the statement.
Tanjim Ahmad Sohel Taj, son of the country's first prime minister Tajuddin Ahmad, resigned as lawmaker yesterday and declared that he would no longer be involved in active politics.
On May 31, 2009, he stepped down as state minister for home following what he told his close aides was a row with a cousin of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
But the premier on Thursday said Sohel was still a state minister as she did not accept his resignation, apparently prompting him to leave his parliament membership.
Two days before Hasina's comment, Sohel Taj demanded that the government issue a gazette notification on his resignation as state minister, as he thinks his dignity and the image of the government as well as the prime minister were tarnished for not doing so.
He also said the government must take back around Tk 40 lakh deposited in his account as remuneration and allowances for the post.
The resignation of this young politician, who was elected from Gazipur-4 constituency in 2001 and 2008 national polls, came as a shock to Awami League leaders and workers and ordinary people.
Many believe his quitting as MP would create further crisis for the government, which is already grappling with some critical issues including continuous agitation by the main opposition BNP.
In his resignation letter to Speaker Abdul Hamid, Sohel Taj said, “My constituency is 197, Gazipur-4 (Kapasia). I submit my resignation letter to you under section 67 (2) of the Constitution of People's Republic of Bangladesh.”
In an open letter to his constituents as well as the countrymen, he said, “I have resigned from the posts of MP and state minister on justified grounds.”
Abu Kawser, assistant personal secretary of Sohel Taj, who is currently living in the US, submitted the resignation to the Speaker's office around 10:25am. Mohammad Shamim, an official, received the letter, Kawser told The Daily Star.
Sohel Taj was present on 88 out of 288 working days of this parliament's sessions.
Deputy Speaker Col (retd) Shawkat Ali termed Sohel's resignation sad.
“If an MP feels that he cannot discharge his responsibilities with dignity, he can resign from parliament. But it's not necessary that other lawmakers will follow suit,” he said, talking to reporters at his residence on the Jatiya Sangsad premises in the afternoon.
The Daily Star yesterday also talked to Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury and Communications and Railways Minister Obaidul Quader to know the government reaction.
Matia, also an AL presidium member, said Sohel thought he was not duly serving the people of his constituency and this could be the reason for his resignation.
The minister, however, dismissed that the government would be in crisis following his resignation. “Our leader, the prime minister, did not lack sympathy for the family members of the four national leaders [including Tajuddin].”
Quader, also a presidium member of AL, said it was not good news for him. The formal reaction would come from the government after Sheikh Hasina returns from Qatar today.
Meanwhile, some lawmakers expressed their sadness over their colleague's resignation.
"I am deeply saddened. This resignation of a parliamentary colleague and a model public representative is a huge loss for all of us,” AL lawmaker Saber Hossain Chowdhury told The Daily Star.
“Strict principles, firm convictions and a clear sense of what is right and what is unacceptable are family traits that run deep in him. At a time when these values are increasingly at a premium, his resignation could not have come at a worse time.”
Saber added Sohel Taj has so much more to offer to Bangladesh. “I hope he will not disengage and withdraw himself completely from the political process."
Another lawmaker said the government should have engaged someone to talk to Sohel to keep him in parliament and in the cabinet. “It seems none took the initiative. It is sad,” he said, preferring not to be named.
The people of Kapasia, the constituency of Sohel, are upset about the resignation of their lawmaker. Many of his supporters became emotional hearing the news.
Local leaders of AL were wondering what was behind his resignation.
Azgar Rashid Khan, president of Kapasia AL, said the people of Kapasia could not accept this. “The reasons why he has resigned are not clear to us as he did not discuss the matter with any of us.”
The Anti-Corruption Commission suspects that Yusuf Ali Mridha had brought Tk 70 lakh from Chittagong to Dhaka on April 9 and passed it to Omar Faruq, the sacked aide of the former railway minister.
On the night of April 9, the amount was first being carried on the private car of Mridha, the suspended railway general manager (east). The money was then moved to Faruq's microbus at the capital's Dhanmondi-3, ACC's primary investigation has found.
Ever since the railwaygate scandal involving the recovery of Tk 70 lakh broke late that night, Faruq has all along claimed the money was his. Mridha, on the other hand, repeatedly claimed he had no knowledge of any money being carried in the vehicle.
To verify their claims, the ACC yesterday decided to summon Mridha's driver Mokhlesur Rahman who had driven the private car up to Dhanmondi.
The anti-graft body will send Mokhlesur, a government employee, a notice today, asking him to appear before the ACC officials on April 25, ACC officials told The Daily Star yesterday.
Border force members seized the money after Faruq's driver Ali Azam Khan drove the microbus into Pilkhana headquarters in the capital around 11:30pm on April 9. Apart from Faruq and Mridha, another top railway official Enamul Huq was in the microbus.
Reportedly, the money is part of the bribe taken from railway job seekers, and the microbus was headed for Suranjit's Jigatola residence.
It may be mentioned that Faruq deposited Tk 70 lakh in his Mercantile Bank's Dhanmondi branch account on April 11.
The railwaygate scandal has cost Suranjit Sengupta his railway job. Barely five months into taking over as railway minister, he announced his resignation on April 16 taking "full responsibility" for the scam.
The cash haul drew huge flak from different quarters, prompting the ACC, railway ministry and railway to open separate investigations into the source of the money and the alleged recruitment business in the railway.
The ACC formed a three-member committee to look into the source of the money, the reported recruitment trade and the wealth of Faruq, Mridha and Enamul.
ACC officials told this paper yesterday they had gathered that Mridha came to Dhaka from Chittagong with the money in the morning of April 9.
"He [Mridha] started from his residence at Kamalapur Railway Officers' Quarters for the minister's Jigatola house along with his driver Mokhlesur Rahman and [suspended] Dhaka division security commandant Enamul.
"On the way to the minister's house, the GM stopped at his father-in-law's residence at Dhanmondi-3 around 10:00pm where Faruq and his microbus driver Azam joined in. From there Mridha and Enamul boarded the microbus with the money, and Mridha asked his driver to return home," said an ACC official.
Two ACC officials close to the ongoing investigation said they would interrogate Mridha's driver to cross-check some information such as from where the money was picked up in Mridha's car and then moved to Faruq's microbus.
This correspondent called Mridha over the cell phone several times and sent a text message requesting his comment on the matter, but he neither received the calls nor responded to the message.
On Saturday, Mridha, Faruq and Enamul appeared before the ACC investigators and gave their statements.
Following his appearance before the probe team, Faruq told reporters that the Tk 70 lakh recovered from his vehicle was his personal money.
On the same day, Mridha and Enamul claimed to journalists that they had no knowledge that there was money in the vehicle.
Faruq in his written statement to the ACC claimed that of the Tk 70 lakh, he had earned Tk 45 lakh through practicing law and got the rest Tk 25 lakh from his expatriate brother-in-law, who gave him the amount by exchanging foreign currencies.
The commission, however, did not accept his explanation and asked him to provide proof of both the claims.
On April 11, Enamul in an interview with The Daily Star claimed he had accompanied Mridha as he was asked to.
"As my boss [Mridha] asked me to accompany him to the minister's house, I followed the order," Enamul said, "We went to a house at Dhanmondi-3 by the GM's car. We then left the car and got on the microbus of the APS [Faruq]."
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia expressed her displeasure over this when Luna met her on Saturday night, and that frustrated Luna, party insiders said.
Asked about the Rab drive and reported negotiations between the government and BNP over Ilias, Luna yesterday only said, “There is no hope from anyone. I want my husband back at any cost.”
Ilias Ali, BNP organising secretary and former lawmaker, along with his car driver went missing in the early hours of April 18.
The main opposition party has accused the government of abducting Ilias while Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina described the incident as a drama.
On Saturday, following its joint drive with police at Pubail in Gazipur, Rab said they took Ilias' wife with them during the operation.
But Luna, who met Khaleda Zia after the drive, said she did not go anywhere with Rab.
BNP insiders said hearing about the drive, a group of party leaders met the chairperson and said it was not a right decision for Luna to go with Rab. She should have informed the party first about her decision so that it could get involved in the rescue process.
Khaleda agreed with them and expressed her displeasure to Luna when she met her.
The party insiders further said another group of leaders met Khaleda on Sunday night and convinced her that Luna took the right decision since rescuing Ilias is the first priority for her and for the party as well. A message was communicated to Luna that the party would stand by her in any situation.
Talking to the media at her residence yesterday, Luna said she was not afraid of anyone exerting pressure on her. “Who'll put pressure on me and why? I have no time to listen to anyone's statements. I just want my husband back."
Talking to The Daily Star yesterday, a senior BNP leader said some leaders were busy trying to use the incident for their political gains.
Meanwhile, Khaleda did not visit Ilias' family yesterday although sources at her office had informed the media earlier that she would visit the family in the evening.
BNP standing committee member Rafiqul Islam Mia met the wife and children of Ilias, and said the party would do its best to ensure that Ilias returned to them.
Contacted, State Minister for Home Shamsul Haque Tuku yesterday said investigation into the incident was still on, and when it ends, the outcome will be made public.
Commander M Sohail, director of Rapid Action Battalion's legal and media wing, said, “From the beginning, we are investigating the incident with utmost sincerity but we need more time to complete the task.”
Kazi Mainul, investigation officer for the general diary filed after Ilias' missing, said they yesterday submitted a second report to a Dhaka court, describing their efforts to rescue Ilias.
Two people were killed and at least 50 including 10 policemen injured in fierce clashes between pro-hartal pickets and law enforcers at Bishwanath upazila headquarters in Sylhet during the BNP-enforced second straight countrywide hartal yesterday.
The finance minister and the finance secretary yesterday blamed the democratic system of government for the compromise over whitening black money (untaxed money) that is too tough to control.
They made the observation at a pre-budget discussion with the Economic Reporters' Forum (ERF) at the finance ministry in the capital.
“The democratic government is proficient in the art of compromise,” Finance Minister AMA Muhith said on giving the chance to whiten black money by successive governments.
He said a chance was given to whiten black money in the first year of this government. In the following year, it was stopped but allowed again in the stockmarket in the third year.
“I do not know what will happen this year,” he said.
Black money becomes a topic of debate almost every year before the announcement of the national budget. The BNP-led governments from 1991 to 1996 and from 2001 to 2006 also legalised black money.
Surprisingly, Muhith pinned the blame on foreign currency earners for generation of black money, without considering bribery and corruption that are believed to be its major sources. But the minister did not explain how remittances generate black money.
Finance Secretary Mohammad Tareque said there is no economy without black money in the world, and profiteering by individuals generates black money.
“It (black money) will be there in capitalism,” he said.
India has long been trying to control black money, but has not succeeded yet, said the secretary.
In his introductory speech, Muhith said the upcoming budget for fiscal 2012-13 would be around Tk 190,000 crore, of which Tk 54,000 crore is meant for development programmes.
The minister said the budget is likely to be tabled in parliament on June 7 and to be approved on June 28.
He said containment of inflation and bank borrowing would remain as two major challenges in the coming year.
Muhith said he is optimistic about attaining GDP growth target of 7 percent.
He also said that Bangladesh's budget deficit remains within the limit.
Muhith said multi-level marketing (MLM) has been in operation in many countries across the globe for the last 30 years, but it requires special laws.
“The problem with MLM here is, it gets involved in banking operations cashing in on loopholes of cooperative laws.”
The minister said initiatives will be taken to change cooperative laws.
ERF President Khawza Mainuddin and General Secretary Abdur Rahim Harmachi also spoke at the discussion.
A bus requisitioned by police is burning near the BNP headquarters at Nayapaltan in the capital yesterday around 7:00pm, an hour after the opposition's dawn-to-dusk countrywide hartal ends. Photo: Courtesy
