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Showing posts from August, 2013

Bangladesh General Elections 2014 - Perspectives August 2013

Dated 12-Aug-2013 By Dr. Subhash Kapila   Introductory Observations   Bangladesh next General Elections could be held in 2013 at the year- end but since January 20 2014 is the outside limit as per the Constitution, they are being termed as General Elections2014. Therefore Bangladesh at the outside limit is only five months away from General Elections 2014 which could turn out as probably the most significant elections held so far.   Bangladesh stands today at crucial political cross-roads where the nation was engulfed in 2013 with incessant violence centred on the politics of national identity on one hand and opposed on the other side by political groupings banking on the religion of Islam in electoral politics, desperately bent on pushing Bangladesh towards an Islamist Caliphate.   The Shahbagh Protests that erupted in early 2013 were an expression, going by the large-scale participation of Bangladesh youth of both sexes and women protestors of all ages, as exp

Bangladesh – Roots of Liberation at Stake

Dated 06-Aug-2013 By Bhaskar Roy   On August 01, the Bangladesh High Court finally delivered a judgement warning those bent on reversing the spirit of liberation that the nation will not give up on its principles.    The court declared that the Jamaat-e-Islami (JEI) Bangladesh’s registration with the Election Commission (EC) stood null and void.  This will debar the party from contesting the next elections.   The JEI is, however, free to appeal to the Supreme Court or change its constitution in line with the Constitution of the country and the Representation of Peoples Order (RPO).   The High Court verdict come on a public interest litigation filed by the secretary general of the Bangladesh Tarikat Federation’s (BTF) Rezaqul Haque Choudhary and 24 others in January 2009, challenging the legality of the JEI registration as a political party.  The matter could come up because the Supreme Court barred the use of religion in politics, restoring the 1972 Constitution based

1,500 Bangladeshi tribals seek refuge in India

The Times of India   http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com   IANS | Aug 4, 2013, 05.32 PM IST   AGARTALA: Over 1,500 tribals in Bangladesh fled to the Indian border along Tripura seeking refuge after ethnic strife broke out with non-tribal Muslims, officials said here on Sunday. "Over 1,500 men, women and children of Chakma and Tripuri tribes have taken shelter in the India-Bangladesh border village at Karbook after fleeing from five villages in Khagrachari district," Border Security Force (BSF) deputy inspector general Bhaskar Rawat told IANS. "The tribals entered Indian territory on Saturday evening after ethnic troubles in Bangladesh. They were stopped at the border by the BSF . We are providing them food and other assistance." The tribals, mostly Buddhists and Hindus, fled the Chittagong Hill Tracts after clashes over the reported abduction of a local leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the main opposition in Bangladesh led by for

50 houses torched in Khagrachhari

The New Nation 5th August, 2013 http://nation.ittefaq.com/ UPDF road blockade today UNB, Khagrachhari  Around 50 houses of indigenous families were reportedly set on fire by some miscreants in Matiranga upazila here on Saturday.  Locals said, unidentified miscreants set fire to the houses at Bandar Shing para, Boga para, Manudas para and Laku headman para following abduction of Md Kamal,32, a motorbike rider, from Taindang area in the uapzila on Saturday noon. The victims deserted the houses following the incident.  United People's Democratic Front (UPDF), anti-peace treaty organization, staged demonstration in the district town in the evening protesting the incident. It will enforce a dawn-to-dusk road blockade progamme in the district Monday demanding punishment to the responsible people and compensation for the victims.  Deputy Commissioner Md Masud Karim said 6/7 houses were torched and additional police and BGB members were deployed to avert further trouble.