Argument for Ghulam Azam Sunday

DHAKA: The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-1 adjourned the argument in favor of former Jamaat Ameer Ghulam Azam in connection with the crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War till Sunday.
The 3-member ICT led by Justice ATM Fazle Kabir passed the adjournment order on Thursday.
Advocate Imran Siddique placed arguments in favour of Ghulam Azam for 10th day as defense counsel.

Blogger Asif Mohiuddin held

Asif Mohiuddin

Police arrested blogger Asif Mohiuddin at Segunbagicha in the capital on Wednesday, a day after three others were held  for posting “derogatory comments about Islam and Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)” on the Internet.
A team of Detective Branch (DB) of police picked up Mohiuddin around 2:00pm, said Masudur Rahman, deputy commissioner (public relation) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police.
The arrest came amid strong criticism over the government role, which many termed as “submissive”, following some radical Islamist organisations’ threat of unleashing anarchy if “atheist bloggers are not hanged”.

KSA may resume recruiting Bangladeshis

Saudi Arabia may resume recruiting workers from Bangladesh, says Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain.
The Saudi government may start a fresh recruitment after the submission of a report by its delegation who is now visiting Bangladesh, the minister said on Wednesday.
He was speaking to journalists after a meeting with the Saudi delegation at the ministry around 1:00pm.
The minister said the visitors expressed their satisfaction over the manpower recruitment mechanism of the government of Bangladesh.
He said the KSA government sent the delegation to Bangladesh after a successful trial of the murder of a Saudi embassy official killed in Dhaka on March 6, 2012.
Now the Saudi government is considering to recruit Bangladeshis huge numbers.
The minister however mentioned that Bangladeshi workers’ recruitment in KSA halted due to the issue of Khalaf’s murder.
Dr Sultan Deen Mohammad Al Hajja, head of the delegation, told the reporters they scrutinised the manpower recruitment mechanism of Bangladesh and somewhat satisfied over the measures taken by the government.
He however said the Bangladeshi people who will be recruited by his government must be trained up and follow the country’s rules and regulations.

Hindu temple torched after vandalism in Bagerhat

Miscreants torched a Hindu temple after vandalism of its three idols of god and goddess in Morelganj upazila of Bagerhat early Wednesday. Unidentified criminals broke into the Sarbojanin Durga Temple at Herma Bazar of Teligati union in the upazila anytime after midnight and wrecked the idols of Hindu god “Ganesh” and, goddess “Lakshmi” and “Saraswati”, said Khandakar Rafikul Islam, superintendent of police (SP) in Bagerhat. Then the miscreants left the scene after setting fire at straws in the temple, the SP said adding police trying to arrest the culprits. Gopal Gosh, president of Sarbojanin Durga Temple said he informed the law enforcers after a devotee saw the matter at the time of pray in the temple in the morning. Local

1,000 Jamaat-Shibir men sued

This April 2 photo shows Sub-inspector Abdus Sabur of the Special Branch of police bleeding on the ground after Jamaat-Shibir activists smashed his head with bricks at Chirirbandar of Dinajpur.

Police have filed a case against 1,000 Jamaat-e-Islami and its student body, Islami Chhatra Shibir, men for attacking police and obstructing them from discharging duties in Chirirbandar upazila of Dinajpur.
Jamaat-Shibir men, in a pre-planned attack, pounced on a policeman and thrashed his head with bricks in Chirirbandar of Dinajpur during a countrywide daylong shutdown on Tuesday.

Unrest affecting Bangladesh’s economic growth: IMF

 

In this March 11 this year photo, shutters are seen down in Ishwardi Alhaz intersection area of Pabna district during a dawn-to-dusk hartal (shutdown) called by BNP. 

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said the ongoing political instability is affecting the economic activities of Bangladesh.
“Unrest in recent months is affecting economic activity, with real GDP (gross domestic product) growth now expected to moderate to below 6 percent in fiscal year 2013 (July 2012-June 2013),” said a statement of an IMF Mission published on April 2.

Opposition may enforce hartal on April 2, 8, 9

 

Leaders of the BNP-led 18-party opposition alliance will meet Sunday evening to finalise next agitation programmes which may feature countrywide hartal (shutdown) on April 2, 8 and 9.
The meeting is scheduled to begin at Gulshan office of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia at 8:30pm, Abdul Mobin, chairman of Islamic Party, a constituent of the alliance, told The Daily Star.
Finalising the shutdown tops the agenda of the meeting, he added.
Other agitation programmes under consideration include grand rally and blockades in the capital and siege to the Dhaka city, the sources added.