'Sayedee was involved in my brother's murder'

The president of the Narail Bar association has put Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee at the scene of his elder brother's murder in 1971.

Also elected MP in 1986 and 1988, Saif Hafizur Rahman told the war crimes tribunal on Monday that Jamaat executive council member Sayedee was directly involved in the murder of his elder brother and two others during the independence war.

The International Crime Tribunal, set up to try crimes against humanity during the 1971 war, has indicted Sayedee on 20 counts of such crimes including murder, rape, loot and arson.

The 65-year old, 27th that the prosecution has produced, said that his brother, Saif Mizanur Rahman, who was a magistrate of Pirojpur in 1971, which was then a 'sub-division', the sub-divisional police officer Faizur Rahman and the acting sub-divisional officer Abdur Razzaque were picked up by Razakars and murdered on the bank of the nearby Baleshwar River.

Hafizur Rahman said he had heard of the incident from Khan Bahadur Syed Mohammad Afzal, a collaborator of the Pakistan Army.

The Razakars were one of the platforms set up by the Jamaat-e-Islami, besides other platforms like the Al Badr and Al Shams, to actively thwart the freedom struggle and oppose the pro-liberation forces. They were notorious for their atrocities and extent of collaboration with the Pakistani occupation forces.

Mizanur Rahman's widow, Hafizur Rahman's sister-in-law, had informed the family of the murder. Hafizur Rahman had gone to Pirojpur with his father and sister and heard about what had happened first hand from Afzal.

"He told us that my brother was collaborating with the freedom fighters and was actively supporting the liberation forces. So he was killed along with others."

Afzal had taken his brother away in a car along with one Munnaf Razakar. Hafiz said Delwar Hossain was present in that car. "I heard later that this Delwar Hossain later became known as Delwar Hossain Sayedee."

Mizanul Islam began cross-examination and is set to continue for at least another hour after when the court returns from lunch recess.

FIRST CASE TO TRIAL

Sayedee's is the first case to proceed to the trial stage at the tribunal. The prosecution on Sept 4 proposed framing of charges against him on 31 counts for crimes against humanity and genocide.

On Oct 3, the tribunal indicted Sayedee on 20 counts.

The tribunal also sent Jamaat's former chief Ghulam Azam to jail on Jan 11. His indictment hearing began on Feb 15 and the tribunal is expected to rule on a second bail petition on Feb 23.

Besides Sayedee, Jamaat chief Matiur Rahman Nizami, secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujaheed and assistant secretaries general Mohammad Kamaruzzaman and Abdul Quader Molla, and Bangladesh Nationalist Party's standing committee member and MP Salauddin Quader Chowdhury have been detained on war crimes charges.

The tribunal granted conditional bail to former BNP lawmaker and minister Abdul Alim on March 31 last year. The bail was extended further on Jan 16, ordering him to be present in the court on Mar 15 when the prosecution has been directed to submit formal charges against the BNP leader. 

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Mamata sticks to her Teesta guns

Tells Indian foreign secy 'no talk of sharing till waters measured'

Paschimbanga Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has told Indian Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai that her state's stance on Teesta water sharing with Bangladesh cannot be confirmed until a commission submits a report on the availability of water, sources said. 

The sources said Mamata, during her meeting with Mathai in Kolkata Saturday, made it clear that the agricultural interest and availability of drinking water in the northern part of Paschimbanga state was of paramount importance to her government. 

She said she could not take a view on the issue of water sharing before the commission headed by hydrologist Kalyan Rudra submitted its report on the quantum of water available in the river round the year, particularly during the dry season, sources said.

Mamata also told the foreign secretary that Rudra needed time to prepare the report and had sought data from the Indian central government on the availability of water in the Teesta. She also said the central government had been making delays in delivering the data to the expert.

Rudra, who was earlier to have submitted his report in December last year, has sought extension of time and it appears unlikely that he will do it before April.

When asked when he was likely to submit his report, Rudra told reporters a few days ago, “How can I say this? I need to study the quantum of water available in the Teesta during the dry season and I need data from the central government.”

The proposed Teesta water-sharing deal could not be signed between Bangladesh and India during the Indian Prime Minister's visit to Dhaka in September last year because of Mamata's last-minute objection and her withdrawal from the prime minister's entourage.

Mamata had objected to the proposed treaty, saying a 50-50 sharing of Teesta water between Bangladesh and India would be detrimental to the interest of the northern part of Paschimbanga. She had also alleged that she had not been consulted before the Indian government finalised the deal with Bangladesh. 

The issue of the exchange of adversely-held enclaves between Bangladesh and Paschimbanga also came up for discussion between Mamata and Mathai.

Mamata-led Trinamool Congress sources said it might not be altogether averse to implementation of the India-Bangladesh agreement on exchange of enclaves and land boundary inked during Manmohan Singh's visit to Dhaka.

However, what is a matter of concern for Trinamool Congress is the issue of an exchange of population in the enclaves since Mamata's government would need the funds to resettle the people who choose to stay in Paschimbanga.

Under the India-Bangladesh agreement on exchange of enclaves, the residents of the enclaves on both sides of the border have been given the option to decide their choice of citizenship and place of stay.

The agreement on land boundary and exchange of enclaves has to be ratified by the Indian cabinet, where Mamata's party representative is there, and parliament where Trinamool Congress holds the key to the Manmohan Singh government's majority. 

Mamata recently sent a letter to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saying the breakdown of the two sluice gates of the Farakka barrage near the border with Bangladesh had been concealed from her government. She said as a result, excess water was flowing into Bangladesh via the Padma.

 

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Bangladesh gets 80% Ganges water: Mamata

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has complained to Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh that 80 per cent of the water from the Farakka Barrage goes to Bangladesh.

India's private television channel NDTV reported the interaction based on a letter the Trinamool chief sent to Singh.

Quoting a government official the report said, "Bangladesh was to get 35,000 cusecs during the dry season as per the water agreement between the two countries but was getting 82,801 cusecs due to the drainage of water from the barrage."

"The excess outflow of water from Farakka barrage through two damaged sluice gates has reduced its water level by three metres and is posing a threat of erosion at Jangipur area of Murshidabad district."

''The water level at the barrage, which should remain 21.90 metres has come down by three metres as gate numbers 13 and 16 have broken down,'' hydrologist Kalyan Rudra said.

The Ganges water-sharing agreement was struck with India during Awami League's tenure in 1996. A deal over sharing Teesta river's water was to be struck during Manmohan Singh's trip to Bangladesh last September, but the signing was stalled due to opposition from Mamata.

Scheduled to accompany the Indian prime minister on the tour, the West Bengal chief minister pulled out at the last moment saying that the amount of water to be given to Bangladesh was not disclosed to her earlier.

Head of the state government's experts' body studying the Teesta water-sharing issue, Rudra pointed out to the television channel that the excess outflow was causing scarcity of water at NTPC's Farakka plant as the feeder canals were also running out of water.

The barrage, commissioned in 1975, has 109 sluice gates, he said pointing out their annual maintenance was not carried out properly.

Mamata has been taking 'strong' stances against the Indian central government recently. She last declined to attend a function in her state that was inaugurated by central government's home minister P Chidambaram on Friday.

Her snub came a day after she lodged her protests against the home minister's new counter terrorism body - National Counter Terrorism Centre – a brain child of Chidambaram. 

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Mamata may take friendly stand

Paschim Banga’s chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s refusal to approve the Teesta water-sharing treaty with Bangladesh “did kill a splendid opportunity for India to bring bilateral ties to the next logical level”. But she still has a chance to “repair West Bengal’s relations with Bangladesh and boost India’s”, said an editorial in the Indian Express. 

 

The newspaper draws a contrast between Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar and Mamata and says where Sarkar “has done an excellent job,” she “is yet to begin undoing last September’s failure” to approve of the Teesta water-sharing treaty.

 

Showing superb feat in politics her Trinamool Congress ousted the CPM-led Left Front from power in Paschim Banga (PB) which saw the end of 34 years of uninterrupted rule by the leftists. The swearing-in took place in the presence of 3200 invitees drawn from among the top names in politics, business and art and culture. She thus created history.

People of PB and Bangladesh expected a positive change in attitude of the state government and her transactions with her immediate neighbours.

 

Although Dhaka and Delhi are supposed to be the partners in bilateral relations between the two countries, PB happens to share our culture and the language. PB is expected to assist the centre in understanding Bangladesh. We have had Bengali speaking High Commissioners, apart from the diplomatic ties; we enjoy regular exchange of programmes especially literary and cultural. Therefore, we have genuine reason to feel disappointed for what the PB chief minister has done.

 

First, out of the blue, she back tracked on the Teesta Water sharing treaty. She put the bilateral relationship on the ropes. Prime Minister Manmoham Singh had to swallow the bitter pill when she opted out of the visiting entourage of the PM to Bangladesh.

 

She then declared her state is not ready to give the amount of water that Bangladesh wanted. Mamata Banerjee appears to have taken a firm stand against Bangladesh’s interests which she perceives detrimental to the interest of her state. Mamata is supposed to know Bangladesh better than others. She is in politics for a long time now and is a well read person. Recent publication of her books is evidence of her creative mind and literary interest. 

 

She has come out of the Congress Party in 1997 and established her own political party, All India Trinamool Congress. Painting and music are hobbies. We look upon her as a leader with a strong conviction and sincerity of purpose. We expect a better understanding of issues from her, than her predecessors. She is expected to look into the ties with Bangladesh with maximum gravity and advocate measures that might help cementing trust and good relations between the two countries.

 

Her opponents, especially the ones who were ousted in the last state elections (May 2011), accused her of failing to keep a cordial relationship with Bangladesh even as her government insists there is no adverse fallout of that failure on the water treaty. Although there is very little to be happy about the CPM-led government’s dealing with Bangladesh.

 

The policymakers of India think that Teesta Treaty was very important for India, both in political and economic terms. The Indian government and the business conglomerates are desperate to have the transit rights through Bangladesh. And to pull off the passage they are ready to sign up a few water sharing deals or mete out a few less valuable favours to our businesses. But transit is something that India ought to get by any means. Therefore, Mamata’s actions and attitudes towards Bangladesh were considered damaging for the Indian interest. 

 

Another predicament has been added by the members of the Border Security Force (BSF) of India. While Bangladesh has been receiving assurances from the Indian side that there would be no more killings, the BSF has apparently become more desperate.

 

While all these have been happening and the situation getting murky, our government has been behaving strangely. There has not been any serious protest or concern from the government against the border killings. Rather our ministers downplay the border incidents as something that do not merit serious attention. This deepens the concern of the people.

 

Mamata Banerjee can help by taking up the BSF issue with the center. But we have not yet heard anything from her regarding the BSF atrocities. However, many would like to believe that our prime minister is not attending the convocation of Calcutta University largely as a reaction to all that Mamata and Delhi have been doing. Delhi or Mamata cannot expect to have all that they want. Bangladesh cannot be bullied around for perpetuity.

 

The government attitude towards India has been more considerate than before. But the Indian government is not reciprocating. Rather they have been pushing Bangladesh rather too hard disregarding international norms. 

 

We expect Mamata Banerjee to act more wisely and take a friendly stand on legitimate issues including the Teesta water sharing issue.

 

BY :  Mohammad Ali Sattar.

Indian hackers planning new offensives on Bangladeshi sites

While more than 26,000 Indian sites have been hacked by the Black Hat Hackers and their international supporting cooperating forces, Indian hackers are reported taking preparation for making a fresh attack on Bangladeshi sites within next 72 hours. It is learnt from various sources that, Indian hackers this time may try hacking into websites of Bangladeshi financial institutions as well as online banking system. They also are targeting websites of Bangladesh Police, Rapid Action Battalion and Bangladesh Armed Forces. Meanwhile Bangladeshi hackers have penetrated into more than 27 websites of various departments of Andhra Pradesh on late hours of Thursday. The hackers broke into one of the government servers and hacked those websites. The websites which were hacked include those of departments of commercial taxes, general administration department, horticulture, factories, gazette notifications and government orders.

The Indian officials said the hackers did not deface the pages or steal the information but only added additional pages with their message. State Information Technology Minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah said there was no loss of data. He told reporters that one of the 50 government servers was hacked and 27 websites supported by the server were affected. Indian government denied reports that the data relating to the state budget was stolen. The officials said none of the websites had data relating to 2012-13 budgets, which is to be presented in the state legislature Friday. Finance Minister Anam Ramnarayan Reddy denied that the website of finance department was hacked. He denied that the budget was leaked. The minister said the budget would be posted on the website only after it was presented in the budget.

Meanwhile as retaliation of India's silence in protecting the Israeli diplomats in New Delhi who were recently attacked, an Israeli hacker group named who got by name IDF-TEAM has already extended support towards Bangladeshi Black Hat Hackers. While Indian authorities are in greatest ever threat following the continuous hacking of their sites, it is learnt from various sources that, Indian intelligence has already warned the government of a "severe offensive" on their air traffic control system, which may cause "devastating fate for the airlines operating within Indian airports". Indian intelligence think, in case of such offensives by the Bangladeshi Black Hat Hackers and its international supporters, India's aviation industry will witness worst ever fate with possible death of hundreds of people. Sensing such threat from the Bangladeshi hackers, a team of Indian cyber specialists as well as members of the "Cyber Crime Prevention Team" and "Central Bureau of Investigation" has secretly arrived in Bangladesh on Thursday evening. This team came under various camouflages of businessmen and tourists. But a highly placed source hinted to Weekly Blitz that, Bangladeshi high commission in New Delhi, Tariq Karim as well as the foreign minister are fully aware of the arrival of these people, who will start working in identifying "strategic information" on the Bangladeshi hackers. The foreign ministry as well as telecommunication ministry are going to give "silent directives" to Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission [BTRC] and Bangladesh Telecommunication Company Limited [BTCL] to "extend all out cooperation" to the Indian team. Some of the Bangladeshi IT experts are also reportedly collaborating with Indian authorities in identifying the information of the Bangladeshi Black Hat Hackers or its international partners. Front-ranking Bangladeshi IT expert Mustafa Jabbar recently said, "Hacking into Indian sites would bring dire consequence to Bangladesh". It is also learnt that a leading private television channel in Bangladesh, which has collaboration contract with an Indian TV channel is also going to start massive campaign against Bangladeshi Black Hat Hackers and its international partners. Such initiative of this channel was taken following specific request from New Delhi as well as some of the members of Indian intelligence network.

A group of alleged Bangladeshi hackers named 'Black Hat Hackers' and their counterparts such as Anonymous and others from a number of countries including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Malaysia and United Arab Emirates have already taken more than 26,000 websites in India, which includes some of the important sites such as the website of the Border Security Forces [BSF] etc. It is also learnt that Indian hackers have already hacked into five websites of various ministries in Bangladesh and are now making frantic bid in hacking into the sites of Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited [BTCL] as well as some other key websites. According to the alleged Bangladeshi hacker announcement on various social networking sites, the cyber war is continuing in protest of severe brutality and murder of Border Security Forces [BSF] on India on Bangladeshi civilians for decades. Chief of categorically ruled out the possibility of stopping such notoriety though Indian Home Minister as well as the Prime Minister made number of false promises assuring Bangladeshi government of stopping any form of acts by BSF which goes against basic norms of human rights as well as responsibility towards any neighboring country. Bangladeshi government did not confront such statement of the BSF chief. Though it was already reported in the media that hackers from Pakistan, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and United Arab Emirates are cooperating with the Bangladeshi hackers, it is also learnt that, several hacker groups from China, Sri Lanka, CIS countries and few nations in the West have also joined hands with the Bangladeshi side. It is even assumed that hackers from some of the African countries may also join the Bangladeshi side in days. Bangladesh hackers are even trying to hack into Indian aviation and naval sites, which may cause severe damage to the country, if the hackers are successful in hacking into any of them even for some minutes. In similar way, account in Indian banks may be totally garbled by the hackers causing serious problem to Indian financial institutions.

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