Last respects for Razzak at Shaheed Minar

Central Shaheed Minar area has turned into a human sea as thousands of people including the leaders and activists of different political, social and cultural organisations thronged there Sunday afternoon to pay their last respects to Liberation War hero Abdur Razzak. 

The body of the veteran Awami League leader was taken to the Shaheed Minar around 4:30pm after his second namaz-e-janaza at Jatiya Eidgah Maidan in the city. 

His first janaza was held at the South Plaza of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban earlier in the afternoon.

A smartly turned out contingent drawn from three services of the armed forces gave him a guard of honour following his janaza.

Earlier, a flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying his body from the United Kingdom touched the runway of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 12:30pm Sunday, Awami League Central Working Committee Member Sujit Roy Nandi told The Daily Star.

His family members including his wife Farida Razzak and son Nahin Razzak were with the body.

Foreign Minister Dipu Moni, Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Faruk Khan, senior Awami League leaders - Amir Hossain Amu, Abdul Jalil, Tofail Ahmed, Suranjit Sengupta and Sheikh Fajlul Karim Selim -- as well as the leaders of the 14-party grand alliance including Rashed Khan Menon and Hasanul Haque Inu -- among others received Razzak's body at the airport.

An ambulance carrying his body drove straight to his Gulshan residence from the airport.

President Zillur Rahman and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid their last tributes to the veteran leader at his residence.

The president placed wreaths on Razzak's coffin, offered prayers and also talked to the bereaved family members.

The premier also placed a floral wreath on the coffin of Razzak and stood in solemn silence for some time beside it as a mark of respect to the late leader.

Hasina talked to Razzak's wife and other relatives and consoled them.

She also prayed to the Almighty for the eternal peace of the departed soul.

Razzak, a key organiser of the Liberation War of Bangladesh and also a member of the ruling Awami League advisory council, breathed his last at a London hospital Friday, ending his around 50-year long illustrious political career. He was 69.

Razzak, who was considered “living history” of the birth of Bangladesh, was suffering from kidney and liver ailments and had been undergoing treatment at King's College Hospital in London since September.

His body will be taken to his village home at Damuday in Shariatpur by helicopter at 10:00am Monday and then flown back to Dhaka after a third namaj-e-janaza at Damuday.

The leader will be laid to eternal rest at the Banani Graveyard in the capital at 4:00pm Monday.

Meanwhile, the Awami League has taken up a two-day programme starting from Sunday, expressing shock at Razzak's demise and paying rich tribute to the popular politician.

As part of the programme, the leaders and workers of the party will wear a black badge in mourning for two days while the party flag will be kept at half-mast and black flags will be hoisted at its offices across the country.

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BSF building wall violating border rules

Indian Border Security Force is constructing a wall close to the border line in Senarbadi village of the district's Akhaura to protect a road they built there illegally.

About a year ago, BSF started constructing the 1,060 metre road from pillar 2305/S to 2401/S, according to Sarail 12 Battalion of Border Guard Bangladesh.

Now the Indian paramilitary force is building the wall in clear violation of the international law that allows no structure within 150 yards of the zero line.

Earlier, as BGB protested the wall construction, the Indian side said they would stop piling of earth. But the work continued in the dark of night. 

Several flag meetings were held on the issue. 

In one of the meetings, the Indian force assured BGB of not using this road. But for the last few days, Indian tractors loaded with bricks, cement bags are driving along the dirt road to border pillar 2024. 

The Indian authorities are gathering construction materials close to the zero line and even inside Bangladesh territory. They are digging deep the ground and making big holes to construct the 2-3 feet high wall up to the level of the road. A few border pillars have sunk into earth.

One BGB official seeking anonymity has said the Indian side may have an ill-motive to construct a boundary wall.

BGB office sources have said the high officials of both countries have agreed that retaining wall could be built within 16 feet of zero line to protect a boundary pillar that falls in any water body. 

Contacted, Lieutenant Colonel Mustafizur Rahman, commanding officer of Sarail 12 battalion, said they earlier had sent BSF a message requesting not to erect any boundary wall there and held a battalion commander level meeting on December 21. In the meeting, the BSF agreed that they would not erect any wall above the ground level.

BGB is always watching if BSF violates any treaty or border rules, the CO added. 

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JP, JSD for body to find new commissioners

The Jatiya Party (JP) and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) have suggested formation of two separate committees to identify eligible persons to form a new Election Commission. 

The Jatiya Party, which was the first to join the dialogue with President Zillur Rahman over the issue, suggested formation of a ‘search committee’ while JSD for a 'nomination committee'.

Ershad led a 16-member JP delegation at the meeting with President Zillur Rahman that began at 11:00am.

“We proposed for a search committee. But we did not suggest any specific name for formation of the Election Commission,” JP Chairman HM Ershad told reporters Thursday emerging from dialogue with the president at Bangabhaban.

The party only suggested that the members of the 'search committee' might be picked up from among those who are on different constitutional bodies, he added.

The chief justice, auditor general, and the chairman of the Public Service Commission might be the member of the search committee, Ershad suggested.

The party will send a written statement on its proposals to the president in two or three days, he added.

Asked about main opposition BNP’s reluctance to join the ongoing dialogue, he replied: “A country will wait for none.” 

Meanwhile, JSD President Hasanul Haque Inu, who led an 11-member delegation at the dialogue, said they had also suggested formation of a committee, which could consist of 10 members, styled as ‘Nomination Committee’.

"We proposed the president would form the nomination committee,” Inu told reporters after the meeting that began in the noon and continued for about an hour.

The main task of the committee will be to suggest names of eligible persons and send those to an all-party parliamentary select committee for scrutiny. After the scrutiny, the select committee will send those to president for formation of a new EC, he added. 

On query, whether it suggested any name, Inu said they will send a list of names within a day or two. 

About BNP's stance, Inu said, “The party has been hatching conspiracy instead of practicing democracy.”

The president took the move to seek opinions of the country's political parties on formation of a new Election Commission as the incumbent Election Commission’s tenure is going to expire by mid-February.

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Objective journalism to bring positive changes stressed

Eminent citizens and editors of different national dailies yesterday stressed the need for maintaining maximum impartiality and objectivity to take the level of journalism to new heights for bringing a positive change in the society.

They said modesty, honesty and cautiousness are the prime prerequisite for objective journalism. On the other, arrogance, dishonesty or callousness are harmful not only for one's journalism career but also for the society, they added.

They made the remark at the closing session of a 10-day training for the journalists of upcoming private TV channel, Ekattor, at the city's Chhayanaut Sangskriti Bhaban auditorium.

Noted litterateur Selina Hossain urged the young journalists to play a significant role in bringing political, economical and social stability through their work.

"Your (journalists) reports should be prepared on the basis of correct information and truth," she said.

She also criticised a few TV and FM radio channels for using "unnecessary" English words and programme titles.

The Daily Star Editor and Publisher Mahfuz Anam said relationship between journalists and media owners should be kept transparent.

The objective journalism can be ensured if journalists get environment of working independently, he said.

Prothom Alo Editor Matiur Rahman emphasised proper selection of words, sentences and language for development of journalism.

Journalist Abed Khan, also editor of the upcoming Dainik Jagoron, said the main responsibility of a journalist is to present the event instead of making judgement.

Talking about commercialisation of journalism, he said, "Now corporate business companies are opening print and electronic media to secure their business purpose only."

The News Today Editor Reazuddin Ahmed said the main challenge of electronic media is to serve the news within a few minutes after happening any incident. So, journalists of electronic media should be more careful.

Ekattor Managing Director and Chief Editor Mozammel Babu and Chief Executive Officer Samia Zaman also spoke at the function.

Two internationally renowned journalists Richard Goslan and Bob Powel conducted the training sessions.

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Faulty seats of Palki being replaced

The economy-class seats of Palki, Biman's new Boeing 777-300ER that began commercial operation last month, are being replaced as their armrests started falling apart.

US company Weber had supplied the seats of the aircraft. It is now replacing the armrests in the economy class at its own cost during flight breaks at Shahjalal International Airport. The replacement will take a few more days.

Biman authorities said faulty design of the seats is causing the trouble. Sources said around 50 out of 384 seats in the economy class got broken. The seats in the business class are, however, in good shape. 

Air Commodore (retd) Mohammad Zakiul Islam, managing director of Bangladesh Biman, told The Daily Star last week that the seats were procured following a meeting of Biman, Boeing and Weber.

Asked if the US company was selected arbitrarily to save money, he said, "There was no scope for buying the seats from a company which is not approved by Boeing." 

Meanwhile, some more complaints have also surfaced regarding the remote controls of movie screens and the galley of the $ 152 million aircraft. The Biman MD, however, refuted the complaints.

ARUN ALO

The other new Boeing 777-300ER named Arun Alo commenced its commercial flight on Dhaka-Kuala Lumpur course on December 5, almost 10 days after it had arrived in Shah Jalal airport. 

Biman had to suffer a huge loss due to this wait as it could not get the go-ahead from the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh. This is because Biman could not obtain the custom clearance certificate for its failure to pay the Tk 80 lakh duty.

Officials said the state-owned airlines needs to pay Tk 20 crore as instalment every month to repay the bank loan for Arun Alo.

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