Hasina restarts crackdown against opposition after house-arrest of Chief Justice of Bangladesh

[A.A. Khan]

On Monday night, the police arrested the top leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami.

The arrests come as the first major development after last year’s execution of the death sentence of Motiur Rahman Nizami of the same party over war crimes including killing of 480 people.

The arrests took place after the police stormed a house in Dhaka’a north. Nine people including the top leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami, Maqbul Ahmed, were taken into custody.

The party has protested the arrests, saying that the gathering was democratic and the arrests are unjust.

Bangladesh has taken strong strides against the religious party, banning it from contesting elections since 2013 through a high court decision because the party’s charter contravenes with the country’s secular constitution.

The Bangladesh government had set up a controversial war crimes tribunal in 2010 through which the previous leader of the Jamaat was executed.

Bangladesh government should be careful not to exceed the constitutional authority. For that it is the perception one gets from Sheikh Haseena’s government’s posturing against dissenting voices in general.

There are growing concerns that the government is punishing those critical of its policies. The example of the Supreme Court chief justice is a case in point. He is a major critic of the government and may have been forcibly sent on vacation for that. Then there is the case of the opposition leader, Khaleda Zia. An arrest warrant has been issued for her after she failed to appear for a hearing.

Bangladesh needs to uphold its constitution but it should do so in a way that prevents authoritarian tendencies. The civil society needs to play a crucial role in this regard.

Excerpts from Daily Times

 

[Indus Pakistan]

On Monday night, the police arrested the top leaders of the country’s Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami.

@Luffy 500

 

[Hasan89]

Good the Razzakars and Traitors who betrayed the country with the enemy at the time. Has to be cleaned out from Bangladesh. No space for those who collaborated with the enemy. Go Hasina Ji.. Ban Jamat for good. Or ask Pakistan to take them to Pakistan as it’s the nation they wanted to be with. Both win.

All these Islamic parties they claim they are, are nothing but corrupt and don’t represent the true Islamic ways. These extremist need to be banned, they brainwash young kids, boys and girls, from young age, with their own agendas. Some these parties especially Jamat and others, have hate filled ways of preaching stuffs. I even saw Dilwar Hossain Sayidi or whoever it was preach bad stuffs about minorities. Where in Islam does it say to be bad to your neighbors? Let alone those who live in the land and are of minorities. Islam teaches you to love your neighbours, be humble and not angry and possessive types. During Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) time after he captured Makkah and Madinah, there were nonMuslims living there in Madinah and Makkah too and were given full protection and were free to practice their religions. Because “There is no compulsion in religion” - Quran.
But who are these jamats and others try to force their evil own ideas of how to rule, in the corrupt mindset that they have. That is unislamic. They do not represent real true muslims nor Islam.

Hence Why it’s better not to have these corrupt organisations, parties around, which gives muslims nothing but bad name.

 

[Banglar Bir]

Bangladesh politics gets a shake up
Abdur Rahman Khan

Bangladesh politics suddenly was shaken up this week rather rudely with the issuance of double warrants of arrest against the main opposition BNP’s Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia and the arrest of eight top leaders of her alliance partner Bangladesh Jamate Islami.

A Dhaka court on Thursday issued an arrest warrant against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia in a case filed some time ago for allegedly undermining the country’s map and national flag. According to the case summery, Khaled Zia formed a coalition government with Jamaat-e-Islami in 2001 and she appointed Motiur Rahman Nazami and Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid of Jamaat as ministers and handed them over the map and the national flag of independent Bangladesh.
The two JI leaders had fought against the country during the Liberation War in 1971 and thereby, Khaleza Zia had committed the offense, the complainant said.
Warrant against late Zia dropped
Metropolitan Magistrate Nur Nabi passed the order on Thursday as Khaleda Zia failed to appear before the court even after the court repeatedly asked her to attend the hearing on the scheduled date. But she could not comply with the court order as she was out of the country for medical treatment. The court also directed the officer-in-charge of Gulshan Police Station to submit a report by November 12 on the execution of the arrest warrant.

On November 3, 2016, the case was filed with Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court against Khaleda Zia and her late husband Ziaur Rahman, also a former president. After recording statement of the complainant, Magistrate Raihanul Islam directed the officer-in-charge (OC) of Tejgaon police station to investigate the matter. On February 25 this year, Tejgaon OC ABM Moshiur Rahman submitted a probe report to the court mentioning that he found the allegations to be true. However, the name of Ziaur Rahman was dropped from the case as he was dead by this time.

According to the case, Ziaur Rahman on August 15, 1975, had taken over as the country’s president after the killing of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman along with most of his family members. Ziaur Rahman had also threatened Sheikh Hasina, now prime minister, and confined her after her arrival in the country from abroad on May 17, 1981, the case statement said.

Khaleda Zia appointed Jamaat leaders Motiur Rahman Nazami and Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid as ministers and handed over the map and the national flag of independent Bangladesh to them even though they fought against the country during the country’s Liberation War in 1971, the complainant said. The move was tantamount to undermining Bangladesh’s map and the national flag, he alleged.
More warrants on Khaleda, others
Earlier on Sunday a Comilla court has issued arrest warrant against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and other ‘absconding’ suspects over a 2015 case for their involvement in setting fire on a public bus. Judge Jesmeen Begum of District and Sessions Judges Court in Comilla passed the order after police submitted a chargesheet against 78 people in the case.

The court also issued arrest warrants against BNP standing Committee members Rafiqul Islam Mia, MK Anwar, Vice Chairman Shawkat Mahmud and Senior Joint Secretary Rizvi Ahmed.

On 3 February, 2015, eight people were killed in a crude bomb attack on a Unique Paribahan bus at Noabazar area of Chauddagram on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway during the countrywide blockade programme enforced by the BNP-led 20-party alliance.

Later, Chauddagram police Sub-inspector (SI) Nuruzzaman Hawladar filed a case mentioning 56 names including Begum Khaleda as the suspected provocateur.

Meanwhile, to protest against the arrest of warrant against the BNP chairperson, the party staged countrywide demonstrations amidst widespread police actions on Wednesday. At least 20 people were injured as BNP activists clashed with police in Maijdee town on Wednesday during their demonstration against the arrest warrant for BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia.

Police also arrested dozens of BNP activists and local leaders in different districts as they tried to bring out processions to demonstrate their protests.

In addition, on Monday, a Dhaka court issued warrants for the arrest of 23 BNP leaders and activists in two cases filed on charges of torching vehicles in the capital’s Mirpur area in March 2015.

Judge Kamrul Hossain Mollah of Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judges’ Court passed the order after taking a charge sheet into cognizance against 41 accused including the 23 BNP men charged in the cases.
The court has also asked the concerned police stations for submission of their reports on the execution of the arrest of warrant in the cases by November 19.
More cases against opposition
The 23 accused include BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia’s press secretary Maruf Kamal Khan and her personal assistant Shimul Biswas, BNP leaders Azizul Bari Helal, Sultan Salauddin Tuku, and Saiful Alam Nirob.

However, 18 others BNP leaders including Barrister Rafiqul Islam Miah, Amanullah Aman, Habibunnabi Khan Sohel, who are now on bail, were also present at the court during the hearing.
Meanwhile, Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Maqbul Ahmad, its Secretary General Dr Shafiqur Rahman, Nayeb-e-Ameer Mia Golam Parwar and six other party leaders were also arrested from the city’s Uttara area on Monday night.

A team of Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police arrested them on charges of holding a ‘secret’ meeting at the house.

They were later implicated in cases of subversion and put on police remand. The party reacted to the arrests by announcing a slew of street protests on Wednesday and a general strike on Thursday. BNP also extended support to Jamaat harlal that passed off almost peacefully on Thursday.

The government in recent times has been increasingly taking a hard line against both the major political parties with law enforcement agencies cracking down heavily on their meetings and other political programmes.

In addition, several thousand leaders and activists of both the parties have been put behind bars on various trumpeted charges, mostly violence-related during political campaigns.

Both BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami have alleged that the government has been increasingly harassing them by implicating them in multiple false cases with a view to driving them away from politics and making it difficult for them to take party any lawful activities of their parties
http://www.weeklyholiday.net/Homepage/Pages/UserHome.aspx

 

[Banglar Bir]

Another warrant against Khaleda
Special Correspondent
A Dhaka court has issued arrest warrant against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia in Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case.

The court also cancelled the bails of other accused Sharfuddin Ahmed and Kazi Salimullah and sent them to jail.

Judge Dr Akhtaruzzaman of Dhaka Special Judges Court 5 issued the arrest warrant on Thursday, in response to a petition filed seeking an arrest warrant against Khaleda.

ACC lawyer Mosharaf Hossain Kajal had filed a petition with the court lower court stating that Khaleda Zia had left the country without informing the court.

In 2008, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the case against six people, including Khaleda Zia and her eldest son Tarique Rahman, for allegedly misusing Tk2.1 crore from the funds of the Zia Orphanage Trust.

In 2011, the ACC accused the BNP chief and three others of misappropriating Tk3.15 crore from the Zia Charitable Trust fund.

Meanwhile Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has warned that BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia will certainly be punished if she is convicted by the court in Zia Orphanage Trust graft case.
http://www.weeklyholiday.net/Homepage/Pages/UserHome.aspx

 

[Bilal9]

@Luffy 500

This is not really warranted....

 

[Banglar Bir]

Govt should allow CJ Sinha to speak publicly: Fakhrul
Staff Correspondent | Published: 00:05, Oct 14,2017 | Updated: 00:20, Oct 14,2017

Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir. — Focusbangla file photo

Bangladesh Nationalist Party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Friday said that the government should allow Chief Justice SK Sinha to speak about taking his leave and the foreign visit.
‘The government should allow the chief justice to speak. Why are you [government] not allowing?’ Fakhrul said while talking to journalists as he went to see ailing BNP standing committee member Tariqul Islam in his residence at Shantinagar in Dhaka.

The secretary general alleged that the government had accomplished all arrangements for ‘forcibly’ sending the chief justice abroad.

Fakhrul said that the ruling party could not tolerate the verdict by the chief justice on the 16th amendment to the constitution as it was thinking it would cause problem to them.
Sinha is likely to leave Dhaka for Australia on Friday night.
http://www.newagebd.net/article/26074/govt-should-allow-cj-sinha-to-speak-publicly-fakhrul

 

[Banglar Bir]

CJ Sinha claims he’s physically fit, embarrassed by PM’s criticism
Tribune Desk
Published at 11:18 PM October 13, 2017
Last updated at 01:54 AM October 14, 2017

Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha speaks to the press outside his residence in Dhaka before leaving for the airport last night Mehedi Hasan/Dhaka Tribune
Before leaving for the airport at 10:05pm, Justice Sinha addressed reporters gathered in front of the chief justice’s official residence in Dhaka's Hare Road
Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha on Friday evening claimed that he was not physically ill, completely contradicting a government narrative that he took a month-long leave on grounds of ill health.

Before leaving for the airport at 10:05pm, Justice Sinha addressed reporters gathered in front of the chief justice’s official residence in Dhaka’s Hare Road regarding his much-talked-about vacation plea. He said he was quite embarrassed about how a specific political quarter, including some ministers and the prime minister herself, criticised him over one of his rulings. Justice Sinha was referring to the full verdict in the 16th Amendment to the Constitution case.

Law Minister Anisul Huq on October 3 said that Justice Sinha had been suffering from several diseases, including cancer, and he had informed President Abdul Hamid about it in a letter.

“I am not fleeing. I am leaving temporarily. I will come back. My assumption is that the government has been misled [on the 16th Amendment verdict],” Sinha told reporters.

The Dhaka Tribune obtained a copy of Sinha’s official statement, typed on the chief justice’s official pad, which reads: “…I strongly believe the prime minister has been misinformed by a certain quarter inside the government which led to her umbrage towards me. I am certain she [Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina] will not hold on to this [umbrage].”

The judge also expressed his concern about the government overreach on the Supreme Court’s business.

“…I am a little disturbed too,” the statement reads. “The law minister [Anisul Huq] on Thursday quoted the acting chief justice, also the eldest member of the current Appellate Division, saying that the latter would bring necessary changes to the Supreme Court administration soon.
There is no precedence of an acting chief justice or the government interfering in a sitting chief justice administration. The acting chief judge is supposed to carry out daily routine tasks.

“An easy assumption can be drawn from this instance that the government is impinging on the apex court’s business and this might worsen an already deteriorated relationship between the government and the judiciary. This will not benefit the state.”

The Supreme Court on July 3 unanimously declared the 16th Amendment to the constitution illegal, stripping parliament of the power to impeach higher court judges.

The full text of the verdict was released on August 1.

The amendment – passed on September 17, 2014 – empowered parliament to dismiss Supreme Court judges if allegations of incapability or misconduct made against them were found true.

However, the apex court’s own mechanism for removing judges has been initiated, and Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) and Clauses 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 of Article 96 of the constitution restored, with the amendment being scrapped.

The apex court in the 799-page appeal verdict expunged some remarks made in the High Court verdict regarding the members of parliament (MPs), saying courts or judges should have mutual respect.

It also approved a code of conduct for the judges and said that failure to comply with the code would be considered as gross misconduct.

“Since this amendment is ultra vires [goes beyond the legal power of] the constitution, the provision prevailing before the substitution is restored. The appeal is accordingly dismissed,” the apex court said in the verdict.

Since the release of the full verdict, Chief Justice Sinha has been facing barrages of criticism, both professional and personal, from different quarters of the government, the prime minister herself and the ruling party and its different wings.
http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2017/10/13/cj-sinha-physically-fit-embarrassed-pm-criticism/

 

[idune]

Good the Razzakars and Traitors who betrayed the country with the enemy at the time.

And Hasina in alliance with Jammat

 

[hussain0216]

Good the Razzakars and Traitors who betrayed the country with the enemy at the time. Has to be cleaned out from Bangladesh. No space for those who collaborated with the enemy. Go Hasina Ji.. Ban Jamat for good. Or ask Pakistan to take them to Pakistan as it’s the nation they wanted to be with. Both win.

All these Islamic parties they claim they are, are nothing but corrupt and don’t represent the true Islamic ways. These extremist need to be banned, they brainwash young kids, boys and girls, from young age, with their own agendas. Some these parties especially Jamat and others, have hate filled ways of preaching stuffs. I even saw Dilwar Hossain Sayidi or whoever it was preach bad stuffs about minorities. Where in Islam does it say to be bad to your neighbors? Let alone those who live in the land and are of minorities. Islam teaches you to love your neighbours, be humble and not angry and possessive types. During Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) time after he captured Makkah and Madinah, there were nonMuslims living there in Madinah and Makkah too and were given full protection and were free to practice their religions. Because “There is no compulsion in religion” - Quran.
But who are these jamats and others try to force their evil own ideas of how to rule, in the corrupt mindset that they have. That is unislamic. They do not represent real true muslims nor Islam.

Hence Why it’s better not to have these corrupt organisations, parties around, which gives muslims nothing but bad name.

This is why your so dickless as a million Rohingya are persecuted, humiliated and turned into refugees

 

[Imran Khan]

lollzzzz its nice drama to watch

 

[Banglar Bir]

Church official critical of Bangladesh govt’s suppression of opposition
Stephan Uttom and Rock Rozario,
October 17, 2017

Police escort a Jamaat-e-Islami leader to a Dhaka court on October 10. Amid a crackdown on opposition parties, a church official has expressed concern over lingering political violence ahead of national elections next year.

A senior Bangladesh Catholic Church official has criticized the ruling Awami League government’s crackdown on opposition parties.

Consequent protests and strikes have raised fears of serious election violence next year in the Muslim-majority nation.

Father Albert T. Rozario, convener of the Justice and Peace Commission in Dhaka Archdiocese, told ucanews.com that the government seemed to be targeting all dissenting voices.

“Disallowing political parties from holding their regular activities is not good news for a democracy and is unacceptable,” Father Rozario said.

On October 10, Dhaka police arrested nine top leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami, including its party chief and secretary, for allegedly hatching a plot to create “political anarchy”.

They were charged and held on remand under the explosives and special powers act. Jamaat staged a general strike on October 12 which was backed by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the second largest political party in the country.

“The government wants to wipe out the leadership of Jamaat-e-Islami and other opposition parties to pave the way for one-party rule,” Jamaat said.

The BNP also staged a nationwide protest rally on October 14 after two courts issued arrest orders against its party chief, Khaleda Zia.

The arrest orders against Zia, who is in London, relate to alleged corruption and instigation of the firebombing of a bus in 2015.

Bangladesh returned to parliamentary democracy in the 1990s after 15 years of military rule. The center-left Awami League and center-right BNP have alternated in holding government.

There has been increased political instability since 2010 when the Awami League formed a special court to prosecute politicians accused of war crimes during the country’s 1971 war of independence from Pakistan.

According to official Bangladesh figures, Pakistan’s military during the war killed up to three million people, raped about 300,000 women and forced 10 million people into becoming refugees. Jamaat opposed Bangladesh independence and its leadership was accused of collaborating with the Pakistani military in war crimes by forming Islamic militia groups.

The War crimes court has sentenced about a dozen Jamaat and BNP politicians to death or life sentences since 2013. The verdicts sparked deadly political violence, leaving more than 100 people dead.

The Awami League says the war crimes court has popular support and is necessary for “national healing”.

BNP and Jamaat see the proceedings as part of a political vendetta. Political violence erupted both before and after the January 5, 2014, national election.

An Opposition alliance led by the BNP boycotted the election after the Awami League refused to hold polls under a neutral caretaker government.

More than 100 died in a series of violent clashes as the opposition tried to foil the poll. The Awami League won the election in a landslide with about half of the 300 parliamentary seats being uncontested.

Critics say the bitter political rivalry has exacerbated radicalism during the past four years.

Since 2013, Islamic militants have murdered about 50 people, including atheist bloggers, liberal academics, gay activists, foreigners and members of religious minorities.

Now Father Rozario fears the latest government crackdown on dissent will fuel more strife. “In order to avoid violence, all political parties must be allowed to conduct political activities freely,” he warned.
SOURCE UCANEWS.COM
http://southasianmonitor.com/2017/1...angladesh-governments-suppression-opposition/

 

[Banglar Bir]

https://www.facebook.com/

 

[Taimoor Khan]

What is happening in BD is a preview of what could have happened in Pakistan had Nawaz Shareef, a foreign sponsored stooge just like Hasina of BD, was allowed unchecked and unchallenged.

Sad to see that even Judiciary is not allowed to function under Hasina regime. "Dictatorial democracy" at its peak.

 

[Russell]

Pakistanis having the gall to talk about governance

The Indians are right about you guys...you do live in a fantasy world