Protest
Residents of Jashore juvenile home go berserk seeking better facilities
Juveniles at Jashore Child (Boy) Development Centre went berserk at its compound on Saturday night, demanding better food supply and facilities.
The management, however, quelled the protesters after three hours of negotiation, locals said.
Additional District Magistrate Kazi Sayemuzzaman said the residents of the juvenile home got angry as they were not allowed to get out of the centre due to the pandemic.
Also read: 3 killed in Jashore juvenile correction centre clash
He also said the juveniles also complained about the quality of food and the problem of potable water.
Zakir Hossain, assistant director of the centre, said the juveniles had been demanding food at a rate of Tk 72 per day for each.
He also alleged that they demanded food supply and facilities in different rooms for seniors and juniors and staged violent protests on Saturday night.
Also read: Legal notice sent to govt to compensate families of murdered Jashore juveniles
Later, he said, Ansar members were called in to bring the situation under control.
Meanwhile, hundreds of police personnel were deployed to fend off any further trouble.
On August 13, 2020, three teenagers were killed and 15 were injured in a clash at the Jashore Child Development Centre.
Also read: Indian teen 'ends life' at juvenile centre
Dairy farmers protest throwing milk on the street
Dozens of dairy farmers on Saturday threw litres of milk on a road protesting its falling prices amid corona lockdowns.
About 50 dairy farmers staged the protest near Bahadurpur Bazar in Singra Upazila.
They complained that the price of milk has been falling in the village markets due to the continuous lockdowns.
Also read: Bidi workers protest against NGOs' tax-hike proposal
They said they don’t even sell the milk Tk. 20 per kg.
The farmers demanded that Milkvita buys milk from them under government management so they get fair price.
Singra Upazila Animal Resources Officer Dr Khurshid Alam said that the price of milk usually drops much on weekend holidays -Friday and Saturday.
Also read: Port workers protest against misbehaviour of cops
Palestinians, settlers clash in tense Jerusalem neighborhood
Palestinians and Jewish settlers hurled stones, chairs and fireworks at each other overnight in a tense Jerusalem neighborhood where settler groups are trying to evict several Palestinian families, officials said Tuesday.
The threatened evictions fueled protests and clashes in the runup to last month’s 11-day Gaza war and pose a test for Israel’s new governing coalition, which includes three pro-settler parties but is hoping to sideline the Palestinian issue to avoid internal divisions.
Israeli police and border officials said they arrested four suspects in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. It was unclear who started the brawl. The officials said someone launched fireworks at police forces and residents’ houses and that “several Molotov cocktails were thrown and stones were thrown.” One woman was reportedly injured when she was hit in the back by a stone, police said.
The Red Crescent emergency service said its crews treated 20 Palestinians, including 16 suffering from pepper spray and tear gas and others wounded by rubber-coated bullets. Two other people were wounded, including an elderly man who was hit in the head, it said.ADVERTISEMENT
The Red Crescent said settlers threw stones at one of its ambulances and Israeli forces sprayed skunk water on a second ambulance belonging to the service.
The eruption of violence is the latest friction in Sheikh Jarrah, where weeks of unrest captured international attention ahead of the 11-day Israel-Hamas war last month. The cease-fire took effect on May 21, but the long-running campaign by Jewish settlers to evict dozens of Palestinian families continues.
And so the cycle of tension endures, in a stark early test for Israel’s new coalition government, which is just over a week old.
At the helm under a rotation agreement is Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, head of the right-wing Yamina party. In two years, he’ll be replaced by Yair Lapid, leader of centrist Yesh Atid. And leading the opposition is Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu, ousted from the premiership after holding the post for 12 years.
An intervention by Israel’s attorney general at the height of the unrest has put the most imminent evictions on hold. But rights groups say evictions could still proceed in the coming months as international attention wanes, potentially igniting another round of bloodshed.
The settlers have been waging a decades-long campaign to evict the families from densely populated Palestinian neighborhoods in the so-called Holy Basin just outside the walls of the Old City, in one of the most sensitive parts of east Jerusalem.
Israel captured east Jerusalem, home to holy sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims, in the 1967 war and annexed it in a move not recognized internationally. Israel views the entire city as its capital, while the Palestinians want east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.
The settlers say the homes are built on land that was owned by Jews prior to the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation. Israeli law allows Jews to reclaim such property, a right denied to Palestinians who lost lands and homes in the same conflict.
AL lawmaker hangs placard from the neck in a unique protest
Ruling Awami League lawmaker SM Shahjada on Wednesday sprang a surprise in parliament as he hung around his neck a placard reading: “No more relief, just an embankment.”
He took to this unique and rare route of protest in parliament to press his demand for an embankment in his Patuakhali-3 constituency.
The AL MP was speaking on the proposed budget for the fiscal 2021-22.
Shahjada said he faced public wrath as he went to his constituency recently with relief after the recent cyclone.
“The locals do not want relief, they want a permanent solution to the problem of embankments in their coastal areas,” he said.At the end of his speech, he put the placard around his neck with eyes of many members rolling.
He said MPs of different coastal areas have to deal with the same situation.
On June 1 lawmaker of Khulna-6, Akhteruzzman faced public outrage as he went to Dashalia, badly hit by recent cyclone Yaas.
Local villagers were angry about breaches in the fragile embankments.
In the recent cyclone Yaas, around 38 villages of Koyra went under water after the flood protection dam was breached in at least 21 points.
Gaibandha: 8-hr strike in protest against bizman's murder
Local residents in Gaibandha began an eight-hour strike on Thursday in protest against the murder of a businessman in the district.
On April 20, Hasan Ali, the businessman, was found dead in the house of Masud Rana, an Awami League leader in the Khanka Sharif area of the district.
Read: Out to relieve herself, woman kidnapped & gang raped in Gaibandha
Moments before his death on the fateful day, Hasan sent an SMS to one of his relatives, alleging that Masood had abducted and tortured him, and also made him sign some papers in the presence of local policemen.
The strike in protest against the killing began at 6 am and will remain in force till 2 pm. All shops in the area remained shut, while rickshaws and long-distance buses stayed off the roads.
A group of protesters brought out a rally in the rail gate area of the district town in the morning, demanding justice for Hasan.
Members of some political parties, businesses and socio-cultural organisations held various programmes in protest against the murder.
Read: Action against 3 cops after businessman killed in Gaibandha
'Hasan Killing Protest Mancha’, a group, gave the strike call. Their demands include justice for Hasan's family and immediate removal of the officer-in-charge of Sadar Police Station Mahfuzur Rahman.
On the basis of the businessman's text message, police lodged an FIR the same day and arrested Masud and recovered the body. The victim's wife subsequently filed a complaint at the local police station against Masud and footwear traders Rumen Haque and Khalilur Rahman Babu.
In her complaint, the victim's wife alleged negligence on part of two police officers.
On April 11, SI Muhammad Touhidul Islam formed an investigation committee to probe the murder. The panel has ASI Rahat Gawhari as convener, ASI (headquarters) Abul Khair and Inspector (D-1) Abdul Latif as members.
Read: Trader found dead at Gaibandha AL leader’s house
Masud has been suspended by his party.
Besides, two police officers have been suspended while another was served a show-cause notice.
Banshkhali incident: SKOP seeks exemplary punishment
Sramik Karmachari Oikya Parishad (SKOP), a platform of over a dozen labour rights bodies, has demanded exemplary punishment to those responsible for the Banshkhali incident in which five workers of a coal-fired power plant were killed.
The federation also demanded judicial investigation into the incident, providing proper compensations for the victims and ending harassment of workers.
The demands came from a virtual meeting of SKOP held with its joint coordinator Shahidullah Chowdhury on Monday afternoon.
SKOP also announced new programmes to press home their demands, said a press release on Tuesday.
Also read: 2500 sued over Banshkhali incident
SKOP leaders Mesbah Uddin Ahmed, Anwar Hossain, Razekuzzaman Ratan, Kamrul Ahsan, Chowdhury Ashikul Alam, Naimul Ahsan Jewel, Shakil Akter Chowdhury, Ripon Chowdhury, Shamim Ara, Ahsan Habib Bulbul, Abul Kalam Azad and Firoz Hossain, among others, spoke at the meeting.
They said five workers were killed and over 50 others injured in a sudden and indiscriminate firing on agitating workers of the coal-fired power plant of S Alam Group who were demonstrating to press home their 10-point demand including payment of arrears and reducing the daily work hours to 8 during Ramadan.
They demanded identifying those responsible and bringing them to book through investigation.
They said it is essential to mete out exemplary punishment to everyone who is responsible for this killing in order to change the irresponsible and arrogant mindset developed among the government’s employees towards the working people who are real owners of the country.
They said the district administration announced to provide nominal compensation and the superintendent of police blamed the workers.
Also read: Police firing in Chattogram leaves five workers dead
Terming the incident a cold-blooded killing, the SKOP leaders said the case was filed accusing the workers and villagers but those who opened fire were not arrested.
SKOP will continue its programmes including demonstrations and rallies to ensure punishment to those responsible through a fair investigation. It will also place a memorandum before the Home Minister in this regard.
SKOP will stage a demonstration in front of the Jatiya Press Club at 11am on Wednesday (April 21) to press home its demands over the Banshkhali incident.
Besides, the federation of labour rights bodies decided to observe April 24 as the garment worker mourning day on Saturday next on a small scale maintaining health hygiene rules amid the Covid-19 lockdown in a bid to mark the eighth anniversary of the Rana Plaza tragedy.
Moreover, SKOP has taken programmes to observe the International Workers’ Day on May 1 next.
2500 sued over Banshkhali incident
Two cases have been filed against 2500 people in connection with the clash at a coal-based power plant in Banshkhali upazila of Chattogram that left five people dead on Saturday.
Shafiul Kabir, officer-in-charge of Banshkhali Police Station, said two separate cases-one on behalf of the power plant authority and another by police – were filed with the police station on charge of obstructing police from performing duties on Saturday night.
Some 2000-2500 unidentified people have been made accused in the two cases, said the OC.
Five workers of a coal-based power plant of S Alam Group were shot to death and 25 others injured in a clash between police and workers over payment of their dues in Banshkhali upazila on Saturday.
Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, Banshkhali Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO), said police fired bullets on workers in self-defence as the workers went on rampage demanding payment of their dues.
But the workers claimed that police opened fire on them during their peaceful demonstration.
Workers said they were asking the authorities concerned to provide their salary regularly and set a new duty time for Ramadan.
Also read: Police firing in Chattogram leaves five workers dead
Besides, the authorities were forcing them to work 10 hours instead of eight hours and on Fridays.
The workers also placed their 11-point demand to the authorities but they showed reluctant attitude towards their demand, forcing the workers to staged demonstrations, they claimed.
“A tense situation was created between workers and the power plant authority over the salary and working hours. Local people also took part in Saturday 's demonstrations and set fire to vehicles and carried out vandalism that forced the law enforcers to take action,” said the UNO.
Besides, local administration has formed a four-member probe committee while police formed a three-member committee over the incident.
The power plant authorities have assured of providing Tk 3 lakh each to the families of the five deceased and Tk 50,000 each to the the injured victims.
Over 200 protest flight cancellation at Dhaka airport
Around 200 Saudi Arabia-bound migrant workers staged a protest inside the Dhaka airport early on Saturday morning after a scheduled special flight of Biman Bangladesh to Riyadh was cancelled at the last minute.
The special flight to Riyadh was scheduled to take off around 6.15 am, with some 201 passengers, said Tahera Khandaker, DGM (Public Relations)of Biman Bangladesh. "But the flight was cancelled as the Saudi authorities made a delay in giving landing permission."
The aggrieved passengers of the flight soon staged a protest inside the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.
Also read: Coordinated efforts made to ensure expats' comfortable return to 5 countries: FM
"However, the authorities concerned have made special arrangements for all the passengers at different hotels. They will fly later," said Tahera.
The government has decided to operate special flights of national carrier Biman to five countries, including four in the Middle East with high concentration of Bangladeshi expat workers, from April 17.
Also read: Bangladesh to operate special flights to carry overseas workers
The government has suspended operations of all domestic and international passenger flights to contain the spread of Covid-19 in the country during the 'all-out lockdown', which came into effect on April 14.
However, the special air services will allow overseas workers currently stuck in Bangladesh to return to their places of work, officials have said.
Also read: Biman to run special flights to 5 countries from Apr 17
Port workers protest against misbehaviour of cops
Loading and unloading activities at Chattogram port remained suspended for two hours on Wednesday night as workers staged a demonstration in protest against the alleged misbehaviour of two policemen.
The protesters accused the two cops of misbehaving with their fellow port workers -- both crane operators -- earlier on Wednesday and threatened to go on a strike if their three demands are not met by 1 pm on Thursday.
According to the protesters, Shohag, a crane operator, was returning home from work around 5 pm on his bike.
"Near Zaman Hotel in the CEPZ area, a sub-inspector signalled Shohag to stop and sought an explanation as to why he was on the road during lockdown. Despite Shohag informing the cop that he was returning home from work, the sub-inspector asked for his identity papers and misbehaved with him," a protester told UNB.
Chattogram Sampan boatmen on day-long hunger strike
The same day, the protesters claimed, a police constable assaulted another crane operator in the Nimtala Biswaroad area.
As the news spread Ike wildfire, the crane operators at the port staged a protest from 8 pm to 10 pm.
Mohammad Nasir Ullah, general secretary of the Chattagram Port Winsman (Crane Operator) Welfare Multipurpose Cooperative Society, said, "We tried to solve the issue after discussions with the director (traffic) of the port. But when one of our leaders went to the police station, cops threatened to arrest him. That’s the reason why the crane operators abstained from work.”
Also read: Chattogram Port Customs organises ’ biggest ever’ auction
"We have submitted a memorandum to the port authorities, demanding a pass for the workers, and ensuring their transportation and security during the lockdown period. If our demands are not met by 1 pm on Thursday, we may go on a strike," he said.
The government has enforced a nationwide strict lockdown from Wednesday to curb the coronavirus transmission.
Will Myanmar learn its lessons?
Myanmar is a good example of what not to do when managing a state. The military takeover was coming given the way the situation was shaping up and the scenario is all one big mess now. It’s no longer Suu-Kyi’s game to play and the army is wishing that it didn’t have such risky sports ambitions either. Both are now caught as small cogs in a tournament where they are at best proxies and the worst victims of both old wars within and a new cold war. The West is challenging China and Myanmar is a hapless battleground for the moment as Myanmar is nowhere near to solving its own internal ethnic war driven state.
Politics of who’s who
Myanmar’s internal politics does matter but it has been in the doldrums for so long that it carries little value. Its only significant achievement as far as political success is concerned relates to the expulsion of the Rohingyas which everyone cheered. The elections were hardly a triumph as it has only triggered a situation which has made Myanmar’s long term failure as an attempt to construct a state even more absurd.
That Myanmar was going to be in this mess couldn’t be predicted when they were throwing the Rohingyas out. The reasons are never clear as to why this was needed as the Rohingyas neither consumed much national resources nor were a threat to anyone’s supremacy aspiration. They had simply served as a scapegoat for everyone. Suu Kyi, increasingly feeling the heat to be more “Myanmar” assented to the desire of the army to throw them out and gain some much needed popularity.
When the ICJ trial issue came up Suu kyi tried to up end the army and went full throttle to demonize the trial and tried to turn the issue into one of Myanmar people’s supremacy question. It was very patriotic which in that land means Bamar/Burman supremacy. That led to her electoral victory but what she or others expected was that the army takeover would happen so quickly. The army had no intention of giving her a second chance and with their civilian party doing so poorly, there was no reason to give her a round two.
Also read: Myanmar cuts wireless internet service amid coup protests
One after another, the dominos had fallen and once all had, only the final pusher, the army remained. Suu Kyi was gone in a night and with it the stability that could make it an attractive investment destination for many including the West. That the world is run according to convenience and not political morality of any kind should have been obvious from the past.
Does Myanmar justify being called a state?
Currently, global media including Bangladesh are busy deifying the protestors in Myanmar against the military takeover. To the world, thanks to the media campaign they are heroes who are resisting military rule. Yet this is the same crowd which took to the streets to protest aid to the Rohingyas.
“Hundreds of Buddhists in Myanmar have tried to block a shipment of aid to Muslims in Rakhine state, where the United Nations has accused the military of ethnic cleansing. Several hundred people tried to stop a boat being loaded with 50 tonnes of aid. Some protestors carried sticks and metal bars and threw petrol bombs. A witness said protesters threw petrol bombs before police dispersed them by firing into the air. The shipment, being organised by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), was bound for the north of the state where insurgent attacks on August 25 sparked a military backlash. The violence has sent more than 420,000 Rohingya Muslims fleeing to neighbouring Bangladesh but many remain in Myanmar, hiding in fear of being caught up in more violence without food and other supplies, aid workers believe. The protest was a testament to rising communal animosity that threatens to complicate the delivery of vital supplies. The violence and the exodus of refugees has brought international condemnation and raised questions about the commitment of Government leader Aung San Suu Kyi to human rights, and prospects for Myanmar.” (abc.net.au. 21/9/ 2017)
Trying to establish the fight as a form of struggle for democracy is inaccurate. It’s largely an internal conflict of a state where ethnic question has been the key to power balancing and managing. As long as the Rohingyas were inside the land, Suu Kyi had a chance of surviving but with no Rohingyas to scapegoat and use as a shield of hate, Suu Kyi became the target. The insurance based on hate was gone.
Also read: Myanmar still mired in violence 2 months after military coup
There are few if any conventional participatory states in the world. What went around in the name of “democracy” was basically the formula for Western domination. It was sourced in the politics of the cold war but the collapse of the Soviet Union showed that states survive if its economics works not the other way around. And in that battle, China is gaining while the West is declining.
Myanmar’s problems bigger than elections
In Myanmar, the funding of the protestors is drawing increasing suspicions. No one can afford to be on strike for long in a lower end economy. Civil or military rule has no better economics to offer in either space. For a hostile racist people and supporters of genocide, so much for the sake of “democracy’ is worthy of questions. But certain facts are obvious. Longer the battle of attrition continues, lesser are the chance of any independent decision making on either side.
In such a situation, the army rule is set to continue with a weakened army which will make everyone happy but China the most as it was speculated that it was not being listened to by the army anymore.
However, the obvious targeting of China is clear. That its stake in a country it has helped to rule is stronger than all others is beyond doubt. Meanwhile Russia has also moved in.
China is the biggest supporter of the ethnic armies now in Myanmar fighting the central army which it also supports. While it won’t tolerate yaba inside, it’s a Chinese supported “state” that profits from the 75 billion dollar yaba economy. These states with their independent armies have no intention to rejoin Naypyitaw and that’s why Myanmar has been short sized to what the army controls.
Myanmar’s worry about who rules is not the biggest issue but how it can disintegrate even more. The prospect of endless war and strife threatens it and as long as they remain the army is not going to depart. Everyone in Myanmar believes that ethnic conflict can be solved through military violence or ethnic cleansing of the more vulnerable. There is no reason to think that this attitude will change and no reason either that Myanmar will be a better place to govern soon.
(This article was first published on dhakacourier.com.bd)