Ex military men back Khaleda

A group of high ranking former military men, consisting mostly of BNP supporters, have dismissed the 'defamatory' allegations of the military public relations department against Khaleda Zia.

 

They said the statements of the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) claiming that the BNP chief had been abusive towards defence personnel during the evacuation of her cantonment house were aimed towards 'character assassination' and a bunch of 'political lies'.
The former officers were speaking to reporters at a press briefing on Monday at the BNP chief's Gulshan office to counter the ISPR briefing of Sunday morning.
Former army chief and BNP standing committee member Lt Gen Mahbubur Rahman said, "The responsibility of this unprecedented propaganda against the opposition leader using the military will automatically come round to the prime minister as she is the defence minister as well."
"The ISPR had planted different articles beforehand at the [cantonment] house and then called in reporters. This is incredible." The former army chief also slammed the government for abusing the name of armed forces in such a 'lowly act'.
"The patriotic armed forces were certainly not involved in the eviction process." Rahman speculated that the government was spreading propaganda to taint the defence forces by using the military public relations department.
The former defence chief said Khaleda had herself asserted that there were no army officers during her eviction. "In fact she had pointedly asked whether there were any army officers present."
There is no question of her hurling abuses at army personnel since only RAB and police personnel were present there, Mahbub said. "There were no ISPR officials present at the house either."
The former three star general also criticised the military public relations for stating a 'false number' of Khaleda's domestic aids. "Only 12 hands used to work their. Many of them used to live at the servants' quarter with their families."
Strongly criticising the government initiatives to evict Khaleda, Rahman said, "The government now wants to shift the blame and responsibility on to the armed forces."
The briefing was attended by a 26 high-ranking military officers including former air force chief Air Vice Marshal Altaf Hossain Chowdhury, Air Vice Marshal Fakhrul Azam, Brig Gen A S M Hannan Shah, Wing Commander M Hamidullah, Maj Gen Fatemi Rumi, Brig Gen Anwar Chowdhury, Major Sayeed Eskandar, Major Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury, Commodore Shafique Rahman.
-bdnews24
 

PM unhappy with DCC mayor's role

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday came down heavily on Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) Mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka for his 'negligence' in running the affairs of the corporation.

“The works of DCC are not going well, waste management is not being done properly,” she said while addressing a function at Gono Bhaban marking the handover of 100 waste collection vehicles by the government of Japan.
Hasina said the DCC mayor is not performing his duties properly. “I invited him to attend this ceremony but he did not come. It would have been better if he came and see the vehicles.”
In this connection, she said that it was the sole responsibility of the DCC mayor to keep the capital city clean.
The premier expressed her dissatisfaction over the activities of the DCC and its mayor.
-The Daily Star

Bangladesh ranked first

Bangladesh ranked first in the world by sending 10,748 peacekeepers in the United Nations (UN) mission, an ISPR press release said yesterday.

Among the peacekeepers, 10,581 are male and 167 are female, the release said.
Pakistan, India, Nigeria, Egypt and Nepal ranked 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th position by sending 10635, 8704, 5786, 5463 and 4735 peacekeepers respectively.
On 31 October, the UN published a report on "Ranking of Military and Police Contribution to UN Operations" for identifying the position among the participating countries of the world in UN Peacekeeping Operations.
Bangladesh is trying to send more peacekeepers in Western Shahara and Darfur so that she can build-up better image of the nation, the release added.

3 million Muslims perform hajj

Nearly 3 million Muslims performing the annual hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia began making their way up the rocky desert Mount Arafat yesterday, chanting that they have come to answer God's call.

The white-robed pilgrims began their ascent at the crack of dawn, covering the Mountain of Mercy at Arafat in an endless sea of white as their chants "Labbayek Allah," or "Here I am, God, answering your calling," reverberated overhead.
The climb at Arafat is one of the cornerstones of the pilgrimage, which is required from every able-bodied Muslim at least once in their life time. It's the site where Islam's Prophet Muhammad delivered his farewell sermon and Muslims believe on this day the doors of heavens open to answer prayers and grant forgiveness.
As they began their climb from the tent-city in the valley, many of the pilgrims looked tired from lack of sleep, having spent the entire night praying. Charities and vendors along the way handed out food packages and umbrellas to shield the climbers from the harsh sun.
One of the pilgrims, Wassim Ahmad, from Mumbai, India, said this was his first hajj and that he felt like a child, reborn.
"Today is like judgment day," said the 29-year-old. "We have come to pray to God ... a new child has been born."
Alone and obviously on her first hajj, 46-year-old Egyptian, Um Sayed, kept asking people for directions.
"There is nothing greater than feeling that you are going to meet God," she said. "The whole body shivers."
Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifa are the three stops on the pilgrims' journey during the hajj, as worshippers trace the steps of Prophet Muhammad.
The hajj draws millions of worshippers each year, the sheer numbers a challenge in preventing stampedes at holy sites, fires in pilgrim encampments and the spread of disease.
This year Saudi authorities have taken new measures to improve crowd management, including launching a new light-rail system to transport pilgrims between the shrines.

Sale of advance bus tickets for Eidul Azha begins

Sale of advance bus tickets for going to the northern region of the country from the capital on the eve of Eid-ul-Azha had begun on "first come first serve" basis Friday, said bus transport employees.

Employees of famous bus transports for northern districts -- Nabil Paribahan, Hanif Paribahan, Shyamoli Paribahan -- SR Paribahan -- said that they started selling advance tickets as per the decision of the leaders of bus owners' association.

"Leaders of Bus-Truck-Motor Malik Samiti (association of bus and track owners) at a sudden meeting held on Tuesday fixed the date and the fares" said the employees.

Usual fare for travelling to greater parts of northern districts (excluding Sirajganj and Bogra) is Tk 300 to 450 (non air conditioned) but it would be Tk 400 to 550 during the Eid.

The association decided to fix the fare at the same rate as during the Eid-ul-Fitr, said Shafikul Islam, manager of Nabil Paribahan.

He said during Eid prices of tickets will be Tk 100 to 130 higher than the ordinary fare.

Shafik said the tickets for November 11 to November 16 would be counted as Eid tickets, but before the mentioned dates the fare would be as usual.

Manager of Hanif Paribahan Md. Samad said all ticket seekers would get ticket on "first come first serve" basis and "so we have fixed the first day on a holiday (Friday) for selling the tickets."

However, on visiting the Gabtoli area Friday evening, the FE correspondent found thousands of ticket seekers lining at row outside the ticket counters. Most of them were seeking tickets of November 13 to 15.
-FE