Bangladesh’s elite security forces said Monday they had made a major breakthrough in the fight against extortion with a raid on town where nearly every resident was involved in racketeering.
Cracking down on rampant cell phone crimes, Bangladesh’s elite security forces have zeroed in on a village, most of whose residents were found to be involved in racketeering using mobiles, officials said.

The elite anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) officials said they discovered a village in southwestern Rajoir sub-district to which a bulk of such crimes all over the country are traced.

“Astonishingly, most male residents of different ages ranging from 14 to 60 of the Lundhi village appeared to be involved in extortion using mobile phones… our officers during investigations in recent months found most of the extortion suspects hailed from the single village,” Lieutenant Colonel Mamun Mahmud said.

A series of raids on Lundhi, 90 kilometres (60 miles) south of the capital Dhaka and home to 2,000 people, led to 11 arrests, including two ringleaders of gangs using mobile phones to extort money.

“We believe 80 percent of extortion-related threats made over mobile phones in Bangladesh originate from this village,” Rapid Action Battalion officer Colonel Mamum Mahmud told Media.

He said officers were “awestruck” to discover nearly everyone — from students aged 14 to elderly school janitors — was involved in mobile phone extortion.

“During calls, they identify themselves as some notorious criminal and then demand their victim send them money or face the consequences — they’ve conned a huge number of people,” Mamum said.

“It’s a very lucrative business. We have identified at least 20 groups who are involved. They have agents in the capital to collect the extorted money and gather personal information about potential targets,” he said.

Extortion using mobile phone has been a huge problem in Bangladesh since around 2001, when phone companies entered a price war and flooded the market with cheap cell phones, which were given out without proper registration.

Last year, scores of people were arrested for mobile phone extortion but successful prosecutions are rare, police say.

Approached for comments, Awami League lawmaker and Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan, who represents a constituency where the village is located, said he too had heard of the village, the home of an estimated 2,000 people.

“Being the MP from the area I too heard about it… but not all the people there, as you said, are involved in the crime,” he said jokingly, but declined to comment further.
A number of suspects having their origin in Lundhi were arrested in the past several weeks from Dhaka as well as the village under a series of raids, he said.

Extortion using mobile phone has been a huge problem in Bangladesh since around 2001, when phone companies entered a price war and flooded the market with cheap cell phones, which were given out without proper registration.

Home Minister Sahara Khatun last week said the government planned to formulate a policy to check the rising incidents of cellphone crimes including extortion and ban its sale to youths under 18.

“We are framing a policy to be enforced in next two months to curb the crimes and misuse of cell phones,” Khatun told reporters after an inter-ministerial meeting also joined by mobile phone operators.

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US Force always friendly with Bangladesh Military. To co -up with global standard force . A U.S.-Bangladesh joint military exercise began here on Sunday aiming to enhance interoperability between the militaries of the two countries.

The joint exercise named `Ex Tiger Shark-3′ will be carried out in Chittagong and Kaptai areas, an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) press statement said, adding that It will end on July 25.

The exercise includes training BN SWADS in combat diving, infiltration and ex-filtration techniques, rappelling, helicopters operations, vessel boarding search and seizure, small boat maintenance and repair, maritime navigation, small unit tactics and small boat handling and tactics.

Members from Bangladesh army, navy, air force and Bangladesh coast guard are taking part in the exercise with the U.S. armed forces personnel

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Digitalised Bangladesh is now a days is common dream of Bangladeshi. No political question!

If we simplify what is digital Bangladesh ? I answer : A well managed Bangladesh.
To manage well ,we always need to clear about our resources .From my best knowledge i demand a High Powerful Bangladesh Resources Research Centre (BRRC)
To explore the opportunity of the ultimate resources of Bangladesh which grow the potential Bangladesh as a Sucessful contry Bangladesh must should develop a high oppotunity powered Research centre for exploring the resources of Bangladesh , natural resources or human resources or opportunity resources . The Research centre can be co up with the Ministry of planning .

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The controversial ?arrest? of United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) Chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa and Deputy Commander-in-Chief Raju Baruah in early December caused a localised storm that nonetheless quickly died down. Whether Bangladeshi authorities picked up the two leaders and handed them over to Indian authorities, or whether they surrendered in India itself remains shrouded in mystery. But what is certain is that apprehending such prominent leaders represents a turning point in Assam?s separatist politics. Past attempts at peace have consistently fizzled out, leading the insurgency to rage for more than three decades. Indeed, much water has flowed down the mighty Brahmaputra since the ULFA was founded on 7 April 1979 at the historic Rang Ghar in upper Assam, an amphitheatre dating back to the Ahoms, the pre-British monarchs who ruled for some six centuries.

In the early 1990s, after successive operations by the Indian Army attempted to root out the outlawed group, the ULFA began to shift its bases to Bhutan. By 2003, there were about 30 camps inside Bhutan, housing around 3500 militants. In December of that year, however, the Royal Bhutan Army launched Operation All Clear against ULFA as well as cadres with the Kamatapur Liberation Organisation (KLO) and National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) holed up in the country. During this action, around 650 militants were either killed or captured. Subsequently, many senior ULFA leaders fled to Bangladesh, again operating from across the border, until Dhaka began a serious crackdown late last year. This has now led to the arrest of eight prominent leaders, including Rajkhowa and Baruah.

Even as this changed context has sparked hopes of peace in Assam, any optimism is tinged with a sense of the numerous past failures in this regard. When on 7 September 2005, for instance, ULFA nominated an 11-member group, christened the People?s Consultative Group (PCG), led by writer Indrani Goswami, to prepare the groundwork for eventual talks with New Delhi, this turn of events likewise raised hopes. Yet while the much-awaited first round of talks between the PCG and the Centre were held soon after, the peace process quickly ran into rough weather. The ULFA leadership put forth three conditions for the talks: that sovereignty be the core issue; the release of five ULFA Central Committee members; and information on the whereabouts of cadres who had been missing since Operation All Clear. The interlocutors in New Delhi, however, were unwilling to accept any of these. After a yearlong stuttering relationship, the PCG pulled out from the peace process, alleging lack of sincerity on the part of the government. Thereafter, ULFA resumed its armed tactics and army operations resumed.

All the same, the militant outfit suffered a significant setback on 24 June 2008, when the ?A? and ?C? companies of its 28th Battalion ? ULFA?s strongest unit in terms of both military and fundraising prowess ? announced a ceasefire. Some 200 cadres, led by five high-ranking commanders, came aboveground and advocated continuing the talks with the government. But whoever thought that the ULFA epitaph had been written were quickly proved wrong when, four months later, on 30 October, serial blasts rocked Assam, claiming at least 66 lives and injuring over 450. Though ULFA denied involvement, security officials have refused to buy the argument.

Against this backdrop, there are many reasons why New Delhi should take the initiative to resume talks with ULFA in the current context. To begin with, ULFA is arguably farther on its back foot than at any time in the past, with ties between India and Bangladesh showing a notable turnaround after Sheikh Hasina took over the reins last year in Bangladesh. In a significant step, during Prime Minister Hasina?s official visit to India in January, the two neighbours signed three major agreements dealing with mutual law-and-order concerns, which have surely made life increasingly difficult for ULFA leaders remaining in Bangladesh. Indeed, matters are already moving forward. In addition to the earlier arrest of Rajkhowa and Baruah, Dhaka has hinted that ULFA General-Secretary Anup Chetia, who was arrested in Bangladesh in 1997, could soon be handed over to Indian officials. Further, on 1 November last year, ULFA Foreign Secretary Sasha Choudhury and Finance Secretary Chitraban Hazarika were also arrested in Bangladesh, and are already in jail in Assam. As such, with most of the senior leaders under arrest, and the group in shambles, New Delhi may well have the upper hand if negotiations ensue.

At the same time, even as Thimphu and Dhaka appear to be cooperating fully with New Delhi, it is important to keep ULFA?s ties with Burma in mind. Indeed, reports are currently circulating that the group?s military chief, Paresh Baruah, is hiding in Burma. This may not be particularly problematic for New Delhi, however, considering its close ties with the junta, and the latter?s brutal treatment of its own homegrown insurgencies. Indeed, Naypyidaw and New Delhi even staged a joint operation, codenamed Operation Golden Bird, in 1995 to hunt down ULFA operatives hiding in Burma. There is no reason to believe the junta would shy away from a similar exercise now, should New Delhi be keen on the idea.

Gateway
With New Delhi in such a strong position, analysis must now be pointed to the future. Much would be gained from talks between government officials and the ULFA leadership. If these were to succeed, the state and the central governments could finally devote their energies to addressing the pressing concerns of the people ? unemployment and illegal migration from Bangladesh, and offering a concerted effort to deal with the devastating annual floods. Meanwhile, tourism could prove to be a big earner for the state and its populace if potential visitors can be assured of their safety. On a larger level, peace in Assam would have a positive spill-over effect into the other parts of the Northeast, where many of the states are also reeling under violence. The National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah), for instance, has operated under a ceasefire with New Delhi since 1997, while its leaders, Thuingaleng Muivah and Isak Chisi Swu, recently held more talks with Home Minister P Chidambaram. If ULFA follows a similar track, there would be pressure on the other insurgent groups in the area to do likewise.

A period of peace could also help to turn Assam and the Northeast into a gateway to Southeast Asia. Under its Look East policy, New Delhi has for years been trying to figure out how to develop closer ties with the economies of Southeast and East Asia, even mooting a highway project involving Burma and Thailand and a rail link between New Delhi and Hanoi. The possibility of the re-opening of the historic Stilwell Road, which runs from Ledo in Assam to Kunming in China via Burma, is also being discussed. Assam and the entire Northeast have much to gain from better ties with the Southeast Asian countries.

In late February, Tarun Gogoi, the chief minister of Assam, stated that his government was indeed willing to talk to the rebels, but on the condition that the issue of sovereignty is taken off the table. To back its rhetoric, and pave the way for peace talks, the state government also did not oppose the bail appeal of two senior ULFA leaders in custody, Pradip Gogoi and Mithinga Daimary. In the current context, the only hold-up appears to be the Dispur government?s insistence on bringing in ULFA Commander-in-Chief Paresh Baruah, as no peace deal is likely to last without his nod.

Rupakjyoti Borah is a doctoral student at the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

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The Australian Defence Minister, John Moore, says the pro-Indonesian militia which are active in East Timor have improved weaponry and training, including Indonesian equipment. Mr Moore is visiting Australian troops in East Timor who are part of the UN transitional force (UNTAET) helping to administer the territory until full independence. He said the militia were active, and he warned that the peacekeepers could return to a role of peace enforcement. Mr Moore said the UN troops were on high alert after the deaths of two peacekeepers from Bangladesh and New Zealand and the killing of two militia members by an Australian battalion. Australia has said it has no evidence that the Indonesian army is supplying the militia, but it’s continuing to press Indonesia to move towards closing refugee camps in Indonesian West Timor used by the militias

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General Mohd Abdul Mubeen, Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), Bangladesh is on a goodwill visit to India from 14-20 Mar 2010. The visit assumes special significance in the light of improving military cooperation between the two countries in consonance with India?s growing relationship with Bangladesh.

But another report makes observers cofused,that Bangladesh authorities say eight Bangladeshi villagers have been wounded during a skirmish between the border guards from Bangladesh and India.

Maj. Kohinoor Alam, a border guard official of Bangladesh, says the skirmish occurred on Sunday after Indian border security force opened fire on Bangladeshi villagers along the north-eastern Jaintapur frontier.

He says the Indian guards fired as the Bangladeshi villagers tried to prevent dozens of Indian villagers from fishing in a pond inside Bangladesh territory. Bangladeshi guards responded with fire. Comment from the Indian side was not immediately available.

Indo-Bangladesh relations are multifaceted and founded on historical linkages. The successful culmination of recent visit of Bangladesh PM to India in Jan 2010 has also contributed significantly to the consolidation of the existing ties and given a further boost to the cordial relations between both Army Chief?s in 2008 has boosted our military relations.
Military-to-Military cooperation between Bangladesh and Indian Armed Forces encompasses exchange of high and medium level visits, availing of training courses in each other?s training institutions, witnessing of designed exercises by military observers from both sides, exchange of War Veterans, UNPKO, share experience in disaster management, sports and adventure activities.

The General interacted with his Indian counterpart. During the visit, he is also scheduled to interact with the Indian defense minister, NSA, and President IOA other members of Indian and Armed Forces hierarchy. In addition, he will be visiting Jaipur, Ajmer, Kolkata important training establishments and field formations.

The visit would further cement our defence relationship with Bangladesh and add impetus to our ongoing defence cooperation. Maintenance of enhanced military to military contacts with Bangladesh by Indian Army is mutually beneficial to the strategic interests of both. The visit of Bangladesh COAS has a major significance in the burgeoning def coop between both the friendly foreign countries.

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Source : Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said her government plans to procure fighter aircraft, surface-to-air missiles, helicopters and other armament to strengthen the armed forces.

She told Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) personnel Wednesday that the government had drawn up plans and set the process, including budget allocation, in motion.

‘Budget allocation for the Bangladesh Air Force under the present fiscal year is the biggest amount in the history of the force,’ she said.

She witnessed the BAF’s annual exercise WINTEX-2010 at the main fighter base at Kurmitola in Dhaka Cantonment, United News of Bangladesh (UNB) reported.

‘The present government will take all possible measures to build up the country’s air force as an up-to-date force by arming it with modern technology-based war weapons,’ New Age newspaper quoted her as saying.

Sheikh Hasina said her government was firmly committed to building a modern, knowledge-based air force that excelled in training and technology in order to ensure security of the country and its people.

A development plan had been approved for constructing infrastructure at Cox’s Bazar, located in the southeastern region bordering Myanmar, for smooth operation of fighter jets and transport aircraft to ensure security of economic activities in the maritime territories and relief operation in remote areas, Hasina said.

Defence purchases in Bangladesh have been mired in political controversy.

A court Monday acquitted Hasina of corruption charges in the purchase of eight MiG-29s that were bought during her earlier tenure as the prime minister.

She told the airforce personnel that the government of her political rival, Begum Khaleda Zia (2001-06) had kept the aircraft unused for long ‘just to get her in trouble’, the newspaper said.

A frigate purchased from South Korea for the Bangladesh Navy was also kept in mothballs for five years. It was re-commissioned in 2007.

The security analyst

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Prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s cabinet today approved “in principle” the total reconstitution of the Bangladesh Rifles under a draft law which seeks to set death penalty for mutiny by the personnel of the paramilitary force.
The draft Border Guard Bangladesh Bill 2010, which also seeks to rename the mutiny-infested Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) as Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB), was approved in-principle by the cabinet, officials said.

“The cabinet also formed a high-powered six-member committee for final scrutiny of the proposed law,” prime minister’s press secretary Abul Kalam Azad told newsmen.

The committee, comprising two advisers, the prime minister’s principal secretary and home and law ministers was asked to submit a report at the next cabinet meeting, he said.
If the law is passed, the current Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) Order of 1972 and Bangladesh Rifles (Special Provision) Ordinance 1976 will be annulled.

The force will be renamed Border Guards Bangladesh.

The border guards will get a new insignia and new uniform of black, maroon and ash instead of the present olive-maroon colours.

The draft law also suggests a new organogram, new command structure and tougher promotion conditions for guardsmen to equivalent positions. There are also proposals to create more Border Outposts and swell the force’s ranks.
The decision came as the country last week observed the first anniversary of the February 25-26 BDR carnage during which 74 people, including 57 army officers serving the paramilitary force were killed at its Pilkhana headquarters.

Officials said the draft Border Guards Bangladesh Act 2010, sets death as the maximum penalty for mutiny as the existing BDR Act only suggested a seven year imprisonment for ordinary disobedience or breach of command in the paramilitary force

DEATH PENALTY

The proposed law will further toughen penalties for crimes committed by border guards.

It includes a provision of death penalty for mutiny, or disobedience in the field by border guards. The existing maximum penalty under the BDR law is seven years in jail.

Abul Kalam Azad said on Monday: “The present BDR act was not sufficient for trying the February 2009 mutiny.

“The prime minister thinks a stronger law is necessary to prevent repetition of such events. She wants establishment of rule of law in the country and trial of all killings.”

The press secretary said the report of the high-powered committee will contain the final recommendations on the new law.

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For some in Bangladesh, a mutiny a year ago that left 74 dead strengthened the democratic government, while others allege that the use of torture to extract confessions is undermining the justice process.

In the headquarters of Bangladesh’s border guard force, where the uprising began, the walls of Major General Mohammad Mainul Islam’s otherwise immaculate office are still pockmarked with bullet holes.

The bloodstains have been scrubbed away, the bullet holes are neatly circled as evidence, which will soon be used in court, and Islam now says, proudly, that the handling of the crisis a year ago on Thursday was a big step forward.

?Not a single bullet was fired to stop this mutiny. A large mutiny was controlled in a peaceful, democratic way; you must appreciate that is a good thing, and a good lesson for everybody,? he said.

On February 25, 2009, Islam’s predecessor and 56 other senior army officers were shot dead when soldiers at Bangladeshi Rifles (BDR) headquarters in Dhaka went on a killing spree, later hiding the bodies in sewers and shallow graves.

Angry soldiers, citing grievances about pay and conditions, killed 74 people during the 33-standoff at the headquarters, including civilians, before they looted the compound and burned parts of it down.

The siege briefly threatened the survival of the newly elected government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who refused to use force to end the mutiny ? instead offering an amnesty in a televised appeal.

The decision upset powerful figures in the army, which had relinquished power just weeks before, and many observers worried that the standoff could lead to a return of military rule.

?It was the prime minister’s judgement and vision, and with hindsight I can see how disastrous it would have been to fight fire with fire,? Islam said.

Bangladesh ? one of the poorest countries in the world ? has a history of political violence, coups and counter-coups since winning independence from Pakistan in 1971.

The country was run by a military dictator from 1982 to 1990, before democracy was restored in 1991. In January 2007 the army again stepped in and democracy returned with elections, which Hasina won, in December 2009.

Hasina’s civilian government has dealt with the fall-out from the mutiny through democratic channels, including internal reforms ? which address many of the mutineers’ grievances ? and legal proceedings.

One year on, the wheels of justice are grinding slowly forward, but there are concerns about the use of torture on suspects and the reliability of any convictions as a result.
Nhereen Ferdousi, widow of Colonel Mujib Hoque, a senior BDR officer killed during the mutiny, wants justice ? but justice she can believe in.

?We are very much hopeful that they will bring justice, but it must be the right kind of justice. We don’t want any innocents to be blamed,? she told AFP.

On Wednesday, the government announced that around 900 border guards would be tried in civil courts on murder, arson and looting charges related to the mutiny. Bangladesh has the death penalty for murder.

In parallel, an estimated 3,500 people face charges in military-run Special Courts for involvement in the mutiny, where they face a maximum penalty of seven years in prison.

Rights group Amnesty International has raised concerns that ?highly charged emotions in the aftermath of the mutiny? could mar the ongoing legal process, citing the deaths of 48 BDR personnel in custody, allegedly due to torture.

?They beat my husband while he was hanging from the ceiling, they even beat his toes,? said Sharifa Begum, 46, whose husband Torab Hossain has been in Dhaka’s central jail since May 2009.

Her son Sharif Ahmed, 28 and also a BDR soldier, has been missing since June. Both of them were posted at the BDR Headquarters during the mutiny.

?My husband told me: I have confessed but only to prevent severe torture. I did not touch any weapon, nor assist any mutineers. I’m innocent,? she said.

The BDR’s Islam maintains that there is no evidence of torture in custody leading to the deaths, and said if there were, it would be fully investigated.

BDR Rivel overview!!:Bangladesh?2009

2010

Dhaka trial of Bangladesh mutiny begins

The trial has begun in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka of border guards accused of taking part in a mutiny a year ago.

The revolt by members of the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) left 74 people dead, including 57 officers.

The mutineers blamed their revolt on bad pay and years of mistreatment by corrupt officers.

Last year, the government set up six special courts to try suspected mutineers. Trials began in November and the first verdict is expected in May.

The mutiny took the country to the brink of nationwide conflict. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said it was a plot to bring down her government.

Some 80 border guards went on trial in Dhaka on Tuesday charged in connection with the mutiny.

Proceedings are taking place in the same room at BDR headquarters – Darbar Hall – where the rebellion was launched when two soldiers tried to kill their commanding officer who was giving a speech at the time, the BBC’s Mark Dummett in Dhaka reports.

Searchers pulled bodies out of sewers around the barracks

Charges against the mutineers include conspiracy to kill officers and civilians, using weapons and explosives, creating panic, looting and trying to hide bodies.

In all some 3,500 soldiers are to stand trial in military courts for taking part in the mutiny.

A smaller group, which one newspaper puts at about 800, are to stand trial for murder, rape and looting, in a separate civilian court.

No date has yet been set for that trial which will be, by some measure, the largest in the country’s history, our correspondent adds.

At least 50 border guards detained for questioning have died in custody, the authorities say. Human rights groups have expressed alarm and suspect the figure could be higher.

Rights groups doubt the military’s account that some of the detainees committed suicide, while the rest had heart attacks or died of other illnesses.

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Authorities in Bangladesh deployed the army to the southeastern hill region after more than 100 people were injured in clashes between tribals and Bengali settlers, police and local media said on Sunday,
At least two people were killed in the clashes that raged

throughout Saturday in the Rangamati Hill District, about 350 km (220 miles) from the capital Dhaka, the worst violence in the area in years.

Thousands of landless Bengalis, mostly victims of river erosion, were settled in the Chittagong Hill Tract region under a government plan in the 1980s to ease population pressure in the plains and also to defuse a tribal insurgency.

Relations between the settlers and the tribal groups have been tense over ownership of lands, often leading to violence.

“Army troops have been deployed and the situation is under control but very tense,” a local reporter said on Sunday by telephone. “Assembly of more than five people has been prohibited.”

Police said they found bullet-riddled bodies of a man and a woman in the Rangamati district where the clashes erupted. More than 100 homes were set on fire.

In 1997 the Bangladesh government signed a peace deal with tribal Shanti Bahini guerrillas who waged a 25-year insurgency over demand for political autonomy in the 5,500 sq miles (14,200 sq km) Chittagong Hill Tracts, bordering India and Myanmar.

Police said a tribal group opposed to the peace accord attacked a settlers village, sparking the latest violence.
Rights activists and eminent personalities yesterday strongly condemned the killing of indigenous people and arson attacks on their houses at Baghaihat in Rangamati on Saturday.

In separate statements, they demanded formation of a judiciary commission to probe the incident and punishment to the attackers.

They called on the government to provide food and treatment facilities for the affected families and ensure their rehabilitation.

They also called for deployment of police force formed with indigenous people and Bangalees.

They urged the government to activate the Chittagong Hill Tracts land commission to resolve land disputes.

The organisations included Bangladeshi Adivasi Odhikar Andolon, Gono Forum, Ain O Shalish Kendra (ASK), Bangladesh Legal and Services Trust (BLAST), Association for Land and Development (ALRD), Nijera Kori, Brac’s Human Rights and Legal Aid Programme, Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), Association of Development Agencies in Bangladesh (ADAB), Chittagong Hill Tracts Hill Students Council, Revolutionary Workers Party of Bangladesh, Gonotantrik Bam Morcha, Samajtantrik Chhatra Front, Communist Party of Bangladesh, Gono Sangskriti Front, Jatiya Gono Front and Sammilito Samajik Andolon.

In a joint statement, 29 eminent personalities demanded a discussion on the issue in parliament.

They also called for formation of a parliamentary group who will talk to the affected people and the administration to calm the situation.

The signatories included Prof Mosharraf Hossain, Prof Anisuzzaman, Barrister M Amir-Ul Islam, Prof Rangalal Sen, Ajay Roy, Maj Gen (retd) Shafiullah, Prof Dr Syed Anwar Hossain, Barrister Sara Hossain and Prof Abul Barak

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