My Dhaka
The disaster at Savar
happened because labour groups were not
there to defend worker interests, Mozena
told a public hearing on industrial
safety at the parliament members club on
Saturday. “Come to Parliament
and talk. Please don’t go away after
merely registering your attendance,” she
said on Saturday, during an interaction
with Awami League leaders from
Chapainawabganj.
Contact : Editor. E-mail:
mydhaka.net@gmail.com
Editors demand
Mahmudur's release
Sixteen
newspaper editors have asked for the
release of Daily Amar Desh acting editor
Mahmudur Rahman, saying that his arrest
and continued detention was a threat to
the freedom of press.
In a statement on
Saturday, they also expressed concern
about the closure of Amar Desh press and
two TV stations.
The statement said that both the Islamic
TV and Diganta TV should be allowed to
go on air and Amar Desh should be
allowed to print and circulate.
The editors who signed the statement
were Daily Independent’s Mahbubul Alam,
Samakal’s Golam Sarowar, Prothom Alo’s
Motiur Rahman, New Age’s Nurul Kabir,
Daily Today’s Riaz Uddin Ahmed, Kaler
Kantha’s Imdadul Haque Milon, Daily
Star’s Mahfuz Anam, Daily Sangbad’s
acting editor Muniruzzaman and
Manabjamin’s Motiur Rahman Chowdhury.
The statement was also signed by – Daily
Inqilab’s AMM Bahauddin, Naya Diganta’s
Alamgir Mohiuddin, Financial Express’
AHM Moazzem Hossain, Bangladesh
Pratidin’s Naem Nizam, New Nation’s
Mostofa Kamal Majumder, Jugantar
executive editor Saiful Alam and online
news portal banglanews24.com’s Alamgir
Hossain.
Police on Apr 11 arrested Mahmudur
Rahman from his Karwan Bazar office on
charge of sedition and for publishing
reports on an alleged Skype conversation
between an International Crimes Tribunal
judge and an expatriate Bangladeshi
legal expert. Rahman was also sued under
the Information and Communication
Technology Act 2006.
Later that night, police raided the Amar
Desh press in the city’s Tejgaon area
and sealed it off.
On the other hand, broadcast of Diganta
Television, tied to Jamaat-e-Islami, and
pro-BNP Islamic TV was ‘temporarily
suspended’ on May 5.
Senior Jamaat leader Mir Quasem Ali is
the Chairman of the Diganta Media
Corporation which owns and operates The
Daily Naya Diganta newspaper and Diganta
TV. On the other hand, BNP Chairperson
Khaleda Zia’s younger brother, late
Sayeed Eskander, was the founding
Chairman of the Islamic TV.
Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu had
said the two stations were taken off the
air temporarily as they were instigating
religious passions and had violated the
condition for their licences.
The statement of the 15 editors on
Saturday said arrest and alleged torture
of Amar Desh acting editor, closing its
press, cases against the newspaper’s
acting chairman Mahmuda Begum (Mahmudur’s
mother), and Daily Sangram editor Abul
Asad for printing Amar Desh, and
shutting down the TV stations ‘were
avoidable and unfortunate’.
“These moves are not positive for an
elected and democratic government as
they have thrown many journalists out of
work.”
The editors said, “We think these moves
by the government are a threat on the
freedom of press and right to
expression. These incidents will weaken
our democracy.”
The statement also criticised the
closure of the media houses and arrest
and torture of an editor.
Secular groups had alleged Mahmudur
Rahman was the moving force behind
whipping up religious passion against
bloggers and online activists who were
leading the Shahbagh's Ganajagaran
Mancha since Feb 5 asking for death
penalty for convicted war criminals and
for a ban on the Jamaat-e-Islami.
GSP only
if working standards are met: Mozena
Bangladesh can convince United States to
continue GSP for its garment exports by
improving working conditions and safety
standards in its factories, US envoy to
Dhaka Dan W Mozena said on Saturday.
Israfil Alam, chairman of the standing
committee for Labour and Employment
asked the ambassador if the current
working conditions and safety would lead
to Bangladesh loosing out on the GSP for
its readymade garment exports.
The US ambassador replied saying, “The
collapse of Rana Plaza and the fire at
Tazreen Fashions took place right when
Bangladesh is being considered for the
GSP. These questions were raised in 2007
as well. These incidents give rise to
safety questions. Bangladesh has to show
that it has taken initiatives to better
the work conditions.”
Bangladesh’s effort to get preferential
access to the US market suffered a huge
set back after the collapse of Rana
Plaza that killed over 1,100 people,
mostly garment workers.
Mozena had told reporters that the
mishap would have an adverse impact on
the Bangladesh’s chance of getting GSP.
Bangladesh exports a large number of
products to the United States but
readymade garments its main export item
does not enjoy the preferential trading
status.
According to data by Export Development
Bureau, Bangladesh has exported goods
worth over US $24 billion in the
2011-2012 fiscal year. Of this 21
percent ($5 billion) was exported to the
US.
Bangladesh has emerged as the second
largest exporter of readymade garments
products, thanks to the duty-free access
offered by Western nations.
In 2011, goods worth US $26.3 million
were exported to the US. The GSP covers
the export of tobacco products, sport
equipments, kitchen utensils and plastic
goods to the US.
Mozena said the authorities could not
have forced the workers inside the
unsafe building if there was a labour
organisation. Workers would not be able
to organize without rights to form a
labour union.
“There has to be a coordinated effort by
government-buyer-owner to provide
factories with safety certificates. This
process has to be independent and
transparent. There has to be a
regulation that rules out rights to
export without a certificate.”
The US ambassador urged the government
to meet international standards while
passing the Labour Law to secure rights
of its workers.
“The new Labour Law will maintain the
rights of workers”, he added.
The parliament standing committee for
the Ministry of Labour and Employment
arranged the public hearing.
Representatives of garment workers,
owner and buyers took part in the
hearing
Join
House, place demands, Hasina to BNP
Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina has asked the
Opposition to place their proposal for
discussion in the Parliament.
After an 83-day absence, the BNP on
Friday hinted they would go back to the
Parliament during the forthcoming budget
session.
The Constitution stipulates that a seat
in Parliament will fall vacant if the
lawmaker remains absent for 90
consecutive business days.
Taking a dig at the Opposition Leader
Khaleda Zia, Hasina said, “She has her
own style. She comes to Parliament for a
day and leaves after delivering a long
speech.”
The last time the BNP chief joined
Parliament proceedings, she delivered a
nearly two-hour long speech and left.
“I saw in newspaper reports that if they
(the Opposition) do not attend
Parliament sessions, they’ll lose their
seats. Already 82 days out of 90 days
are gone,” Hasina said.
Prime Minister Hasina has been asking
the BNP-led Opposition to place their
demands in the Parliament over the
dispensation they want for conducting
the forthcoming national elections.
The 18-Party alliance has hit the
streets in protest ever since the
government annulled the caretaker
government system through the 15th
Constitutional Amendment. The national
elections, says the BNP, will not be
‘free and fair’ unless held under a
caretaker administration.
Hasina has said she has no objections to
a multi-party committee for handling the
polls but she is opposed to restoring
the caretaker.
The Awami League alleges that the BNP-led
Opposition is trying to disrupt the
ongoing war crimes trials by his
continuous agitation on the caretaker
issue.
“We won’t let anyone play with the flow
of democracy. [You] must shun killings
and violence, otherwise, we know how to
tackle them,” Hasina warned.
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Published by: Mrs.Mahmuda Sultana.
Dhaka, Bangladesh
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