CHT in festive mood as Boisabi begins today

CHT in festive mood as Boisabi begins today

 

Local artistes perform a traditional Marma dance at a cultural function held on the premises of Khagrachhari Town Hall yesterday. The district council arranged the programme on the eve of the three-day ‘Boisabi’ festival. Photo: Star

A festive atmosphere prevails over the three districts of Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) as the three-day ‘Boisabi Utsab’ of the indigenous people begins there today.
The festival is widely called Boisabi although the ethnic people have its regional names. The Tripuras, the Marmas and the Chakmas call it Boisuk, Sangrain and Biju respectively while the first two or three letters of each form the word ‘Boisabi’ collectively, reports our correspondents.
The ethnic communities in Rangamati, Khagrachhari and Bandarban districts celebrate the festival to leave behind the passing year with all its sorrows and welcome the Bangla New Year with hope for a brighter future.
The last two days of Bangla month of Chaitra is called ‘Phul Biju’ and ‘Mul Biju’ and the first day of Baishakh is known as ‘Gojya Pojya Din’.
The indigenous people of CHT float flowers on river or fountain water on ‘Phul Biju’ day. Biju Udjapan Committee and Tripura Kalyan Foundation will organise the ‘floating flower’ programmes on Kaptai Lake at Rajban Bihar Ghat and Garjantali in Rangamati.
As a mark of respect to the elders, Tripura people will give a bath and new clothes to them at Garjantali in Rangamati in the morning. They will also entertain their guests with pithas (cakes) during the programme.
Local Tripura artistes will perform at a cultural programmeat at Garjantali in Rangamati.
In Khagrachhari, the zila parishad will bring out a colourful procession in the town today. Sarbajanin Boisabi Udjapan Committeee has arranged a three-day cultural programme and traditional games competition at Shanirbar in the town.
The cultural activists of Kharang Cultural Development Society will perform traditional Garaiya Dance, Hazagiri Dance and Romantic dances of Tripura community in the programme.
On April 13, during the main function of Mul Biju festival, the indigenous people will prepare ‘pachan’, a kind of mixed vegetable curry at every house to treat the guests. They will also make their own traditional pithas (cakes), sweetmeats and liquor to celebrate the day. Pitha Utsab (preparing traditional cakes) will take place in Khagrachhari town.
On the occasion, Utsab Udjapan Committee in Bandarban has arranged a three-day long programme in Bandarban town with the performing of ‘Shoyeng Daan’ (delivering food) in the Kheuya Kiong (local temple).
A religious procession will parade the town with the statue of Lord Buddha and after that the statue will be taken to Shankho River to arrange a bath of the statue.
On the day of  “Gojjya Pojjya Din” or the first day of Bangla New Year, the indigenous people go to Kiong (temple) to offer cakes and hear Dharma Deshana (religious preaching) and pray for the well being of their family. They also host their neighbours at their respective houses on the day.

Civil War in Syria

Army assault on Syria province kills 57

HRW says regime 'willfully' kills civilians from air

 

Six children were among at least 57 people killed in southern Syria as the army launched an all-out assault on two towns in Daraa province, a watchdog said yesterday.
“At least six children, seven women, 16 rebel fighters, 16 other unidentified men and 12 army troops were killed on Wednesday, in fighting, shelling and summary executions waged after the army launched an assault on Al-Sanamein and Ghabagheb,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP the army’s assault came a day after a dozen troops defected from a nearby military post to join the rebels.
“The defectors took refuge in the area of Al-Sanamein and Ghabagheb, which up until then had remained somewhat more calm than other areas of Daraa,” said Abdel Rahman.
“The army launched its assault, and shelled several houses,” he added.
Nationwide, at least 179 people were killed in violence on Wednesday — 50 civilians, 86 rebels and 43 soldiers, the Observatory said.
Meanwhile, the Damascus regime has “willfully” killed thousands of civilians in air strikes that amount to war crimes, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday, as rebels lobbied the major powers for weapons.
G8 foreign ministers gathered for a second day of talks in London after several of them met opposition leaders to discuss their calls for arms to tilt the balance in their fight to oust President Bashar al-Assad.
Overshadowing the talks was a Wednesday statement by the head of the jihadist rebel al-Nusra Front pledging allegiance to al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri, which has increased concerns about weapons falling into the wrong hands.
The United Nations says that more than 70,000 people have been killed in Syria’s 2-year-old conflict. It started with peaceful protests against Assad’s rule, inspired by other Arab Spring uprisings, but following a harsh regime crackdown descended into full-blown civil war.

Plea to prove Bhagat Singh’s innocence

Eight decades after Bhagat Singh’s execution by the British, a petition has been filed in a Pakistani court seeking the reopening of the freedom fighter’s case so that he can be declared innocent. Imtiaz Rasheed Qureshi of the Save The Judiciary Committee filed the petition in the Lahore high court.
He said Bhagat Singh, who was sentenced to death by the British government and hanged in Lahore in March 1931, was a freedom fighter of the subcontinent.

“Singh was first given life imprisonment but later awarded death sentence. He was convicted in a fake case,” Qureshi said in his petition. Singh was respected by Sikhs and Muslims alike and Pakistan’s founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah too had paid tribute to the freedom fighter in the erstwhile Central Legislative Assembly, Qureshi said. “I therefore request the court to reopen the case and declare him innocent,” he said.

Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev yesterday took potshots at Rahul Gandhi in the context of prime ministerial candidates, saying that the Congress Vice-President is not mature enough and has no vision.
“There is a long queue of people who want to become the Prime Minister. Rahul Gandhi’s name is also coming up for the post of PM, but he is not mature enough and has no vision,” Baba Ramdev told media here.
Praising Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Baba Ramdev said: “In the present situation, Modi appears as a man who is committed to development and one who can prevent corruption.”
Baba Ramdev had earlier said the BJP should project Modi as its leader in the next Lok Sabha elections.
“There is some possibility and space for BJP if it changes priorities and thinks about projecting Narendra Modi in the next Lok Sabha elections,” Baba Ramdev said.
“Modi has emerged as a robust leader who has become icon of development and courage and has zero tolerance for corruption but the final decision for his projection is to be taken by the BJP and Sangh,” he added.

HARTAL

                                       HARTAL

 

The burnt-out vehicles of Chhatra League men at Kajirhat in Chittagong. Hefajat-e Islam activists torched these bikes after they swooped on a BCL rally. Photo: Banglarchokh

It was a scorching hot day yesterday, and Mohammad Masud stood at what is typically a bustling spot in the capital’s Motijheel with a heap of peanuts.
But there was hardly anyone to buy peanuts from him.
“This is the usual scene on hartal days,” Masud says.
The sole breadwinner of a family of six who live in Kishoreganj, Masud last remitted them Tk 2,000 two months back.
“I have been receiving constant reminders to send money, but I don’t have enough. The business has been terrible of late.”
The back to back shutdowns enforced by the BNP and its allies in the past two months are to blame.
On regular working days, Masud’s sales amount to Tk 1,000-1,100 on average, but during shutdowns his takings drop sharply. His combined sales on two hartal days — Monday and Tuesday — were of Tk 650.
Masud’s is not an isolated story, but the narrative of the plight of some 23.97 lakh hawkers and street vendors, according to an estimate of Bangladesh Chhinnomul Hawkers Samity.
According to Kamal Siddiki, president of the association, shutdowns reduce hawkers’ takings by around 35 percent.
The violent nature of the hartals this time round scares people away. They do not venture out unless necessary, let alone stop by to purchase items off roadside vendors.
In a bid to lure in customers on hartal days, Mohammad Rubel, a menswear seller at Motijheel, resorted to selling garments at lower prices, sacrificing his margins.

The fire service vehicle which was also set ablaze as it tried to douse the fire. Photo: Banglarchokh

“We have some fixed costs even if we do not open the store. If we can make some sales, we can at least make up part of that cost,” said Sagor Hossain, another menswear hawker at Motijheel.
He cited the obligation to pay tolls regularly, along with charges for using a warehouse and a light bulb.
Over at Gulistan that usually buzzes with hawkers and pedestrians, street vendors were found sitting idle in the afternoon.
“Because of the consistent hartals, my sales have been deplorably bad,” said Mohammad Gaus Farazi, a hawker whose income is tied to the number of T-shirts he sells.
Depending on prices, he gets Tk 5-10 as commission per piece from the owner.
Farazi takes home about Tk 400-500 on sales of T-shirts worth Tk 5,000-6,000 on normal days.
His sales receipts plummet to Tk 1,500-2,000 on hartal days, earning him Tk 150-180 at the end of the day. Of the amount, he has to spend Tk 110 daily for bus fare and lunch.
The scene is almost identical for street vendors in front of Chandni Chawk Market.
In the absence of customers in their makeshift shops, hawkers were seen talking to each other to kill time.
“Although we open our shops during hartals, we hardly have any sales,” said Mohammed Shohag, a womenswear seller.
The roadside vendor sells garments of around Tk 10,000 daily, but on hartal days it comes down to Tk 2,000-3,000, he said.
He gets a flat Tk 300 per day as remuneration from his owner.
“But I am worried if he [the owner] will be able to pay my salary this month.”

Kerry lands in Seoul as tensions simmer

John Kerry, the US secretary of state, has arrived in South Korea as tension with its northern neighbour continues. Kerry's three-day visit, which began on Friday, will also take him to China and Tokyo. The trip comes as Washington tries to press China to deliver a "tough" message to North Korea to rein in its nuclear programme and belligerent rhetoric, a US official said. "We really want them to ... carry some tough messages to Pyongyang" on denuclearisation, the official told reporters travelling with Kerry. Kerry also wanted to convey an unambiguous message in Seoul and Tokyo that "we are prepared and that alliance matters [and] that we will defend them," the official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, added. The trip is Kerry's first to the region since taking office on February 1 and he hopes to persuade China to use its economic and diplomatic leverage to try to temper North Korea's behaviour. Al Jazeera's Marga Ortigas, reporting from Seoul, said Kerry would meet South Korea's foreign minister and discuss the tensions. Kerry will also be visiting US troops, "re-affriming the ties" between the two countries, said our correspondent. She said both the US and South Korea were conducting joint military drills which will end at the end of April. "It’s precisely because these joint military exercises continued that North Korea amped up its angry rhetoric. They [North Koreans] have been saying that this is just a ruse to try to plan an invasion of North Korea," she said. North Korea carried out its third nuclear test in February, prompting a fresh UN Security Council sanctions resolution against the impoverished state led by Kim Jong-un, the 30-year-old grandson of its founder. Earlier, Barack Obama, the US president, on Thursday called on North Korea to end its "belligerent approach". Obama's comments came as the Pentagon backed away from an intelligence report which suggested North Korea might have developed nuclear weapons which could be fit onto a ballistic missile. Pentagon spokesman George Little said "it would be inaccurate to suggest that the North Korean regime has fully tested, developed, or demonstrated the kinds of nuclear capabilities referenced in" the intelligence report. The statement came after a lawmaker read out the findings of a Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) report at a congressional hearing earlier on Thursday that appeared to signal a shift in Washington's view of North Korea's nuclear programme. The DIA assessment said US analysts had "moderate confidence the North currently has nuclear weapons capable of delivery by ballistic missiles" but that the reliability of the weapons was "low". The intelligence report marked the first time the US government had suggested North Korea may have succeeded in a years-long quest to miniaturise a nuclear device so that it could be placed on a missile. 'Never demonstrated' Defence secretary Chuck Hagel and General Martin Dempsey,  the US military's top officer, appeared caught off-guard when the report's findings were disclosed at a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee. Spotlight Follow coverage of escalating threats in Northeast Asia After the hearing, administration officials scrambled to explain what appeared to be a change in the government's portrayal of the North Korean threat. A senior US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the AFP news agency that the administration had not changed its evaluation that Pyongyang was still not at a point where it could deliver a nuclear warhead on a ballistic missile. "The North Koreans have never demonstrated this capability and we don't believe they are able to now," the official said. The confusion over the report came against the backdrop of mounting tensions on the Korean peninsula, with Pyongyang issuing bellicose threats and preparing to possibly launch medium-range missiles. The Pentagon, which has bolstered missile defences around the Korean peninsula, said it was closely watching North Korea amid speculation the regime would fire conventional missiles in the run-up to national celebrations on April 15th. "The United States continues to closely monitor the North Korean nuclear program and calls upon North Korea to honor its international obligations," Little said. 'Belligerent approach' Obama addressed the tensions after a meeting with Ban Ki-moon, the UN chief, in the Oval Office. He said "nobody wants to see a conflict" with the North, but that the United States was ready to take necessary measures to defend itself. "We both agree that now is the time for North Korea to end the kind of belligerent approach that they've been taking," Obama said. "It's important for North Korea, like every other country in the world, to observe basic rules and norms." While the US president emphasised that Washington would "continue to try to work to resolve some of those issues diplomatically," he made it clear that the United States would be ready to face any eventuality and defend its allies. "The United States will take all necessary steps to protect its people and meet our obligations under our alliances in the region," Obama said. Ban, who is from South Korea, said he was "deeply concerned... by the continuing tensions on the Korean peninsula" and hailed what he called Washington's "measured response" to the litany of threats issued by Pyongyang. "We hope that border countries including China, who may have influence on North Korea, can exercise their leadership and influence so that this situation will be resolved peacefully," the UN chief said. Earlier Thursday, G8 foreign ministers, including Kerry, strongly condemned Pyongyang over its nuclear program, warning it would face further sanctions in the event of a missile launch.

 Timeline on North Korea’s Nuclear Program

The country’s nuclear weapons program and its development of long-range rocket systems have angered many in the West, including in the United States, where the last several presidents have struggled to try to force the North to end its push for nuclear arms.