World Defense Forum

Masud Ali Khan no more


Photo: Sheikh Mehedi Morshed

Ekushey Padak-winning veteran artiste Masud Ali Khan passed away today at his home in the Green Road area, confirmed a relative of his to The Daily Star. The beloved actor died at 5:20pm, according to his official death certificate.

His relative further informed that his wife had served him lunch around noon, and upon checking on him around 4pm, she found him unresponsive. Doctors arrived shortly after and pronounced him dead.

Masud Ali Khan had stepped away from acting some time ago. As a founding member of the country's first theatre troupe, Drama Circle, his contributions to stage, television, film, and radio are invaluable. Through his performances in countless timeless productions, he earned widespread admiration from audiences.

He gained nationwide recognition for his performance in the BTV drama "Kul Nai Kinar Nai". He made his film debut with "Nadi O Nari" and went on to appear in numerous films, including "Jonakir Alo", "Dipu Number 2", "Matir Moina", "Dui Duari", and "Molla Barir Bou".

He also became a household name through his roles in the iconic drama series "Kothao Keu Nei" and "Ei Sob Din Ratri". Additionally, he appeared in popular series such as "Ekanno Borti", "69", and "Poush Phaguner Pala".

Masud Ali Khan is survived by his wife and two children. He will be laid to rest on Friday after Jummah prayers in his ancestral village of Paril, Singiar upazila, Manikganj district.​

Top UAE firms keen to invest in Bangladesh
FE ONLINE REPORT
Published :
Oct 30, 2024 14:29
Updated :
Oct 30, 2024 14:29



The United Arab Emirates is very keen to invest in Bangladesh's logistics, ports, aviation and renewable energy sector and expressed readiness to support the interim government of the country, ambassador of the Gulf nation said on Tuesday.

Ambassador Abdulla Ali Abdulla AlHmoudi expressed the desire of the country when he called on Professor Muhammad Yunus, the chief adviser of Bangladesh's interim government, at the state guest house Jamuna in Dhaka, said a spokesperson of the CA office.

During the meeting, Professor Yunus thanked the UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahiyan for the release of 57 Bangladeshi people after they were convicted and sentenced by a UAE court recently.

"It was a wonderful gesture. The whole nation was very happy," Yunus said. He also thanked the UAE government for hosting some 1.0 million Bangladeshi migrants.

Ambassador AlHmoudi expressed his government support for Bangladesh at a "critical time of the country" and said the UAE would stand by the interim government and its pro-business policies and reform agenda.

He said the DP World, one of the world's largest port operators, and Abu Dhabi Ports are very interested to invest in Chittagong port to help boost the country's export competitiveness to the world.

He said Masdar, another top firm in the UAE, is also interested to invest in renewable energy including floating solar projects-- the kind of which it has built in Indonesia.

Professor Yunus said his government has already rolled out business friendly policies and would be happy to see more investment from the UAE and visit of more Emirati business people to Bangladesh.​

Student leaders to suggest formation of council with political parties
Moloy Saha 30 October, 2024, 00:03


President Mohammed Shahabuddin.

The Student Movement Against Discrimination and the National Citizens’ Committee are going suggest that the interim government should form a council with the representatives of all political parties to resolve the issue of the president’s removal.

They came up with the suggestion at a press conference following a meeting with the Left Democratic Alliance at Mukti Bhaban in Dhaka on Tuesday.

After the meeting, National Citizens’ Committee convener Nasiruddin Patwary said that they would advise the government to form a council with all the political parties.

‘They [the council] will discuss and decide who will be the president based on consensus,’ he said.

The two platforms, which raised the demand for the president ’s removal Mohammed Shahabuddin’s remark that he had no documentary evidence of Sheikh Hasina’s resignation as prime minister, already held talks with six parties and three alliances, including Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, to reach national consensus on their five-point demand, including the removal of the president.

After meeting with the Left Democratic Alliance, Nasiruddin said, ‘The decision we have reached in these few days of discussions is that this president must go. Political parties have not discussed the issue among themselves in that way or we have seen a lack of activism among themselves. After we took the initiative, that understanding came, awareness came and they realised that they needed to have consensus.’

‘We believe that we have been able to bring the reaction among them. They [political parties] said that they will find a solution through discussions in various levels, including the party forum, and it will be solved,’ he said.

After the meeting, Left Democratic Alliance coordinator Masud Rana said, ‘We said that the consensus of the political parties is the most important. Further activities have to be agreed upon through discussions with the political parties regarding the future action plan.’

The Left Democratic Alliance is a combine of six left political parties—Socialist Party of Bangladesh (Marxist) coordinator, and also coordinator of the combine, Masud Rana chaired the meeting, while Communist Party of Bangladesh general secretary Ruuhin Hossain Prince, Socialist Party of Bangladesh (Marxist) joint general secretary Razequzzaman Ratan, Democratic Revolutionary Party general secretary Mushrefa Mishu, Revolutionary Communist League central leader Abdus Satter, among others, attended the meeting.​

Awami League has no moral right to engage in politics, says Jamaat chief Shafiqur
bdnews24.com
Published :
Oct 28, 2024 20:21
Updated :
Oct 28, 2024 20:21



Jamaat-e-Islami chief Shafiqur Rahman has said the Awami League has ‘no moral right’ to engage in politics due to its alleged involvement in “genocide”.

Addressing a discussion at the Institution of Engineers Bangladesh Auditorium in Dhaka on Monday to commemorate the victims of the Oct 28, 2006 ‘Logi-Boitha’ violence, Shafiqur condemned the party’s past actions.

He said, “In 1996, their [Awami League] party leader claimed that if one of their members was killed, they would retaliate with ten deaths. This time, they did not say it, but they did it. To vent their anger on the nation, they murdered innocent people and burnt their bodies with petrol. And now, they claimed they wanted to engage in politics and contest elections here again.”

“How can those who have fought against the nation seek votes in an election? They have no moral right to do so,” he added.

The Jamaat-e-Islami chief said the Awami League had transformed this country into a state of turmoil.

“In 1996, they [Awami League] pleaded for forgiveness for past crimes, asking the public for one opportunity to demonstrate patriotism. The public granted it, and in return, they gifted us bloodshed and corpses.”

The Jamaat-e-Islami leader also spoke on the nation’s political climate, stressing the importance of unity among citizens against fascism.

“Those of us engaged in politics must be vigilant, especially on matters of national crises and interests. We must not allow divisions in these fundamental areas,” he added.​

BTV bereft of audience, proposal for autonomy in cold storage
Kamrunnessa Hasan, a former additional director general of BTV, stated that the Asafuddoula commission had advised that BTV be operated as an autonomous institution modelled after the BBC. However, no government has taken that recommendation seriously
Sadia Mahjabin Imam
Dhaka
Updated: 24 Oct 2024, 15: 37



Bangladesh Television (BTV) aired popular drama series such as ‘Aaj Robibar’ and ‘Kothao Keu Nei’ in the 1990s. Before these, series such as ‘Ayomoy’ and ‘Eisob Dinratri’ garnered huge popularity.

Apart from television series, programmes of different genres like ‘Eso Gaan Shikhi’, ‘Maati O Manush’, ‘Bhora Nodir Baake’ and Meena cartoon enthralled audiences.

A survey conducted on 3000 people in 1990’s shows that 54 per cent of the audience was satisfied with BTV’s programmes. No such surveys are conducted nowadays.

BTV, which has two full-fledged centres and 14 sub-centres across the country, receives enough allocations. BTV’s budget for the current year is over Tk 3.2 billion.

The audiences said BTV has been derided for its coverage. Media experts said BTV’s popularity declined as subsequent governments made it their mouthpiece.

In 1996, a commission was formed for formulation of autonomy policy for Bangladesh Betar (radio) and Bangladesh Television with the aim of restructuring the state media. The following year, the commission issued a report with a number of recommendations, including the autonomy of BTV. The report never came to light. The report has remained in the dark for the past 27 years.

Political influence

BTV airs nine news bulletins daily. Four of these are 30-minute bulletins in Bangla and English and the remaining are brief bulletins.

An analysis of the 2:00 pm bulletin of BTV for a week during the movement of Students Against Discrimination in July of this year shows that the first 15 minutes are allocated only to the government’s development campaigns. News items of public interest are not included in this important part of the news bulletin.

For the last 12 years all the private television channels of the country had to compulsorily broadcast the news of BTV at 2:00 pm. However, this decision was withdrawn on 18 September.

Even people in villages now watch YouTube on their mobile phones. Restoring BTV’s old glory is very difficult. However, since it has the budget and other capabilities, those should be utilised. For this, a media commission needs to be formed--Professor Fahmidul Haque, a media and film expert residing in the US.

A former director general of BTV told Prothom Alo on condition of anonymity that the state TV channel could never publish news independently without interference from the government. A large portion of journalists of BTV’s newsroom were recruited through political consideration. As a result partisan people had influence from both inside and outside in terms of news and programmes during all the governments.

According to BTV newsroom, there are 45 reporters and 37 presenters and about 200 people involved with the news while people from newsrooms of four private TV channels said around 120 to 130 people work directly with news in each private channel.

An analysis of the list of BTV programmes in the 2022-23 fiscal year published on the website of BTV shows that a total of 91 hours and 48 minutes of “educational” programmes were broadcast on BTV. Programmes on “History, Heritage, Nature and Environment” were aired for 67 hours and 55 minutes and more than 102 hours were dedicated for development programmes.

The picture was almost the same the next year. The development related programmes include laying of foundation stones and inaugurations of government projects by the prime minister and ministers.

The autonomy formulation commission in 1997 stated that there is a lack of proper policy regarding production and dissemination of news and other programmes of Betar and TV.

In news, “protocol value” takes precedence over “news value”. It was learnt that influential quarters pressurise the authorities’ concern to publish their news with importance.

Kamrunnesa Hasan, who went to retirement as deputy director general of BTV in 2009, told Prothom Alo, “Political pressure was always there but the section of artistes depends on the concerned persons of respective programmes. At least this was the way during our time.”

She said BTV’s news had many flaks, but revered singers such as Firoza Begum, Runa Laila and Sabina Yasmin took part in BTV programmes in 1980’s or even back in 1990’s. Later on, the Awami League government blacklisted many artistes as a result of criminalisation of politics. Noted artistes such as Shahnaz Rahmatullah or Niaz Mohammad would not get invited to BTV programmes. As a result, artists lost interest in BTV.

The allegations of producing programmes without proper research and nepotism in selection of performers have only increased in the last 15 years. Moreover, news of various corruptions including misappropriation of honorarium of artistes and enlisting artistes in exchange of money were reported in current year by many news media including Prothom Alo.

Expenditure more than income

According to information from BTV sources, the state-run TV channel’s budget in the current fiscal (2024-25) was over Tk 3.2 billion. The allocation has increased by Tk 90 million compared to the previous year.

Among the two full-fledged centres and 14 sub-centres, BTV's Dhaka centre located in the capital's Rampura is the most important. The centre gets more allocation. In the last financial year, the expenditure of this centre was Tk 1.36 billion. The revenue of this centre was only Tk 1.3 in this centre.

The total income and expenditure of all the centres in the last financial year could not be known. The current general manager of BTV's Dhaka centre, Nurul Azam, has not given any information in the end despite multiple assurances in this regard.

As a state broadcaster, BTV has the opportunity to broadcast World Cup football matches for free; BTV bought the broadcasting rights of the 2022 World Cup for Tk 980 million from a private company called Tama Construction and Company Limited. That was the only instance of buying broadcasting rights of the World Cup and it was done to facilitate the business of Toma Construction.

It is alleged that Awami League’s central organising secretary Mirza Azam is involved with Toma Construction.

Sohrab Hossain was the DG of the BTV at that time.

He told Prothom Alo recently that BTV informed the information and broadcasting ministry about it. However, the ministry said although the BTV is supposed to broadcast the World Cup matches for free, the decision to buy rights from Toma Construction was taken at a meeting of ECNEC (Executive Committee of the National Economic Council). The then prime minister Sheikh Hasina approved the decision at the ECNEC meeting.

Harun or Rashid was the DG of BTV in 2016-2021. He told Prothom Alo that BTV never had to pay money to air the World Cup. In the 2014 and 2018 editions of the World Cup, BTV got the live feed for free from the media rights licensors and had earned Tk 45 million and Tk 77.5 million respectively. Meanwhile, it earned Tk 35 million in the 2022 edition. Of the income, Tk 25 million was from the government advertisements.

Audience still has love for BTV

There is no survey as to how many viewers watch BTV. However, a study by the UK-based international market research firm Kantar Group Limited found that in 2021, approximately 11.3 million people in the country would watch BTV at some point. By 2023, this number decreased to 8 million.

There were conversations about the viewing experience of BTV with audiences from different generations and media experts.

Jalowashan Akhtar Khan, a 74-year-old resident of the Bashundhara residential area in the capital, told Prothom Alo, “BTV is like the government’s mouthpiece. I don’t watch it anymore. If it wants to become popular by changing its character, it must focus on broadcasting important news. There needs to be a reflection of all types of opinions on the television screen.”

Anwar Hossain, a 45-year-old employee in a private company, recalled how BTV used to show president Ershad distributing relief in the water during the 1980s. Back then, BTV was called “the mouthpiece of the rich and the famous.”

He mentioned the emergence of “Begum Zia TV” and later, “Awami TV”, which showcased “bumper harvests of the batabi lemon”. Despite these changes, he feels a certain nostalgia for BTV, which he believes the authorities should realise.

However, Istiaq Ahmed, who works in the financial technology sector and is in his thirties, shared that he has not watched BTV since 2006.

He said, “For a long time, I thought, why should I watch? Now, maybe things are slowly changing. BTV needs to increase its own content.”

Commission's recommendations

After the end of HM Ershad's dictatorship in the early 1990s, political parties, including the Awami League and BNP, which had opposed him, reached a consensus on the autonomy of Bangladesh Betar and BTV.

To formulate recommendations regarding autonomy to make these institutions more creative and significant, a commission was established by the then Awami League government in September 1996.

Under the leadership of then secretary Mohammad Asafuddoula, the commission submitted its report on 30 June 1997.

In their report, the commission recommended bringing the state-owned institution under autonomy to make it profitable and people-friendly. The recommendations also included monitoring and evaluating the activities of government and private radio and television stations to ensure proper adherence to national broadcasting policies.

Additionally, the report suggested forming a quality coordination committee to monitor and control the activities of radio and BTV, along with defining its powers and jurisdiction.

At the time the commission submitted its report, the director general of BTV was renowned producer Nawazish Ali Khan.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, he said that what is currently shown on BTV under the guise of programmes is “cheap entertainment”. BTV has failed to adapt to changing times. Without ensuring the participation of skilled personnel and dedicated artistes, good programmes cannot be produced.

He further stated that while a budget is necessary to operate BTV, a good drama or programme cannot be produced solely with a budget. The standards of production style, script quality, artistes’ skills, and director’s taste all need to meet high standards.

Kamrunnessa Hasan, a former additional director general of BTV, stated that the Asafuddoula commission had advised that BTV be operated as an autonomous institution modelled after the BBC. However, no government has taken that recommendation seriously.

The commission came up for discussion again in 2009, when the High Court, in response to a writ petition, inquired about the activities of the commission. After that, there was no further discussion on the matter.

On 3 September, an interim government meeting was held between chief advisor Dr. Muhammad Yunus and editors of various newspapers in the country.

The proposal for the autonomy of BTV, Bangladesh Betar, and Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) was raised during the meeting. This brought the report from the commission 27 years ago back into the conversation.

However, professor Fahmidul Haque, a media and film expert residing in the US, believes that granting autonomy could be a means to make BTV successful. But he emphasised that this cannot be just a theoretical arrangement; its practical implementation and transparency must be ensured.

He told Prothom Alo, “Even people in villages now watch YouTube on their mobile phones. Restoring BTV’s old glory is very difficult. However, since it has the budget and other capabilities, those should be utilised. For this, a media commission needs to be formed.”​

Pakistan former PM Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi freed from jail on bail
REUTERS
Published :
Oct 24, 2024 23:07
Updated :
Oct 24, 2024 23:12


Former prime minister Imran Khan with his wife Bushra Bibi. Photo : Reuters

Bushra Bibi, the wife of former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, was released from prison on Thursday, a day after she was granted bail in a case linked to the illegal sale of state gifts, ending about nine months of imprisonment.

The release is the biggest legal relief for Khan and his family since he was imprisoned in August last year. Bibi, who was arrested in January, was released from Adiala Jail in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, where Khan still remains.

Local television channels showed a small number of supporters throwing rose petals on two white SUVs escorting her from the jail.

Bibi faces at least one other graft case linked to receiving land from a real estate developer.

“Welcome back Bushra Bibi! You have faced extremely difficult times, disgusting campaign and character assassination attempts against your during your illegal time in jail,” Khan’s party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, said in a post on X.

Khan himself faces dozens of other cases, including charges of violating anti-terrorism laws, brought since he was removed as premier in 2022 and launched a protest movement against a coalition of his rivals led by current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

The Khans deny all the charges, saying they are trumped up by the government to discredit the 72-year-old former cricket star, who remains widely popular and whose candidates won the most seats in February’s general election.

The Sharif-led government says it does not interfere in the judicial process. Khan’s standoff with the country’s powerful military, who he says backs Sharif, has spawned the worst political turmoil in decades in the nation of 241 million people.

Bibi, whose actual name is Bushra Khan, is Khan’s third wife. The two married six months before he became prime minister for the first time in 2018.

Khan has often called her his spiritual leader and she is known for her devotion to Sufism, a mystical form of Islam. She has mostly remained away from the public eye, appearing in only one television interview - that too wearing her traditional veil.​

Blue Economy - Are we ready for it?


A view of Bay of Bengal from Sandwip, Chittagong. PHOTO: HOSSAIN TAREQUE/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Blue economy means extraction of the resources of sea for the growth of an economy. Bangladesh has settled maritime boundary disputes with Myanmar in 2012 and with India in 2014 through an arbitral method. It is estimated that Bangladesh has acquired 118,813 square kilometres of the Bay of Bengal. The areas of resources include 200 nautical miles of exclusive economic zone and over 354 nautical miles of resources on seabed (continental shelf). It is estimated that the resources from the sea of Bangladesh constitute 81 percent of the resources existing in its land territory.

Within the jurisdiction of Bangladesh, the sea is endowed with immense and precious natural resources, living and non-living. Experts say that fish alone has 500 varieties besides snails, shell-fish, crabs, sharks, octopuses and other animals. Bangladesh is estimated to catch only 0.70 million tons of fish every year out of the total 8 million tons of fish available in the Bay of Bengal.

Besides fish and other living animals, Bangladesh could also have gas fields as it is reported that Myanmar has discovered a large gas field on its area of the sea. Experts are of the view that Bangladesh would be able to extract resources worth about Tk 12,000 crore (1.2 billion dollar).

According to experts, the silt on the adjacent sea area in Bangladesh contains valuable minerals such as uranium and thorium besides a large number of "clay" which constitutes raw materials of cement. Experts believe that there exist 13 heavy mineral-rich silts in the adjacent sea areas of Bangladesh, such as ilmenite, garnet, colemanite, zircon, retile, and magnetite which, according to them, are more valuable than gold. The sale of these minerals could earn billions of dollars for Bangladesh. It is reported that the country has 75 outer-islands which could be utilised for tourists both local and foreign. If Bangladesh can explore and exploit these resources through the use of appropriate technology, the economy of Bangladesh can grow rapidly into an advanced one. Although the government of Bangladesh has leased out some areas of Bay of Bengal to foreign companies, it is believed that they are not using expensive modern machinery to extract the resources.

There is one important factor to consider for Bangladesh: that is, with the increase of the population of the country, it would be gradually more dependable on sea resources than those in the landmass. The resources include endless renewable reserves in wind and solar energy.

It is worthwhile to mention that 15 percent of the protein is provided from sea resources for the people across the world. Natural gas and oil constitute 30 percent of the sea resources and over 50 percent of magnesium is extracted globally from the seas. Even life-saving medicines could also be obtainable from these resources.

Given the possibility of acquisition of wealth from sea, Bangladesh is required to develop policies and laws to strengthen national institutions which could deliver solutions to implement its Sustainable Development Goals, i.e. evaluation of goals must go beyond measurement, to consider whether progress is equitable, relevant and sustainable.

It is significant to note that Bangladesh's trade is carried out mainly through the sea and that a USD-45-billion trade is possible for Bangladesh. It is estimated that 5 percent of the country's GDP could be acquired by 2030 from the resources of the sea. Bangladesh could be a developed country by 2041 if the resources are properly extracted and adequately used. It is reported that Indonesia's national economy depends largely on its sea resources and Australia is reported to have earned USD 44 billion from sea.

In 2015, a resolution proposed by Bangladesh was adopted by the General Assembly of the UN for sustainable development, and its purpose was directed at achieving 17-point economic growth by 2030, of which 14 points were contemplated from the perspective of blue economy. During the last few years, blue economy was the central topic of many international conferences. The Rio+20 Conference on the seas, and the conference at Bali (Indonesia) for the food security and growth of blue economy could be cited as examples. The strategy of the international organisations such as the World Bank and the UN Environmental Organisation is acquisition of sea resources.

Sea resources offer a new window of opportunity for Bangladesh. An increasing knowledge of the seas including the impact of wind, waves, high tide and ebb tide, change of temperature of the living organisms, and increase of salinity on the surface of seas could lead to sources of renewable energy. Every year, the use of wind from the seas is increasing by 40 percent and Bangladesh could use wind power for various purposes to strengthen its economy.

To feed the people from the sea resources, Bangladesh is required to push policies in cooperation with other countries to protect the ocean from the effects of climate change, pollution and over-fishing. We need to preserve the ecosystems of the seas which are reportedly being degraded at an unprecedented rate, and this is not an issue only for Bangladesh. It should be addressed in cooperation with other countries.

Many experts suggest that the government of Bangladesh should create an organisation to acquire the resources of the sea as quickly as possible as there is an unlimited scope of opportunity to extract these resources. Bangladesh can get inspiration from the fact that at present, the economy of the world is estimated to be USD 88 trillion, of which USD 24 trillion is acquired from sea resources. By 2050, it is estimated that the population of the world would be 900 crores (9 billion) and they would be fed largely from sea resources.

Barrister Harun ur Rashid is a former Bangladeshi ambassador to the UN, Geneva.​