Feni, Apr 13 (UNB) – BNP senior leader Moudud Ahmed on Saturday alleged that the killing of Feni madrasa student Nusrat Jahan Rafi has demonstrated a serious slide in law and order in the country.

 “Police has no control on the law and order as they are only busy to suppress the opposition. Nusrat’s murder has exposed that the law and order situation has badly deteriorated,” he said.

Moudud, a BNP standing committee member, came up with the remarks while talking to reporters after visiting the bereaved family members of Nusrat at their Sonagazi house.

A BNP delegation, led by Moudud, went to Nusrat’s house in the afternoon and talked to her relatives and tried to console them.

Moudud said the way adolescent madrasa girl was killed by being set on fire was very tragic and brutal. “An innocent girl fell prey to the lust of a teacher. We were stunned over the incident.”

He said the government should ensure prompt trial of the offenders and ensure justice for Nusrat’s family members.

BNP vice chairmen Barkatullah Bulu, Mohammad Shaha Jahan, Abdul Awal Mintoo, joint secretary general Mahbubuddin Khokan, organising secretary Mahbubur Rahman Shamim, former MP Rehana Akter Ranu and BNP executive committee member Nipun Roy were, among others, present.

Nusrat, a student of Sonagazi Islamia Senior Fazil Madrasa in Sonagazi upazila of Feni, was set ablaze on April 6 allegedly for refusing to withdraw a case filed against principal Sirajuddoula of the madrasa for sexually harassing her last month.

After fighting for her life for five days, the madrasa girl died at Dhaka Medical College Hospital on Wednesday night.

Dhaka, Apr 13 (UNB) - BNP on Saturday alleged that ‘evil efforts’ are on to protect the real killers of Feni madrasa student Nusrat Jahan Rafi.

“Though some killers in the Nusrat murder case have been arrested, people have strong doubt whether the real killers will get arrested. They have also doubt whether investigation into the case is lost in darkness like that of Tanu and Sagar-Runi cases,” said BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi.

Speaking at a press conference at BNP’s Nayapaltan central office, he further said, “Media reports have manifested that evil efforts are on to save the killers of Nusrat as they belong to the ruling party.”

Rizvi also alleged that local Chhatra League president Shahadat Hossain Shamim and his cohorts were involved in the Nusrat murder. “But police still couldn’t arrest Shamim and many others. How will police arrest them when they helped the offenders commit the crime?”

He also said Sonagazi Model Police Station officer-in-charge Moazzem Hossain, who was recently withdrawn, harassed Nusrat as she went to him for lodging a complaint against madrasa principal Sirajuddoula.

“The OC harassed the girl in his room in the name of knowing the incident from her. There were no lawyer and female police member in his room while a video was taken when the girl was continuously crying,” he said.

As the videos went viral, Rizvi alleged that the government withdrew the OC without taking any legal action against him.

He also said the miscreants could not have killed Nusrat by setting fire had the OC taken proper action against the criminals as per her complaints.

Nusrat, a student of Sonagazi Islamia Senior Fazil Madrasa in Sonagazir upazila of Feni, was set ablaze on April 6 allegedly for refusing to withdraw a case filed against principal Sirajuddoula of the madrasa for sexually harassing her last month.

After fighting for her life for five days, the madrasa girl died at Dhaka Medical College Hospital on Wednesday night.

New Delhi, Apr 13 (AP/UNB)— The figures involved in India's general election are staggering: 900 million voters, 83 million first-time voters, 11 million poll workers, nearly 4 million electronic voting machines, 1 million polling booths and 570 special trains for migrant laborers and security personnel.

Such numbers convey the scale of the world's biggest democratic exercise. But its smaller numbers that show India's commitment to reach every voter, no matter how remote.

In India's six-week marathon election that began this week, the Election Commission has ruled that no voter should have to travel more than 2 kilometers, or just over a mile, from their home to cast a ballot, whether they live on a Himalayan peak or an island in the Bay of Bengal.

The polling booth in Gir Forest National Park in Gujarat is set up for the sole human inhabitant, a Hindu priest who lives among the lions. Polling officials hike for a whole day to reach the remote village of Malogam in Arunachal Pradesh, where just one woman is registered to vote.

Poll workers must be in superb physical condition to cross mountains, rivers, deserts, forests and national parks. The work entails arduous journeys by train, road, helicopter and boat, accompanied by porters who carry the briefcase-sized voting machines, registers, ink and other election paraphernalia on their backs.

In Arunachal Pradesh, a state in India's northeast that borders Bhutan, China and Myanmar and where voting took place Thursday, most polling stations are located inside dense, Himalayan forest.

Poll workers set off a week before the vote. The first leg of the journey was a three-hour drive from Changlang, a district in the east, to the city of Maio, a tourist destination 100 kilometers (62 miles) away.

From Maio, the next stop was Vijoynagar, some 163 kilometers (101 miles) away, via the Namdapha National Park. No road connects the two towns, and the terrain is subject to frequent flash floods and landslides. Journeys here are measured in days rather than hours.

So, the team reached Vijoynagar by Indian Air Force helicopter. In pre-monsoon time, bad weather can force the pilot to abort several attempts. That's why a week's leeway is given to the team. If all else fails, it's six days to reach Vijoynagar by foot.

From Vijoynagar, the caravan walked the final leg of their odyssey to the polling station of Gandhigram. It is only 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) from Vijoynagar but the trek takes eight hours, through eerily dark jungles where no sunlight steals through the canopy and under constant threat of an ambush by a herd of elephants.

Majestic gorges were crossed on casually strung, flimsy bamboo suspension bridges that wobble like jelly in strong winds. The team traveled with torches, water filters and emergency lights, and a local guide who knows the jungle.

"These are not Alpine tracks. These are sub-tropical forests with thick undergrowth. There is no stated rule, but we prefer people under 45 because a lot of stamina and energy are required," said Kaling Tayeng, the chief electoral officer of Arunachal Pradesh.

The marathon expedition to Gandhigram was all for 242 voters.

In the Ladakh region of Indian-controlled Kashmir in the north, a polling station at an altitude of 4,327 meters (14,196 feet) is being set up for only 12 voters.

Another Ladakh station, Anlay Pho, is so high at 4,500 meters (almost 15,000 feet) above sea level that polling teams must carry oxygen tanks.

When Winston Churchill described India as a "geographical expression" no more a united nation than the equator, he was speaking to the diversity in landscapes that makes the Election Commission's job so challenging.

At the other extreme of the country from the mountain peaks of Ladakh are the low-lying Andaman and Nicobar Islands where voting machines were transported by various seafaring vessels for Thursday's vote.

The polling station at Pilopatia, just 9.7 meters (32 feet) above sea level, is famous for the trouble it presents election officials.

Officials start off on a 24-hour by ship journey from Port Blair, then by speedboat, then by small dinghy and finally by a "hodi," or traditional boat used by the local tribe, said Dr. Monica Priyadarshini, a Nicobar district election officer.

"In places, the waters are infested with crocodiles and sea snakes," Priyadarshini said.

The voting machines were protected inside waterproof boxes and other polling material was kept dry under layers of plastic cover. The journey ended with a splash: Priyadarshini and the team clambered out and waded through waist-high water to reach the shore. All this for just nine voters.

Many polling booths in remote areas have no mobile connectivity. Here too, the team had to use wireless sets and satellite phones to send the commission's mandated twice hourly reports on the progress of polling.

"I had voted in elections, but I never had any idea of the work that goes into ensuring that every single vote is cast," Priyadarshini said.

In Chhattisgarh, central India, where some polling stations were open this week, it is both geography and ideology that present problems. The jungles are thick with vegetation and teeming with Maoist insurgents called Naxalites who attack government officials with bullets, incendiary devices and land mines.

Earlier this week, insurgents attacked a convoy of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, killing a state party lawmaker and four other people in his vehicle with an improvised explosive device.

"We had 100 high security zones that are very dangerous. In some of them, over 100 security personnel accompanied just 20 polling officials to secure their path through the forest," said Chhattisgarh police chief Durgesh Kumar Awasthi. "My men haven't slept for days."

Thakurgaon, Apr 12 (UNB) – BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Friday said it is now difficult to enforce a hartal in the country for ‘lack of democracy’.

“Our party is going through a critical time after the election. BNP leaders and activists are in fear of getting arrested or implicated in false cases,” he said.

Talking to reporters at his residence here, the BNP leader also said there is no scope to wage a democratic movement as there is no ‘democracy’ in the country.  
“That’s why it’s now very difficult to enforce a hartal and even hold rallies and take out processions,” he observed.

Fakhrul also alleged that there is no ‘rule of law’ in the country as the judiciary ‘cannot work independently’.

He said the current government has ‘destroyed’ people’s freedom of expression creating a dreadful situation in the country. “People lack minimum security of their lives.”

The BNP leader also alleged that social injustice and the incidents of rape and killing have marked a sharp rise in the country for the prevailing culture of impunity.

He also alleged that media cannot reveal the truth and write against the offenders due to the government’s control on them.

Dhaka, Apr 11 (UNB) – Information Minister Hasan Mahmud on Thursday said BNP’s threat for waging a strong movement is like the roar of a sick caged lion.

“People only get charmed with it (threat for movement). There’s no point of issuing such threat as we’ve been seeing BNP is working out its strategy for a movement over the last 10 years,” he said.

Mahmud, also the publicity and publication affairs secretary of Awami League, came up with the remarks while speaking at the biennial council of Dhaka north city unit Awami Muktijoddha Projornma League at Bangabandhu avenue in the capital.

BNP leaders at different programmes recently accused the ruling party leaders of staging a drama by making various remarks on Khaleda Zia’s release on parole. They also threatened to launch a strong movement to have her freed from jail.

Trashing BNP’s allegation, the minister said it is BNP, not the government, is doing politics over Khaleda’s treatment and health issue.

“Khaleda Zia has long been suffering from pain in her knees and back. Even, she discharged the duty of the Prime Minister twice with that pain. BNP leaders are now making Khaleda Zia a person of mockery by holding press conferences regularly over the issue,” he observed.

Mahmud also turned down BNP’s allegation that the government is trying to forcibly give Khaleda parole, saying there is no scope to release any prisoner on parole without any application. “I urge the BNP leaders to read the laws and rules.”