Category: Bangladesh

Asaduzzaman argued that socialism and secularism do not reflect the realities of a nation where 90% of the population is Muslim…reports Asian Lite News

The Attorney General of Bangladesh, Mohammad Asaduzzaman called for substantial amendments to the Constitution of Bangladesh and suggested the removal of key terms from it, United News of Bangladesh (UNB) reported. 

Asaduzzaman suggested the removal of key provisions such as socialism, Bengali nationalism, secularism, and the designation of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as “Father of the Nation”, according to UNB. 

The remarks were made during the fifth day of hearings at the High Court on the legality of Bangladesh’s 15th Constitutional Amendment. 

Addressing Article 8 of the Constitution, Asaduzzaman argued that socialism and secularism do not reflect the realities of a nation where 90% of the population is Muslim. 

He advocated for reinstating the original phrasing, which emphasised unwavering faith in Allah. He also questioned the relevance of Bengali nationalism in Article 9, calling it inconsistent with modern democratic principles, UNB reported. 

As per the Dhaka Tribune, the 15th Amendment, which was passed in Bangladesh’s Parliament on June 30, 2011, recognized Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as the Father of the Nation abolished the caretaker government system, and increased the reserved seats for women in Parliament from 45 to 50. 

Asaduzzaman argued that these changes would align the constitution with the country’s democratic and historical ethos. 

He also made a call to reinstate provisions for a referendum, which was abolished under the 15th Amendment. 

As per UNB, after the hearing, Asaduzzaman spoke to the media and said that retaining the 15th Amendment undermines the spirit of the Liberation War, the 1990 mass uprising, and the 2024 July revolution. “The amendment betrays the sacrifices of martyrs like Abu Sayed and Mugdho,” he said. 

Abu Sayed and Migdho were student activists who were involved in the July 2024 protests that took place in Bangladesh. 

He accused the amendment of prolonging authoritarian rule and violating constitutional supremacy. “It’s a direct assault on democracy and the rule of law,” he said, adding that the amendment perpetuates division among citizens and disrupts the country’s political stability. 

As per UNB, the Attorney General also criticised Article 6, which defines national identity through language, claiming it has fostered unnecessary divisions among citizens. He argued that no other country uses language as a basis for national identity, making this provision unique and problematic. 

Speaking about other parts of the constitution, he also took issue with Articles 7(ka) and 7(kha), claiming they undermine democracy and serve authoritarian purposes. Calling for their repeal, he asserted these articles were enacted with ill intent to stifle democratic institutions, UNB reported. 

The Attorney General vehemently opposed the abolition of the caretaker government system, calling it a “stab in the heart of democracy”. 

Asaduzzaman urged the reinstatement of referendum provisions under Article 142, arguing it was essential for restoring democratic accountability. He criticised the amendment for enabling MPs elected through “election engineering” to unilaterally eliminate this critical democratic mechanism. (ANI) 

ALSO READ: ‘Unrest’ among workers hurting Bangladesh’s garment industry 

The readymade garment (RMG) industry is the single biggest export earner for Bangladesh…reports Asian Lite News

Leading Bangladesh factory owner expressed concern over the unrest taking place in the garment industry which is alarming for the country’s economy. The crisis is also affecting the import of raw materials from India.Factory owners say that the interim government has failed to control the volatile situation due to a lack of experience. 

The readymade garment (RMG) industry is the single biggest export earner for Bangladesh. The sector accounts for 83 per cent of the total export earnings of the country. The apparel industry is Bangladesh’s biggest export earner with a value of over USD 28 billion of exports in a year. The “Made in Bangladesh” tag has also brought glory to the country, making it a prestigious brand across the globe. 

More than 150 countries import ready-made garments from Bangladesh. The industry employs 4 million employees; of which most are women. 

The workers made an 18-point demand including raising wages, attendance bonuses, night shifting and others during the previous government. The demands were fulfilled after intensive consultations between the government, factory owners and, workers’ leaders. 

After the change of government through the uprising in August, dissatisfaction arose in various garment factories. 29 factories failed to pay salaries for September, sparking renewed discontent in the garment industry. 

“Most of the issues were already solved because they came all together made a decision and workers back to work. Again, unrest started and it really horrible”, said Jannatul Baker Khan, Managing Director of Needle Works BD Limited, an export-oriented garment factory. 

“Most of the factories are OK and meet the requirements. But few factories may be facing problems. They are unable to meet, they are not even settled, and workers are unhappy. But the quantity of the factories is less”, he added. 

“For example, there are a hundred factories around but two factories have unrest. It creates problems for all”, Khan exclusively told ANI. 

He blamed the inefficiency of the interim government to control the situation. “The interim government is not able to solve the problem. They are not very experienced. Everything is new for them that’s why the issue is increasing and increasing and it is out of control now”, he said. 

Khan, who also runs a buying house, NW RMG LTD, talked about shifting tof foreign buyers from Bangladesh to its competitors. 

According to the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), clothing imports are decreasing in the world, during January-August of this year, clothing imports from the United States increased by 1.5 per cent in terms of volume, while from Bangladesh decreased by 3.8 per cent, but from China increased by 3.6 per cent, and from Vietnam increased by 5.2 per cent, up 7.6 per cent from India and 7.7 per cent from Cambodia. 

Total imports to Europe increased by 3.3 per cent in the January-July period, while those from Bangladesh increased by only 2.8 per cent, but those from China increased by 6.4 per cent, India increased by 5.18 per cent, Cambodia increased by 18.35, Vietnam increased by 18.3 per cent, BGMEA said. 

Judging by the comparative export growth in the period of July-September of this year, where the export growth of Bangladesh has been 5.34 per cent, the growth of Vietnam has been 15.57 per cent and the growth of India has been 13.45 per cent, BGMEA said. 

“The foreign buyers are shifting their orders to other countries. It will be a big disaster for us. The factories are facing losses in different ways. The workers are becoming injured during protests. When production stopped, the shipment became delayed. Due to this reason, buyers are asking for air shipments or delay penalties. If the factory is laid off, the workers also will lose their jobs. In that case, a big problem is waiting before us”, he said. 

He warned about serious consequences for the social, economic and industrial sectors if Bangladesh failed to control the unrest in the garment industry. 

“If the unrest continues, the industry will suffer long time. The garment industry is not only a matter of workers and owners. It links up backwards and forward industries. It is a big chain. It is not only that 4 million workers are working including 60 per cent women; but also backwards and forward links with the export chain. So, this is really the backbone of our economy,” he said. 

According to the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC), India exports nearly USD 14 billion worth of products to Bangladesh in a year. The main products that India exports to Bangladesh are refined petroleum (9.93 per cent), non-retail pure cotton (9.93 per cent), and raw cotton (6.82 per cent). 

“Already the import from India is going slow. Mostly we buy fabrics, huge denim and non-denim, from India. We also source from other countries including China. If we lose the order, the raw materials import automatically will be slowed down from India”, Khan said without details. 

“Most of the employees from India are senior employees. If you consider the buying house, they work as country managers, senior merchandisers, technicians and other industries, the textiles, washing plants and other factory technical managers senior positions of industry. If the factory loses order, it will be impacted everywhere”, he said. (ANI) ‘

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It said that attacking someone over their political beliefs is a violation of their right to freedom of expression and these rights must be protected…reports Asian Lite News

Amnesty International on Tuesday called for a ‘swift, impartial, and effective investigation’ into the recent attacks on individuals perceived to be affiliated with the Awami League party in Bangladesh at Zero Point on Sunday. 

It said that attacking someone over their political beliefs is a violation of their right to freedom of expression and these rights must be protected. 

In a post on X, the Amnesty International South Asia, Regional Office said, “Bangladesh: Authorities must swiftly and impartially investigate and hold accountable, perpetrators of the attacks on people perceived to be part of the Awami League at Zero Point on Sunday. Attacking people for their political beliefs is a violation of their right to freedom of expression and association and authorities must take action to protect and foster these rights of all people, regardless of their political affiliations.” 

The call for an investigation follows reports of post-election violence in Bangladesh, where supporters of opposition parties allegedly targeted Awami League members. The violence has raised concerns over the country’s political climate and human rights situation. 

The international community, including the United Nations and other human rights organizations, has expressed concern over the violence and urged the Bangladeshi government to take immediate action. 

Notably, Bangladesh Awami League on Saturday announced a program to observe the death anniversary of Nur Hossain, a slain activist killed in the movement against General Ershad in the 1990s. The party had said it would gather at the zero point, the centre of Dhaka city. 

To counter the announced protests by Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League, a huge number of protestors from various political parties and groups took to the streets of Dhaka on Sunday. 

The protesters included leaders and workers from the Anti-discrimination Student Movement, Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Jamaat-e-Islami, and various other political parties. They took to the streets at Saturday midnight. 

“The Awami League in its current form is a fascist party. There is no way this fascist party will be allowed to hold protests in Bangladesh. Anyone who would try to hold rally, gathering and processions by taking orders from the mass murderer and dictator Sheikh Hasina will face full force of the law enforcing agencies,” said Shafiqul Alam, Press Secretary to the Chief Adviser, Muhammad Yunus, in a Facebook post. 

“The Interim Government won’t tolerate any violence or any attempt to break the law and order situation in the country,” he added. (ANI) 

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The lounge, the first of its kind at the airport, will offer Bangladeshi migrant workers some space to rest and have subsidised food for refreshments…reports Asian Lite News

The Bangladeshi government has launched a special lounge for the country’s millions of migrant workers at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) in the capital, Dhaka.

Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus inaugurated the lounge on Monday, terming migrant workers “nation builders.” He expressed his hope that the lounge would make their travel easy, reports Xinhua news agency.

The lounge, the first of its kind at the airport, will offer Bangladeshi migrant workers some space to rest and have subsidised food for refreshments.

More than 14 million Bangladeshis have reportedly gone abroad with jobs since 1976. Bangladesh mainly sends workers to Gulf states and Southeast Asian countries, including Malaysia and Singapore, to bolster the inflow of remittances.

Remittances, one of the key sources of foreign exchange for the nation, totalled nearly $9 billion in the July-October period, central bank data showed.

ALSO READ: Bangladesh wants more power from Tripura

The top TSECL engineer said that though the outstanding payment of Bangladesh is not much, the corporation is to get Rs 500 crore from the consumers of Tripura….reports Sujit Chakraborty

Energy-starved Bangladesh wanted at least 250 MW of electricity from Tripura, which is currently supplying 50 to 80 MW electricity to the neighbouring country, top officials said here on Tuesday.

Tripura State Electricity Corporation Limited (TSECL) Managing Director Biswajit Basu said that the Bangladesh government has been requesting to supply at least 250 MW of electricity to their country as they have a huge shortage of power to meet the growing demand of consumers.

“Currently we are supplying 50 to 80 MW of electricity to Bangladesh every day. Discussions are going on. But to increase the supply of electricity, Central government’s permission and clearances are vital, requiring signing of an agreement and to fulfil other formalities,” Basu told IANS.

He said that the Bangladesh government almost regularly makes their payments to TSECL for the supply of electricity.

“Bangladesh is our good neighbour. Regularly we are talking about the supply of power from our power plant to their country,” the state-owned corporation MD said.

The top TSECL engineer said that though the outstanding payment of Bangladesh is not much, the corporation is to get Rs 500 crore from the consumers of Tripura.

Tripura, an electricity surplus state, had started supplying 100 MW of power to Bangladesh from the state-owned ONGC Tripura Power Company (OTPC) power plant in March 2016.

The power supply sometimes increased to 160 MW.

After the first agreement in 2016, the TSECL subsequently renewed the agreement twice to continue the supply of electricity to Bangladesh.

Another Tripura Power Department official said that in 2020 the TSECL had supplied 40 MW of electricity to Nepal but the supply has been discontinued as Nepal did not approach the Indian authorities afresh.

The NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN) is the nodal agency to supply power to Bangladesh from the Tripura power project, the official said.

He said that electricity is being supplied to Bangladesh and most of the northeastern states from the 726 MW generation capacity OTPC gas-based power plant in southern Tripura’s Palatana, 65 km south of Agartala.

The OTPC, a joint venture company of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd, IDFC Bank and the Tripura government, set up the 726-MW project at Palatana in June 2013.

According to officials, the OTPC’s combined cycle power plant, which is the largest gas-based power plant in the northeast, is meeting around 35 per cent of the power requirement of seven northeastern states, excluding Sikkim.

The Rs 10,000 crore Palatana power plant is a unique example of the cooperation between New Delhi and Dhaka, which ensured the passage of heavy project equipment and turbines to Palatana in southern Tripura through Bangladesh territory.

Besides the Palatana power plants, Tripura has several other gas-based thermal power projects owned by the state government and North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO), a Central government PSU.

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Remittance mainly comes from Middle Eastern countries, such as the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait….reports Asian Lite News

Remittances from millions of Bangladeshis living and working overseas totalled nearly $9 billion in the July-October period, central bank data showed.

According to the data, released on Sunday, the inflow of remittances from Bangladeshis increased by more than 30 per cent year on year to 8.94 billion dollars in July-October of the 2024-25 fiscal year, reports Xinhua news agency.

The data shows that remittance, one of the key sources of foreign exchange for the impoverished nation, surged over 21 per cent year-on-year to 2,395.08 million dollars in October.

The remittance was 2,404.11 million dollars in September. Bangladesh’s remittances grew 10 per cent year-on-year to 23.91 billion dollars in fiscal 2023-24, with the receipts last June standing at 2.54 billion dollars.

Remittance mainly comes from Middle Eastern countries, such as the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s top business body chief said that trade with India will not be affected in the long term due to unrest, despite the decline in trade between the two neighbours.

“After the government change (in Bangladesh), we find some downflow trade between the two countries. But I believe this is not for the long term,” Md. Hafizur Rahman, Administrator of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), said exclusively to ANI.

“India is the second largest import source of raw materials and other goods for Bangladesh. Bangladesh imports from India around USD 14 billion annually. Major part of import is raw materials. When export declines, import of raw materials also declines”, he added.

Rahman said that Bangladesh would overcome the difficult situation soon.

“Recently, Bangladesh faced such a situation where we saw some decline in the import of raw materials. On the other hand, the previous year, we had imported around USD 83 billion from the global market.

Because of the shortage of foreign currency reserves, high exchange rate, and big change in the exchange rate from 85 taka per dollar. Last year, Bangladesh’s imports declined around 20 per cent. It is because of the foreign currency and reserve crisis. I believe within short times, we will overcome,” Rahman, who is also a member of the Bangladesh Competition Commission, said.

“It is a revolutionary change. It has effects for the time being. Now it is calm and quiet. We have the trade relations. Bangladesh’s government is not restricting anything. For our industry, for the people, we want trading relations (with India) in take place all the time,” he added.

Rehman said that despite the political uncertainity Bangladesh’s trade relations remain healthy.

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A senior YMA leader said that during the organisation’s conference recently, many demands and proposals were unanimously approved and these would be implemented in a phased manner….reports Asian Lite News

Mizoram’s most influential civil society organisation, the Young Mizo Association (YMA) on Wednesday requested the state government to set up proper shelter homes for over 44,000 refugees from Manipur as well as neighbouring Myanmar and Bangladesh living in the northeastern state for some time now. 

A senior YMA leader said that during the organisation’s conference recently, many demands and proposals were unanimously approved and these would be implemented in a phased manner.

“The conference resolved to urge the government to arrange proper shelter homes or accommodation for the people currently sheltered in different districts of Mizoram after they fled from Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Manipur,” he said.

The YMA, which has been involved in all aspects of Mizo society for the past several decades, would also urge the government to set up proper shelter homes in different districts and provide relief and required support on humanitarian grounds.

“The government should also formulate guidelines for managing, supervising and helping the refugees who took shelter in the state after being fled from their original habitat areas,” he said.

During the YMA conference, the organisation decided to intensify its efforts against drug menace and drug peddling and to further promote the Mizo language and steps to protect it.

The incumbent Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) government headed by Chief Minister Lalduhoma has taken several steps for the benefit of the refugees and sought support from the Centre for the purpose.

According to a state Home Department official, a total of 33,004 Myanmar nationals, including 12,572 children, are currently sheltered in different camps, government buildings and rented houses in all 11 districts of Mizoram. They took shelter in Mizoram in phases after the military takeover in the conflict-ridden country in February 2021.

Over 2,000 tribals from the Chittagong Hill Tracts of southeast Bangladesh also took shelter in Mizoram since November 2022 after they fled from their villages in CHT following ethnic troubles in the neighbouring country. Around 7,800 refugees belonging to the Kuki-Zo community from Manipur have also taken shelter in several districts of Mizoram after the ethnic violence broke out in the neighbouring state in May last year.

The refugees from Myanmar, Bangladesh and Manipur belong to the Kuki-Zo-Chin-Hmar-Bawm tribal community who also share ethnic, traditional, cultural and linguistic ties with the Mizos of Mizoram.

The Centre recently allowed the Mizoram government to procure 1,379.34 metric tonnes (MT) of rice from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) warehouses for the refugees from Manipur, Myanmar and Bangladesh. According to a senior Mizoram government official, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) would bear the cost of the rice (Rs 5 crore) while transportation of the rice would be arranged by the Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Ministry and the state Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department.

The official said that after procurement of the rice from FCI warehouses, the Deputy Commissioners of Mizoram’s 11 districts would ensure that it reaches the refugees.

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