Muggers looted Tk1.20 lakh after stabbing a fruit trader at Dayaganj intersection in Dhaka city early today.

Victim Yusuf Ali, 45, is now receiving treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, said Inspector Mozammel Haque, in-charge of the hospital’s police camp.

Yusuf is a resident of Sayedabad Janapada intersection in Dhaka city.

A group of four muggers on two motorcycles intercepted a rickshaw carrying Yusuf in the area and snatched away Tk1.20 lakh from his possession while he was going to Badamtali for purchasing fruits around 5:30am, a news agency UNB reports quoting his wife Shahinur.

The muggers also stabbed him indiscriminately, leaving him critically injured.

Locals rushed him to DMCH for treatment.

Iftikhar Ahmed, a former ILO official, has become the first ever Bangladeshi to become a Swiss lawmaker as he took oath of office in the

Iftikhar Ahmed

Parliament (Conseil Communale) of the prosperous,

picturesque French-speaking Commune of Founex (Canton of Vaud) on the outskirts of Geneva on Tuesday.

Ahmed is a development economist having worked at the International Labour Office (ILO) in Geneva for three decades (1974-2004) in the employment sector, says a press release.

He is the author of “Voices of the Working Children and Their Parents: Will Anyone Listen?” (London, Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd, 2015), and of “Technological Change and Agrarian Structure: A Study of Bangladesh” (Geneva, ILO, 1981), and co-authored many other publications.

Iftikhar Ahmed is the son of late Dr Momtazuddin Ahmed who was a vice-chancellor of Rajshahi University.

Activists of Islami Chhatra Shibir chased away Bangladesh Chhatra League men who were placing wreaths at the Shaheed Minar of Chittagong College on the Victory Day yesterday.

Later, the two groups fought pitched battles near the college main gate, prompting police to fire shots in the air to disperse them.

The BCL men then returned to the campus and besieged the principal to her office for nearly half an hour, alleging that she was patronising Shibir.

The incidents left at least three youths — two BCL and a Shibir man —  injured. Over 60 Shibir activists were detained by the law enforcers.

Later, the college authorities asked the students to vacate their dormitories.

Shibir is the pro-Jamaat-e-Islami student body. Jamaat opposed the birth of Bangladesh during the 1971 Liberation War. BCL is the pro-Awami League student body.

Chittagong City BCL General Secretary Nurul Azim Rony said yesterday’s clash ensued around 11:00am after Shibir men hurled brick chunks at some 30 to 40 BCL activists at the Shaheed Minar on the campus.

Organising Secretary Hasmot Ali Rasel of the BCL unit, who was present at the scene, alleged that the Shibir men locked the college main gate after driving them out of campus.

“The Shibir activists had also fired shots at us,” he said, adding that more brick chunks were thrown at them when they took position in front of the gate.

Witnesses said more activists joined the Chhatra League group there and they retaliated with brick chunks.

On information, members of nearby Chawkbazar Police Station stepped in and fired shots in the air to disperse both the groups, said Aziz Uddin, officer-in-charge of the police station.

Around 1:00pm, witnesses said, the BCL men went inside the campus through another gate and vandalised windows of some college buildings. There, they caught and beat up a Shibir activist.

However, police rescued him and took him into their custody.

The pro-ruling party activists then confined Principal Prof Jesmin Akther to her office for nearly half and hour, saying she was patronising Shibir — an allegation rejected by the teacher.

After being driven out of campus, the BCL men also blocked the nearby college road from around four hours, demanding that the college be freed from Shibir.

According to BCL leader Nurul Azim Rony, Chhatra League resumed politics in Chittagong College forming a convening committee in 2009 and by a full committee in 2012.

Kawsar Uddin, vice-president of Chittagong College BCL, said they went to the Shaheed Minar for the first time in three decades to place wreaths under the banner of their organisation.

Sources said Chittagong College and Mohsin College are known to be Shibir strongholds.

Shahadat Hossain, president of Chittagong College Shibir, could not be reached despite repeated attempts.

Additional law enforcers were deployed on campus.

DORMS CLOSED

In the evening, the authorities of Chittagong College closed the four dorms until further notice.

Principal Jesmin Akther said male students were asked to vacate their halls within 8:00pm yesterday and female students by 10:00am today.

She also said they decided to form a five-member committee to investigate yesterday’s incident.

Chhatra League men of the college attacked Mohsin College with brick chunks yesterday evening and damaged several windows of the buildings. This forced the Mohsin College authorities to close two of its dorms where around 170 students stayed.

People all around are celebrating Victory Day, that was reaped through the bloodshed of 3 million people and nine months of hardship, in due solemnities.

The day began with President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paying tributes to the Liberation War martyrs to begin the 45th Victory Day of Bangladesh.

The president placed a wreath at the altar of National Mausoleum at 6:34am, adds UNB. He stood there in solemn silence as a token of respect for the martyrs.

He also signed the visitors’ book kept on the premises of the National Mausoleum.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina followed with a colourful wreath at the base of the mausoleum. She also stood in solemn silence to pay respect for the martyrs.

A smart contingent plucked from Bangladesh Army, Bangladesh Navy and Bangladesh Air Force presented a state salute on the occasion when bugles played the last post.

Flanked by senior leaders of the party, Sheikh Hasina, also the Awami League president, laid another wreath at the National Memorial as the party chief.

The Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad, the Chief Justice, ministers, the leader of the opposition, the chiefs of the three services, members of parliament, freedom fighters, diplomats and high civil and military officials were present.

Later in the day, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia accompanied her party men and placed her respect to the martyrs of Liberation War at National Mausoleum.

Pakistan today protested reports in Bangladeshi media on alleged involvement of one of its diplomats in financing terrorism here.

A media release was issued from the Pakistan High Commission in Dhaka termed the reports “utterly baseless” and “fabricated”.

Diplomatic norms and courtesies were “thrown to the wind” by publishing such news, the release said.

READ MORE: Pakistani diplomat ‘linked to terror financing’ in Bangladesh

The news of a Pakistan diplomat’s link to financing terrorism was quizzed out from a militant of banned Islamist outfit Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh, according to detectives.

The information came during a strain in diplomatic ties between the two countries over Pakistan’s denial about committing genocide in Bangladesh during the 1971 War of Independence.

Majority quarters have raised demands to sever diplomatic ties with Pakistan.

While talking on the alleged link of the Pakistan diplomat with terror financing, the home minister yesterday said Pakistan was still conspiring against Bangladesh.

The BNP chief’s paying tribute to Martyred Intellectuals’ Memorial was nothing but a mockery, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said yesterday, adding no one in the world could stop the war crimes trial initiated by her government.

The Pakistani occupation forces and their local collaborators, including Razakars, Al-Badr and Al-Shams, killed poets, writers, teachers, journalists, doctors and many other intellectuals from different fields on December 14, 1971 in the then East Pakistan.

Bangladesh’ Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, daughter of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

Their aim was to make the country to be born, Bangladesh, intellectually bankrupt, the PM said at a discussion organised by the ruling party at the Institution of Engineers in the capital to mark Martyred Intellectuals Day.

“Those who committed such crimes are now undergoing trial and their trial will go on alongside the war crimes trial,” said Hasina, chief of the ruling Awami League.

Earlier, a one-minute silence was observed remembering the martyrs of December 14, 1971, four martyred national leaders and all the martyrs of the Liberation War, democratic movements of the country and the August 15, 1975 carnage.

The BNP chief is following in the footsteps of her husband Ziaur Rahman, the PM said, criticising Khaleda Zia for making those, executed for war crimes, ministers during her tenure as prime minister.

How she could pay tribute to the martyred intellectuals after making war criminals ministers, Hasina questioned.

“This is nothing but a mockery…. She (Khaleda) thinks our people do not understand anything, but they understand everything.”

Before the recent execution of two war criminals, Khaleda returned from London in a hurry, Hasina said, in a bid to save them through waging a movement.

The Prime Minister also took a swipe at those freedom fighters who accompanied Khaleda to the memorial.

Hasina continued saying that following the assassination of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman along with most of his family members on August 15, 1975, Bangladesh lost its glory and dignity it had attained through the war.

But as the Awami League assumed power after 21 years, she said, Bangladesh began regaining its lost glory.

Neither of the Pakistani occupation forces and their collaborators could forget their defeat and so they want to destroy the spirit of the Liberation War, halt the economic development of the country and force Bangladesh into slavery again, the PM said.

“Their conspiracy is going on and will go on, but we must move on foiling all the conspiracies.”

Hasina said some considered Ziaur Rahman the proclaimer of independence and a freedom fighter.

“If Zia were a true freedom fighter, he could not have put war criminals in state power.”

Hasina also reiterated her resolve not to bow to anyone and lead Bangladesh into becoming a hunger and poverty-free prosperous country by 2041.

Observance of the Martyred Intellectuals Day was markedly different this year.

The day was observed yesterday with a renewed demand for banning Jamaat-e-Islami, and a call to severe ties with Pakistan for denying the atrocities it had carried out during the 1971 Liberation War.

People from all ages and professions, including family members of the martyred intellectuals, thronged the Martyred Intellectuals’ Memorial at Mirpur and the Rayerbazar Mausoleum, with different cultural and political organisations placing wreaths at the altars.

The nation, for the first time this year, saw the execution of a war criminal, Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, Jamaat leader and a top brass of Al-Badr, for the killing of intellectuals in 1971.

Dr Nuzhat Choudhury Shampa, daughter of martyred physician Dr Abdul Alim Chaudhury, said, “This year’s December 14 is different because the nation saw the hanging of Al-Badr commander Mojaheed. We are hopeful that the government will try the remaining war criminals.”

A diplomatic spat soon followed between Bangladesh and Pakistan over the execution of Mojaheed with Pakistan summoning the acting high commissioner of Bangladesh in Islamabad to deny the atrocities it had committed in 1971.

People from all walks of life yesterday expressed their outrage at Pakistan’s denial.

When the Pakistani occupation forces were certain about their defeat, they, aided by local collaborators, particularly the Al-Badr, abducted the country’s brightest minds and killed them, often after brutal torture, in an effort to cripple the emerging nation intellectually.

After the butchery, the bodies were left to rot in the killing fields.

Talking about Pakistan’s outright lies, Maj Gen (retd) KM Safiullah Bir Uttam, chairman of Sector Commanders Forum (SCF), said, “Bangladesh should cut all ties with Pakistan until it seeks apology for its recent statement.”

Later, the SCF handed over a protest letter to the Pakistan High Commission in Dhaka, demanding an unconditional apology from Pakistan for the barbarity of its forces in 1971.

Awami League Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif said the relationship with Pakistan had been severed in 1971.

A huge number of students from different schools and colleges too gathered at the memorial sites. Many children came with their parents.

A mock mass killing of intellectuals was staged afterwards. An exhibition of photographs on 1971 and paperclips attracted people’s attention at the Rayerbazar graveyard.

DU CUTS ACADEMIC TIES WITH PAKISTAN

Dhaka University severed all academic ties with Pakistan from yesterday for the country’s denial of the genocide committed in 1971.

The decision came yesterday at an emergency syndicate meeting with Vice Chancellor Prof AAMS Arefin Siddique in the chair at Nabab Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate Bhaban.

From now on, teachers, students and representatives from the DU will not be able to go to any Pakistani institutions and the university will not accept any representatives from the country for academic purposes.

“Dhaka University bears evidences of the atrocities, which are available in the archives of many foreign universities, international media, yet Pakistan keeps lying,” he said.

The DU VC also demanded the trial of 195 Pakistani army officers who had committed many crimes in 1971.

President of Federation of Bangladesh University Teacher’s Association (FBUTA) Prof Farid Uddin Ahmed said they would hold meetings with the entire public university teachers’ associations to severe academic ties with Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon said the government, if necessary, would go to the international court demanding the trial of the 195 Pakistan army persons who had committed war crimes.

At a programme at Dhaka Reporters’ Unity yesterday, he said Pakistan was bound to bring the 195 Pakistan army personnel under trial following the Shimla agreement.

MIRPUR MAUSOLEUM

President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid their tributes to the martyred intellectuals by placing wreaths at the Martyred Intellectuals Memorial at Mirpur, reports UNB.

President Abdul Hamid placed wreaths at 8:00am followed by the prime minister. They stood there in solemn silence for some time.

A contingent of Bangladesh Armed Forces gave a state salute as the bugle played the last post.

After placing wreaths, the president talked to war-wounded freedom fighters and family members of the martyred intellectuals there and inquired about their well-being.

She too talked to the war-wounded freedom fighters and inquired about their well-being.

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia paid her tributes at the memorial at 10:20am.

Cabinet ministers and political leaders also paid their homage to the martyred intellectuals at the memorial site.