Friday 12 October 2012

Foreign minister assures diplomats of security; 'chief culprit', ally remanded


The Daily Star

Your Right To Know
Friday, October 12, 2012































Attack on Buddhists

PM blames it on Ramu MP, again

Foreign minister assures diplomats of security; 'chief culprit', ally remanded

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has once again blamed the local BNP lawmaker for "fanning communal violence" in Ramu of Cox's Bazar on the night of September 29.
"We have reports that when the attack began, he (local MP) was sleeping at his house. It is like Nero fiddles while Rome burns," she said.
Hasina, also president of the ruling Awami League, was addressing a view-exchange meeting with leaders of Rajbari district unit of the party at the Gono Bhaban in the capital.
Referring to the statement of the leader of the opposition (on Ramu incident) that one should not blame others without knowing the fact, Hasina said she (opposition leader) had blamed the government on the very next day of the incident. Then, did she have the moral ground to say this? asked the premier.
Hasina said it was the AL activists and supporters who stood by the minority people (Buddhists) on that fateful night.
She alleged that the attack on the Buddhist community began after a demonstration by motorbike riders led by the local BNP lawmaker. And when police, Border Guard Bangladesh and army personnel, and AL activists were busy to quell the violence, the lawmaker was "sleeping" at his house.
Everything will be clear when investigation into the incident is completed, the PM said. "We want peaceful co-existence of all sections of people in the country," she added.
Meanwhile, briefing resident diplomats in Dhaka about the Ramu incident, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni assured all the foreign friends aggrieved by the incident that the government would leave no stone unturned to ensure justice and protection for the affected Buddhist community.
The prime minister said that whenever in power in the past, BNP resorted to torture and repression on the minorities as well as on the AL workers.
But the AL does not believe in revenge, she said, adding that BNP would have vanished had the AL been vindictive after coming to power in 2008.
“We have set an example by not going for revenge against them [BNP men]. Instead, our government has been working relentlessly to change the fate of the people and for overall socio-economic development of the country.”
Asking the AL men to work for welfare of the people, the party chief alerted them that conspiracy against the party is still on, and vested quarters are out to mislead people.
MOKTADIR, FARUK REMANDED
Meanwhile, a Cox's Bazar court yesterday placed Abdul Moktadir and Omar Faruk each on a four-day remand in a case filed for provoking the September 29 violence on the Buddhist community in Ramu, reports our Staff Correspondent from Chittagong.
The two friends played a key role in displaying and distributing some Facebook images insulting to Islam, Faruk had told The Daily Star on October 3.
Faruk was detained on October 6 while Moktadir, also known as Alif, on Tuesday night in connection with a case filed on September 30 over the torching and damaging of Buddhist temples, said Basu Dutta Chakma, investigation officer of the case.
The duo was not initially named in the case but was shown arrested yesterday, added Basu.
Charges in the case include creating enmity between the Muslims and the Buddhists and displaying and distributing among locals some Facebook images derogatory to the Quran, he said.
Detectives produced Faruk and Moktadir before the Senior Judicial Magistrate Towhidul Haque's court, seeking 10 days' remand for each. But the court granted four days' remand for each, court sources said.
Moktadir is a sixth semester diploma student of computer engineering department of Shyamoli Ideal Polytechnic Institute in Chittagong.
Faruk owns a mobile servicing shop at Fakirabazar in Ramu.
It was from Faruk's shop that the two friends showed and distributed those Facebook photos among locals, Faruk told The Daily Star.

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