The International Crimes Tribunal-2 hands down death penalty to Al-Badr leaders Chowdhury Mueen Uddin and Ashrafuzzaman Khan; Sixty hours hartal called by the BNP led 18 party opposition; Death penalty to 150 members of the erstwhile Bangladesh Rifles and
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    • (NOVEMBER 4-10)

    According to reports, the International Crimes Tribunal-2 handed down death penalty to Al-Badr leaders Chowdhury Mueen Uddin and Ashrafuzzaman Khan for carrying out “unheard of extermination committed in execution of designed murderous scheme”. The court found them guilty on all 11 charges relating to the killing of 18 intellectuals, nine teachers of Dhaka University, six journalists and three doctors, on the cusp of the country’s independence in 1971. The duo, both aged 65, were tried in absentia, as the tribunal’s efforts to bring them back to face trial had failed. Mueen is now in the UK and Ashraf in the US.1

    According to reports, the BNP-led 18-party opposition alliance called for 60-hour countrywide hartal from November 4, 2013. This was opposition’s second long hartal in a span of seven days demanding formation of a non-party caretaker government for holding the next general polls in a free, fair and neutral manner. BNP-Jamaat men torched at least 18 vehicles, including buses and cars, in Dhaka and Gazipur. Over 50 crude bombs were blasted elsewhere in different areas in the capital to create panic among city residents ahead of the hartal. Besides, miscreants attacked 19 newsmen before and during that hartal across the country. They also exploded crude bombs in front of at least four media houses in the capital. It may be worth noting that the last countrywide 60-hour hartal (October 27-29) had claimed 14 lives, raising the number of deaths to 259 so far in 2013 from political violence. 2

    In another development, according to reports, a Dhaka court awarded death penalty to 150 members of the erstwhile Bangladesh Rifles and two civilians for their role in the massacre of 74 people, including 57 army officers, at the BDR Pilkhana headquarters in 2009. It also sentenced 161 others, including ex-BNP lawmaker Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu and ward-level Awami League leader Torab Ali, to life imprisonment for involvement in the carnage. 3

    In other developments, according to reports, worried over hartals and frequent acts street violence, the US, UK, Canada and Australian missions in Dhaka issued travel warnings to their citizens travelling to or residing in Bangladesh, advising them to be very cautious. 4

    Reports noted that the United States expressed deep concern over the recent attacks on Hindus in Pabna and Lalmonirhat and asked the Bangladesh government to take action against the criminals and protect rights of minorities. 5

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