The High Court bench of Justice JBM Hassan and Justice Md Khairul Alam came up with the orders and rules following two writ petitions.
Notably, Luna is the wife of missing BNP leader Ilias Ali. She is an aspirant candidate from Sylhet-2. Millat, a former lawmaker, is vying for Jamalpur-1.
Awami League candidate of the constituency Abul Kalam Azad challenged Millat’s candidacy, while Jatiya Party runner Yahia Chowdhury challenged Luna’s at the High Court.
Abul Kalam Azad’s lawyer Advocate Khurshid Alam Khan told The Daily Star that Millat cannot run in the election unless the apex court rules otherwise.
Millat was convicted and sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment by a lower court in a corruption case. The High Court had acquitted him later, which was overruled in the apex court and kept for further hearing.
On the other hand, Yahia Khan said Luna, as a government service retiree for six months, cannot run in elections before three years of retirement as per law.
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The families of two teenagers killed in Mohammadpur during a clash of Awami League factions ahead of the general election have been robbed of justice.
The family members of one of the victims said police submitted the final report in the case without talking to them. The report mentioned no clash even though it was widely covered by the media at that time. It termed the incident an “accident”.
Councillor Tarequzzaman Rajib of ward-33 also threatened the father of one of the victims not to file a murder case, they said.
A case was filed after the November 10, 2018, incident and the father of one of the teens was made the plaintiff.
The father maintains he did not file the case and that the signature on the case document could not be his since he is illiterate. He said Councillor Rajib put a gun to his head and told him to do as he said after the incident.
The families opened up to this paper only after Rajib was arrested this week.
On the morning of November 10, 2018, a procession of vehicles, largely comprised of flatbeds, with supporters of AL leader Sadek Khan was going towards the AL Dhanmondi office to buy nomination paper for Sadek’s candidacy in the polls.
Mohammad Sujon, 19, and Arif Hossain, 14, were on one of the pickup trucks when the procession was attacked allegedly by the men of rival AL leader and then lawmaker Jahangir Kabir Nanak.
During the melee Sujon and Arif fell off the vehicle and the driver, trying to avoid the brick chunks being hurled at the pickup, reversed and ran the two over, according to case documents, news reports, witness accounts, and statements of the families.
Sujan and Arif died in hospital.
Arif’s father Faruk Hossain was taken to a community centre in Mohammadpur when he was on his way to the hospital. He was confined there for 12 hours by Rajib’s men, Faruk told The Daily Star.
Late at night, Rajib, reportedly Nanak’s ally, at the community centre told Faruk to go to the police station to talk about getting the body of his son.
Faruk then went to the police station, gave his details, and told the officials there what he knew about the incident. He had no idea that police were filing a case making him the plaintiff. The police officials there asked him to identify the body at the Suhrawardy hospital, Faruk said.
On his way to the hospital from the police station, two men stopped him near Shia Masjid and took him to Rajib’s home.
Rajib told him at gunpoint to do as he said regarding the matter, Faruk told The Daily Star.
“You wouldn’t get anything if you file a murder case. Instead, you will be harassed and face the same consequences as your son. You are from Lalmonhon of Bhola and so am I. Do what I say. You will get a good compensation,” Faruk quoted Rajib as saying.
Faruk eventually identified his son’s body the next day.
Faruk said, “After the incident, I thought it was police who were the plaintiff in the case.
“This is my NID, sir. See, I can’t sign,” Faruk showed his NID to this correspondent which had his thumb print.
Faruk said not a single police officer talked to him about the investigation since then.
Sujon’s uncle Md Riaz told The Daily Star last night that the police never talked to them either.
He said councillor Rajib had promised them compensation and jobs for family members but he never delivered.
Sujon’s family did not know that the final report was submitted. They heard it first from The Daily Star correspondent.
After “investigating” the case for 11 months, police submitted the final report terming the incident an “accident”.
Police had arrested convener of Jubo League’s Adabar Thana unit Arifur Rahman Tuhin in connection with leading the attack but in the final report police said they found no evidence of Tuhin’s involvement.
Rajib, on behalf of then MP Nanak, had given Arif’s family Tk 30,000 and Sujon’s family Tk 25,000 as burial cost.
After the incident, AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader said the prime minister directed the authorities concerned to submit a probe report over the incident within two days.
Whoever is found involved would be given exemplary punishment, he had said, adding that the prime minister wanted to know “who destroyed the peaceful election environment”.
Sub-Inspector Mukul Ranjan of Mohammadpur police station, investigation officer (IO) of the case, said they submitted the final report of the case in the first week of this month as they could not find any evidence or witnesses.
Police also could not identify the pickup truck and its driver.
In the final report, police said the two factions of the ruling party came “face to face” near Mohammadi Homes Ltd on November 10 when the unidentified driver reversed in a hurry and could not see what was behind him. This led to the two getting run over.
The SI in his investigation found no evidence of the clash. He only said the two faction came “face to face”. The media, however, had extensive coverage of the incident.
They reported that the attackers, armed with hammers, sharp weapons and brick chunks, swooped on the procession of vehicles.
The IO said said Faruk did not know what had actually happened and had “filed the case” based on hearsay.
Taking to this newspaper, the SI claimed that he did not find anything in CCTV footage and no local wanted to be a witness.
Asked why the IO never contacted Faruk, the IO first claimed that he had contacted him but later said they could not reach him.
The IO claimed that Faruk had indeed filed the case.
At one stage of the conversation with this correspondent, the IO said he had written the final report with direction from a superior officer of Tejgaon Division Police.
Anisur Rahman, deputy commissioner (Tejgaon division) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, told The Daily Star that he had no knowledge about the development of the case as he joined the division only a few months ago.
“I will have to see the documents,” he added.
In November last year, Nanak said he had nothing to do with the attack on the procession.
Sadek had said that he did not want to blame anyone and demanded a proper investigation.
The Daily Star could not reach Nanak and Sadek for comments over the last few days.
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International media widely covered yesterday's national election that saw deadly clashes and accusations of vote rigging.
In a news report, the Associated Press said it received more than 50 calls from people across Bangladesh, who identified themselves as opposition supporters.
They complained of intimidation and threats, and being forced to vote in front of ruling party men inside polling booths, it mentioned.
"Hasina's use of the state machinery to subjugate the opposition virtually ensures her electoral victory," Sasha Riser-Kositsky, a South Asia analyst for the New York-based Eurasia Group, told AP.
Minutes before the polls opened, a BBC correspondent saw filled ballot boxes at a polling centre in Chittagong city. The presiding officer declined to comment.
Only the ruling party's polling agents were present there and several other polling centres in the port city.
BBC's South Asia Regional Editor Anbarasan Ethirajan said if the opposition's claims of widespread vote rigging are proved, then it will likely to raise questions over the credibility of the election process and the legitimacy of the new government, according to a BBC report.
The Guardian in its report headlined “Bangladesh opposition reject 'farcical' election and demand new vote”, mentioned that dozens of candidates pulled out, claiming the ruling Awami League rigged the country's first contested election in a decade.
The Election Commission told Reuters that it was investigating allegations of vote rigging coming from across the country.
“Allegations are coming from across the country and those are under investigation,” SM Asaduzzaman, a spokesman for the EC, told the news agency.
The Economic Times of India reported that the voting in a tense election to choose a new government in Bangladesh ended amid allegations of manipulations by ruling party men.
The Times of India highlighted the introduction of EVMs in six parliamentary constituencies for the first time in a general election, a move which received mixed responses from the voters amid reports of glitches at some booths.
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We appreciate what appears to be the first sign of flexibility in the administration about forming a poll-time government ahead of the national election. The prime minister on Monday hinted that a poll-time government with parties having representation in parliament could be formed. By the same logic, however, she rejected the possibility of the BNP, whose MPs had resigned from parliament last December, being a part of it. She also ruled out any dialogue with BNP as it leads a nationwide anti-government movement.
There are a number of takeaways from the PM's statement. First of all, the apparent willingness to bring opposition elements in the government marks a departure from the bellicose posturing that we have come to expect from ruling-party politicians. But that hardly rises to the level expected in the present environment of distrust, with BNP edged out of the process on a technicality. Also, the PM's tone, alluding to "our generosity" for forming such a government, leaves doubt about how impactful it might be. One thing that we don't want to see is token representation without real power.
Secondly, BNP remains the biggest opposition party regardless of its representation or lack thereof in parliament. So, how judicious is it to exclude it from a potential poll-time government or any dialogue on said government and the election in general? Dialogue at the top level may not be on the cards right now, but mid-ranked leaders from both parties can, and should, start the process. Dialogue is essential for any solution to the current political impasse.
Thirdly, formation of a poll-time government is but a means to an end, which is to ensure that those in charge have the trust of all political elements and the general public so that they can deliver a fair and credible election. So how should that government be formed? The PM offers a way, but it cannot be the only way. Any poll-time government without the representation of main political elements will not solve the pressing issues we face. Also, how will it perform? Will it be unidimensional where everything is decided from the top, as it is now? These things must be considered going forward.
As the chief election commissioner repeated on Monday, the commission alone cannot hold a fair election without the help of the government. Without taking away from the responsibility of the EC, we think that some sort of a credible power structure in the driving seat is a crucial precondition for any fair election.
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Four university students remain missing since they were allegedly picked up by plainclothes men in the capital's Farmgate area on Saturday, the day before national election.
Their families yesterday held a press conference at Crime Reporters' Association Bangladesh, demanding safe return of the youths.
The missing are: Abu Khaled Mohammad Jabed, 25, a third year student of Bangla at Asian University; Borhan Uddin, 26, English student at Stamford University; Rezaul Khalek, 24, final year student of Pharmacy at Manarat University; and Syed Maminul Hasan, 27, former student of a Unani Ayurvedic Medical College.
“We are very anxious about their fate, as we have been out of contact with them for two days,” said Jabed's brother-in-law Yeasin Karim at the press conference.
He urged law enforcers to rescue the youths or to produce them before the court if they were detained for any crime.
Some plainclothes men identifying themselves as law enforcers dragged them out of a bus in Farmgate on their way home in Mirpur-1 after shopping at Aziz Super Market, Yeasin said quoting a friend of theirs who was also in the bus but escaped detention.
“We contacted local police stations and other wings of law enforcement agencies but all denied picking Jabed up,” he said.
The families drew attention of national and international human rights organisations to be vocal for their release.
Contacted, Abdul Baten, additional commissioner (detectives) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police said they did not detain the youths.
Mufti Mahmud Khan, Rab's Legal and Media wing director also said they did not carry out any drive in Farmgate on that day.
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Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader today said the process to form the new government is likely to be completed by January 10.
Obaidul Quader came up with the information while talking to reporters after placing wreaths at the portrait of Bangabandhu in front of Bangabandhu Memorial Museum at Dhanmondi in the city, marking Awami League's landslide victory in the 11th national elections.
He also said the gazette notification will be published within one to two days and then the newly elected members of parliament will be sworn in.
"After the oath taking, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will meet the President. Then, the President will request the Prime Minister to form the government," he added.
"It is the concern of the Election Commission. Everything will be done according to the constitution. If any candidate fails to take oath, the election commission will arrange necessary steps according to the constitution. A new schedule will be announced for a by-election to the constituency," he said while answering a question about Oikyafront's decision not to take the oath.
Quader said, "I still believe they (Oikyafront) will not disobey the verdict of the country's people. Earlier, they made a mistake by boycotting the 2014 election. Whether they are satisfied or dissatisfied, it's their party matter. But those who have been elected this time will not show disrespect to the people's verdict by not taking oath."
"Many democratic countries have started congratulating Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. If they do not participate in the democratic process, democracy will not be halted for them," he added.
Meanwhile, the senior Awami League urged the party's leaders, activists and supporters not to be revengeful to the opposition and behave carefully.
ওরেশনিক ক্ষেপণাস্ত্রটি পুতিনের অস্ত্রাগারের অন্য অস্ত্রের চেয়ে দ্রুত এবং আরও উন্নত। এটি ইউক্রেনের বিমান প্রতিরক্ষাকে গুরুতরভাবে চ্যালেঞ্জ করার ক্ষমতা রাখে।
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