Implement 11-pt of 14-party to prove neutrality
South Asian People's Union tells Iajuddin
Staff Correspondent
South Asian People's Union against Fundamentalism and Communalism and Forum for Secular Bangladesh yesterday called on President and Chief Adviser Iajuddin Ahmed to prove himself to be neutral by implementing the 11-point reform proposal of the 14-party combine. The reform proposal must be implemented without delay in order to hold the 9th parliamentary election in a free, fair and peaceful manner, they said in a statement. They also urged the President to cancel contractual appointments and remove the officials appointed on political considerations in the Election Commission, civil administration and police department. At the same time, those who were transferred, suspended or made OSD for their neutrality and out of political vengeance should be brought back to their respective posts, they added. They said thousands of Islamist militants are still in hiding and the vested quarters would use them during the election. They called on the chief adviser to arrest godfathers of the militants, extract information about their network and activities from them and make those public. They also demanded arrest of and punishment to those responsible for repression of religious minorities that began after the takeover of the caretaker government in 2001. Otherwise, there might be a repeat of such incidents in a larger scale this time, they added. They also called for stern action against those who would incite communal hatred and deceive people in the name of religion during the election campaign. The signatories to the statement included Prof Kabir Chowdhury, Binodbihari Chowdhury, Justice KM Sobhan, Advocate Gaziul Haque, Kalim Sharafi, Ajoy Roy, Maj Gen (retd) CR Dutt, Prof Borhanuddin Khan Jahangir, Barrister Shafik Ahmed, journalist Kamal Lohani, Hasan Azizul Haq, artist Qayyum Chowdhury, Hashem Khan, Rafiqunnanbi, Syed Shamsul Haq, Rabiul Husain, Shahriar Kabir, Prof Muntasir Mamun, Muhammad Zafar Iqbal and Kazi Mukul . In another statement, progressive teachers of Jahangirnagar University urged the chief adviser of the caretaker government to depoliticise the administration in order to hold a free and fair election. The signatories to the statement included Prof Khondaker Moudud Elahi, Prof Suvash Chandra Das, Dr Tajul Islam, Dr Ajit Kumar Majumder, Prof Mahmuda Gani Ahmad, Prof Mohammad Salimullah and Prof Sabiha Sultana.
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