Month in review: Bangladesh

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Calming business

The chief adviser meets with business leaders on September 5 to allay their fears about the country's growing economic problems and to help build business confidence in the current administration. The business leaders warn that the ongoing crackdown on corruption has created a climate of fear and demand that the government ensure that they are able to run their businesses without fear of undue harassment and regulation. Dr. Fakhruddin concedes that the ongoing reforms have negatively affected business confidence, but proposes a series of business-friendly reforms and assures the business leaders that turning this around is a top priority for his government.

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Production in most parts of the DEPZ in Savar remains suspended throughout the day September 14 as clashes between workers and police leave at least 100 people injured. The fighting breaks out as police charge batons on the garment workers agitating over unconfirmed reports that one of them was killed the day before over theft of a cell phone set. Trouble breaks outs again on September 22 when several thousand garment workers stage fierce demonstrations against sudden closure of a factory in Tejgaon Industrial Area. At least 20 factories are damaged and a bus torched during the agitation that prompts owners to close almost all the factories in the city's industrial hub for the day.

AFP

No dual role

In a wide-ranging interview with BBC Bangla Service on September 14, Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed dismisses the notion that the country is under dual rule of the caretaker government and the army and clarifies "The army is assisting the civil government and playing an important role in curbing corruption, improving law and order, distributing flood relief. I do not see the reflection of their political role through these activities."

Party politics

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Following announcement by the chief adviser that indoor politics would be permitted to resume, Dhaka offices of all political parties except BNP are opened for business September 10 after a six-month hiatus due to the ban on indoor politics. The government clarifies that only offices in the capital are permitted to open and BNP offices remain shuttered as the two rival factions of the party are unable to come to agreement as to who has rights to the premises.

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Mohammad Ashraful hammers 61 as Bangladesh cruise to a six-wicket win over West Indies in Johannesburg on the first round of the ICC World Twenty20 Championship. The win, Bangladesh's first in any competitive match against West Indies, guarantees a passage into the elite Super Eights of the tournament and ensures that West Indies go home early as they had already lost their first match against the hosts on the opening day.

On September 3, a Dhaka court sends BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia to jail and places her younger son Arafat Rahman Koko on a seven-day remand after they are arrested on graft charges at their cantonment residence. The arrests follow close on the heels of the Anti-Corruption Commission's (ACC) filing the first graft case against the former premier and her son after the state of emergency came into force on January 11. In the case filed with the Tejgaon Police Station on the night of September 2, Khaleda, her son, and 11 others are charged with violating tender conditions in appointing an indenting house for container handling.