Looking back on September 7, 2024: Everything that happened on that day

Witness BD

🔲 ‘Reset button’ – Magistrate Tapasi Tabassum suspended.
🔲 Upazila Parishad employee suspended for ‘abusing’ Dr. Yunus
🔲 Eggs thrown at Saber Hossain in court, attempt to beat him up
🔲 Constitution Reform Commission formed, no religious and ethnic minorities

1. Assistant Commissioner (Executive Magistrate) of the Lalmonirhat District Commissioner’s Office Tapsi Tabassum (Urmi) has been temporarily suspended after being made OSD. At the same time, it has been decided to file a departmental case against her. Today, a notification from the Ministry of Public Administration said that it has been decided to take departmental action against Tapsi Tabassum as per the Government Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules for making controversial comments on the statements of the interim government and the chief advisor through a status on her Facebook account. Meanwhile, a human chain has been formed in Rangpur demanding her permanent suspension. This human chain was organized under the banner of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement at Shaheed Abu Sayeed Gate (Gate No. 1) of Begum Rokeya University on Monday afternoon.

Two days ago, Taapsee Tabassum wrote in her Facebook status – ‘The chief advisor of the constitutionally baseless interim government said, the reset button has been pushed. The past has been erased. By clicking the reset button, he has erased all the past history of the country. It’s that simple! The countdown has begun for you, sir.’

When a TV channel went to interview him, he said something even bolder: ‘If I lose my job for this, no problem. Our Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu, this is a settled truth. What does it mean to erase the past by deleting the reset button? Then I think that the forces opposing the Liberation War exist in our country as a government.’

2. Another government employee was dismissed for making a Facebook comment about Chief Advisor Dr. Muhammad Yunus. The person, named SM Moniruzzaman, was working as a typist cum computer operator in Jhalokati Sadar Upazila Parishad. At the same time, he was in charge of the confidential assistant (CA) of the Upazila Chairman.

In the comments section of a news link on Prothom Alo’s online page, Moniruzzaman wrote, ‘Earlier there was a possibility of going to jail, now hanging is certain (if he is alive in Bangladesh).’ Then, when the matter came to the attention of Deputy Commissioner Ashrafur Rahman, he ordered the Upazila Executive Officer to suspend Moniruzzaman. The temporary suspension order was issued from the Upazila Executive Officer’s office on Monday evening.

3. Arrested former Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Saber Hossain Chowdhury was produced before the CMM Court in Dhaka under heavy police guard. Later, he was kept in the court’s jail. At that time, a group of people started shouting slogans demanding punishment for Saber Hossain Chowdhury in the court premises. When he was being taken from the jail to the courtroom, some outsiders threw eggs at him. In the courtroom, Saber Hossain Chowdhury was seen wearing a police helmet and a bulletproof jacket. In view of the government’s application, the court granted Saber Hossain Chowdhury a five-day remand. Then he was taken out of the courtroom and brought to the main gate of the court entrance. Then, some people tried to beat him up inside the police guard.

4. The government has formed a Constitutional Reform Commission to review and evaluate the constitution. The nine-member commission, led by Professor Ali Riaz, will prepare a report on the recommendations for constitutional reform within 90 days and submit it to the government.

Ali Riaz is Distinguished Professor of Politics and Government at Illinois State University, USA, and a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and president of the American Institute of Bangladesh Studies. Founded in 1961, the Atlantic Council is a think tank on international relations that works intellectually to maintain the security and economic influence of the United States worldwide. Headquartered in Washington, this organization is a member of the ATA. ATA (Atlantic Treaty Association) is an umbrella organization that brings together writers, intellectuals, politicians, educators, diplomats, and military officials from around the world on behalf of NATO. Ali Riaz is a US citizen, and such talk is also going on on social media.

There are no religious or ethnic minority representatives in this committee. Mahrukh Mohiuddin, the wife of committee member Firoz Ahmed and the owner of UPL Publishing, congratulated her husband and everyone on the committee in a Facebook post and finally wrote, “This morning I learned that a group of people have succeeded in trying to remove Barrister Debashish Roy from the list. Another very harmful precedent has been created. No joy in this uprising lasts even 24 hours, this has been proven once again. I strongly condemn the ongoing hateful activities.”

Source: Dhaka Tribune, October 7, 2024. Kalbela, October 7, 2024. Bangla Tribune, October 7, 2024