Thursday | 16 January 2025 | Reg No- 06
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Thursday | 16 January 2025 | Epaper

The handbag thief of Dhaka University

Published : Monday, 28 November, 2016 at 12:00 AM  Count : 401
Afsan Chowdhury
I think we should not be embarrassed at all that the Netherlands envoy's bag was nicked right when she got up to light the flame of enlightenment at the DU. It was the perfect moment to steal her bag, any bag. In fact it became a major media event which was reportedly covered by all the TV channels which also showed the thief who shall soon to be invited to various talk shows. However, instead of just listening to us, we did a quick survey on the issue and talked to various leaders and players in the scene. Here are some excerpts from reactions that may or may not have been told.
Ministry of Information: "We strongly condemn the theft. We believe such thefts are very detrimental to national interest and spirit of 1971 particularly when our Government is trying to try all the war criminals. We think the thief is clearly a member of the BNP-JI alliance and a follower of their leader Khaleda Zia who should be tried immediately for betrayal of national interest and hand bag theft."
Ministry of Finance: "This is all rubbish. How many bags were stolen? Compared to this one bag, we lose 50,000 bags every day. There is nothing to worry about. No need to panic. Absurd"
Ministry of Home: "This is an isolated incident. Don't spread panic. Media is always doing this."
Bangladesh Bank: "There are enough bags in our reserve and we can meet the entire demand of handbags from our own resources. Meanwhile, we have constituted an enquiry committee to examine how the bag was stolen and if proper procedure was followed while stealing the bag. We want to reassure everyone that our security is very high, and it's not our fault at all. If there is anyone to be blamed, it's the thief. "
BNP politician: "This is one more sign that the government is not popular and doesn't believe in democracy. We have asked again and again for a proper investigation into all the bag thefts in the country and the AL has never paid any attention and the people are suffering a great deal. We demand that the government immediately sets up an -all party committee to enquire into the matter and settle the question regarding the release of  our workers against whom many cases have been filed including  hand bag theft cases."
JP: "We have convened the party central committee meeting to find out exactly where we can stand on the matter and where we can sit down. Once we have settled the matter we can decide whether we shall join the hunt for the handbag or condemn the incident."
JP leader: "I love handbags and beautiful ladies who carry them."
Hefazot-e-Islam: What is a handbag? Is it like a jute bag in which people carry tentul?
RAB, police: "I think this is the top leader of the new JMB-handbag group whose leaders we have already caught. Once he is caught, we are going to make sure that we are well armed when his followers attack us to steal him from our custody and we shall be forced to return fire and kill him leaving several rounds of ammunition, 3 shotguns and several large knives behind."
HR outfit: "What is missing is rule of law and lack of respect for human rights. We shall assemble next Friday and hold a manob bandhan and protest the theft like we do every week. Everyone has a right to own and enjoy a handbag not to mention stealing one."
DMP: "We have always said that a handbag is the responsibility of the owner and we can't protect every handbag.  Meanwhile, we have already sought 100 days of remand for the thief from the court.
For once, a handbag has become a major news item instead of politics and for that we not only thank the Ambassador for carelessly leaving it on the chair while she went to light a lamp but also the thief who showed presence of mind and stole it giving everyone a chance to report on something different from the same old jhagra, day in day out.
Thanks handbag thief!r
Afsan Chowdhury is a journalist, teacher and researcher






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