Amid tight security, members of a judicial commission on Sunday visited the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal and other areas which witnessed violence over a court-ordered survey of the Mughal-era mosque.
Sheikh Hasina, who was elected for a record fourth consecutive term and fifth overall term this year, was always admired by her supporters as "Iron Lady", before the dramatic development that abruptly ended her 15-year-rule in Bangladesh.
A lawyer was killed on Tuesday during clashes between the security personnel and followers of a Hindu community leader, who was denied bail and sent to jail by a court in the port city of Chattogram in Bangladesh, police said.
'The government is saying 88 Hindus have been killed, but it could be much more.' 'Their properties are being looted, their businesses have been ransacked. I am getting distress calls from there.' 'Muslims who believe in the philosophy of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman are also under attack. Most of those who have fled Bangladesh after Sheikh Hasina's fall are Muslims.'
Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, remains on high alert following violence that erupted on November 24 over a court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid. Police have deployed heavy security ahead of Friday prayers and a court hearing on the survey, which is expected to be tense. The violence, which left four people dead and several injured, stemmed from claims that a Harihar temple previously stood at the site of the mosque.
Zia and 27 leaders and officials of her BNP have been accused of instigating the firebombing in Dhaka as part of a deadly campaign against the government.
The communal violence in Sambhal that claimed four lives and left over 20 people injured has now sparked a debate over a purported rivalry between the Turk and Pathan communities, with political and administrative figures weighing in on the cause of the unrest.
Tata Sons will likely choose Singapore as a "key partner" for its semiconductor plans, a senior minister from the city-state said on Friday. Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran earlier in the day, Singapore's minister for home affairs and law K Shanmugam said semiconductors was a "big discussion" point during the meeting. "If they (Tatas) want to, they can do business with anybody in the world.
Bangladesh's interim government on Wednesday said it is 'consulting all stakeholders' to decide the fate of President Mohammed Shahabuddin, as authorities beefed up security around his residence in the wake of protests demanding his removal over comments that raised questions on prime minister Sheikh Hasina's resignation.
A Bangladeshi court on Tuesday denied bail to prominent Hindu leader Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, arrested on alleged 'sedition' charges, and sent him to prison, amid protests by community members in the capital Dhaka and the port city of Chattogram.
Nobel laureate Prof Mohammad Yunus, the designated head of Bangladesh's interim government, on Wednesday fervently appealed everybody 'to stay calm' and 'refrain from all kinds of violence' as the country witnessed a major reshuffle in the security establishment after the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina government.
A murder case has been filed against Bangladesh's ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina and six others over the death of a grocery shop owner during last month's violent clashes that led to the fall of her government, media reports said on Tuesday.
At least 30 suspects have been detained in Bangladesh's Chattogram city for their alleged involvement in the killing of a lawyer and attacking security personnel following the arrest of a prominent Hindu community leader. The violence erupted after Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, spokesperson for Bangladesh Sammilita Sanatani Jagran Jote, was denied bail and sent to jail in a sedition case. The lawyer, Assistant public prosecutor Saiful Islam, was killed during clashes between security personnel and Das' followers. The interim government has condemned the violence, urging people to remain calm and has ordered an investigation into the killing and appropriate legal measures.
Bangladesh is in turmoil, which is not good news for India, which shares a porous 4000 km border with it. There is a danger of fundamentalism growing there, and India has to move in to reset its ties with the new dispensation before China and Pakistan make capital out of it, alerts Ramesh Menon.
Two days after violence broke out during a court-ordered survey of a Mughal-era mosque in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, life is gradually returning to normal with schools reopening and shops resuming operations. Internet services remain suspended and authorities continue to monitor the situation closely with restrictions in place on entry of outsiders and public representatives. The area around the Shahi Jama Masjid remains deserted, while the police investigate the violence and make arrests.
This has invited sharp reaction from the Opposition, with the Samajwadi Party saying that the BJP was afraid of its defeat in Milkipur due to which it moved the court for "stalling" polls on the assembly seat.
The private BDnews24 quoted Zia as saying that she was not frightened to go to jail.
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'New Delhi has to make up its mind whether it wants to be a friend of the Bangladeshi people or they want to be a friend of a section of people, or one party or one leader'
Bypolls to 10 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh will be a litmus test for the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA)'s unity after the group's success in the recent Lok Sabha polls when they won more than 40 seats, significantly contributing to the Bharatiya Janata Party's failure to win a simple majority in parliament.
In the same case, her son Tarique Rahman and four others have been sentenced to 10 years in jail.
Moreover, the process to release those arrested between July 1 to August has started, and many have already been released, it added.
"I know my son is a very sensitive boy and he was under pressure as a cricketer because of my position," said the out-going chief.\n\n
A Bangladeshi court on Wednesday upheld the arrest warrants issued against former PM Khaleda Zia in two graft cases.
A court in Dhaka on Wednesday ordered the arrest of former Bangladesh prime minister Khaleda Zia, scrapping her existing bail in connection with two graft cases after she did not appear for the hearing citing "security reasons".
Former Bangladeshi prime minister Khaleda Zia was booked for sedition over her alleged "slanderous comments" concerning martyrs of the 1971 liberation war against Pakistan.
Zia was spearheading a violent nationwide campaign to topple Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ruling Awami League government.
A total of 78 Muslims were in the fray in the Lok Sabha elections this year, a significant drop from the last polls when 115 Muslim candidates were fielded by various parties.
'My father died in the liberation struggle. Bangladesh is our Motherland. This is home,' says Monindra Kumar Nath, a Hindu who has lived his 74 years in Dhaka.
"I'm taking all responsibility (of the country). Please cooperate," he said in a televised address amid reports that Hasina has left the country.
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India should encourage the second coming of SAARC with climate change as an urgent agenda and keeping Indian security concerns in mind as the subtext, suggest Lieutenant General Ashok Joshi (retd) and Colonel Anil Athale (retd).
'In the interim, India will be confronted with anti-India feeling because Sheikh Hasina had India's support.' 'We will have to deal with it, but it will not be a permanent phenomenon.' 'There is substantial goodwill towards India which will stand us in good stead.'
A senior Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader has blamed an 'ecosystem of former diplomats, bureaucrats, politicians, and think tanks' for creating a 'bogeyman' to mislead the Indian establishment into believing that Indo-Bangla relations would deteriorate without the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League.
Bangladesh descended into chaos on Monday as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina surreptitiously resigned and fled the country in a military aircraft while the Army stepped in to fill the power vacuum.
Videos on social media showed protesters climbing a statue of Hasina's father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, a 1971 Liberation War hero, in Dhaka and smashing it with hammers.
New Delhi -- which has had a disastrous neighbourhood policy that has alienated almost all the States with which it has a land or sea border -- seemed to be unwilling over the past years to even consider that its unquestioning support of Sheikh Hasina was painting it into a corner, points out Mihir S Sharma.
The application accuses Hasina and others of orchestrating a violent crackdown on student protestors, resulting in widespread casualties and human rights violations.
In an interview with a private television channel, Former Pakistan Intelligence Bureau chief Brigadier (retd) Imtiaz Ahmad claimed that US masterminded the Bahawalpur plane crash, in which Haq was killed, in collaboration with 'internal powers of Pakistan'.
Pakistan's late military ruler Zia-ul-Haq's son has served a legal notice on a banker, who is at the centre of a scandal over the funding of politicians by the Inter-Services Intelligence in 1990, for claiming that he gave millions of rupees to his family.
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