The Anti-Discrimination Student Movement (SAD), which led protests against Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has launched itself as a political party called the National Citizen Party (NCP). The new party, which aims to 'dismantle constitutional autocracy' and establish a 'second republic,' has pledged to create a 'solely Bangladesh-oriented' political system, with no room for 'pro-India and pro-Pakistan politics.' The NCP's inaugural rally was attended by representatives of various political parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Jamaat-e-Islami, and envoys from the Vatican and Pakistan.
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.
Deposed Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has issued a strong warning against threats to ban her Awami League party, calling the demands "audacious" and accusing Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus of being a "fraud" and "corrupt" for his role in the current interim government. Hasina, who fled Bangladesh in August 2024 following a student-led uprising, claims Yunus assumed power through a "meticulous design" with funding from overseas and misled students and people. She asserts that her Awami League is the legitimate party, with a strong history of fighting for the people's rights, and accuses Yunus and his supporters of having no constitutional basis or people's mandate to rule the country.
The Telangana High Court upheld a trial court's verdict handing out death penalty to five senior operatives of banned terror outfit, Indian Mujahideen, involved in a bomb blast that left 18 people killed in 2013. The court dismissed the criminal revision appeal filed by the IM operatives while upholding the NIA court's judgment. The five members, including IM co-founder Mohd Ahmed Sidibapa alias Yasin Bhatkal, Pakistani national Zia-ur-Rahman alias Waqas, Asadullah Akhtar alias Haddi, Tahaseen Akhtar alias Monu and Ajaz Shaikh, were convicted in 2016. The special court for NIA cases here awarded capital punishment to five convicts treating it as a rarest of the rare case. The high court, after conducting a detailed hearing in the appeals filed by the convicts, confirmed the death sentence of the five IM operatives.
'It could take the form of sporadic LoC violation through heavy artillery and mortar fire, focusing on border villages where the Hindu Dogra population is predominant.'
'India is using Hasina to warn the Yunus government because there is a ground support for the Awami League in Bangladesh.'
The Uttar Pradesh government will display posters of individuals accused of violence in Sambhal, seeking damages for public property destruction. This follows a violent clash during a mosque survey, leading to deaths and injuries.
The private BDnews24 quoted Zia as saying that she was not frightened to go to jail.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which Sheikh Hasina has crushed during her multiple terms as prime minister, has stirred into action after its leader Begum Khaleda Zia was released from prison.
Talking to reporters after placing a wreath at the grave of former president and BNP founder Zia-ur Rahman in the city, Fakhrul said India is seemingly not keeping its commitment towards democracy by providing shelter to her.
We bring you this excerpt from Shaili Chopra's book, When I was 25.
Weeks after violent clashes over a court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid, the district administration in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, has launched a campaign against encroachments and illegal power theft in the area around the historic mosque. The administration began removing encroachments on Sunday morning, focusing on clearing drains outside houses and shops. The operation uncovered an illegal stockpile of domestic gas cylinders in a house, and the electricity department unearthed illegal connections in four mosques and a madrasa. The Bhasma Shankar temple, which was reopened by the district administration, has resumed regular worship.
Former National Security Advisor (NSA) Shivshankar Menon has stated that the political dynamics between India and Pakistan have resulted in a "controlled level of hostility" that benefits the ruling elites in both nations. Speaking at the Kerala Literature Festival, Menon described Pakistan as a "brand new state" still grappling with its national identity. He argued that India's foreign policy towards Pakistan is influenced by its domestic politics, resulting in an uneasy equilibrium characterized by a "controlled level of hostility." Menon also questioned the concept of a multipolar world, stating that the current global order is merely "confused." He emphasized that the United States remains the world's true military hegemon, while other nations, including China, are regional powers. Menon further argued that there is no binding international order, leading to a state of "between orders." He highlighted the absence of definitive international agreements on crucial issues in recent decades.
Seven FIRs have been lodged in connection with the violence over a court-ordered survey of a Mughal-era mosque in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, naming Samajwadi Party MP Zia-ur-Rehman Barq and local SP MLA Iqbal Mehmood's son Sohail Iqbal as accused. Three people were killed and scores of others injured on Sunday as protesters opposing the survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid clashed with police. The district administration has imposed prohibitory orders and barred the entry of outsiders into Sambhal till November 30.
"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
In the same case, her son Tarique Rahman and four others have been sentenced to 10 years in jail.
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.
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.
Bangladesh's interim government on Sunday said it will seek Interpol's assistance in repatriating deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina from India, and other 'fugitives', to face trial for alleged crimes against humanity.
22 images that captures glimpses of a most unusual Indian who led the nation for 10 years.
Families of the four men killed in the Sunday violence in Sambhal are now forced to contend with the double tragedy of death and poverty, reliant as they were on the frugal income the four once brought.
An exclusive excerpt from the most exciting novel this year, Mohammed Hanif's A Case of Exploding Mangoes.
Over 100 writers, translators, and publishers have signed an open letter accusing the "JCB Prize for Literature" of hypocrisy, highlighting the British bulldozer manufacturer's role in demolitions across India and Palestine. They argue that the JCB's involvement in these projects contradicts its purported support for marginalized and diverse writers. The letter was released ahead of the announcement of the JCB Prize for Literature winners on November 23.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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'.
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.
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.
Main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party chief Khaleda Zia on Monday rejected her arch-rival Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's proposal for an all-party government to oversee Bangladesh's upcoming election and floated a formula for creating a neutral poll-time regime.
In an apparent fall-out of the domestic political standoff over war crimes trial and consequent violence, opposition leader and Bangladesh National Party Chairperson Khaleda Zia cancelled her meeting with visiting Indian President Pranab Mukherjee that was scheduled for Monday, casting a shadow on the latter's maiden foreign visit since taking over the highest constitutional post seven months ago.
Bangladesh's former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia was released on Thursday on bail after one-year imprisonment.
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.
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.
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.
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.
