Veteran Awami League leader Zillur Rahman, a close aide to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was on Wednesday declared as the country's new President by the election commission, more than a month after his party swept the landmark general elections.
Bangaldesh's Awami League, which is set to form the government after sweeping the December 29 polls, will name Zillur Rahman as the presidential candidate, prime minister-elect Sheikh Hasina said, setting aside an apparent pre-poll deal reached with key ally H M Ershad.
Former prime minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League-backed candidates on Tuesday overwhelmingly won the mayoral elections as Bangladesh witnessed its first polls under emergency rules ahead of the scheduled general elections set for December this year.
An "all-party" interim government headed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was installed in Bangladesh on Monday to oversee the upcoming general elections despite boycott by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party which termed the move as "farce", heightening tension in the country.
The earlier attempt by the authorities in Dhaka that Islamist militancy had not established a presence in Bangladesh will now have to be given up.
A key suspect and his accomplice accused of fanning communal hatred on social media and instigating the recent violence against the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh have confessed to their crime in a pre-trial hearing, a court official has said.
The death toll in violence across Bangladesh triggered by the execution of a top Jamaat-e-Islami leader has risen to 21, prompting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to issue a stern warning saying, "We know how to control you."
The ruling Awami League-led grand alliance has won 288 seats in the 300-member Parliament, Election Commission secretary Helaluddin Ahmed said.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League is set to form the next government after securing over three-fourth majority in the controversial polls marred by deadly clashes, a low turnout and a boycott by opposition parties.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has positioned himself as a credible partner for Bangladesh. He has scored by getting West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to travel with him to Dhaka, says Srinath Raghavan
Bangladesh President Zillur Rahman was on Monday flown to a specialised hospital in Singapore by an air ambulance following respiratory complications.
Zia was spearheading a violent nationwide campaign to topple Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ruling Awami League government.
'The 1971 War was our greatest military victory.' 'It had so many stories of exceptional valour and leadership.'
A high-level government committee has accused activists of ruling Awami League alongside main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami for the attack on Buddhist temples and localities in south-eastern Bangladesh last month, reports said on Friday.
A former chief of Bangladesh's premier military intelligence agency on Monday claimed that ex-Prime Minister Khaleda Zia knew beforehand the 2004 grenade attack plot mainly targeting the then leader of Opposition Sheikh Hasina.
The death toll in the raging violence in Bangladesh shot up to 37 as marauding members of a radical Islamic outfit demanding a tougher blasphemy law clashed with police near the capital city, prompting a ban on public rallies and two right-wing TV channels.
Bangladesh Prime minister Sheikh Hasina has accused the "desperate" opposition of "plotting" against her government after the army foiled a coup plot by some "fanatic" serving and retired military officers.
A "heinous" plot to overthrow the Awami League-led government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina by some serving military officers has been foiled and two former officers have been arrested, the Bangladesh army said on Thursday.
Sengupta, a veteran parliamentarian and senior leader of the ruling Awami League, said he was resigning to set an example in the "country's 40 years of history" accepting "the blames of all failures in my shoulder".
The nearly year-long trial of eight suspects at the International Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh, who have been accused of war crimes during the 1971 war, may not have made headlines in India, but it is attracting huge international attention and further polarising the country's politics.
The indictment comes seven months after another Dhaka court issued an arrest warrant against the 69-year-old ex-chief justice who lives in the United States
Banned terror organisation Jamaat-ud Dawa (JuD) has said that Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan has confirmed his presence at the January 29 Difa-e-Pakistan gathering.
Ahead of Modi's two-day visit, the capital city Dhaka is having a festive look with streets adorned with life-size cutouts of Modi.
Mashrafe Mortaza is all set to contest the 11th parliamentary elections of the country on ruling party Awami League's ticket.
Defending his claim that Musharraf had met Chetia, Local Government Minister and ruling Awami League's general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam said, "We've the evidence. We've not made any statement without evidence. I am aware that no comment should be made about a president without any evidence."
The Bangladesh cabinet on Wednesday approved a draft law to return land to members of the Hindu families, which were confiscated by the erstwhile Pakistani regime when they fled the country during the 1965 Indo-Pak war.
Bangladesh's former military dictator HM Ershad was on Thursday led away from his home by security forces and admitted to a military facility in a dramatic move, days after he pulled out of the January 5 general elections.
The separatist organisation, in an e-mail sent to the Bangladeshi news agency, appealed to the government to halt the "crackdown" against the outfit, saying the ruling Awami League of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina should understand its spirit for "independence".
Bangladesh Home Minister Sahara Khatun slammed Pakistan investigation agency's claim that outfits from the country could be involved in the terror attack in the Indian financial capital last year.
Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina Wajed was on Tuesday sworn in as the new prime minister of Bangladesh, a week after her party led grand alliance swept the general elections, winning three fourths of the 300 parliamentary seats.President Iajuddin Ahmad administered the oath of office at Bangabhaban presidential palace, and the event was attended by over a thousand guests including the chief adviser of the interim government, Fakhruddin Ahmed.
The Election Commission has so far announced 'unofficial' results of 295 seats of the 300-seat parliament saying, the Hasina's alliance won 258 seats while her archrival ex-premier Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led four-party grouping won in 31 constituencies.
Bangladesh's former premier Sheikh Hasina Wajed on Thursday left the country, a day after she was "temporary" released under an apparent deal cut with the military-backed government following 11 months in detention on graft charges. Thousands of party activists crowded Dhaka's Zia International Airport where the 60-year-old ailing Awami League leader arrived escorted by heavy security.
Bangladesh's 'battling begums' are on a hectic last minute campaign trail, which will end at midnight on Saturday, as the country's goes for its first general elections in seven years on December 29. The elections are being held under unprecedented security measures with nearly 48,000 troops and more than 600,000 policemen deployed to guard the polling booths.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday warned Bangladeshis against attacking the minority Hindu community, saying such assaults could have repercussions in neighbouring India.
Former premier and Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina returned to Bangladesh on Thursday after five months of medical treatment in the United States to lead her party in general elections scheduled for next month.
Hasina, who is in the United States on a private visit, was expected to return home on April 23.
Former prime minister Khaleda Zia, who was arrested on Monday on graft charges, has been kept just yards away from Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina.
Meanwhile, ex-PM and Miss Khaleda Zia's four-party alliance cautioned that the caretaker government cannot go beyond the constitutional provisions while reforming the election commission.
The latest crackdown on senior AL leaders, including its general secretary Abdul Jalil, and Hasina's cousin Sheikh Selim, known to be loyal to her, has dealt her a severe blow.
