The Indian Panorama

Tag: South Asia

  • Bangladesh opens trial of deposed ex-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina

    Bangladesh opens trial of deposed ex-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina

    DHAKA (TIP): A special tribunal set up to try Bangladesh’s ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina began proceedings Sunday by accepting charges of crimes against humanity filed against her in connection with a mass uprising in which hundreds of students were killed last year.
    The Dhaka-based International Crimes Tribunal directed investigators to produce Hasina, a former home minister and a former police chief before the court on June 16.
    Hasina has been in exile in India since Aug. 5, 2024, while former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan is missing and possibly also in India. Former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun has been arrested. Bangladesh sent a formal request to India to extradite Hasina in December.
    State-run Bangladesh Television broadcast the court proceedings live.
    Hasina and her Awami League party had earlier criticized the tribunal and its prosecution team for their connection with political parties, especially with the Jamaat-e-Islami party.

    In an investigation report submitted on May 12, the tribunal’s investigators brought five allegations of crimes against humanity against Hasina and the two others during the mass uprising in July-August last year.

    According to the charges, Hasina was directly responsible for ordering all state forces, her Awami League party and its associates to carry out actions that led to mass killings, injuries, targeted violence against women and children, the incineration of bodies and denial of medical treatment to the wounded.
    The charges describe Hasina as the “mastermind, conductor, and superior commander” of the atrocities.
    Three days after Hasina’s ouster, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus took over as the nation’s interim leader.
    The Yunus-led administration, which has already banned the Awami League party, amended relevant laws to allow for the trial of the former ruling party for its role during the uprising.
    In February, the U.N. human rights office estimated that up to 1,400 people may have been killed in Bangladesh over three weeks in the crackdown on the student-led protests against Hasina, who ruled the country for 15 years.
    The tribunal was established by Hasina in 2009 to investigate and try crimes involving Bangladesh’s independence war in 1971. The tribunal under Hasina tried politicians, mostly from the Jamaat-e-Islami party, for their actions during the nine-month war against Pakistan. Aided by India, Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan under the leadership of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Hasina’s father and the country’s first leader.
    In a separate development, Bangladesh’s Supreme Court on Sunday cleared the path for the Jamaat-e-Islami party to regain its registration as a political party after a decade — a decision that would enable the party to take part in elections.
    The country’s top court overturned a previous High Court verdict and said it is now up to the Election Commission to formally restore the registration of Bangladesh’s largest Islamist party and their election symbol.
    Yunus said his administration would hold the election by June next year, but the Bangladesh Nationalist Party headed by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, Hasina’s archrival, wants the election to be held in December this year. The relation between Zia’s party, which is the largest in absence of Hasina’s party, and the Yunus-led government has recently been frosty over the polls schedule. (AP)

  • Nepal arrests five Indian nationals over kidnapping of Bangladeshis for ransom

    KATHMANDU (TIP): Nepal Police have busted a kidnapping racket and arrested five Indian nationals on Wednesday for allegedly holding Bangladeshi tourists hostage for ransom in the Himalayan nation.
    Those arrested include Shiva Saurabh, 34, from Delhi, Ramesh Jadav, 64, from Kanpur; and Dipak Kumar, 32, Sandip Kumar, 36, and Jasprit Singh, 38, all from Punjab, according to Senior Superintendent of Police Apil Bohara, spokesperson for Kathmandu Metropolitan Police.
    The gang had abducted seven Bangladeshi nationals visiting Nepal under the pretext of offering them cheap travel packages, Bohara told PTI.
    The Bangladeshi nationals were held hostage in a rented house in Lalitpur Metropolitan City, within the Kathmandu Valley, and were subjected to both mental and physical torture, police said. The criminals seized USD 2,000-3,500 from each person and their mobile phones, and forced them to request millions of dollars in ransom via WhatsApp.
    The Bangladeshi nationals were reportedly beaten and threatened with death. The police, acting upon a tip-off, arrested the Indian nationals from different parts of Kathmandu. The Kathmandu District Court has granted a six-day judicial remand for further investigation. (PTI)

  • Not the noble Nobel laureate anymore: Muhammad Yunus and the worsening tumult in Bangladesh

    Dhaka / New Delhi (TIP) : Imagine government employees at South and North Block in New Delhi suddenly going on strike, workers in all tax departments downing pens and primary teachers picketing schools across the country – and all this at the same time. Imagine the Army telling the government that it doesn’t like some of its policies. Imagine inflation soaring, Foreign Direct Investments vanishing, mobs roaming the street and the courts letting jailed criminals sentenced to death go scot-free.
    Something close to this dystopia is now unfolding in Bangladesh. Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel laureate heading an interim government in Dhaka since the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina nine months ago, has been quoted describing the situation in the country as “war-like”. He has been blaming much of the country’s troubles on the Awami League, the Sheikh Hasina-led party banned on May 12, and on the foreign hand trope, in this case, a “hegemonistic” India.
    Before Bangladesh shuts down for a 10-day holiday next week to mark Eid al-Adha, a mega rally on Wednesday in Dhaka called by the Awami League’s rival Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and easily the biggest political party in that country today, pumped up the political temperatures to boiling point. On the same day, Yunus left for Japan on a four-day visit. Anything could happen.
    Last week, what happened was an Army coup without a coup. The chief of Army Staff General Waqar ul Zaman was quoted in WhatsApp messages that went viral worldwide as having served an ultimatum to the Yunus-led dispensation that elections must be held this December so that Bangladesh has a brand-new democratically elected government on New Year’s Day 2026.
    The debate over when elections should be held is split between those who want reforms to the poll process first and then elections and those who want elections first and insist reforms can wait. The biggest political party BNP wants polls by December, but Yunus had promised polls only by June 2026. This is a position backed by the Jamaat-e-Islami and the National Citizens’ Party (NCP) who want polls only after full electoral reforms, even if it takes a full five years.
    The Army on Monday denied General Zaman had issued any ultimatum in his address to officers in Dhaka and the fact is there is no audio or video recording of his statement. But few doubt the veracity of a flood of WhatsApp messages that emerged after the General’s meeting and went viral. (AFP)

  • Pakistan announces it will send ambassador to Afghanistan to upgrade diplomatic ties

    Pakistan announces it will send ambassador to Afghanistan to upgrade diplomatic ties

    ISLAMABAD (TIP): Pakistan announced Friday that it is upgrading its diplomatic representation in neighboring Afghanistan from chargé d’affaires to the level of ambassador, a move aimed at improving bilateral relations between the two neighbors.
    The announcement by the Foreign Minister, Ishaq Dar, comes a week after he met his Afghan counterpart, Amir Khan Muttaqi, alongside China’s top diplomat during a trilateral meeting in Beijing.
    Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban government have embassies in each other’s capitals but they are led by chargés d’affaires. Like the international community, Pakistan has not recognized the Afghan Taliban government.
    There was no immediate comment from Kabul. However, Pakistan had earlier signalled that the two sides were considering an upgrade in diplomatic ties.
    In a statement, Dar said relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have taken a positive turn since his visit to Kabul in April. “To maintain this momentum, I am pleased to announce the decision of the Government of Pakistan to upgrade the level of its chargé d’affaires in Kabul to the level of ambassador,” he said.
    Dar expressed hope that the decision would strengthen economic cooperation, boost bilateral trade and enhance joint efforts to combat terrorism.
    Tensions between the two countries have long been strained over Pakistan’s accusations that Kabul provides safe haven to Pakistani Taliban, who are known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP and are allies of the Afghan Taliban.
    TTP is a separate group and has been emboldened since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021. (AP)

  • Bangladesh’s interim chief Muhammad Yunus mulls resignation

    DHAKA (TIP): Bangladesh’s interim government chief Professor Muhammad Yunus mulls resignation as he finds it difficult to work because political parties failed to reach a common ground, BBC Bangla service reported at midnight on Thursday quoting student-led National Citizen Party CP party chief Nhid Islam.”We have been hearing news of sir’s (Yunus) resignation since this morning. So I went to meet sir to discuss that issue. He said he is thinking about it. He feels that the situation is such that he cannot work,” Islam told the BBC Bangla.
    The NCP convenor said Chief Adviser Yunus expressed his fear that he would not be able to work in the current situation of the country saying,”I won’t be able to work unless the political parties can reach a common ground”.
    The leader of the NCP who visibly emerged with Yunus’s blessings in February this year, said he told Yunus “to stay strong for the sake of the country’s security, and future and to meet the expectations of the mass uprising”.
    Islam said he told the chief adviser he expected the political parties would forge unity and cooperate with him, and “I hope everyone will cooperate with him”.
    The NCP leader, however, said there was no point in Yunus staying if he could not do his work adding, “If the political party wants him to resign now”.
    “Why he will stay if he does not get that place of trust, that place of assurance?”.
    Yunus’s government in the past two days was exposed to several challenges with a major one involving Bangladesh’s presumably consolidated military forces, which played a crucial role during the last year’s student-led uprising. (PTI)

  • Two low intensity earthquakes hit western Nepal; no damages reported

    KATHMANDU (TIP): Two low intensity earthquakes hit western Nepal on Friday morning, with no reports of any damage so far, an official said. A 5.1 magnitude earthquake with epicentre at Khalanga in Baitadi district hit at 1.48 am (local time), according to the Earthquake Monitoring Centre. The earthquake was followed by an aftershock of 3.7 magnitude around 2.00 am (local time).
    Local residents panicked and ran out of their homes after the two consecutive tremors, the official said.
    Tremors were also felt in neighbouring Darchula, Bajhang, and Dadeldhura districts, the official said. (PTI)

  • Imran Khan takes jibe at Gen Munir, says he should have given himself title of ‘king’ instead of field marshal

    Imran Khan takes jibe at Gen Munir, says he should have given himself title of ‘king’ instead of field marshal

    LAHORE (TIP): Army chief Gen Asim Munir should have given himself the title of “king” instead of field marshal as Pakistan is currently governed by the jungle law, jailed former premier Imran Khan said on Thursday.
    Gen Munir was promoted to the rank of Field Marshal on Tuesday for his role in the recent conflict with India, becoming the second top military officer in the country’s history to be elevated to the position.
    “MashaAllah, General Asim Munir has been made Field Marshal. Though frankly, it might have been more fitting to give him the title of ‘King’ instead… because right now, the country is ruled by the law of the jungle. And in the jungle, there is only one king,” Khan posted on X.
    Khan, who has been in jail since August 2023 in multiple cases, also said that rumours of a deal being made with him are entirely false.
    “No deal has taken place, nor is any dialogue underway. These are baseless lies.”
    He, however, openly invited the military establishment to have talks with him if it truly cared about Pakistan’s interests and future.
    “The country is facing external threats, a surge in terrorism, and an economic crisis. We must unite. I have never asked for anything for myself before, nor will I now,” he said.
    Khan also cautioned the Shehbaz Sharif government about India’s another attack and said they must be prepared for any such situation.
    He said Pakistan has been turned into a place where the law only applies to the weak, never the powerful.
    “The ongoing situation reflects that the very spirit of democracy is being crushed. When you send the message that the bigger the thief, the higher the office they’ll hold… you bury justice. The NAB still holds a case against (President) Asif Zardari’s sister involving five apartments registered under employees’ names. She is abroad, and no one dares question her. Shahbaz Sharif was accused in PKR 22-billion money laundering case, yet he was made Prime Minister,” he said.
    Khan further said that over the past three years, Pakistan’s moral and constitutional framework has been utterly destroyed.
    “A farcical trial has been resumed in the Toshakhana-II case. Just like in prison, court proceedings are dictated by the will of a single colonel. My sisters and lawyers are being barred from court; my companions are not allowed to meet me; I am denied contact with my children for months; even my books are not delivered, and I am denied access to my physician. This is a continued violation of court orders and laws,” he said.
    He said he received information about drone attacks carried out in areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and directed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to officially lodge a protest with the federal government and take immediate steps to stop these drone strikes.
    “The killing of innocent civilians in drone attacks does not reduce terrorism as it only fuels it further. After years of struggle, we had succeeded in halting American drone operations in Pakistan. If you claim to be against terrorism, then do not drop bombs on the homes of your own people,” he added. (PTI)

  • Sri Lanka to monitor bus drivers with AI after worst crash in decades

    COLOMBO (TIP): Sri Lanka will use artificial intelligence to monitor bus drivers and make seat belts mandatory on public transport, a government minister said on Wednesday, after the country’s worst bus crash in two decades killed 23 people. The South Asian nation, which records an average of 3,000 road fatalities annually, has some of the most dangerous roads in the world.
    Buses are to be equipped with driver monitoring systems from next year, while seat belts will become compulsory on public transport from June, Transport Minister Bimal Rathnayake told reporters in Colombo.
    It came after an overcrowded bus carrying dozens of Buddhist pilgrims plummeted into a precipice on Sunday.
    The changes are aimed at “educating motorists to develop a better driving culture and improving safety standards”, Rathnayake said.
    “We are going to make AI-backed driver observation systems mandatory on all buses from next year, and we will expand them to all long-distance trucks as well.”
    The minister said the cause of Sunday’s crash in the tea-growing mountainous region of Kotmale was still being investigated, but that two more passengers had died, raising the toll to 23.
    Fifty-four passengers were admitted to hospital, Rathnayake said, adding that preliminary inquiries had found no immediate indication of driver error.
    Another driver had reported a problem with the bus’s steering wheel the day before, but managers said it was attended to.
    Sunday’s crash off a cliffside road was the deadliest recorded in Sri Lanka since April 2005.
    The state-owned bus was carrying around 77 passengers — about 20 more than its capacity.
    In March 2021, 13 passengers and the driver of a privately owned bus died when the vehicle crashed into a precipice in Passara, about 100 kilometres (62 miles) east of the site of Sunday’s crash. (AFP)

  • Military ops against India was designed under supervision of Nawaz Sharif, claims Pak minister

    LAHORE (TIP): A senior leader of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Wednesday claimed that the military operation against India was designed under the supervision of the party president Nawaz Sharif.
    Nawaz, the former three-time premier and elder brother of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, had congratulated Pakistan’s civil and military leadership soon after the two countries reached an understanding on Saturday to end the conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.
    “The whole operation against India was designed under the supervision of former prime minister and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif,” Pakistan’s Punjab province Information Minister Azma Bukhari claimed.
    She said Nawaz is not a leader of “a, b, c, d type”, rather his work speaks for himself.
    “It was Nawaz Sharif who made Pakistan a nuclear power and now designed the whole operation against India,” the minister claimed.
    India carried out precision strikes under ‘Operation Sindoor’ on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir early on May 7 in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.
    Following the Indian action, Pakistan attempted to attack Indian military bases on May 8, 9 and 10.
    Nawaz had been advocating for a diplomatic solution to the rising tensions with India.
    “Pakistan is a peace-loving country and prefers peace, but also knows how to defend itself,” Nawaz said in a post on X on Saturday.
    “Thanks be to Allah Almighty for making Pakistan proud. I congratulate the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shahbaz Sharif, the Chief of Army Staff, General Syed Asim Munir, the Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Sindhu, and the armed forces of Pakistan,” he said.
    Nawaz was the prime minister of Pakistan during the Kargil war of 1999. (PTI)

  • Bangladesh’s interim government strips former ruling party of registration, barring it from polls

    DHAKA (TIP): Bangladesh’s Election Commission has cancelled the registration of the former ruling party of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, preventing it from participating in the next national election, which is expected to be held by June next year. The decision on Monday came hours after the country’s interim government headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus issued an official notification banning the Awami League party and its affiliated bodies from conducting activities online and elsewhere.
    Monday’s formal notification from the Ministry of Home Affairs was issued two days after the interim Cabinet decided to ban all activities of the party under the country’s Anti-Terrorism Act until a special tribunal concludes a trial for the party and its leaders.
    In the notification, the government said it outlawed all activities “including any kind of publication, media, online and social media” as well as “any kind of campaign, procession, meeting, gathering (or) conference until the trial of the leaders and activists … is completed.”
    It said the decision was effective immediately.
    Separately, the Election Commission said Monday it would not allow the Hasina-led party to contest the next election. Political parties must be registered with the Election Commission to take part in elections.
    A government adviser said Monday that anyone who posts comments online in support of the Awami League party would face arrest.
    On Sunday, the Awami League accused the interim government of “stoking division” and trampling on “democratic norms” by banning its activities. It said in a statement that the ban “stoked division within society, strangled democratic norms, fueled ongoing pogrom against dissenters and strangled inclusivity, all undemocratic steps.”
    The Awami League is one of two major parties in Bangladesh, which has a fractious parliamentary democracy with a violent history of coups and political assassination.
    Hasina, the daughter of Bangladesh’s independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, fled the country on Aug. 5 last year and has been in exile in India since then along with many senior party colleagues and former Cabinet minsters and lawmakers. They have been accused of killing protesters during an uprising against Hasina’s 15-year rule in July-August last year.
    The United Nations human rights office said in a report in February that up to 1,400 people may have been killed during three weeks of anti-Hasina protests. The Awami League, which led a nine-month war against Pakistan for independence in 1971, has been under severe pressure since Hasina’s ouster. (AP)

  • IAEA rejects ‘radiation leak’ rumours at Pakistan nuclear sites after clash with India

    IAEA rejects ‘radiation leak’ rumours at Pakistan nuclear sites after clash with India

    Vienna / Islamabad (TIP): The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Thursday confirmed that no radiation leak or release has occurred from any nuclear facility in Pakistan, following speculation that Indian airstrikes under ‘Operation Sindoor’ may have targeted sensitive installations.
    “Based on information available to the IAEA, there has been no radiation leak or release from any nuclear facility in Pakistan,” a spokesperson for the agency said in a statement issued in response to queries.
    The IAEA’s clarification comes days after unverified claims circulated on social media suggesting that India’s armed forces had struck Kirana Hills, an area in Pakistan reported to house nuclear infrastructure.
    These allegations emerged after India launched coordinated military strikes on May 7 in response to the April terror attack in J&K’s Pahalgam, that killed 26 civilians, including a Nepali national.
    Notably, India has rejected claims that it targeted nuclear sites.
    Air Marshal AK Bharti, Director General of Air Operations, told reporters on May 12, “We have not hit Kirana Hills, whatever is there.”
    When asked about the location, he added, “Thank you for telling us that Kirana Hills houses some nuclear installation, we did not know about it.”
    India’s strikes targeted airbases in Sargodha and Nur Khan, as well as other military sites across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, damaging radar systems, communication facilities, and airfields, according to Indian officials.
    Meanwhile, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons should be brought under the supervision of the IAEA as they are not safe in such a rogue nation.
    The defence minister’s comments came days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India would not tolerate “nuclear blackmail” by Pakistan and would punish cross-border terrorism strongly.
    Similarly, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal dismissed US President Donald Trump’s comments suggesting that Washington had helped avert a nuclear confrontation between India and Pakistan.
    He said India’s military operations were “in the conventional domain” and rejected suggestions of a nuclear escalation.
    Trump had earlier claimed, “We stopped a nuclear conflict. I think it could have been a bad nuclear war. Millions of people could have been killed.”
    Tensions between India and Pakistan began to de-escalate following an understanding on the cessation of hostilities reached on May 10. (AFP)

  • Any ‘military misadventure’ by India will be met with ‘swift, resolute, and notch-up response’: Pak Army chief

    Any ‘military misadventure’ by India will be met with ‘swift, resolute, and notch-up response’: Pak Army chief

    ISLAMABAD (TIP): Pakistan Army chief Gen Asim Munir on Thursday warned that any “military misadventure” by India will be met with a “swift, resolute, and notch-up response” as he visited a firing range to witness a high-intensity field training exercise conducted by the armed forces.
    His remark comes amid heightened tension between India and Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack and Islamabad’s apprehension of retaliatory action by New Delhi.
    “Let there be no ambiguity: any military misadventure by India will be met with a swift, resolute, and notch-up response,” the army chief was quoted as saying by the state-run news agency Associated Press of Pakistan (APP).
    “While Pakistan remains committed to regional peace, our preparedness and resolve to safeguard national interests is absolute,” he said while addressing troops at the Tilla Filed Firing Ranges (TFFR).
    Gen Munir visited the TFFR to witness Exercise Hammer Strike – a high-intensity, field training exercise conducted by Pakistan Army’s Mangla Strike Corps, the news agency reported, citing a press release issued by the army’s media wing.
    The exercise was designed to validate combat readiness, battlefield synergy, and the operational integration of cutting-edge weapon systems under near-battlefield conditions, it said.
    A diverse array of advanced capabilities, including multirole fighter aircraft, combat aviation assets, long-range precision artillery, and next-generation field engineering techniques, were employed to simulate conventional battlefield scenarios, it added.
    Pakistan warned on Wednesday that the next 36 hours would be critical due to the threat of Indian action.
    However, the US secretary of state called leaders of both countries and urged them to cooperate to defuse the tension while following restraint. (PTI)

  • Security concerns: Pakistan clamps restrictions on Karachi, Lahore airspace

    ISLAMABAD (TIP): Citing security concerns, Pakistan has announced the closure of specific portions of Karachi and Lahore airspace for four hours each day during May and put all airports across the country on high alert, a media report said Thursday.
    The development comes amid heightened tension between Pakistan and India post the Pahalgam terror attack and Islamabad’s apprehension of retaliatory action by New Delhi.
    “The restricted airspace will be closed daily from 4:00 am to 8:00 am local time between May 1 and May 31,” Express Tribune said, quoting an official notice.
    The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said the closure will not significantly disrupt commercial flight operations, as aircraft will be rerouted via alternative flight paths during the restricted hours, it said.
    The decision about airspace comes a day after Pakistan’s national carrier cancelled all flights to and from Gilgit, Skardu and other northern areas in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir due to security reasons.
    Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated after terrorists killed 26 people, mostly tourists, in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam on April 22.
    Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday told the top defence brass that the armed forces have ?complete operational freedom? to decide on the mode, targets and timing of India’s response to the Pahalgam attack.
    Pakistan on Wednesday said it has nothing to do with the Pahalgam terror attack and threatened a strong response if it is “provoked.”
    Addressing a press conference alongside Army spokesman Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry and Foreign Office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreing Minister Ishaq Dar demanded an independent and transparent probe by neutral investigators in the Pahalgam attack.
    The press conference came hours after Information Minister Attaullah Tarar warned of a possible military action by India in 24-36 hours Quoting officials, Express Tribune said the decision affects selected corridors within the Flight Information Regions (FIRs) rather than a complete shutdown, and is being implemented as a precautionary security measure.
    Authorities confirmed that air traffic in and out of major airports such as Jinnah International in Karachi and Allama Iqbal International in Lahore will continue with minimal adjustments.
    The Air Traffic Control authorities on Wednesday issued new directives to all flight movements, including foreign airlines transiting through Pakistani airspace. (PTI)

  • Bangladesh court grants bail to former ISKCON leader Chinmoy Das in case related to defaming national flag

    Bangladesh court grants bail to former ISKCON leader Chinmoy Das in case related to defaming national flag

    DHAKA (TIP): A bench of Bangladesh High Court on Wednesday ordered release of former ISKCON leader Chinmoy Krishna Das on bail, five months after he was arrested on a charge of defaming the country’s national flag, court officials said. “The two-judge bench declared absolute its earlier rule asking authorities why he should not be granted bail,” an official of the High Court said.
    The bench comprising Justice Atoar Rahman and Justice Ali Reza granted the bail after the final hearing on their previous rule.
    On October 31, a case with Kotwali police station in Chattogram was filed accusing Das and 18 others of disrespecting the Bangladesh national flag. Das was arrested at Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on November 25 last year.
    A spokesperson for the Sammilito Sanatani Jagaran Jote, a Hindu organisation, Das was taken to the court at the southeastern port city of Chattogram, which sent him to jail rejecting his bail petition the next day.
    Das’ arrest sparked widespread protests with his followers demonstrating in Dhaka and other places.
    In the port city, the protest turned violent when assistant government prosecutor Saiful Islam Alif was hacked to death, hours after Das was sent to jail.
    The development -less than three months after a mass student-led protest ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina on August 5 -also emerged as an issue between Bangladesh and India with New Delhi expressing its concern over his detention.
    After Hasina fled to India, Muhammad Yunus took over as Chief Adviser of the Interim government on August 8.
    “This incident follows the multiple attacks on Hindus and other minorities by extremist elements in Bangladesh. There are several documented cases of arson and looting of minorities’ homes and business establishments, as well as theft and vandalism and desecration of deities and temples,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in New Delhi on November 26.
    “It is unfortunate that while the perpetrators of these incidents remain at large, charges should be pressed against a religious leader presenting legitimate demands through peaceful gatherings,” MEA said and urged Bangladesh authorities to ensure the safety and security of Hindus and all minorities.
    Earlier, the lawyers of the Hindu community leader had failed to secure bail for him as the lower court in Chattogram denied their petitions.
    “The allegation of disrespecting the national flag is baseless, as it was not a national flag. We informed the court that this case cannot proceed,” top defence counsel Apurba Kumar Bhattacharya told journalists emerging from the court room last time in January.
    Bhattacharya, a former deputy attorney general, was leading a team of 11 Supreme Court lawyers to represent Das. Earlier on December 11, the court rejected a plea seeking advanced hearing of his bail petition by lawyer Rabindra Ghose ruling that it would be heard on the previously fixed date on January 2, 2025.
    An associate of Das in his Sammilita Sanatani Jagaran Jote, Sawtantra Gauranga Das, earlier said no lawyer stood for the Hindu leader fearing threats and pressure from a ?politically motivated lawyers’ group?.
    The government prosecutor’s death sparked a counter campaign demanding a ban of ISKCON, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, which distanced itself from Das saying he was expelled from the organisation more than six months ago. (PTI)

  • Earthquake of magnitude 4.1 jolts Myanmar

    Naypyitaw [Myanmar] (TIP): An earthquake of magnitude 4.1 on the Richter Scale jolted Myanmar on Friday, a statement by the National Center for Seismology (NCS) said.
    The earthquake occurred at a shallow depth of 10km, making it susceptible to aftershocks.
    In a post on X, the NCS said, “EQ of M: 4.1, On: 11/04/2025 08:02:14 IST, Lat: 18.34 N, Long: 95.89 E, Depth: 10 Km, Location: Myanmar.”
    India continues Operation Brahma in response to the deadly earthquake that took place in the region on March 28 and the country issued a rare plea for help.
    The Indian assistance team assessed 6 sites in Naypyitaw on Thursday, the Indian Embassy in Myanmar said.
    In a post on X, the Embassy said, “Widening Operation Brahma. After assessing 6 affected sites in Mandalay, the safety & demolition engineers team from India assessed 6 sites in Naypyitaw today. And an Orthopedic surgeon from our Medical team is assisting treatment of 70 patients at a Naypyitaw Hospital.” (ANI)

  • ‘Tahawwur Rana helped co-conspirator David Headley obtain Indian visa’

    ‘Tahawwur Rana helped co-conspirator David Headley obtain Indian visa’

    MUMBAI (TIP): Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a key accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack case, had helped co-conspirator David Coleman Headley to obtain an Indian visa, a Mumbai police official familiar with the probe has said. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday evening formally arrested Rana, who was brought to India after being “successfully extradited” from the US.
    A special court in Delhi subsequently remanded him in the custody of the agency for 18 days.
    Rana had served in the Pakistan Army medical corps before emigrating to Canada in the late 1990s and started an immigration consultancy firm. He later moved to the US and set up an office in Chicago.
    Through his firm, Rana gave cover to Headley to carry out a reconnaissance mission in Mumbai prior to the November 2008 attacks and helped him get a ten-year visa extension, the police official said on Thursday.
    During his stay in India, Headley used the front of running an immigration business and was in regular contact with Rana.
    There were more than 230 phone calls between the two during this period, the official said.
    Rana was also in touch with ‘Major Iqbal’, another co-conspirator of the attacks during this period, as per the NIA charge sheet.
    Rana himself visited India in November 2008, days before the terror attack.
    As per the charge sheet filed by Mumbai police against Rana in 2023 in the 26/11 attack case, he lived in a hotel in Powai and had a discussion about crowded places in South Mumbai with a person who has been listed as a witness in the case.
    Subsequently, some of these places were targeted by the Pakistani terrorists during the deadly attacks that claimed 166 lives.
    The terrorists targeted multiple iconic locations in Mumbai, including the Taj Mahal and Oberoi hotels, Leopold Cafe, Chabad House and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus train station, each of which Headley had scouted in advance (PTI)

  • India ends trans-shipment facility for Bangladesh exports as Dhaka warms to China; Nepal, Bhutan exempted

    India ends trans-shipment facility for Bangladesh exports as Dhaka warms to China; Nepal, Bhutan exempted

    NEW DELHI (TIP): India has revoked a key trans-shipment facility that permitted Bangladesh to export goods to third countries via Indian land customs stations. This decision follows remarks by Bangladesh’s interim government chief adviser, Muhammad Yunus, during his recent visit to China.
    Yunus described India’s northeastern states as a “landlocked region with no access to the ocean” and portrayed Bangladesh as the “only guardian of the ocean in the region,” suggesting this as an opportunity for China to extend its economic influence.
    However, the External Affairs Ministry clarified that these measures do not affect Bangladesh’s exports to Nepal or Bhutan transiting through Indian territory and explained that the decision was made due to logistical delays and higher costs, which were hindering India’s own exports and causing backlogs.
    “To clarify, these measures do not impact Bangladesh exports to Nepal or Bhutan transiting through Indian territory,” he further said. The facility, introduced in June 2020, had streamlined trade for Bangladesh’s exports to third countries including Bhutan, Nepal, and Myanmar. This move, which effectively cuts off access to Indian ports and airports for such shipments, comes at a time when the United States has imposed extensive reciprocal tariffs on several countries, including 37 per cent on Bangladesh.
    “It has been decided to rescind the aforesaid Circular No. 29/2020-Customs dated 29.06.2020, as amended with immediate effect. Cargo already entered into India may be allowed to exit the Indian territory as per procedure given in the Circular No. 29/2020-Customs,” the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs’ circular, dated April 8, said.
    The 2020 circular had permitted the trans-shipment of export cargo from Bangladesh to third countries through Indian Land Customs Stations (LCSs) on its way to Indian ports and airports.
    Indian exporters, mostly those in the textile sector had previously urged the government to withdraw the facility, citing competitive concerns. Textile, mostly ready-made garments, account for 80 per cent of Bangladesh’s total exports.
    Bangladesh is a big competitor of India in the textile sector.
    “Now we will have more air capacity for our cargo. In the past, exporters have complained about lesser space due to the transhipment facility given to Bangladesh,” Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) Director General Ajay Sahai said.
    What is the trans-shipment facility?
    The 2020 order by India’s customs department allowed Bangladesh to export goods to third countries via the Delhi air cargo complex.
    This gave Bangladeshi exporters easier access to countries in the neighbourhood like Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar.
    However, it led to greater congestion at the cargo terminal at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, delaying shipments of Indian goods and leading to a rise in air freight rates for Indian exporters.
    The move by India to cancel the facility is likely to raise the costs of Bangladeshi exports to these countries and increase the transit time, making them less competitive. (ANI)

  • Myanmar earthquake death toll rises to 3,145 as more bodies found

    Myanmar earthquake death toll rises to 3,145 as more bodies found

    BANGKOK (TIP): The number of people who died in the Myanmar earthquake has increased to 3,145, the military government said on Thursday. Search and rescue teams found more bodies as humanitarian groups rushed to help survivors with medical care and shelter. Information Minister Maung Maung Ohn said at a meeting in Naypyitaw, the capital, that 4,589 people were injured and 221 were missing, according to state television MRTV. The earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.7, struck on March 28 near Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city. It caused thousands of buildings to collapse, damaged roads, and destroyed bridges in many areas.
    Local news reports say the number of deaths could be higher than the official count. With phone lines down and many places hard to reach, officials say the numbers might increase as more information comes in.
    A United Nations report released on Thursday said more than 17 million people across 57 townships were affected by the earthquake. Of these, more than 9 million were severely affected. The UN said the coming days will be important in understanding the full damage and planning the response to help those affected. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher and special envoy Julie Bishop will travel to Myanmar on Friday. He asked the international community to provide more financial support for the victims and called for full access to those in need. (AP)

  • Sri Lanka faces protest over stray dog crackdown before PM Modi’s visit

    Sri Lanka faces protest over stray dog crackdown before PM Modi’s visit

    COLOMBO (TIP): Sri Lankan animal rights activists marched on Thursday to protest the round-up of stray dogs ahead of a visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
    Authorities in Colombo and the Buddhist pilgrim city of Anuradhapura have reportedly deployed dog catchers to impound hounds ahead of Modi’s visit, which began on Friday.
    Many of Colombo’s strays are beloved by their adopted neighbourhoods despite lacking formal owners — and are dubbed “community” canines rather than street dogs.
    Around a dozen protesters from the Rally for Animal Rights and Environment (RARE) waved placards outside President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s office in Colombo after submitting a petition to India’s high commission.
    “Stop the cruel removal of our community dogs,” one placard read. Protesters said that many of the dogs in public parks had been vaccinated and neutered and were cared for by locals and animal welfare groups. “How can Sri Lanka promote tourism when we are a country known for animal cruelty?” another placard read.
    Protesters urged New Delhi’s intervention to “prevent the cruel and unnecessary removal of these dogs”, saying that the round-up of dogs would create “displacement, suffering, and potential harm.”
    Modi is set to receive an official welcome at Colombo’s Independence Square, where dog catchers are reported to have been busy in this week.
    He is also set to visit Anuradhapura, 200 kilometres (124 miles) north of the capital, to pay homage to a fig tree believed to have grown from a cutting from the tree under which the Buddha attained enlightenment more than 2,500 years ago.
    The tree is both an object of worship and a symbol of national sovereignty on the majority Buddhist island of 22 million people. (AFP)

  • Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar to visit Dhaka after 13 years

    Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar to visit Dhaka after 13 years

    Dhaka and Islamabad (TIP) Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday spoke with Muhammad Yunus via phone, exchanging Eid ul-Fitr greetings and reaffirming their commitment to strengthening bilateral ties. During the call, Sharif reiterated his invitation for Yunus to visit Pakistan and extended an invitation to a Bangladeshi cultural troupe, including legendary singer Runa Laila, to perform in Pakistan, as shared in a post by the Prime Minister on X.
    Sources said that Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Pakistan Ishaq Dar will visit Bangladesh from April 22 to April 24. During the visit, he is scheduled to meet Muhammad Yunus and hold formal talks with Bangladesh’s Foreign Adviser Towheed Hossain and other cabinet members and officials. Several memoranda of understanding (MoUs) and agreements are expected to be signed during this meet, focusing on enhancing trade, commercial ties, and people-to-people connections. Hina Rabbani Khar was the last foreign minister to visit Bangladesh in 2012.
    Dhaka and Islamabad have been looking at ways to increase the trade ties after starting first ever direct trade link via sea. The two countries have already agreed to start direct flights. After the exit of Sheikh Hasina government, the two sides also are looking at improving defence ties.
    Lt-Gen S M Kamr-ul-Hassan, Principal Staff Officer (PSO) of the Armed Forces Division of Bangladesh, who is the second in command, was the first top Bangladeshi general to have travelled to Islamabad in many years in January, marking a difference in the priorities of the new administration in Dhaka. Following Hasina’s exit, India raised concerns over ‘targeted attacks’ on minority Hindus in Bangladesh. (PTI)

  • Gas fire in Malaysia injures more than 100 people and damages 49 houses

    Gas fire in Malaysia injures more than 100 people and damages 49 houses

    KUALA LUMPUR (TIP): A fire caused by a burst gas pipe spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city Tuesday, injuring more than 100 people.
    The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers (miles) and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid.
    National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10 a.m. and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the valves will eventually snuff out the fire.
    The flames, 20 stories high at one point, were small enough for firefighters to approach around 2:45 p.m., the Selangor state fire department told the Star newspaper.
    At least 49 houses were damaged and 112 people were injured, with 63 sent to the hospital for burns, breathing difficulties and other injuries, Selangor Deputy Police Chief Mohamad Zaini Abu Hassan was quoted by national Bernama news agency as saying.
    Selangor Chief Minister Amirudin Shari said the fire department evacuated nearby homes as a safety measure and the residents will be placed in mosques nearby until the situation is under control.
    Pictures and videos of the fireball went viral on social media, with some residents saying they felt a strong tremor with the doors and windows of their homes shaking.
    Lee Weng Ken, who suffered burns to his left leg, said he was shocked when the ceiling of his house collapsed and crushed his vehicle parked in the compound of the house.
    “I rushed out of my house but fell and suffered burns due to the heat from the blaze near my house,” he told Bernama.
    Another victim who only wanted to be known as Andy, told Bernama he ran out of his home with his children when they felt tremors and saw the raging fire about 100 meters (yards) away. “I could only take the car out. My 18-year-old daughter injured her foot when she fell while climbing the fence due to the heat, he said.
    Petronas said three gas stations were closed as a precaution, though they weren’t affected, and investigations are still underway. (AP)

  • Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus meets Chinese President Xi Jinping

    Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus meets Chinese President Xi Jinping

    BEIJING (TIP): Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus here on Friday, official media reported. Yunus, on a four-day visit to China, took part in the country’s Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference in Hainan after his arrival there on Wednesday.
    He arrived in Beijing on Thursday and was received at the airport by Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong.
    Gearing up for his meeting with Xi, Yunus called on China on Thursday to reduce interest rates for Chinese loans and waive commitment fees on Chinese-funded projects. In his meeting with the Chinese Executive Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang on the sidelines of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference, Yunus sought Chinese support in an array of development projects, Bangladesh media reports said.
    He also called for a reduction of interest rates for Chinese loans from three per cent to 1-2 per cent to Bangladesh and sought a waiver of commitment fees on the Chinese-funded projects in Bangladesh.
    China is Bangladesh’s fourth-largest lender after Japan, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, with total loans disbursed since 1975 coming to USD 7.5 billion, according to a report in the Daily Star newspaper of Bangladesh.
    In his meeting with Ding, Yunus sought Beijing’s help in facilitating the relocation of the Chinese manufacturing industries, including ready-made garments, electric vehicles, light machinery, high-tech electronics, chip manufacturing and the solar panel industry.
    On the sidelines of the forum, Yunus also met Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk, who expressed Moscow’s interest in exporting more wheat and fertiliser to Bangladesh.
    “Russia would like to export more wheat and fertiliser to Bangladesh,” he said.
    During the meeting, the two leaders discussed the operationalisation of the Russia-funded Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant.
    Yunus also met former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who is the Chairman of the Boao Forum, and sought support and advice for a smooth transition to democracy in Bangladesh.
    “We want to start anew; we need your support and advice. We are having a great opportunity now,” Yunus was quoted by the daily as saying.
    A day ahead of the scheduled talks between Xi and Yunus, China signalled its desire to expand ties with Dhaka in a changed Bangladesh scenario, state-run BSS news agency reported.
    “President Xi Jinping attaches tremendous importance to your (Yunus’) visit,” BSS quoted Chinese Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang telling Yunus, hoping for the South Asian nation’s prosperity under his interim administration. (PTI)

  • Sri Lanka’s ruling party MPs seek removal of jailed police chief Deshabandu, write to Speaker

    Sri Lanka’s ruling party MPs seek removal of jailed police chief Deshabandu, write to Speaker

    COLOMBO (TIP): Over a hundred MPs of the ruling National People’s Power (NPP) coalition on Monday wrote to the Parliament Speaker seeking removal of the suspended Sri Lankan police chief “for bringing disrepute to the high office through his abusive conduct.”
    Deshabandu Tennakoon, the suspended inspector general of police, is currently in remand custody at a central provincial jail in Kandy district in connection with a shooting incident in 2023.
    On March 20, the magistrate’s court in the southern town of Matara ordered the remanding of Tennakoon.
    The next hearing of the case will be on April 3.
    He surrendered to the court after being on the run for nearly three weeks. The Matara Magistrate’s Court ordered Tennakoon’s arrest over a shooting incident in the southern resort of Weligama on December 30, 2023.
    As the Inspector General, Tennakoon had sent police officers from the Colombo Crime Division (CCD) to raid a resort hotel in Weligama in connection with illegal drugs. However, the Weligama police, unaware of the undercover operation, opened fire at the CCD vehicle, killing an officer.
    Tennakoon was suspended in July 2024 from his duties by the Supreme Court, which also ordered a hearing on the legality of his appointment after receiving petitions regarding it.
    He was appointed police chief in November 2023, despite having been found guilty of torturing a person in custody by the Supreme Court in a fundamental rights petition.
    The Inspector General can only be removed through by Parliament, moved by a majority of MPs, following recommendations by a three-member committee headed by a Supreme Court judge. (PTI)

  • Pakistan court sentences five to death for ‘online blasphemy’

    ISLAMABAD (TIP): A Pakistan court has sentenced five men to death for posting blasphemous content online, a prosecution lawyer told AFP on Wednesday, as the country witnesses a sharp increase in such cases.
    Private groups in Pakistan have brought charges against hundreds of young individuals in recent years for allegedly committing blasphemy online.
    Blasphemy is an incendiary charge in Muslim-majority Pakistan, where even unsubstantiated accusations can incite public outrage and lead to lynchings.
    “All five accused were sentenced to death for spreading blasphemous content against the holy Prophet,” a lawyer from the Legal Commission on Blasphemy Pakistan, a private group which brought the case to court, told AFP.
    “Separately all were sentenced to life imprisonment for Koran’s desecration and 10 years imprisonment for hurting religious sentiments,” lawyer Rao Abdur Raheem said.
    The five men — one Afghan and four Pakistanis — were sentenced on Tuesday in Rawalpindi, the garrison city that neighbours the capital Islamabad.
    The sentences will run concurrently, Raheem said.
    The convicts have a right to appeal in the upper courts.
    Despite the conviction, Pakistan has never executed anyone for blasphemy. The decision comes a day after a Pakistani YouTube star was charged with blasphemy after launching a perfume named after the very law he has fallen foul of. Rajab Butt launched his “295” perfume which refers to blasphemy legislation in the penal code.
    Currently in Saudi Arabia, the thirty-year-old faces up to 10 years in prison in two blasphemy cases related to videos he posted online. Many of the online blasphemy cases are being brought to trial by private “vigilante groups” led by lawyers and supported by volunteers who scour the internet for offenders, rights groups and police say.
    The Legal Commission on Blasphemy Pakistan (LCBP) is the most active of such groups in Pakistan. Sheraz Ahmad Farooqi, one of the group’s leaders, told AFP in October that “God has chosen them for this noble cause”.
    In January the same court sentenced four men to death for posting for posting “blasphemous content online”.
    A support group formed by the families of those convicted and arrested on similar charges filed a case in the Islamabad High Court last year, requesting an independent commission be created to investigate the facts around the cases. (AFP)

  • Bangladesh interim government says no plans to ban ousted PM’s Awami League

    DHAKA (TIP): Bangladesh’s interim government says it has no plans to ban the political party of ousted premier Sheikh Hasina, putting it at odds with the student revolutionaries who overthrew her in an uprising last year. Hasina’s Awami League was accused of extensive human rights abuses during her 15-year tenure, including a violent crackdown on last year’s protest movement that killed more than 800 people. Student leaders still grieving the deaths of their comrades have demanded the party, which played a pivotal role in Bangladesh’s bloody 1971 independence war under Hasina’s father, be outlawed. But Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, the de facto leader of the caretaker government that took office after her toppling, said it had no intention of doing so.
    “Professor Yunus stated that the interim government has no plans to ban the party,” said a government statement issued late Thursday.
    “However, individuals within its leadership who are accused of crimes, including murder and crimes against humanity, will be tried in Bangladesh’s courts.”
    A tribunal in Dhaka has already issued arrest warrants for Hasina, who took refuge in neighbouring India after her toppling, and her allies.
    A fact-finding mission from the UN rights office said last month that her government was responsible for systematic attacks and killings of protesters in an attempt to hold onto power last year.
    It found “reasonable grounds to believe that the crimes against humanity of murder, torture, imprisonment, and the infliction of other inhumane acts have taken place”.
    Since she was toppled, students have consistently demanded the party be banned ahead of elections for a new government, expected by June next year.
    The interim government did ban the Awami League’s student wing last October, citing its involvement in violent attacks on last year’s protests, while leaving open the fate of its parent organisation.
    Hasnat Abdullah, one of the leading figures of a new student-backed political party, planning to contest the next polls, slammed the government’s decision.
    “The Awami League has to be banned,” he wrote on Facebook. (AFP)