Author: Priya Saha

About 3,000 Catholics, from children to the elderly, thronged to Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Bonpara in Bangladesh’s Natore district to attend the annual feast of Mother Mary. As the feast day Mass ended on Feb. 12, the crowd flocked to the area just outside the church to attend the Boithaki Gaan (assembly music) performance by two Catholic troupes from Our Lady of Lourdes Church and St. Francis Xavier Church. For about two hours, the two 15-member groups delivered emotional performances with religious and spiritual music based on stories from the Bible, including the creation, the fall of Adam and the life and death of Jesus, that…

LAHORE, Pakistan — Pakistan’s police said Wednesday they were seeking arrest of two Christian men in the eastern city of Lahore on charges they allegedly used insulting remarks against Islam’s holy book and its Prophet Muhammad. The case against the two men was registered last Saturday on the complaint of a Muslim local resident Haroon Ahmed, said Muratab Ali, a police investigator, who said the accused persons had yet to be arrested. He provided no further details and only said they were still investigating to determine whether the two minority Christians made derogatory remarks about the Quran and Islam’s Prophet…

The delegation is likely to address the press around 7 p.m. A 24-member high-level delegation, including envoys and Ambassadors of the European Union (EU) and other foreign countries, arrived in Srinagar on Wednesday morning to assess the ground situation by meeting local civil society groups, elected representatives, political leaders and students.Also read: EU for swift end to all curbs in KashmirEU Ambassador Ugo Astuto is leading the delegation. It is the third visit of the EU envoys to Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of special status of J&K in August, 2019.Unlike the past, the delegation will visit places outside…

Dinajpur, Bangladesh, Feb 16, 2021 / 03:22 pm MT (CNA).- Bangladeshi Christians expressed concern and discontent with the local authorities after a Protestant church was reportedly vandalized and looted last week. On Feb. 10, four Muslims allegedly entered the Emmanuel Church of Bangladesh in the Aditmari upazila, about 70 miles northeast of Dinajpur. The men approached on motorcycles and attacked the inside and outside of the church. On the exterior, the perpetrators damaged the church’s sign and cut down trees. After breaking the lock, the attackers entered the church and took 30 chairs and two floor mats. According to UCA…

Due to the closure of educational institutions, the puja was only arranged at Barisal Government Girls’ School and Government Brojo Mohun College hostel  Saraswati Puja, one of the main religious festivals of the Hindu community, was celebrated yesterday in Barisal amid much enthusiasm, festivity and religious fervour. The Puja is celebrated every year on ‘Vasant Panchami’, the birthday of Goddess Saraswati and the fifth day of the bright fortnight of the month of Magh.Hindu devotees, especially students and youths, usually celebrate Saraswati Puja in different educational institutions, temples and homes by setting up colorful mandaps and placing the idol of the goddess with different types of sweetmeats, fruits and other…

Taking into account the “complexities” regarding the sharing of the waters of the Teesta, India is willing to work with Bangladesh on other rivers, High Commissioner of India Vikram Doraiswamy said on Monday. Addressing a press conference in Dhaka, the envoy hinted at the role of West Bengal’s government in the negotiations and said Delhi was not the “sole” stakeholder from the Indian side on the matter. “Given the complexities of Teesta and in terms of domestic challenges, arrangements on other rivers can move forward in a much faster way. I think we should put in a lot of efforts…

China’s treatment of its Uyghur minority is a tragedy that has been going on for years, but about which there has only recently been a widespread debate. The Muslim-majority Uyghur population, of Turkic ethnic descent, inhabits the northwestern region of Xinjiang. Exploiting local secessionist movements and terrorist activities by small jihadist groups, the Chinese authorities have launched a vast repressive operation that has affected the local Muslim population in its entirety. Beijing sees Xinjiang as strategically important and has thus decided to effectively erase the Uyghur population and culture from the region. Sterilisations, reeducation camps, mass surveillance, and forced labour are just some of the…

President M Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today greeted members of the Hindu community on the occasion of Saraswati Puja. In separate messages on the eve of the religious festival, they wished all success of the event. In his message, President Abdul Hamid said Saraswati Puja is a very popular religious festival in Bangladesh. The participation of all irrespective of castes, creeds and religions in the festival has added a new dimension to the non-communal spirit and heritage of the country, he added. “Bangladesh is a country of communal harmony,” the President said and urged all to make…

New Delhi [India], February 15 (ANI): Union Minister of Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Monday challenged the Congress party to explain its opposition to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Reacting to Rahul Gandhi’s comments that CAA will not be implemented, the minister said,”What enmity does Congress have with the tortured minorities of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan? Why does Congress oppose these people being given citizenship?””The Congress party which cannot even change itself is claiming it will change all the laws in the country,” he added. Naqvi also took a jibe at Rahul Gandhi stating that the “political player” refuses…

A tri-service military contingent from Bangladesh participated in India’s 72nd Republic Day parade. Given the importance of the occasion, and the fact that 2021 is the 50th anniversary year of Bangladesh’s liberation, the signal of an “irreversible partnership” is unmissable. When viewed in conjunction with the recent visual summit between Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Sheikh Hasina, sustained high-level visits by top diplomats, signing of seven Memorandums of Understanding, restoration of the Haldibari-Chilahati railway line that was severed in 1965, a joint celebration of “Bangabandhu” Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s legacy along with Mahatma Gandhi in a digital exhibition, and Modi’s planned…

DHAKA (Reuters) – Bangladesh is moving 3,000-4,000 more Rohingya Muslim refugees to a remote Bay of Bengal island over the next two days, two officials said on Sunday, despite concerns about the risk of storms and floods lashing the site.FILE PHOTO: Bangladesh Navy personnel help a disabled Rohingya refugee child to get off from a navy vessel as they arrive at the Bhasan Char island in Noakhali district, Bangladesh, December 29, 2020. REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain/File PhotoDhaka has relocated around 7,000 to Bhasan Char island since early December from border camps in neighbouring Buddhist-majority Myanmar, where more than a million refugees…

The election of Karim Khan, a non-white male from a religious minority in the UK, as the third prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague begins a new chapter in the history of the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) at the ICC. Khan was one of the final four contenders for this important position and went through several rounds of nomination and vetting to reach the final phase of selection at the 19th session of the Assembly of States Parties. This piece discusses the role of the prosecutor as the figurehead of the mandate of the ICC…