Author: Priya Saha

After independence, it was entrenched in the country’s Constitution, which firmly placed the emphasis on a common history and culture of a people as the nation’s binding force rather than any caste, creed or religion.One of the cornerstones of the ‘golden Bangladesh’ envisaged by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, religious freedom and equality is guaranteed by the Constitution.But in 2021, a landmark year for Bangladesh as it celebrated 50 years of independence, a wave of hate-fuelled attacks on the country’s Hindu minority threatened the very fabric of a nation that prides itself on religious tolerance and communal harmony. Chandmoni Rakshakali Temple…

Thiruvananthapuram: Opposition leader V D Satheesan has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his urgent intervention in preventing attacks against Christians in Karnataka, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. In his letter, the opposition leader said that it is disturbing to see that the right-wing groups showing allegiance to the RSS have unleashed attack on the Christians in states like Karnataka and Gujarat. He said that these are in violation to the right to life and religious freedom as guaranteed by the Constitution. Citing the instance that happened at Kolar in Karnataka on December 11 this year, where Christian…

Kalicharan Maharaj also used an abusive word against Mahatma Gandhi while delivering a speech at dharma sansad at Chhattisgarh’s capital Raipur Hindu religious leader Kalicharan Maharaj on Sunday hailed Nathuram Godse for killing Mahatma Gandhi, and said people should elect a staunch Hindu leader as the head of the government in order to protect the religion. He also used an abusive word against Mahatma Gandhi while delivering a speech at dharma sansad organised by an organisation at Chhattisgarh’s capital Raipur, drawing flak from the leaders of the ruling Congress. Speaking at the concluding day of a two-day-long event held at…

Egypt influenced Afghanistan as well in the jihad during the decade following the 1979 Soviet invasion and subsequent occupation. “By 1980 the United States was pressuring Arab governments to take a more active role in the Afghanistan crisis,” Bodansky wrote. Egypt’s President Anwar “Sadat agreed to help the fledgling Afghan resistance with weapons.” “In the mid-1970s unfolding events in Egypt—the undisputed leader of the Arab world and politics—were also having a major impact on the Saudi educated elite,” wrote Yossef Bodansky in his 1999 book, Bin Laden: The Man Who Declared War on America. As the then-House Taskforce on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare director discussed, previously examined Islamic…

Perhaps the best way for us to dust off this story is to see the incarnation through the eyes of those ancients for whom it would have been a revolutionary reversal of expectations. Can we hear it through the ears of those who had heard the phrase “Son of God” applied only to Augustus Caesar, a powerful king and military ruler, not to an oppressed and poor itinerant? Could we hear it with those who could have never imagined that God would identify himself not with the victors or the strong but instead with the hungry, the thirsty and the…

The country still enjoys trade surplus with Bangladesh As Dhaka signed a preferential trade agreement (PTA) with Thimphu last year, and the Covid-19 pandemic has improved in recent times, Bhutan now sees a 25% jump in bilateral trade with Bangladesh next year.Kencho Thinley, the commercial counsellor of the Bhutanese Embassy in Dhaka, expressed this view while talking to Dhaka Tribune on Sunday.“With the PTA signed last year, and the improving pandemic situation, we are expecting a 25% jump in bilateral trade with Bangladesh in 2022,“ the official said.Bangladesh has listed 18 products and 16 more products to be brought under…

Religious scholars in Jammu and Kashmir of India have raised concerns about the persecution of Shia and Hazara minorities in the Islamic nations, especially Pakistan and Afghanistan. AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Religious scholars in Jammu and Kashmir of India have raised concerns about the persecution of Shia and Hazara minorities in the Islamic nations, especially Pakistan and Afghanistan.On Friday, JK People’s Justice Front (JKPJF) organized a seminar titled “Why is Muslim world bleeding and Shia Rights” in Jammu city to observe International Human Rights Day.The seminar highlighted the world scenario about minorities like Shia, Yazdi and Hazara communities who are…

Published: December 26, 2021 13:55:56 | Updated: December 26, 2021 17:12:15 Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and veteran of South Africa’s struggle against white minority rule died on Sunday at the age of 90, the presidency said. In 1984 Tutu won the Nobel Peace Prize for his non-violent opposition to apartheid. A decade later, he witnessed the ends of that regime and he chaired a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, set up to unearth atrocities committed during those dark days. The outspoken Tutu was considered the nation’s conscience by both Black and white, an enduring testament to his faith…

“About 35 people just tried to flee their homes but they met the junta’s forces and were arrested, then burnt to death,” he added.On Sunday, Save the Children said that “at least 38 people, including women and children, were killed in Kayah State in Eastern Myanmar”. The international charity said that two of its staff members in the area have been missing since the incident, and condemned the Myanmar military for the attack. Read MoreThe charity said its field workers were on their way home from a humanitarian mission in the area when their car was attacked and burnt out.“Save the Children…

Pakistan has a longtime relationship with the Taliban, going back decades, to the days when the mujahideen were based in the city of Peshawar.  Writes Christine Douglass-Williams Islamic issues continue to be a stumbling block to Western policy strategists, who persistently  see Islamic politics and culture through the lenses of Western norms, giving them big blind spots when anything Islamic does not fall into the neat template of Islam being a religion of peace, a claim that is a big fallacy. At the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit last Sunday, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan made the case that ISIS-K “threatens Pakistan…

Washington: The United States has asked the Chinese government to immediately end genocide and crimes against humanity against the predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang province. The US government made the comment at a time when the US President Joe Biden on Thursday signed the “Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act” that bans importing of goods into the US made with forced labour in China’s Xinjiang region. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement: “We will continue doing everything we can to restore the dignity of those who yearn to be free from forced…

Recently US Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service has announced US$5 million reward for information on the terrorist attacks in Dhaka, Bangladesh that left US citizen Avijit Roy dead and his wife, Rafida Bonya Ahmed seriously injured. According to a press released, the Secretary of State Antony Blinken has authorized a reward of up to US$5 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction in any country of anyone involved in the murder of Avijit and the attack on Bonya. It may be mentioned here that Avijit Roy and his wife, Rafida Bonya Ahmed both Bangladesh-born US citizens, were…