Author: Priya Saha

The exclusion of Bangladesh from the hosted by the United States earlier this month has been rightly interpreted as a manifestation of Washington’s indirect backing of radical Islamists in that country. Bangladesh was excluded from the summit, to which 111 countries were invited, ostensibly because of lobbying by Islamist groups in the USA. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s determined and continuing crackdown on Islamists, including the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), in her country had angered these groups.The BNP is closely aligned with hardline Islamist groups like the Hefazat-e-Islam, Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangaldesh and the Harat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI), whose avowed aim is to…

The convicts are sacked army major Syed Ziaul Haque aka Major Zia and Akram Hossain alias Abir.The Department of State announced the reward under its Rewards for Justice programme on Monday.The Islamist militants hacked to death Avijit, the US-based Bangladeshi science writer and founder of the Muktomona blog, on Feb 26, 2015 just after he had left the Amar Ekushey Book Fair in Dhaka. His wife Rafida Ahmed Bonya was also wounded in the attack.“If you have info on those responsible for this heinous attack, text us at the number below,” the Rewards for Justice programme twitted, asking people to…

The U.S. on Thursday blocked American investors from making investments in eight Chinese surveillance and military-industrial firms, and restricted exports to dozens of entities, some of which are involved in Beijing’s efforts to develop biotechnology for military applications. The moves, by the U.S. Departments of Treasury and Commerce, come as the U.S. continues to home in on Chinese human rights abuses, including the tracking of ethnic and religious minorities in the far-western region of Xinjiang. The U.S. has used a variety of measures, including sanctions, import bans and export restrictions, to address the situation there, but American technology found its…

iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-Human rights are fundamental and inalienable rights which is essential for life as a human being. They are possessed by every human being, irrespective of his or her nationality, race, religion, sex, etc, simply because he or she is a human being.They are based on mankind’s increasing demand for a life in which the inherent dignity and worth of each human being will receive respect and protection.The violation of these fundamental rights is not new and has been being practiced from the early history of human civilization. However, that does not justify how certain groups of people are…

(RNS) — On Mike Huckabee’s “Christmas in America” TV special, which aired on NewsMax this week, the talk show host interviews Donald Trump about the former president’s supposed Christmas miracle: convincing everyone in America to say “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy Holidays.”“We said, ‘Don’t shop at stores that don’t say Merry Christmas,’” Trump tells Huckabee, “and we brought it back very quickly.” Trump’s alleged restoration of the phrase hasn’t stopped a seasonal ritual that you can almost set your watch by. Not long after that day in October when the inflatable lawn Santas arrive at Costco, or the night in November…

Dr Akber Ali Khan also stated that there is no reason to assume that Bangladesh will remain forever indebted for the undeniable support India provided during the war, especially if the two nations’ interests begin to contradict TBS Report 20 December, 2021, 04:15 pm Last modified: 20 December, 2021, 08:38 pm Picture: Courtesy”> Picture: Courtesy Bangladesh is among the top 33% countries in the world in terms of inequality, said emiment economist, former advisor of the caretaker government and freedom fighter Dr Akber Ali Khan. Dr Akber Ali Khan stated this at an event titled “Celebrating 50 Years of Bangladesh”, organised by the…

US Treasury adds Chinese drone giant DJI to financial blacklist, prohibiting investors from owning shares, as trade war with China intensifies The US has added drone maker DJI and seven other Chinese firms to an investment blacklist, increasing pressure on the country’s businesses. The US Treasury Department said the move was in response to allegations that DJI’s drones had been used for the surveillance of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang and other ethnic minorities. The department said private firms were “actively cooperating with the government’s efforts to repress members of ethnic and religious minority groups”. DJI and the other firms were already…

Photo Credit: Aviya Deutsch / TPSMDA at the scene of the terror attack, Dec. 16, 2021 At least three Israelis were shot Thursday evening in a shooting attack in northern Samaria, according to the Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency medical response service. One Israeli, a 20-year-old yeshiva student, was shot in the neck and killed in the attack, MDA said. A second victim sustained moderate shrapnel wounds to the chest, and the third was reported to be slightly wounded. The two latter victims were taken to Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba. Terrorists opened fire from a vehicle as they…

My father and I waited, with our little transistor before us, on the afternoon of March 7, 1971, to hear Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman speak in Dhaka. More than a thousand miles away in Quetta, we waited for the Dhaka station of Radio Pakistan to take us to the Race Course.We waited in the expectation that Bangabandhu would declare Bangladesh’s independence from Pakistan. Earlier in the morning, I had told my classmates in school that it was quite possible I would, when I next met them, be a citizen of a new country arising out of East Pakistan. I recall…

Tens of thousands of people have called for the Nationality and Borders Bill to be scrapped. On Sunday, organisations including Media Diversified, the Muslim Association of Britain, South Asian solidarity group, Stand up to Racism, the Association of Muslim Lawyers, Bail for Immigration Detainees (BID) and Windrush Lives will come together in a mass demonstration outside 10 Downing Street.Anger is focused on Clause 9 of the bill, covering “notice of decision to deprive a person of citizenship”. It exempts the government from having to give notice of removing a person’s citizenship if is not “reasonably practicable”.In effect, individuals could be…

On December 15, Indian foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said that India-Bangladesh ties have reached a high point. He is correct. However, India cannot look the other way when the United States (US) seems to be going all out to haul up the Sheikh Hasina government. The American hostility became evident when Washington did not invite Bangladesh to the Democracy Summit. Instead, the likes of Pakistan and Philippines were invited, despite their long, black record of extrajudicial executions and persecution of religious and ethnic minorities. Immediately after the summit, the US sanctioned 15 individuals and 10 entities for “involvement in…

by Anura Gunasekera Extremism is a virus. It spreads exponentially. In most societies extremism exists at the fringe but, often ignites the centre by appealing to commonly held shibboleths. Not infrequently, due to the indifference of liberals and moderates, public apathy, and both implicit and explicit political support when expedient, extremism drives the central narrative. The ugly reality is that the spread of extremist ideology is catalyzed by common cultural, religious and ethnic prejudices and other related fissures in multi-cultural and multi-ethnic societies. Extremism thrives in conditions of hatred, intolerance and suspicion. No society is free of these malignancies but…