Mohammed Siraj sharpens his batting at Edgbaston
Protests in Dhaka After Durga Temple Demolished Amid Hindu Protests; India Condemns Govt's Inaction
In a disturbing development from Dhaka, Bangladesh, authorities bulldozed a makeshift Durga temple in the Khilkhet area despite protests from local Hindus. The demolition, carried out under the orders of railway authorities, took place with heavy security presence, including Army personnel from the Purbachal Army Camp, who forcibly removed protestors. The Bangladesh Sammilit Sanatani Jagran Jote, a collective of Hindu organisations, has called for mass protests at Shahbagh. In a statement, the group said, 'We are shocked and outraged by the state's communal behaviour.' India has strongly condemned the act, with MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal saying, 'Extremists clamored for demolition and the government allowed it under the guise of illegal land use.' India has held the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government responsible, especially as attacks on minorities rise post Sheikh Hasina's exile.#dhakatempledemolition #durgaMandirDhaka #hinduprotests #indiaBangladesh #minorityrights #shahbaghprotest #sanatanijagran #religiousfreedom #MEAstatement #BangladeshViolence #india #bangladesh #dhaka #durgatemple #toi #toibharat #bharat #breakingnews #indianews
12.8K views | 22 hours ago
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
25 minutes ago
- Business Standard
ECI begins Bihar electoral roll review, says only Indian citizens can vote
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday announced the launch of a special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, ahead of Assembly elections scheduled for later this year. The poll body reiterated that, under the Constitution, only Indian citizens are eligible to vote. Referring to Article 326, the ECI stated that Indian citizenship, a minimum age of 18 years, and ordinary residency in a constituency are the constitutional requirements for voting. 'The Constitution of India is supreme. All citizens, political parties, and the Election Commission of India follow the Constitution,' the Commission said in a statement. The clarification comes amid rising criticism from Opposition parties, which have questioned the intent and timing of the revision exercise. Roll verification extended to five other states The ECI is conducting similar intensive roll verification drives in five additional states — Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal — all due for elections in 2026. The review includes efforts to identify and remove ineligible voters, particularly foreign nationals who may be fraudulently enrolled. Officials have been instructed to check the place of birth of registered voters as part of the exercise. Massive mobilisation underway in Bihar In Bihar, the review has begun with the deployment of nearly 78,000 booth level officers (BLOs), with more than 20,000 additional BLOs to be appointed for new polling stations. Over 100,000 volunteers will assist vulnerable voters, including the elderly, the ill, persons with disabilities, the poor, and other disadvantaged groups. Political parties are participating in the process, having appointed 154,977 booth level agents (BLAs) to work alongside BLOs during voter verification. The ECI said it is open to further appointments. New enumeration forms are being printed and distributed to all 78.9 million electors across Bihar's 243 Assembly constituencies. Of these, 49.6 million voters listed as of 1 January 2003 need only verify and update their details. INDIA bloc alleges political targeting The INDIA alliance in Bihar has strongly opposed the revision, calling it a 'conspiracy' to favour the BJP-led NDA in the upcoming elections. At a joint press conference, RJD's Tejashwi Yadav, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera, and CPI(ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said they would send a delegation to the EC and warned of further action if adequate answers were not provided. Yadav questioned the timing: 'If the EC was so serious about holding this exercise, why did it not begin immediately after last year's Lok Sabha polls?' He alleged the decision came after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's recent visit to Delhi and claimed the EC may have been directed to act in the ruling coalition's favour. Fears of disenfranchisement of marginalised voters Yadav criticised the requirement for birth certificates of voters and their parents, claiming it would disproportionately affect Dalits, Muslims, and backward classes. 'It appears that those unable to furnish the requisite documents may have their names removed from the voter list,' he said. He also warned that exclusion from the rolls could result in loss of welfare benefits, calling the move 'aligned with the anti-people thinking of the BJP-RSS'. The RJD leader pointed out that the last similar revision took two years and questioned the feasibility of completing this one in a month. 'If it's possible to finish this in 25 working days, I challenge the Centre to complete the caste census in two months,' he said. Congress slams EC's 'silence' Congress leader Pawan Khera accused the poll body of wilful inaction. 'Mahatma Gandhi's three monkeys saw, heard and spoke no evil. The EC sees, hears, and speaks no truth,' he said. Khera added, 'When Rahul Gandhi raised concerns over Assembly polls in Maharashtra, it was the BJP that responded. What do we make of that?' He also alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was rattled by recent opinion polls predicting a weak NDA performance in Bihar and may have used the EC 'as a toolkit'. He warned that Bihar could become a 'laboratory' for similar exercises nationwide targeting deprived sections.
New Indian Express
28 minutes ago
- New Indian Express
India, France conduct joint exercise 'Shakti-VIII' to deepen of military-to-military trust
NEW DELHI: The Indian and French Armies carried out joint military exercises in France in a realistic condition encompassing a wide spectrum of mission-specific drills tailored to sub-conventional and modern warfare. The Indian Army says the Indo-French Joint Military Exercise, christened Shakti-VIII, 'will strengthen operational interoperability and mutual cooperation between the two militaries.' The exercise included 'combat shooting in semi-developed terrain, obstacle crossings, urban combat drills, joint patrols, and troop insertion techniques—all conducted under realistic operational conditions to sharpen tactical adaptability.' Specialist detachments from both sides have engaged in Electronic Warfare (EW) and Counter-Unmanned Aerial System (C-UAS) training, incorporating signal interception, jamming, spectrum control, and drone-neutralisation exercises. The Army said, 'These modules have enhanced both contingents' ability to operate effectively in contested electromagnetic environments, significantly augmenting modern battlefield readiness.'
Indian Express
30 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Row in Bihar over EC push for new rolls as Tejashwi targets Centre; NDA hits back
Amid the Opposition's mounting concerns over the Election Commission (EC)'s 'special intensive revision (SIR)' of the electoral rolls in Bihar just months ahead of the state Assembly elections, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav has questioned the intent and timing of the exercise, asking the need for such a sweeping revision barely a year after the use of the same voter list in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. 'The 2024 Lok Sabha elections were conducted on the basis of this very voter list, in which the public voted and a government was formed. Now, if this same list was wrong, does it mean the assistant electoral officers appointed at that time prepared a faulty list? Does this not raise questions on the legitimacy of the government formed on the basis of that list?' asked Tejashwi, the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Bihar Assembly. As per the EC's directions, each existing elector will have to submit an individual enumeration form. Those added to the rolls after January 1, 2003 – the year of the last intensive revision – will additionally have to provide the proof of their citizenship. Providing the rationale for its order, the EC said that 'during the last 20 years, significant change in electoral roll has taken place due to additions and deletions on a large scale', and 'rapid urbanisation and frequent migration of population from one place to another… have become a regular trend'. This 'special intensive revision' will eventually cover all states and Union Territories (UTs), the EC said. Electors whose enumeration forms are not received by July 25 will be deleted from the roll. Deletions can be contested from August 1 to September 1. While the EC is yet to provide an exact number of electors who will be required to furnish proof of citizenship, about 3 crore electors have been added to electoral rolls in Bihar since 2003. Tejashwi said the sudden move to scrap the existing voter rolls and require all citizens to apply afresh raises questions on the legitimacy of the elections that saw the BJP-led NDA come to power at the Centre. The LoP described the timing and scale of the revision as 'deeply suspicious and worrying', and alleged that the exercise is being undertaken at the behest of the Centre with the BJP and its ally, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United), 'panicking' ahead of the Assembly polls. Tejashwi also questioned the feasibility of the exercise, claiming that the 'last such revision took nearly two years', while the current process is being attempted in a matter of weeks during the peak monsoon season, when 73% of Bihar is prone to floods. 'Should government employees and citizens be saving lives from floods or collecting documents for the Election Commission?' he said. The RJD leader further alleged that the new process 'disproportionately' targets the poor, Dalits, Other Backward Classes (OBCs), minorities, and young voters, many of whom, he added, lack the documents now required for inclusion in the fresh rolls. Yadav claimed that even Aadhaar and MGNREGA identity cards were not being accepted as valid proof amid the current exercise to link Aadhaar with the voter list to prevent duplication. Apart from documents such as passport, birth certificate, Scheduled Caste (SC) or Scheduled Tribe (ST) certificate, an extract of one's parents' names in Bihar's electoral roll of Bihar as of January 1, 2003 'will be considered as a sufficient document in itself', the EC said. According to Tejashwi, nearly 4.8 crore voters under the age of 40 (those who registered to vote after 2003) will now be required to prove their citizenship or that of their parents within a one-month window. 'Of these, about 4% – aged 39 to 40 (born before July 1, 1987) – will have to provide their own citizenship documents. Around 85% – voters aged 20 to 38 (those born between July 1, 1987 and December 2, 2004) – will be required to present at least one parent's citizenship documents, while 11% – aged 18 to 20 – will have to submit citizenship documents for both parents,' he said. Tejashwi cited government data showing that only a small fraction of the population possesses the documents now demanded by the EC. 'According to the Government of India's National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-3, only 2.8% of children born between 2001 and 2005 had a birth certificate. It is clear that among those born between 1965 and 1985, this number would be negligible… According to NFHS-2, only 10% to 13% of men aged 40 to 60 have completed high school… According to the India Human Development Survey (2011–12), about 20% of SCs and about 25% of OBCs possess a caste certificate. Among upper castes, this proportion is even lower, so on average, less than 20% of families have this certificate,' he said. The LoP also pointed out that although the EC has listed 11 documents as valid for voter registration, only three – birth certificate, matriculation certificate, and caste certificate – were 'relatively common'. Tejashwi warned that the revision could disenfranchise a large number of electors, particularly among the most vulnerable groups, and called on the EC to reconsider the move. 'Is this democracy, where long-time voters are forced to run from pillar to post to prove their identity?' he asked. In Bihar, the RJD leads the Opposition Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance), which also comprises the Congress and the Left parties. However, state JD(U) spokesperson Neeraj Kumar told The Indian Express, 'This is routine work for the EC, and Opposition parties making political statements about it is very irresponsible… The revision of the electoral roll is beneficial for everyone, it's an opportunity to include more people in the democratic process.' State BJP spokesperson Manoj Sharma said, 'The EC has demonstrated its capability by successfully conducting elections in such a vast country, setting a global example for large-scale democratic processes… However, for those parties that have so far depended on fake voters and bogus voting, this is a cause for concern. In Bihar, the EC has already put a stop to incidents of booth capturing, and now it is working to clamp down on bogus voting. So, raising questions about the Election Commission's credibility is completely unwarranted.'
