Mob damages homes belonging to minorities in Bangladesh; Govt orders repair works
(You can now subscribe to our
(You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel
Dhaka: At least a dozen homes belonging to the members of the Hindu community were damaged by a mob over the weekend in northwestern Bangladesh, according to officials and media reports.The office of the interim government's Chief Adviser, Muhammad Yunus, on Tuesday said orders have been issued to repair the houses damaged in the violence in Gangachara upazila of Rangpur.The violence erupted on Saturday after a 17-year-old Hindu youth allegedly made derogatory remarks against the Prophet on social media, Bangla language daily Prothom Alo reported.Police have arrested the teenager, a third-semester student at a private polytechnic institute, the paper said.Citing Gangachara police station officer-in-charge Al Emran, the paper said the police received a complaint that a boy had posted offensive content on Facebook."Once the allegations were found to be true, he was detained around 8:30 pm on Saturday and brought to the police station," he said, adding that he was sent to a juvenile rehabilitation centre following a court order.Following the incident, enraged locals carried out attacks and vandalised several homes belonging to members of the Hindu community on Saturday night and again on Sunday afternoon. The situation was brought under control by the army, according to the paper.Yunus' office said 12 Hindu households were damaged in the violence."Three families, including that of the detained boy and his uncle, are staying at their relatives' homes at a neighbouring village," the chief adviser's office said."The repair works of the Hindu households will start from Tuesday under the supervision of the district and concerned sub-district administrations," it said in a statement.The male members of 19 of the 22 affected Hindu families are now living at their homes, but the female members were staying elsewhere since their houses were damaged, it said, quoting Rangpur's deputy commissioner Mohammad Rabiul Faisal.It said local authorities were trying to identify the people involved in the violence, and legal actions would be taken against them."The local civil social leaders are working with the administration and police to restore harmony in the neighbourhood," it added.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
20 minutes ago
- Time of India
From Mumbai to Marseille: IMEC is bound to redefine India-Europe ties
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel The inaugural session of the Raisina Mediterranean Dialogue in Marseille on 12th-13th June identified connectivity-and-infrastructure-related challenges as a new frontier for geoeconomics growth and competition. This event not only consolidated the growing influence of the Dialogue but also highlighted the depth of the Indo-French strategic partnership. This robust relationship is the essential driving force behind ambitious projects such as the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor IMEC ).Launched on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in New Delhi in September 2023, IMEC is a 6,400-kilometre multimodal corridor from Mumbai to Marseille that will play a key role in accelerating the integration between these three regions, particularly in the maritime, energy and digital sectors. The corridor has been a priority of the bilateral agenda since President Emmanuel Macron's State visit in January 2024 as chief guest for India's 75th Republic Day. In February 2025, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's official visit to France, the joint declaration of the two Leaders underlined the importance of IMEC as a project 'fostering connectivity, sustainable growth trajectories, and access to clean energy in all these regions.' With France and India at both ends of the corridor, IMEC is a further illustration of the momentum in Indo-French strategic the crossroads of three continents, Marseille is a major gateway to Europe, the Mediterranean and Africa. Not only is Marseille the European capital city of connectivity, but it is also the world's sixth largest digital hub, along with a Euro-Mediterranean hydrogen hub under development. A flagship project of the Global Gateway connectivity strategy, IMEC is designed to create new avenues for trade, low-carbon energy, and data exchanges between Europe and exemplifies France's strong commitment to enhancing connectivity with India. On the sidelines of the United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice, President Macron chaired the 'Summit for a More Connected Mediterranean' on 9th June. On this occasion, heads of state and government, as well as several business leaders from North Africa, Europe and the Gulf, reasserted their shared interest in fostering geoeconomics initiatives such as IMEC for the benefit of all. France reaffirmed the vision of IMEC as a network of connectivity rather than a single infrastructure line connecting two points, from the ports of Marseille to Mumbai. This ensures the resilience of the project, which has been developed to diversify global supply chains. There are already multiple interconnection points in each region or country, such as the ports of Mundra, Mumbai or Vadhavan in connectivity goal is supported by both the public and private sectors, as highlighted by the declaration of the CEO of CMA-CGM Group, Mr Rodolphe Saadé, who received Prime Minister Modi at the Group's headquarters in Marseille. The organization of the first Raisina Mediterranean Dialogue, with the participation of Dr S. Jaishankar, Hon'ble Minister for External Affairs of India, is also the result of a partnership between the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) and CMA-CGM. The Dialogue provided a unique platform to reinforce discussions between the Mediterranean and the Indo-Pacific a broader perspective, despite the geopolitical context in West Asia, most of IMEC's signatories have recently renewed their commitment to move forward with this corridor. France hosted the first virtual meeting of IMEC Sherpas in May 2025, during which the consolidation of the governance structure and the development of feasibility studies were collectively identified as shared priorities. The involvement of various private sector players is essential to the project's political leadership will be instrumental in taking IMEC to the next level. After his visit to France, Prime Minister Modi agreed in Washington with President Trump to bring together all the stakeholders within the next six months. Such a perspective will be instrumental in implementing a collective governance framework and steering the pre-project phase. In the same vein, during the visit of the College of Commissioners to India, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, also declared the European Union's willingness to take concrete steps to advance the will continue advocating for a new endeavour to shape IMEC and make it a reality across the three segments of the project. The India-France Year of Innovation in 2026 will also offer an invaluable opportunity to deepen cooperation in sectors that are key for IMEC, from AI to clean energy.
Scroll.in
an hour ago
- Scroll.in
Parliament debate on Operation Sindoor shows Indian democracy is ‘reeling' away
At 10.32 pm on Monday, Rajasthan MP Hanuman Beniwal rose to speak in the Lok Sabha. Six minutes in, the chair rang a bell to let him know that he was running out of time. This piqued the Jat leader. 'What has happened?' he asked. 'You gave me a chance so late in the night anyway. It is certain that I won't be in the newspapers tomorrow. I will have to make do with social media.' Beniwal's reaction encapsulates how elected representatives seem to increasingly be approaching debates in Parliament. Rather than making substantive interventions, many MPs are choosing to deliver a series of snippets tailored for social media – specifically, video-sharing platforms like YouTube and Instagram. This tendency was on full display during the much anticipated discussion on Operation Sindoor this week. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh set the tone for the debate by sidestepping the contentious issue of India losing aircraft during the strikes. 'We determine if a child has done well in an examination by looking at the results,' Singh argued. 'Only his marks should matter to us. Not how many pencils he broke or how many pens he lost.' The clever metaphor worked well for the mainstream media but not for Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. The leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha cited public comments made by Army personnel to suggest that the government's tactics were to blame for the alleged loss of equipment. In response, Anurag Thakur of the Bharatiya Janata Party asked for Gandhi's position to be rechristened 'Leader of Opposing Bharat' and called his party 'Islamabad National Congress'. News agency ANI deemed these 'fiery' comments reel-worthy. Not to be outdone, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, while trying to pin responsibility for the security lapses in Pahalgam on the ruling party, decided to name the terror victims one by one for effect. This was the opportunity for theatrics. Each time Vadra uttered a name, BJP MPs screamed 'Hindu!' Those in the Opposition started chanting 'Indian!' in response. The excruciating clash found a sizeable audience online. Those who neither belong to the ruling nor the Opposition alliance, such as the Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, sought attention in other ways. Owaisi had received flak from his supporters for his enthusiastic participation in the all-party delegations that went overseas after Operation Sindoor. He swung the other way in the Lok Sabha, criticising the government's foreign policy and its military preparedness. But what made waves on social media was his demand that India withdraw from playing a cricket match against Pakistan scheduled in September. 'Does this government have the courage to tell the grieving families that they should watch the cricket match with Pakistan because their loss has been avenged?' Owaisi asked. The focus on military and foreign policy matters did not stop regional politicians from signalling to their own audiences. In keeping with the thrust of the Bhasha Andolan launched on July 27 by Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, her MPs spoke in Bangla. To counter them, Bengal leaders of the BJP demonstrated their own proficiency in the language. It is not as if everything that happened in Parliament this week bordered on the frivolous. Representatives from Jammu and Kashmir as well as Punjab – two regions that bore the brunt of the recent fighting between India and Pakistan – made critical interventions. Their speeches fell through the cracks. The MP from Amritsar, for example, flagged the 'politicisation' of the armed forces. He was referring to controversial claims about protecting the Golden Temple during Operation Sindoor made by a senior Army officer. His turn to speak came after midnight though. Perhaps the most important speech of the monsoon session was delivered by Mian Altaf Ahmad of the J&K National Conference. His constituency includes Pahalgam, Poonch and Rajouri – places which accounted for the bulk of casualties before and during Operation Sindoor. Ahmad prayed that the region does not experience conflict again. But he also pleaded with the home minister to provide bulletproof ambulances and bunkers in the area before future wars. 'We have to make arrangements so that the next time something like this happens, decent, innocent people don't get caught in the crossfire,' he hoped. Not quite the stuff that flies on Instagram reels or YouTube shorts. Here is a summary of last week's top stories. Trump and New Delhi. United States President Donald Trump said that he does not care about 'what India does with Russia' and that 'they can take their dead economies down together, for all I care'. The comment came a day after he announced on Wednesday that Washington will impose a 25% tariff on goods imported from India from August 1. He also said that India will have to pay a 'penalty' for buying military equipment and oil from Russia amid the war on Ukraine. However, on Thursday, Trump said that his administration is still negotiating final tariff rates with New Delhi. He also announced that the US would help develop Pakistan's 'massive' oil reserves. 'Who knows, maybe they'll be selling oil to India some day!' the US president said on social media. Malegaon blast case. A court in Mumbai has acquitted Bharatiya Janata Party leader Pragya Singh Thakur, Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit and five others in the 2008 Malegaon blast case. The court held that the prosecution had failed to establish their guilt beyond reasonable doubt. Six persons were killed and around 100 were injured when an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon in northern Maharashtra on September 29, 2008. The court said there was no evidence that Thakur owned or was in possession of the vehicle. The court directed the Maharashtra government to pay Rs 2 lakh as compensation to the families of those who died in the blast and Rs 50,000 to those who were injured. Crimes against women. Former Janata Dal (Secular) MP Prajwal Revanna has been convicted in a rape case. The judge held that Revanna was guilty of raping a 48-year-old worker employed at the Revanna family's farmhouse and recording the assault. The quantum of punishment is likely to be announced on Saturday. This is the first verdict in four cases that have been filed against Revanna, the grandson of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda. Three women have filed sexual assault cases against Revanna. The fourth case involves charges of sexual harassment, stalking and criminal intimidation under the Indian Penal Code. He was suspended from the Janata Dal (Secular) in April 2024 after videos of alleged sexual assaults on several women, allegedly recorded by Revanna himself, surfaced. He was arrested on May 31, 2024. Johanna Deeksha writes about . Pahalgam terrorists killed. Union Home Minister Amit Shah told Parliament that three terrorists involved in the Pahalgam terror attack were killed on Monday in a security operation codenamed Operation Mahadev. The Army had said on Monday that it had killed three suspected militants in the Lidwas meadows of Srinagar's Dara area. Shah claimed on Tuesday that the men, identified as Suleiman Shah, Afghan and Jibran, were members of the Lashkar-e-Taiba terror group. They were identified as having been involved in the Pahalgam attack by those who had provided them shelter, said the minister. Also on Scroll this week
Hans India
an hour ago
- Hans India
Malegaon case verdict is quite baffling
Not quite unexpectedly, the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Mumbai gave the accused in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case the benefit of doubt in the absence of definitive proof and acquitted them. To make sense, the investigation, the prosecution and the verdict should not be looked at in isolation from the present political climate. The fact that, from inside the courtroom, Pragya Singh Thakur declared the verdict 'a victory for Hindutva' was highly significant. The acquittal left us with the question, if not the accused, who else planned and carried out the bomb blast? Certainly, it would not have been done by ghosts or aliens. In this case, the law appears to have ended its own course without meeting the end of justice and giving the victims' families a sense of closure. Union Home Minister Amit Shah sounded prescient when he said a day before the pronouncement of 'not guilty' verdict that 'no Hindu can ever be a terrorist'. The Sangh Parivar hailed the verdict as a vindication of its rejection of 'saffron terror' as a mere bogey created by the Congress-led UPA regime. In this case justice has not only been delayed, but also denied, troubling the nation's conscience. G David Milton, Maruthancode (TN) BJP must appeal against acquittal Thespecial court had acquitted all seven accused in 2006 Malegaon blast case citing lack of evidence, tampering of evidence and discrepancies in prosecution's case, among others. This is leading to a public mistrust in our justice system, as to the way the accused after prolonged investigation and trial process spanning two rival political party's rule escape punishment. The Congress and AIMIM have rightfully urged the BJP to appeal against the verdict, as they had appealed against 7/11 Mumbai train blasts verdict in the Supreme Court. P R Ravinder, Hyderabad
