Latest news with #BangladeshPolitics
Yahoo
19-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bangladesh's Islamist party projects force with a big rally in Dhaka
Bangladesh Politics DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of supporters of Bangladesh's largest Islamist party rallied in the capital on Saturday to show their strength before an election expected next year, as the South Asian nation stands at a crossroads after the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. An interim government headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus said that the next election would be held in April. But his administration didn't rule out a possibility of polls in February, which has been strongly demanded by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its allies. Jamaat-e-Islami, which had sided with Pakistan during Bangladesh's war of independence in 1971, had said that it would mobilize 1 million people on Saturday. While Hasina was in power from 2009 until she was toppled in student-led protests last year and fled to India, top leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami were either executed or jailed on charges of crimes against humanity and other serious crimes in 1971. In late March 1971, Pakistan's military had launched a violent crackdown on the city of Dhaka, which was then part of East Pakistan, to quell a rising nationalist movement seeking independence for what is today known as Bangladesh. Islamists demand free and fair elections The party on Saturday placed a seven-point demand on the Yunus-led administration to ensure a free, fair and peaceful election; justice for all mass killings; essential reforms and the proclamation and implementation of a charter involving last year's mass uprising. It also wants the introduction of a proportional representation system in the election. Thousands of supporters of Jamaat-e-Islami had spent the night on the Dhaka University campus before the rally. On Saturday morning, they continued to stream toward Suhrawardy Udyan, a historical site where the Pakistani army had surrendered to a joint force of India and Bangladesh on Dec. 16, 1971, ending the nine-month war. 'We are here for a new Bangladesh, where Islam would be the guiding principle of governance, where good and honest people will rule the country, and there will be no corruption,' Iqbal Hossain, 40, told The Associated Press. 'We will sacrifice our lives, if necessary, for this cause.' Many young supporters in their 20s and 30s were also present. 'Under Jamaat-e-Islami, this country will have no discrimination. All people will have their rights. Because we follow the path of the holy book, Quran,' said Mohidul Morsalin Sayem, a 20-year-old student. 'If all the Islamist parties join hands soon, nobody will be able to take power from us.' The party's chief, Shafiqur Rahman, said that the struggle in 2024 was to eliminate 'fascism' from the country, but this time there will be another fight against corruption and extortion. Rahman, 66, fainted twice as he addressed his supporters, but quickly returned to continue to speak surrounded by other leaders on the stage. "How will the future Bangladesh look like? There will be another fight ... We will do whatever is necessary and win that fight (against corruption) collectively by uniting the strength of the youth to eliminate corruption,' Rahman said. It wasn't immediately clear why he fainted. He was later taken to a hospital for tests. The event was the first time that the party was allowed to hold a rally at the site since 1971. To many, the decision signaled a shift supported by Yunus' government in which Islamists are gaining momentum with further fragmentation of Bangladesh's politics and the shrinking of liberal forces. Hasina's Awami League party, in a statement on X, reacted sharply for allowing it to hold the rally on that politically sensitive site. It said that the move "marks a stark betrayal with the national conscience and constitutes a brazen act of undermining millions of people — dead and alive — who fought against the evil axis (in 1971),' the statement said. Tensions between parties over Yunus' reforms Hasina, whose father was the independence leader and the country's first president, is a fierce political rival of Jamaat-e-Islami. The party is expected to contest 300 parliamentary seats and is attempting to forge alliances with other Islamist groups and parties in hopes of becoming a third force in the country behind the BNP, headed by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, and Hasina's former ruling Awami League party. The party had previously shared power with the BNP, and it had two senior Cabinet members under Zia in 2001-2006. After Hasina was ousted, tensions grew between parties over reforms agenda undertaken by the Yunus government, which is facing challenges to establish order in the country. The government has been criticized by Hasina's party and others for using force in a confrontation with protesters in a Hasina stronghold on Wednesday, where four people died. Their families complained that authorities didn't conduct autopsies and hurriedly buried or cremated their relatives. Yunus' office said that the government was doing everything lawfully in Gopalganj, the district where the violence occurred. Jamaat-e-Islami has now established close ties with a new political party formed by students who led the anti-Hasina uprising. Both Jamaat-e-Islami and the students' National Citizen Party also promote an anti-India campaign. The Yunus-led administration has banned the Awami League, and Hasina has been in exile in India since Aug. 5. She is facing charges of crimes against humanity. The United Nations said in February that up to 1,400 people may have been killed during the anti-Hasina uprising in July-August last year. Solve the daily Crossword
Free Malaysia Today
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
Bangladesh's fugitive ex-leader gets 6-month prison sentence
Up to 1,400 people were killed during protests between July and August last year in Bangladesh. (AFP pic) DHAKA : Bangladesh today convicted fugitive ex-prime minister Sheikh Hasina of contempt of court and issued a six-month prison sentence in absentia, the first verdict since she was ousted last year. Hasina, 77, fled to neighbouring India at the culmination of the student-led uprising in August 2024, and has defied orders to return to Dhaka. 'She will serve the sentence the day she arrives in Bangladesh or surrenders to the court,' chief prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam told reporters after the court decision. The case centred around comments that prosecutors said she had made after she was ousted from power, which they said threatened witnesses in ongoing court hearings. 'The prosecution team believes her comment created an aura of fear among those who filed the cases and among the witnesses,' Islam said. Shakil Akanda Bulbul, a fugitive leader of her now-banned Awami League, was sentenced to two months in prison in the same case. Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August last year, according to the United Nations, when Hasina's government ordered a crackdown on protesters in a failed bid to cling to power. In a separate ongoing trial that began on June 1, prosecutors say that Hasina held overall command responsibility for the violence. Her state-appointed defence lawyer said she has denied the multiple charges that amount to crimes against humanity under Bangladeshi law.
CNN
03-07-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Bangladesh ex-PM Hasina gets six-month prison sentence in absentia
Bangladesh's ousted and self-exiled Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was sentenced to six months in prison by the country's International Crimes Tribunal on Wednesday in a contempt of court case, a top prosecutor said. Hasina has been facing multiple cases since she fled to India after deadly student-led protests in August, but it was the first time the former leader was sentenced in one of them. Shakil Akand Bulbul, a leader of the Awami League party's banned student wing Chhatra League, was also sentenced to two months in prison in the same case, Chief Prosecutor Muhammad Tajul Islam told reporters. The party had been led by Hasina for years. A three-member ICT tribunal, led by Justice Golam Mortuza Mozumder, delivered the verdict in their absence, noting that the sentences will take effect upon arrest or surrender, the prosecutor added. The contempt charges stem from a leaked phone recording where Hasina was allegedly heard saying, 'there are 227 cases against me, so I now have a licence to kill 227 people.' A forensic report by a government investigative agency later confirmed the audio's authenticity. The ICT was originally set up in 2010 by Hasina's own government to try 1971 war crimes. Bangladesh's interim administration, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, pledged to hold leaders, including Hasina, accountable for rights abuses and corruption, including the crackdown on the student-led uprising last July that toppled Hasina's regime. The tribunal has so far issued three arrest warrants for Hasina, including charges of crimes against humanity linked to the July violence. Hasina's Awami League party remains banned while trials continue against the party and its former leaders. Supporters of Hasina dismiss the charges as politically motivated, but the interim government insists the trials are crucial for restoring accountability and rebuilding trust in Bangladesh's democratic institutions.
CNN
03-07-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Bangladesh ex-PM Hasina gets six-month prison sentence in absentia
Bangladesh's ousted and self-exiled Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was sentenced to six months in prison by the country's International Crimes Tribunal on Wednesday in a contempt of court case, a top prosecutor said. Hasina has been facing multiple cases since she fled to India after deadly student-led protests in August, but it was the first time the former leader was sentenced in one of them. Shakil Akand Bulbul, a leader of the Awami League party's banned student wing Chhatra League, was also sentenced to two months in prison in the same case, Chief Prosecutor Muhammad Tajul Islam told reporters. The party had been led by Hasina for years. A three-member ICT tribunal, led by Justice Golam Mortuza Mozumder, delivered the verdict in their absence, noting that the sentences will take effect upon arrest or surrender, the prosecutor added. The contempt charges stem from a leaked phone recording where Hasina was allegedly heard saying, 'there are 227 cases against me, so I now have a licence to kill 227 people.' A forensic report by a government investigative agency later confirmed the audio's authenticity. The ICT was originally set up in 2010 by Hasina's own government to try 1971 war crimes. Bangladesh's interim administration, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, pledged to hold leaders, including Hasina, accountable for rights abuses and corruption, including the crackdown on the student-led uprising last July that toppled Hasina's regime. The tribunal has so far issued three arrest warrants for Hasina, including charges of crimes against humanity linked to the July violence. Hasina's Awami League party remains banned while trials continue against the party and its former leaders. Supporters of Hasina dismiss the charges as politically motivated, but the interim government insists the trials are crucial for restoring accountability and rebuilding trust in Bangladesh's democratic institutions.
CNA
02-07-2025
- Politics
- CNA
Bangladesh's fugitive ex-leader sentenced to six months for contempt of court
DHAKA: Bangladesh on Wednesday (Jul 2) convicted fugitive ex-prime minister Sheikh Hasina of contempt of court and issued a six-month prison sentence in absentia, the first verdict since she was ousted last year. Hasina, 77, fled to neighbouring India at the culmination of the student-led uprising in August 2024, and has defied orders to return to Dhaka. "She will serve the sentence the day she arrives in Bangladesh or surrenders to the court," chief prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam told reporters after the court decision. The case centred around comments that prosecutors said she had made after she was ousted from power, which they said threatened witnesses in ongoing court hearings. "The prosecution team believes her comment created an aura of fear among those who filed the cases and among the witnesses," Islam said. Shakil Akanda Bulbul, a fugitive leader of her now-banned Awami League, was sentenced to two months in prison in the same case. Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August last year, according to the United Nations, when Hasina's government ordered a crackdown on protesters in a failed bid to cling to power. In a separate ongoing trial that began on Jun 1, prosecutors say that Hasina held overall command responsibility for the violence. Her state-appointed defence lawyer said she has denied the multiple charges that amount to crimes against humanity under Bangladeshi law.
