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The Hindu
23-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Bangladesh rights group demands 'independent investigation' into the air force jet crash that killed many in Dhaka
The crash of a military aircraft in Dhaka that killed a large number of students and teachers should be properly investigated and the interim government should publish the names of the victims who perished in this incident, said a human rights outfit that is highlighting the unfolding state of affairs in Bangladesh under the interim government. At a media event held in New Delhi on Wednesday (July 23, 2025) Mohammed Ali Siddiqui, secretary general of Bangladesh Human Rights Watch said the investigation into the incident should be 'above politics' and expressed solidarity with the affected people in the recent violent clashes in Gopalganj, the site of the memorial for the founder of Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The event organised at the Press Club of India, was held even as Chief Adviser Prof Mohammed Yunus assured the affected families of relief and compensation. Earlier on Tuesday, a protest regarding the deadly crash turned into a clash between the protestors and the law and order authorities in Dhaka leaving several individuals injured. Mr Siddiqui said the interim government has 'failed to respond to the legitimate grievances of the grieving public' and said, 'On what should have been an ordinary day, the training jet of Bangladesh Air Force crashed onto the school grounds, resulting in the deaths and injuries of many innocent children, dedicated teachers and caring guardians, and the young pilot leaving the nation devastated.' The Bangladesh Human Rights Watch had organised the event mentioning that former ministers who were part of the deposed Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government would participate in the event. Mr Siddiqui however said that in view of the tragic crash of the Bangladesh Air Force's Chinese-made F-7 aircraft in Dhaka, the leaders of the Bangladesh Awami League decided to stay away from the event while confirming that some of the top leaders of the Awami League are at present in New Delhi. He further told the reporters at the event that the Awami League which was banned by the interim government led by Prof. Mohammed Yunus will hold events in India in the near future. His team distributed several booklets including a pamphlet documenting the personal details of 110 Members of Parliament of the Awami League and its coalition partners who were sent to prison after the interim government took charge. Beginning with the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government on 5 August 2024, the law and order situation in Bangladesh has been marked by frequent clashes between groups, attacks on vulnerable communities and a perceived rise in extremist forces. India has been protesting the attacks on minority religious communities and urged Bangladesh last week to hold an 'inclusive' election. India on Tuesday joined China and Japan in assuring assistance to the victims of the deadly fighter jet crash in Dhaka. The Ministry of External Affairs had said, 'A team of burn-specialist doctors and nurses with necessary medical support are scheduled to visit Dhaka shortly to treat the victims.'
Mint
21-07-2025
- Mint
Fire, screams and panic: Viral videos show moments after Bangladesh air force jet crashed in Dhaka
Bangladesh: Plumes of smoke billowed into the skies and locals ran helter-skelter as panic ensued with every passing minute moments after the deadly crash of Bangladesh Air Force training aircraft in northern Dhaka's Milestone School and College. Videos of the tragic incident are now being widely circulated on social media. At least 20 people were killed, and 171 others were injured after the Chinese-made F-7 BGI aircraft smashed into the premises of Milestone School and College in northern Dhaka's Uttara neighbourhood at around 1:30 pm (local time), on Monday, July 21. An eleventh-grader from the Milestone School and College — where the F-7 BGI aircraft crashed — recounted the chilling moment when he saw the Chinese-made jet crash in front of the classrooms used by class 3 and class 4 students. "The jet crashed right in front of my eyes, just 10 feet ahead of me. It hit the ground floor of a two-storey building around 1:15 pm, where classes for the primary section were taking place," he told Bangladeshi media outlet The Daily Star. The pilot, Flight Lieutenant Mohammad Towkir Islam, was killed in the crash. Bangladesh's interim leader, Mohammed Yunus, expressed "deep grief and sorrow" over the incident in a post on X. "The loss suffered by the Air Force, the students, parents, teachers, and staff of Milestone School and College, as well as others affected by this accident, is irreparable," he said. The Bangladesh Air Force jet crashed due to a mechanical fault after taking off from the Bangladesh Air Force Base AK Khandaker in Kurmitola at 01:06 pm as part of a regular training, as per the Inter-Services Public Relations Directorate (ISPR)'s latest statement. Shahbul, father of a missing girl student, cries after a Bangladesh Air Force training aircraft that crashed onto a school campus shortly after takeoff in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, July 21, A high-level investigation committee has been formed by the Bangladesh Air Force to determine the cause of the accident, reported PTI. "The number of injured people being brought to our facility is rising,' a doctor at National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery (NIBPS) told reporters. A teacher of the school, where the Bangladesh Air Force jet crashed, said that security personnel were putting bodies in body bags to be taken to Dhaka's combined military hospital from the damaged building, which housed classes from one to seven. Volunteers rescue an injured girl, after an air force training aircraft crashed into Milestone College campus, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, July 21, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY Fire service officials earlier said the jet crashed atop a four-storey building of the school with a big bang and immediately caught fire.
Arab News
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Rohingya on the edge of a precipice
The international community is sleepwalking into a catastrophe. Over the past 18 months, Bangladesh has quietly absorbed more than 150,000 new Rohingya refugees fleeing escalating violence in Myanmar. This is in addition to the nearly 1 million already stranded in Cox's Bazar and other camps, making it the largest stateless refugee population in the world. Yet the response from the international community has not been one of renewed support — it has been a retreat. According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, global aid for the Rohingya is drying up. Funding for food, shelter, healthcare and education has been slashed. The World Food Programme has been forced to reduce food rations to just $3 per person per month, barely enough to survive. With donors shifting priorities to domestic defense budgets and new conflicts elsewhere, the Rohingya are once again being relegated to the margins of international concern. This erosion of support comes at a time when the humanitarian burden on Bangladesh has never been greater. Dhaka, despite facing severe economic constraints of its own, continues to admit desperate Rohingya fleeing new waves of violence and persecution. The current interim government under Mohammed Yunus has rightly refused to turn away the persecuted, a morally commendable stance, but this cannot be sustained indefinitely. Without a massive injection of resources and strategic international commitment, the entire aid infrastructure in Bangladesh risks imminent collapse. If that happens, the consequences will be catastrophic — and not just for the Rohingya. The camps in Cox's Bazar and surrounding areas are at a tipping point. Remarkably, since their mass expulsion in 2017, the Rohingya have remained overwhelmingly peaceful and orderly, a testament to their patience, discipline and continued hope that the world will eventually come to their aid. But hope is now rapidly evaporating. We are likely to eventually see the first signs of systemic breakdown in the form of unrest and riots within the camps. With families unable to feed themselves, children out of school and no future on the horizon, desperation will inevitably turn into anger. There have already been whispers of growing criminal activity, informal weapons smuggling and rising tensions between different groups inside the overcrowded settlements. Once this tinderbox is lit, it will be very difficult to contain. More worrying still is the growing attraction of extremist ideologies. The Rohingya are a people who have endured ethnic cleansing, mass rape, the destruction of their villages and years of forced displacement. They have pleaded for justice, for rights and for basic human dignity. But if the world continues to ignore their plight, they may conclude that violence is the only language to which anyone listens. Global aid is drying up. Funding for food, shelter, healthcare and education has been slashed. Dr. Azeem Ibrahim It is no secret that transnational extremist groups have tried to recruit disillusioned Rohingya youths in the past. So far, the community has resisted. But when you strip away hope, abandon education and replace aid with hunger, you create the perfect breeding ground for radicalization. We are not far from the day when some Rohingya, with nothing left to lose, may choose a darker path. And the security implications for the wider region would be severe. This is precisely why the international abandonment of the Rohingya is not only immoral but also dangerously shortsighted. It is a basic principle of conflict prevention: where desperation festers unchecked, violence will follow. There is no justification for this dereliction of duty. The Rohingya situation is not a forgotten crisis. It has been at the center of international human rights conversations for nearly a decade. In 2022, the US formally recognized the genocide against the Rohingya. Numerous UN reports have documented the atrocities. Yet, in 2025, the global community appears content to let this entire people disappear into statelessness, starvation and silence. What should happen now is clear. First, the major donors must immediately reverse the funding cuts. The argument that resources are stretched due to Ukraine, Gaza or defense buildups cannot stand when the cost of feeding a Rohingya family for a month is a fraction of what is spent on a single missile system. This is not about capability; it is about political will. Second, a coordinated diplomatic strategy must be revived. The upcoming UN Rohingya Conference presents a final opportunity to galvanize action. The conference must do more than offer platitudes. It must commit to a multilateral repatriation framework with enforceable timelines and guarantees of safety and citizenship in Rakhine State. This includes directly engaging new actors in Myanmar such as the Arakan Army and the national unity government, both of which now control large areas of territory and have signaled at least a willingness to engage on Rohingya rights. Third, regional countries must step up. They have moral, religious and strategic stakes in this crisis. They should increase their contributions to humanitarian aid and push the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to take a stronger line with Myanmar's junta. Silence is no longer neutrality. It is complicity. Finally, Bangladesh must not be left to shoulder this burden alone. Its generosity should not become its punishment. International institutions, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, must consider direct support packages for the Bangladeshi economy tied to its hosting of refugees. Humanitarian hosting is a global public good and those who deliver it should be rewarded, not bankrupted. We are standing on the edge of a precipice. A population of more than 1 million people faces total abandonment, while new refugees continue to flee persecution with nowhere safe to go. If the camps collapse into chaos or extremism, the world will have no excuse. The warning signs are clear. The UN has raised the alarm. Bangladesh has held the line. But without urgent global action, this fragile situation will shatter. • Dr. Azeem Ibrahim is the director of special initiatives at the Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy in Washington, DC. X: @AzeemIbrahim
Arab News
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Why UN's Rohingya conference must deliver
In September, the UN will convene a high-level conference to address what is arguably one of the world's most protracted and neglected humanitarian catastrophes: the Rohingya crisis. Eight years after more than 740,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar's brutal military 'clearance operations,' the refugee camps in Bangladesh remain overcrowded, under-resourced and increasingly vulnerable to violence, disease and despair. This conference is not just another diplomatic event — it must be a turning point that leads to real action, justice and a long-term solution. The roots of this conference lie in a sustained diplomatic effort, particularly by Bangladesh's interim government under Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mohammed Yunus. The failure of earlier efforts, such as the 2018 tripartite agreement between the UN, Myanmar and Bangladesh, highlighted the need for a new approach. The refugees themselves refused to return to a country that denied them citizenship, stripped them of their rights and offered no security guarantees. The UN, recognizing the urgency, passed a resolution in late 2024 calling for a high-level summit to create a 'comprehensive, innovative, concrete and time-bound plan' for voluntary, dignified repatriation. With the support of UN officials, including special envoy Julie Bishop, the September conference is intended to be that long-overdue platform. The current situation is untenable. Camps in Cox's Bazar and Bhasan Char now host more than 1.5 million Rohingya. Humanitarian aid has sharply declined, with the World Food Program recently warning of severe malnutrition after food rations were cut due to lack of funding. Security has also deteriorated, with the rise of armed groups such as the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army and mounting intercommunal tensions. Education and mental health services are collapsing. A generation of Rohingya children is growing up without formal schooling, legal status or hope for the future. This conference is expected to be different. For the first time, there are strong indications that Rohingya voices will be front and center in the discussions. That is long overdue. Past international efforts have too often spoken about the Rohingya, rather than with them. Inclusion is essential. Any roadmap designed without their participation will fail again. This time, the UN appears committed to ensuring that Rohingya leaders and civil society groups play a meaningful role in shaping outcomes. We can also expect a sharper focus on enforceable commitments rather than vague diplomatic language. There is growing recognition that abstract promises and goodwill gestures are no longer acceptable. The conference is expected to deliver measurable benchmarks for citizenship reform in Myanmar, timelines for monitored repatriation and mechanisms to ensure international oversight and accountability. Justice will be another central theme. The Myanmar military's atrocities against the Rohingya have been well documented and described as genocide by multiple independent bodies. Without a clear pathway to legal accountability — through the International Criminal Court, universal jurisdiction cases or a special tribunal — there can be no sustainable peace. There will be serious discussion about the future of humanitarian aid. The existing model, focused solely on emergency relief, is no longer viable. The UN and donors must transition toward a development-oriented framework that builds resilience, offers vocational training and integrates mental health services. Long-term funding should be pooled into a dedicated UN trust fund to stabilize the camps and support host communities in Bangladesh, which have borne an extraordinary burden for nearly a decade. For the first time, there are strong indications that Rohingya voices will be front and center in the discussions Dr. Azeem Ibrahim For Bangladesh, this conference is both an opportunity and a strategic challenge. The government should use the platform to secure binding international commitments — both financial and political. But it must also take difficult steps domestically to maximize the conference's impact. It should begin by improving the rule of law in the camps. The rise in violence, gang activity and extortion has made many areas unsafe. The security response must be firm but lawful, with accountability mechanisms to prevent abuses. Community-based policing and legal aid centers should be established. At the same time, Dhaka should allow greater Rohingya participation in camp administration and policymaking, including women and youth leaders. Bangladesh must work closely with the UN to reframe the Rohingya presence not simply as a burden, but as a challenge that can be addressed through smart diplomacy and targeted investment. Informal economic integration, such as allowing Rohingya to engage in controlled, supervised livelihoods, could ease dependency on aid and reduce tensions with host communities. The government should also push for the expansion of third-country resettlement programs, especially for vulnerable groups such as women, orphans and the elderly. The US, Canada, the EU and Australia must step up their responsibilities in this regard. The key, ultimately, lies in aligning repatriation plans with genuine reform in Myanmar. The Arakan Army's growing control of Rakhine State and its recent signals of willingness to engage on the Rohingya issue open a new window. The UN must support confidence-building measures, including peacekeeping deployments and regional monitoring missions. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, India and China must be part of this effort. And pressure should be applied on Myanmar to lift discriminatory laws and restore full citizenship rights to the Rohingya. The upcoming UN conference must deliver more than words. It must be the start of a new era of policy and action, built on justice, accountability and the full inclusion of the Rohingya. If handled correctly, it could serve as a model for how the international community addresses long-term displacement crises. But if it fails, the consequences will be severe. Another generation of Rohingya will be condemned to statelessness, exclusion and despair. The stakes could not be higher. • Dr. Azeem Ibrahim is the director of special initiatives at the Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy in Washington, DC. X: @AzeemIbrahim
Arab News
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Bangladesh detains Hasina era ex-election chief
DHAKA: A Bangladesh court on Monday remanded in custody the former elections chief for his alleged role in rigging the vote in favor of now-ousted autocrat Sheikh Hasina. KM Nurul Huda, 77, was ordered to be detained for four days while questioning continues, a day after a mob who smashed into his home and assaulted him eventually handed him to the police. On Sunday, the powerful Bangladesh Nationalist Party filed a case against Huda and other former election commissioners it accuses of rigging past polls in favor of Hasina, whose 15 years in power ended in an mass uprising in August 2024. Interim leader Mohammed Yunus has said elections will be held in early April 2026 — the first in the South Asian nation of around 170 million people since the student-led revolt ousted Hasina. Police put a helmet on Huda while taking him to the court for protection. Yunus's government warned last month that political power struggles risked jeopardizing gains that have been made, saying that holding elections by mid-2026 would give them time to overhaul democratic institutions. Hasina's rule saw widespread human rights abuses and her government was accused of politicizing courts and the civil service, as well as staging lopsided elections. Hasina, 77, remains in self-imposed exile in India, where she fled after she was ousted last year. She has defied orders to return to Dhaka to face charges amounting to crimes against humanity. Her trial in absentia continues.
