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India Today
5 hours ago
- Politics
- India Today
Opinion: Former Bangladesh spy chief's China visit: What it means for Dhaka and Delhi
The former Bangladesh military intelligence chief's recent 12-day visit to China has raised alarm bells in New Delhi. Major-General (retired) Rezzakul Haider Chowdhury, who departed for China on June 6, returned to Dhaka on June 18. According to a Bangladeshi intelligence report this week, "His recent travel to China and return may warrant observation due to his past affiliations and the strategic sensitivity of the cases he was implicated in.' Sources also said that a senior national security official from the Yunus government is currently in China, having arrived there during Chowdhury's visit. advertisementRezzakul Haider Chowdhury, who has served as director-general of both the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence and the National Security Intelligence, was jailed during the Awami League regime for his alleged involvement in the smuggling of a huge consignment of weapons meant for rebel groups in Northeast India and Bangladesh through the Chittagong port in April 2004. He was also sentenced to death for the attempted assassination of then-opposition leader and later prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, in 2004, within three months of the Chittagong arms seizure. Several Awami League leaders and activists were killed in the grenade attack on a party rally in Dhaka, but Hasina miraculously escaped. An ISI asset? Chowdhury is seen in New Delhi as a 'high-grade asset' of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, who reportedly has close links to Chinese intelligence as well. Both countries have backed rebel groups in Northeast India since the 1950s. advertisementUnited Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) military wing chief Paresh Baruah was also convicted in the Chittagong arms haul case after Bangladesh police seized 10 truckloads of weapons, including 4,930 firearms (mostly assault rifles), 27,020 grenades, 840 rocket launchers, 2,000 grenade launching tubes, 300 rockets, 6392 magazines, and 11,40,520 bullets, when the consignment was being offloaded from two ships at a jetty in Bangladesh's port city of huge consignment of weapons, mostly manufactured by the Chinese ordnance behemoth Norinco Group, was loaded onto ships in the port of Beihai in China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in March 2004. More weapons of US- and Israeli-make were added to the consignment and transferred to two Bangladeshi vessels in the Thai port of Ranong and brought to Chittagong, where it was seized on the night of April 1, 2004. The weapons were meant for ULFA and other rebel groups in Northeast India, as well as Islamist terror groups like the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh. Chittagong arms haul case linkAfter the ouster of the Awami League government in August last year, the interim government headed by Muhammad Yunus released those convicted of trying to smuggle in the largest illegal arms consignment. On January 16 this year, the Bangladesh High Court acquitted six people convicted in the Chittagong arms haul case, including Chowdhury and former state minister for home affairs, Lutfur Zaman Babar. The state did not challenge these acquittals. The high court also reduced the sentences of five others, including that of ULFA leader Paresh and Chowdhury were both very close to Bangladesh Nationalist Party acting chairperson Tarique Rahman, whose mother, Begum Khaleda Zia, was prime minister at the time of the massive arms seizure in Chittagong. Yunus recently met Tarique Rahman in London and expressed his satisfaction about the meeting regarding the future roadmap for those acquitted were the late Matiur Rahman Nizami, former industries minister and Jamaat-e-Islami leader, Mohsin Uddin Talukder, the former managing director of the state-run Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Limited, KM Enamul Haque, its former general manager, and Nurul Amin, former additional secretary in the industries individuals were initially sentenced in the arms smuggling case. The court abated the appeals of Brigadier General (retd.) Abdur Rahim, the former director general of National Security Intelligence, labour supplier Deen Muhammad, and Haji Sobhan, a trawler owner, because all of them are now dead. The sentences of five others were also reduced. advertisementBaruah's sentence reducedParesh Baruah's life imprisonment sentence was reduced to 14 years. The ULFA leader is reportedly holed up in a clandestine location on the China-Myanmar border. Additionally, the sentences of four other accused have been reduced to 10 years each. These are Akbar Hossain Khan, a former NSI field officer, Major (retd.) Liaquat Hossain, the former deputy director of the NSI, Wing Commander (retd.) Sahab Uddin Ahmed, and former NSI director Hafizur intelligence officials said in 2004 that the Chittagong police were not informed about the attempt to bring in such a huge quantity of weapons by rogue elements in the Bangladeshi 'deep state', who were backing Northeast Indian rebel groups and Islamist radicals in Bangladesh. So, when they were informed about the unloading of the weapons consignment by their sources at the Chittagong docks, they rushed in to effect the seizure. But the cases were cold-stored and only made headway after the Awami League came to power in 2009. In January 2014, the Chittagong Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court and Special Tribunal-1 sentenced 14 individuals to death, including Babar, Nizami, and Baruah, in the attempted assassination case. In a separate case under the Arms Act, they also received life sentences for their involvement in the smuggling case. advertisementConcerns for India Indian security circles seem worried over these acquittals, and also the release of scores of known Islamist terror leaders like Jashimuddin Rahmani, the chief of the Ansarullah Bangla Team. "These elements are close to Pakistan's ISI and could well be now used to foment trouble in India's eastern states. After Operation Sindoor, the ISI and Pakistan Army could use their Bangladesh assets to strike with maximum deniability,' said a senior Indian intelligence official on condition of anonymity. "Islamabad would be less than bothered and may actually welcome the possible worsening of India-Bangladesh relations.'India has also not taken kindly to Yunus' recent reference to India's Northeast as a landlocked region dependent on sea access on Bangladesh, a situation that the Nobel laureate said presented a great opportunity for the Chinese economy. His comments were made during a visit to China. Yunus again suggested drawing Northeast India into a regional grouping involving Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh, which drew a sharp riposte from Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar.(Writer is a former BBC and Reuters correspondent and author who has worked in Bangladesh as a senior editor with Expressed in this opinion piece are those of the Author)
NDTV
a day ago
- Politics
- NDTV
Bangladesh Declares National Holiday To Mark Year Of Sheikh Hasina Ouster
Kolkata: August 5 will mark a year since the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina government in Bangladesh. To mark the event, the interim government in Bangladesh has decided to observe the day as Student-People's Uprising Day and declare it a nationwide public holiday. On that fateful day, Bangladesh's former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had left her official residence as a violent mob was marching towards it. With a serious threat arising over her security, Ms Hasina fled the country. Within an hour of that, the mob ransacked the Gana Bhavan premises. The interim government has also announced that a committee has been formed for the declaration of the July charter, which is a charter of demands put forward by what the interim government describes as a Student-People's Uprising. These decisions have been announced by Cultural Affairs Adviser Mostofa Sarwar Farooki in a press conference held at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka. The interim government has also announced that programmes will be organised to commemorate the uprising against Sheikh Hasina last year and these programmes will happen between July 14 and August 5. The Bangladesh Awami League, which was ousted from power, says that the protests were backed by Islamic radicals and it was an attempt to kill the former Prime Minister. Since the fall of the Hasina government, minorities, especially Hindus have come under attack in Bangladesh. The Awami League has said that under the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government, terrorists involved in heinous crimes have been released from prison. Earlier this year, the Bangladesh Election Commission suspended the registration of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League and banned it contesting the next election, leading to questions about the legitimacy of the elections. The Awami League has been banned under Bangladesh's anti-terror laws. Elections in Bangladesh are likely to be held before Ramadan next year. The announcement on the possibility of elections before Ramadan came after Muhammad Yunus met Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman in London during his recent visit.
Hans India
2 days ago
- Politics
- Hans India
Awami League leaders placed under police remand in Bangladesh
Dhaka: In the continuing crackdown on Awami League, several leaders of the party were on Wednesday placed under police remand for interrogation by the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government in Bangladesh. A Bangladesh court on Wednesday ordered an 18-day remand for Zafar Alam, former Member of Parliament and Awami League President of Chakaria Upazila, in connection with seven separate cases. The order was issued by Chakaria Senior Judicial Magistrate Anwarul Kabir following petitions filed by investigation officers, local media reported. Following the order, a number of Awami League leaders and activists took out a protest march in the Moghbazar area of Chakaria Municipality, alleging that Alam was harassed and arrested on false charges. "Zafar Alam was taken to Chakaria Court for remand hearing amidst tight security arrangements. The army, RAB and police have set up a tight security perimeter at various levels around the court. Due to the rain in the morning and the strict action taken by the law enforcement agencies, no chaotic situation was created," Bangladeshi daily Prothom Alo quoted Chakaria Senior Judicial Magistrate Court Police Inspector Anwar Hossain as saying. In a separate development, a Dhaka court on Wednesday ordered a five-day remand for former Law Minister Anisul Haque. It also ordered a three-day remand for former Public Works Minister Engineer Mosharraf Hossain in connection with separate cases. Haque was arrested on August 11, 2024 after the fall of the former Awami League government in a violent uprising. Later, Mosharraf Hossain and Turin Afroz, the former prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal, were also arrested. In addition, the Bangladesh People's Party (BPP) Chairman, Babul Sardar Chakhari, was remanded for three days of police interrogation. The former Law Minister was put on remand following a police application in connection with a murder case filed at Shahbagh Police Station. According to media reports, the police produced Mosharraf Hossain and Babul Sardar Chakhari in court seeking a seven-day remand for questioning in an attempt to murder case filed at Paltan Police Station. Later, the court granted a three-day remand for interrogation. The Muhammad Yunus-led administration has issued several arrest warrants against former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, her family members, and Awami League supporters. Analysts reckon the developments as a major political vendetta being pursued by the interim government led by Yunus as several cases were filed against the former PM and her supporters on frivolous grounds, immediately after her ouster in August 2024. The unceremonious exit of Hasina last August was globally seen as a major setback to the democratic set-up in the country. The interim government has also received massive criticism for providing shelter to radical and extremist Islamic outfits.
News18
3 days ago
- Politics
- News18
How Does Team Sheikh Hasina Work In Exile? Inside The IT Cell Of Awami League
Last Updated: The primary job of the IT Cell is to run five social media platforms of Awami League—Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Telegram This week, in London's Chatham House, Chief Adviser to the interim Bangladesh government, Md Yunus, recounted how he almost pleaded with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to restrain former Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina from communicating with her support base in Bangladesh or across the world. 'I said to PM Modi: 'You want to host her? I can't force you to abandon that policy, but please help us in making sure she doesn't speak to Bangladeshi people the way she is doing as the whole of Bangladesh gets very angry.' India is not doing what I asked. Modi's answer was: 'It is social media, we can't control it.' What can you say? It's an explosive situation. You can't just walk away by saying it's social media," Yunus recounted as he desperately tries to dry up any information on Awami League—the party of the now-exiled Hasina. But how does a party, whose entire cadre base are either too intimidated in the country to react or the leadership in exile, function? Most importantly, how does the communication work when the party itself has been banned in Bangladesh recently? 'Though there was just 40 per cent voter turnout in the last election, Awami League won 224 out of 300 contested parliamentary seats. You cannot dismiss such a prevalent political discourse of Bangladesh, all of a sudden," argues Bangladeshi journalist Sahidul Hasan Khokon. So, how does the Awami League stay afloat while its top leadership is in exile? Sources within the party say that soon after August 5, 2024, when Hasina had to flee to Ghaziabad's Hindon Airport, the Awami League fell back to what it calls the 'Covid-19 era set-ups'. The backbone of the set-up was former minister of state for information and broadcasting, Mohammad A Arafat, who is now based out of Kolkata. He set up Awami League's busiest nerve centre in the outskirts of Kolkata in Newtown area. The primary job of the IT Cell is to run five social media platforms of Awami League—Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Telegram. Facebook remains its biggest mass-connect platform, where it has 3.9 million followers. On Twitter, it has seen a sudden spike ever since last year, say sources and the follower count has crossed 6,58,000. On YouTube, it has 4,66,000 followers, while a nascent effort on Instagram has garnered just 12,000 followers. However, what remains the medium of choice for Hasina to communicate is Telegram. Though a Telegram channel is also open for general cadres and supporters, which has more than 93,000 subscribers and counting, content is pushed like the latest one highlighting the arrest of ISKCON's Chinmoy Prabhu calling it 'deeper crisis in minority rights", appealing to the Hindu voters of Bangladesh who have been traditionally loyal with Hasina. 'Every day, Sheikh Hasina meets the support base of Awami League that is left behind in Bangladesh. She interacts for three to five hours every day on average. So far, she has been interacting with the district committees. Apart from the few days of Eid, she hasn't taken a break as such. We record the entire conversation and extract the operative portion that can inspire our cadres, using it as content on different social media handles. We then push them on the social," explains Arafat. A person who is aware of how the whole ecosystem of Awami League IT Cell works, adds that Hasina has completed 63 out of 64 district committees so far. The break Arafat was referring to was when Hasina managed to spend six days with her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy. Sources say he came on a US passport after the Bangladesh interim government cancelled his passport. While Arafat holds the fort in Kolkata, Joy holds the fort in Washington DC. Sources say six to seven individuals work in the Kolkata team while three to four work in the Washington DC team under Joy. top videos View all 'We have teams in London, Brussels and the Middle East as well. But they are not necessarily party workers. Many of them are also from the diaspora who feel strongly about their country and the party's ideological standings. So, they extend their helping hand," adds Arafat. But the inevitable question—How is Sheikh Hasina doing? Smiles Arafat. 'She is reading a lot. She believes we will triumph (over Yunus)." About the Author Anindya Banerjee Anindya Banerjee, Associate Editor brings over fifteen years of journalistic courage to the forefront. With a keen focus on politics and policy, Anindya has garnered a wealth of experience, with deep throat in ...Read More Get breaking news, in-depth analysis, and expert perspectives on everything from geopolitics to diplomacy and global trends. Stay informed with the latest world news only on News18. Download the News18 App to stay updated! tags : Awami League bangladesh dhaka Muhammad Yunus Sheikh Hasina Location : New Delhi, India, India First Published: June 18, 2025, 09:35 IST News world How Does Team Sheikh Hasina Work In Exile? Inside The IT Cell Of Awami League | Exclusive
Time of India
3 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Pakistan withdraws envoy from Dhaka amid speculations
Pakistan has withdrawn its high commissioner in Dhaka and named a new envoy to replace him, weeks after he went on sudden leave sparking widespread speculations, Prothom Alo newspaper reported on Tuesday. "Pakistan's high commissioner in Dhaka Syed Ahmed Maroof is not returning to Bangladesh," the newspaper reported, referring to several unnamed senior officials. Islamabad has named its current ambassador to Myanmar, Imran Haidar , as Maroof's replacement, it added. Maroof had grabbed media focus soon after Muhammad Yunus took charge of the interim government, three days after prime minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League government was ousted on August 5, 2025 after a student-led violent agitation. Maroof had worked to ensure increased Dhaka-Islamabad diplomacy, including in arranging A visit by the Pakistan foreign secretary to Dhaka. Live Events But he left Dhaka on a sudden leave last month sparking speculations in social media about his alleged relations with two Bangladeshi women. He left Dhaka on May 11, nearly one and half years after his appointment. The Pakistan High Commission formally informed Bangladesh's Foreign Ministry of his departure saying their deputy high commissioner would serve as acting high commissioner. Maroof extensively traveled across Bangladesh over the past nine months, with his most recent trip to the southeastern beach resort town of Cox's Bazar, which allegedly coincided with the tour of the two Bangladeshi ladies to the same place. PTI
