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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)
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First Post
12 hours ago
- Politics
- First Post
Bangladesh: Yunus to declare national holiday for August 5, the day Hasina left in 2024
Bangladesh has declared that August 5 will be recognised as a public holiday, marking the first anniversary of Sheikh Hasina's ousting following violent protests last year read more Amid the ongoing political turmoil, the government of Bangladesh declared August 5 a public holiday, marking the first anniversary of former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's exit from the country following violent protests. On Thursday, the country's Cultural Affairs Adviser, Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, announced the change in the public holiday list during a press conference at the Foreign Service Academy, The Dhaka Tribune reported. Farooki announced that henceforth, the day will be observed as an annual holiday. He noted that the step is being taken to commemorate the July uprising, which toppled the Hasina government. The presser was also attended by the Chief Adviser's Press Secretary, Shafiqul Alam. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD During the presser, Farooki said that an official Gazette notification will be issued after the upcoming Advisory Council meeting scheduled for Sunday. He also announced that preliminary programs marking the July uprising will commence on July 1, while the main events will take place from July 14 to August 1. Hasina faces legal scrutiny Meanwhile, the Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) on Monday summoned Hasina and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan to appear before the court on June 24. Calling them fugitives, the court said that both Bangladeshi politicians should face trial in cases of 'crimes against humanity'. Hasina and Khan were accused of using the forces to murder and torture activists during last year's mass uprising that led to the fall of her Awami League government . She fled to India in August 2024, paving the way for Bangladeshi Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus to take over as Interim Chief Adviser. The tribunal has directed authorities to publish notices, summoning Hasina and Khan. Meanwhile, the prosecution informed ICT that despite multiple attempts to arrest them, both remain at large. Meanwhile, former inspector general of police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, who is in custody, will be tried along with Hasina and Asaduzzaman Khan.
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.
First Post
2 days ago
- Politics
- First Post
Former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina Ordered to Return to Face Trial Vantage with Palki Sharma
Former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina Ordered to Return to Face Trial | Vantage with Palki Sharma |N18G Former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina Ordered to Return to Face Trial | Vantage with Palki Sharma | N18G Trouble is mounting for former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, as the country's war crimes court has formally ordered her to return and stand trial. 'The court directed the prosecution team to issue a notice as soon as possible, summoning her to appear before the court,' said Muhammad Tajul Islam, chief prosecutor of Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal, on Monday. Hasina faces grave charges amounting to crimes against humanity. Her government was overthrown last August amid widespread mass protests, forcing her to flee Dhaka and seek refuge in India. See More
India.com
2 days ago
- Business
- India.com
India beats China and Bangladesh to become biggest player in…, shocks Pakistan due to…
The global textile industry is witnessing a major shift as buyers move away from China and Bangladesh. Now India is emerging as a major center for this business. India's garment exports have shown major growth. According to data from the industry organization CITI, apparel exports increased by 11.3% in May. Western buyers also now consider India as a more reliable partner as compared to Bangladesh and China. This has boosted India's exports. In August last year, political instability started in Bangladesh after a government change under Sheikh Hasina. This situation led to India's export growth. According to The Economic Times , apparel exports surged by 17.3% in September and 24.35% in October. Several buyers from developed nations are asking Indian suppliers to boost their capacity and get necessary certifications. After tariffs were imposed by the Trump administration on China also helped India to gain a duty advantage over Chinese exports. This surge in exports is good news for the textile industry, which was struggling for two years after the COVID-19 pandemic. The political tussle in Bangladesh led to a shift in global supply chains. Industry leaders believe that buyers prioritize stability and continuity in the supply chain, avoiding any form of uncertainty. Although Bangladeshi manufacturers are in high capacity and can fulfill large orders in short periods, Indian manufacturers are optimistic about maintaining their export growth, driven by duty advantages over China. India holds a $10 billion share in the U.S. apparel market as compared to China's $30 billion. While apparel exports are rising, the import of raw cotton is also increasing, as domestic cotton prices are higher than international rates. The Cotton Association of India estimates that cotton imports will more than double in 2024-25, reaching 3.3 million bales (170 kilograms each) compared to 1.52 million bales last year. Paksitan's export were far less than Indian, according to media reports, In fiscal year 2024-25, Pakistan's exports were $24 billion.
