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B’desh bans Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir under anti-terrorism law

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B'desh bans Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir under anti-terrorism law
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina

Dhaka Bangladesh on Thursday banned the Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir under anti-terrorism law following nationwide unrest over the quota system for government jobs, accusing the fundamentalist party of instigating protests that left at least 150 people dead.

A notification issued by the Public Security Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs on Thursday confirmed the ban on the Islamist party, a key ally of former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

The ban on Jamaat, Chhatra Shibir and other associated groups came through an executive order under Section 18(1) of the Anti-Terrorism Act.

“They (Jamaat-Shibir and BNP) just used the students as their shield,” Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said on Thursday when Italian Ambassador Antonio Alessandro called on her at her official residence Ganabhaban here.

A Home Ministry spokesman said that the government on August 1 banned all political activities of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and its various wings.

The Bangladesh government on Tuesday decided to ban the Jamaat-e-Islami following the deadly nationwide students’ protests over quotas in government jobs, accusing it of exploiting the movement that left at least 150 people dead.

The development comes after a meeting of the ruling Awami League-led 14-party alliance passed a resolution earlier this week that Jamaat must be banned from politics.

The decision to ban Jamaat comes over 50 years after its initial prohibition in 1972 for “misusing religion for political purposes”.

The Jamaat opposed Bangladesh’s 1971 independence from Pakistan and sided with the Pakistani troops during the Liberation War.

The party, founded in 1941 in undivided India, was first banned in 1972, the year Bangladesh framed its Constitution, which disbanded the functioning of any association or union or political party based on religion.

But the subsequent military government led by General Ziaur Rahman revoked the ban by issuing a martial law proclamation, which allowed Jamaat to refloat and years later became a crucial partner of the then prime minister Khaleda Zia’s 2001-2006 four-party alliance government. Two senior Jamaat leaders were inducted into her cabinet.

Top leaders of the ruling Awami League, who have been in power for the past 15 years, have supported the ban on the Jamaat because of its role in the Liberation War.

The Jamaat remained active despite losing its registration and being barred from elections due to court rulings.

The party was allegedly involved in the recent violence surrounding the protests of the quota reform movement, which the government has cited as a reason for the ban, the report added.

Violence gripped Bangladesh for almost the entire of July when the protests that had started in universities and colleges earlier this month, quickly turned into a widespread agitation against Prime Minister Hasina and her government’s policies.

The government called in the Army to quell protests against job quotas after the unrest left at least 150 dead and several thousand people, including policemen, wounded and major government installations damaged.

Law Minister Anisul Huq said on Tuesday the ban is being imposed because of the recent violence associated with the quota reform movement and will be enacted through an executive order.

He said the students who waged a movement demanding reforms in quota system said they had no link to the violence while evidence was there that Jamaat, its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir, BNP and a part of its students front Chhatra Dal carried out the mayhem.

“From now on, the party cannot carry on its politics using its name,” he told reporters on Thursday.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said any violent reaction to the decision by the party would be dealt with severely as security agencies were ordered to enforce a stricter vigil.

Bangladesh in 2009 initiated a process to try the key collaborators of Pakistani troops in 1971 on charges of crimes against humanity and six top leaders of Jamaat and one of BNP were hanged after their trial in two special war crimes tribunals while the apex Appellate Division of the Supreme Court upheld the judgments.

Imene Khelif, Algeria boxer who had gender test issue wins first Olympic fight when opponent quits

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Imene Khelif, Algeria boxer who had gender test issue, wins first Olympic fight when opponent quits

Villepinte (France): Imane Khelif of Algeria won her opening Olympic boxing bout Thursday when opponent Angela Carini of Italy quit after just 46 seconds. Khelif was disqualified from the 2023 world championships after failing an unspecified gender eligibility test, and her presence at the Paris Olympics has become a divisive issue.

Carini and Khelif exchanged only a few punches before Carini walked away and abandoned the bout an extremely unusual occurrence in Olympic boxing. Carini’s headgear became dislodged at least once before she quit. Carini didn’t shake Khelif’s hand after the decision was announced but cried in the ring on her knees.

Afterwards, a still-tearful Carini said she quit because of intense pain in her nose after the opening punches. Carini, who had a spot of blood on her trunks, said she wasn’t making a political statement and was not refusing to fight Khelif. I felt severe pain in my nose, and with the maturity of a boxer, I said enough,’ because I didn’t want to, I didn’t want to, I couldn’t finish the match,” Carini said.

Carini further said she was not qualified to decide whether Khelif should be allowed to compete, but she had no problem fighting her.

“I am not here to judge or pass judgment,” Carini said. “If an athlete is this way, and in that sense it’s not right or it is right, it’s not up to me to decide. I just did my job as a boxer. I got into the ring and fought. I did it with my head held high and with a broken heart for not having finished the last kilometre.

Khelif is an accomplished amateur who won a silver medal at the International Boxing Association’s 2022 world championships. The same governing body disqualified her from last year’s championships shortly before her gold-medal match because of what it claimed were elevated levels of testosterone. The 25-year-old entered the ring at the North Paris Arena to a chorus of cheers, but the crowd was confused by the bout’s sudden end. Khelif, who fights again Saturday, didn’t speak to reporters.

“I am heartbroken because I am a fighter,” Carini said. “My father taught me to be a warrior. I have always stepped into the ring with honor and I have always (served) my country with loyalty. And this time I couldn’t do it because I couldn’t fight anymore, and so I ended the match.”

Khelif and Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan suddenly have received massive scrutiny for their presence in Paris after years of amateur competition. Lin won the IBA world championships in 2018 and 2022, but the governing body stripped her of a bronze medal last year because it claimed she failed to meet unspecified eligibility requirements in a biochemical test. Lin begins her Paris run on Friday.

The Algerian Olympic Committee issued a statement Wednesday condemning what it termed lies and unethical targeting and maligning of our esteemed athlete, Imane Khelif, with baseless propaganda from certain foreign media outlets. Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, who was visiting Italy athletes in the Olympic Village on Thursday, voiced criticism that Carini had to box Khelif, saying she had since 2021 opposed allowing athletes with genetically male characteristics to compete against women.

“We have to pay attention, in an attempt to not discriminate, that we’re actually discriminating against women’s rights,” Meloni said.

She said it was necessary to guarantee the rights of athletes so they are competing on an even playing field. In these things what counts is your dedication, your head and character, but it also counts having a parity of arms, Meloni said. Lin has been an elite-level amateur boxer for a decade and Khelif for six years.

The IOC on Tuesday defended their right to compete. Olympic boxing reached gender parity for the first time this year, with 124 men and 124 women competing in Paris. Everyone competing in the women’s category is complying with the competition eligibility rules, IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said. They are women in their passports and it’s stated that this is the case, that they are female. Lin is the top seed in the 57-kilogram category, although Olympic seeding is frequently unindicative of the top medal contenders in a division.

Several sports have updated their gender rules over the past three years, including World Aquatics, World Athletics and the International Cycling Union. The IOC said it made its eligibility decisions on boxers based on the gender-related rules that applied at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. The IOC is in charge of boxing in Paris because the IBA has been banned from the past two Olympics because of years of governance problems, a lack of financial transparency and many perceived instances of corruption in judging and refereeing. The IOC has revoked the Olympic status of the IBA, which is controlled by President Umar Kremlev, who is Russian.

The IBA has aggressively seized on the boxers’ presence in Paris to criticize the IOC. After the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld the IOC’s ban earlier this year, the IBA appealed to the Swiss Federal Tribunal. Women’s boxers have been asked about Khelif and Lin repeatedly this week. Many have expressed concern, while others have urged more consideration of an obviously complicated issue.

“I don’t agree with that being allowed, especially in combat sports as it can be incredibly dangerous,” Australia’s Caitlin Parker said.

“It’s not like I haven’t sparred with guys before, but it can be dangerous for combat sports, and it should be seriously looked into. It is good that these things are coming out, and it’s being put under the spotlight to be looked into further.”

Biologically and genetically, they are going to have more advantages. Combat sports can be dangerous. Fairness is what it’s all about. We all want fairness in sports.

ED insiders tell me raid being planned waiting with open arms: Rahul Gandhi

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ED 'insiders' tell me raid being planned, waiting with open arms: Rahul Gandhi
Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi: Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday claimed that an Enforcement Directorate raid is being planned against him after his ‘chakravyuh’ speech in Parliament.

Gandhi said he was “waiting with open arms”.

“Apparently, 2 in 1 didn’t like my Chakravyuh speech. ED ‘insiders’ tell me a raid is being planned,” Gandhi said in a post on X early Friday.

“Waiting with open arms @dir_ed ..Chai and biscuits on me,” the former Congress chief said.

Using the ‘chakravyuh’ metaphor as a leitmotif, Gandhi on Monday claimed that an atmosphere of fear prevails all around with a group of six trapping the entire country in a ‘chakravyuh’ he promised would be broken by the INDIA bloc.

Participating in the debate in the Lok Sabha on Budget 2024-25, Gandhi had said the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) will ensure that a legal guarantee for MSP as well as a caste census is passed by the House.

Thousands of years ago in Haryana’s Kurukshetra, six people killed a youth, Abhimanyu, in a ‘chakravyuh’, he had said, adding that a ‘chakravyuh’ has violence and fear.

Gandhi’s reference was to the Mahabharat legend according to which Abhimanyu was killed in a ‘chakravyuh’. ‘Chakravyuh’ refers to a multi-layered military formation aimed at trapping a warrior by opponents placed strategically in an alignment resembling a lotus-shaped labyrinth.

He had said the ‘chakravyuh’ is also called a ‘padmavyuh’ for its resemblance to a lotus (BJP’s election symbol) formation.

Five more victims from Karnataka identified in Wayanad landslide

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Wayanad: Out of the 18 individuals from Karnataka killed in the Wayanad landslides in Kerala, nine were from Mysuru, four from Chamarajnagar, two from Mandya, and three from Kodagu districts. On Thursday, authorities identified the bodies of five more victims.

Gundlupet Tahsildar Ramesh Babu, who is in Wayanad said that the bodies of Rajendra (50) from Irasavadi village in Chamarajanagar taluk, a resident of Chooralmala; Savithri (54) and Shivanna (50) from Ukkalagere in T Narsipur taluk, Mysuru district, residents of Chooralmala; and Leelavathi (55) and her grandson Nihal (2.5) from Kaththaragatta village in KR Pet taluk, Mandya district, residents of Mundakkai have been found. However, the search for Rajendra’s wife, Rathnamma, who was reported missing, continues.

Bodies of Rathnamma (45), wife of Rajendra of Irasavadi of Chamarajanagar taluk; six more from Ukkalagere of T Narsipur taluk of Mysuru district, including Gurumallan (60), Appannan (39), Sabitha (43), Divya (35), Ashwin (13), Jithu (11) are yet to be located.

Rahul, Priyanka Gandhi to visit landslides-hit Wayanad on Thursday

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Rahul, Priyanka Gandhi to visit landslides-hit Wayanad on Thursday: Report
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra |

New Delhi: Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will visit landslides-hit Wayanad on Thursday and meet several families affected by the natural calamity, sources said.

Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi were scheduled to visit Wayanad Wednesday morning but they put off the visit as authorities informed them that they would not be able to land due to incessant rain and adverse weather conditions.

Congress sources said the two leaders would visit relief camps at the Government Higher Secondary School and St Joseph UP School, Meppadi. They would also visit Dr Moopen’s Medical College, Meppadi.

The devastating series of landslides in Kerala’s Wayanad district has claimed at least 132 lives and injured over 200, with the toll expected to rise as rescuers search through the debris, official sources said.

More than 180 people are missing and over 300 houses were completely destroyed in the landslides that hit the Mundakkai and Chooralmala areas of the district, they said.

5-year-old carries gun to school, shoots another student

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Supaul (Bihar): A five-year-old boy in Bihar reached his school with a handgun on Wednesday and opened fire on another child, leaving the Class 3 student injured, police said.

The shocking incident took place in the north Bihar district of Supaul where the boy, a nursery student, had gone to school with the firearm hidden in his bag.

According to Superintendent of Police, Shaishav Yadav, “The student fired at a 10-year-old boy, who studies in the same school in Class 3. The bullet hit his arm.”

“The injured boy has been rushed to a hospital. We are trying to find out how the boy got to lay his hands on the firearm and managed to carry it to the private school, which is situated in Lalpatti area,” Yadav said.

The SP added: “We are also asking schools across the district to ensure that bags of students are checked thoroughly on a regular basis. The incident has caused much anxiety among parents and guardians.”

Nitin Gadkari urges FM Nirmala Sitharaman to withdraw 18 pc GST on life medical insurance premiums

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New Delhi: Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has requested Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to withdraw the 18 per cent goods and services tax (GST) on life and medical insurance premiums.

In his letter to the Finance Minister, Gadkari raised concerns of the Nagpur Division Life Insurance Corporation Employees Union, which had submitted to him a memorandum regarding the issues of the insurance industry.

Referring to the memo, the minister said, “Levying GST on life insurance premiums amounts to levying tax on the uncertainties of life. The Union feels that the person who covers the risk of life’s uncertainties to give protection to the family should not be levied tax on the premiums to purchase cover against this risk.”

Further, he added that the main issue raised by the Union is related to the withdrawal of GST on life and medical insurance premiums.

Gadkari also pointed out that the Union has also raised issues related to differential treatment to savings through Life Insurance, re-introduction of income tax deduction for health insurance premiums and consolidation of public sector general insurance companies.

Both life insurance and medical insurance premiums are subject to an 18 per cent GST rate.

He further said, “Similarly, the 18 per cent GST on medical insurance premiums is proving to be a deterrent for the growth of this segment of business which is socially necessary.”

“In view of the above, you are requested to consider the suggestion of withdrawal of GST on life and medical insurance premiums on priority as it becomes cumbersome for senior citizens as per rules with due verification,” he said.

UPSC cancels candidature of Puja Khedkar from IAS, debars her from all future selections

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The UPSC on Wednesday said it has cancelled the provisional candidature of probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar and debarred her from all future examinations or selections.

“The UPSC has examined the available records carefully and found her guilty of acting in contravention of the provisions of the CSE-2022 Rules,” the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) said in a statement.

It said the provisional candidature of the 2023 batch probationary IAS officer for the CSE-2022 (Civil Services Examination-2022) has been “cancelled” and she has also been “debarred permanently” from all future examinations or selections conducted by the UPSC.

The commission said it was the “lone case” of Khedkar in the last 15 years where it could not detect that a candidate has exceeded the number of attempts permitted to a candidate for writing the CSE exam “primarily due to the fact that she changed not only her name but also her parents’ name”.

It said the UPSC was in the process of “further strengthening the SOP to ensure that such a case does not recur in the future.”

The commission said a show-cause notice was issued to Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar on July 18 for “fraudulently” availing attempts beyond the permissible limit in the examination by “faking” her identity.

She was asked to submit her response to the notice by July 25 but she requested time till August 4 to gather the necessary documents for her response, it said.

The UPSC granted her a “final opportunity” to submit her response by 3:30 pm on July 30 but she “failed to submit her explanation within the prescribed time”, the commission said.

The commission said in the backdrop of the case of Khedkar, it “thoroughly examined” the data of more than 15,000 “finally recommended candidates” from the civil services exams for the last 15 years (2009-2023) with respect to the number of attempts availed by them.

After this detailed exercise, barring the case of Khedkar, no other candidate has been found to have availed more number of attempts than permitted under the CSE rules.

“In the lone case of Ms Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar, the standard operating procedure (SOP) of the UPSC could not detect her number of attempts primarily due to the fact that she changed not only her name but also her parents’ name,” it said.

Taking up the issue of complaints regarding the submission of false certificates (specifically OBC and PwBD categories) are concerned, the UPSC said it only does a “preliminary” scrutiny of the certificates like whether the certificate has been issued by the competent authority, the year to which the certificate pertains, issuing date of the certificate, whether there is any overwriting on the certificate, format of the certificate etc.

“Generally, the certificate is taken as genuine, if it has been issued by the competent authority. The UPSC neither has the mandate nor the wherewithal to check the veracity of thousands of certificates submitted by the candidates every year,” it said.

However, the UPSC said, it is understood that scrutiny and verification of genuineness of certificates is carried out by the authorities mandated with the task.

The UPSC has registered a police case against Khedkar for allegedly fraudulently availing attempts in the civil services examination by faking her identity to take the exam beyond the permissible attempts.

The commission conducts the civil services exam annually in three stages — preliminary, main and interview — to select officers for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and the Indian Police Service (IPS), among others.

Centre gave advance warning to Kerala on July 23, says Amit Shah on Wayanad landslide

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Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said the Kerala government was warned as early as July 23 regarding a possible natural calamity in Wayanad due to heavy rains and nine NDRF teams were rushed to the state the same day.

However, the Kerala government did not heed to the early warning and also did not get alerted even by arrival of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) battalions, Shah said in the Rajya Sabha.

Shah assured the House that the Narendra Modi government was standing a like a “rock” with the Kerala government and people of the state in this moment of the tragedy. He also promised all help from the central government.

Intervening in the short duration calling attention motion on the Wayanad landslide tragedy in the Upper House, Shah also assured help and support of the Centre to the state and the people to deal with the situation.

He criticised the opposition for questioning the central government’s early warning systems, and its response to the tragedy.

Shah said early warning was sent to the state seven days ahead of the July 30 landslide. Another warning was given on July 24 also

“Nine NDRF battalions were dispatched on July 23 itself and three more were sent on July 30,” Shah said.

He further said several states, including Odisha and Gujarat used the early warnings provided by the Centre to reduce impact of natural calamities like cyclone.

Had the Kerala government got itself alerted and acted as soon as NDRF teams landed there, losses could have been minimised, the Home Minister said.

Replying to the calling attention motion, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai informed the House that 133 bodies have been recovered so far and death toll may rise.

JD(S) pulls out of foot march over MUDA scam in setback to BJP in Karnataka

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Bengaluru: JD(S) on Wednesday pulled out of the proposed foot march against the alleged irregularities in the distribution of sites by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA), including to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s wife, as party leader H D Kumaraswamy hit out at the BJP.

The Union Minister said that his party was not taken into confidence on the foot march and lashed out at the BJP for allegedly picking a leader from Hassan district to be among those given responsibility to spearhead the protest.

Leaders of the opposition BJP had said that the party and JD(S) have decided to hold the foot march from Bengaluru to Mysuru from August 3 to 10 in protest against the alleged fraudulent allotment of sites to land losers by MUDA, including to Chief Minister’s wife Parvathi, and demanding his resignation.

Kumaraswamy also ruled out the JD(S) extending “moral support” to the BJP vis-a-vis the foot march.

“We will not give (moral support) for any reason”, he told reporters in Delhi, adding that his party was not taken into confidence by the BJP despite the fact that areas, where the foot march was slated to pass through, are JD(S) strongholds.

JD(S), headed by former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, joined the BJP-led NDA last year. The two parties fought the recent Lok Sabha elections in the State together.

He contended that when people are facing several problems following heavy rains, with many becoming homeless and hundreds of villages marooned, it’s not an “appropriate time” to hold such a foot march. “So, we have stepped back.”

“Now, we have to respond to people’s pain. I don’t know who would appreciate (the foot march in these circumstances).”

He said he was hurt by BJP’s move to pick former BJP MLA from Hassan Preetham Gowda to lead the protest, among others.

“Who is that Preetham Gowda ? Preetham Gowda ventured to finish off the family of Deve Gowda. They (BJP) call a meeting with him (Preetham Gowda to discuss preparations for the march) and ask me to sit next to him…the person who put poison to my family.. Who is responsible for distribution of pen-drives? There is a limit to my tolerance.

Are they seeking support for this ? Do they not know what happened in Hassan ? Who is responsible ?” a visibly angry Kumaraswamy asked.

He was referring to large-scale distribution of pen-drives, allegedly containing explicit videos involving his nephew Prajwal Revanna, ahead of the recent Lok Sabha elections in Hassan.

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