Awami League leader Ishaque Ali Khan Panna

Shillong, Aug 29: The Meghalaya Police recovered the decomposed body of Awami League leader Ishaque Ali Khan Panna from a betelnut plantation in Jaintia Hills district bordering Bangladesh, officials said.

The body was discovered on August 26 evening, around 1.5 km from the IndiA-Bangladesh border, they said.

SP Giri Prasad said Panna was identified through his passport.a

Panna, a former general secretary of Bangladesh Chhatra League and a prominent member of the Awami League from Pirojpur district in the neighbouring country, had been on the run following the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government on August 5, sources said.

The body has been sent to Khliehriat Civil Hospital for further identification, the SP said on Wednesday.

Initial reports suggested that Panna might have suffered a cardiac arrest while trying to cross the border.

However, there are conflicting accounts that say he might have been involved in a shooting incident with the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), police said.

Dhaka: Bangladesh’s interim government Wednesday revoked a ban on the rightwing Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir, less than a month after it was outlawed by former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

“It (lifting the ban) will come under effect immediately,” the Home Ministry said in a gazette notification, noting that there was no particular evidence against the organisation.

The erstwhile Awami League government led by Hasina had imposed a ban on Jamaat on August 1, 2024, accusing the Islamist party as a “militant and terrorist” organisation. The government blamed Jamaat’s student wing for inciting chaos over a quota system for government jobs.

Welcoming the interim government’s decision, Ameer of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Shafiqur Rahman, called for an end to the politics of hatred and division in Bangladesh.

“We want the politics of hatred to be buried… it shouldn’t rise again. We want the politics of division to be buried,” he told journalists.

Rahman said that Jamaat-e-Islami does not support the division of the nation over any issue, saying, “In all cases, we want the nation to be united.”

The ban on Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing, Chhatra Shibir, was a deliberate attempt to divert attention from the anti-government movement, he said.

The government notification said the ban under the Anti-Terrorism Act 2009 has been lifted as there was no particular evidence against the organisation. The government believed that Jamaat and its associate bodies, including its student front Chhatra Shibir, were not involved in terrorist activities and violence.

The decision, formally published in a gazette notification on Wednesday, represents a significant change from the decision taken by the erstwhile Awami League government earlier this month, just days before its ouster.

The development came a day after Attorney General Mohammad Asaduzzaman urged the High Court to summarily reject a writ petition seeking an order on the government to ban Hasina’s Awami League as a political party and scrap its registration.

“The current (interim) government has no intention to ban any political organisation,” the government’s top law officer told a two-judge High Court bench, which set August 29 for its decision on the writ filed by one Sarda Society as a public interest litigation.

The interim government’s law adviser, equivalent to a minister, Asif Nazrul on Wednesday told reporters he was opposed to the call for a ban on Awami League or any other political parties unless there was any strong evidence of their involvement in terrorist activities.

“Awami League is the party which led Bangladesh’s independence movement and contributed to different democratic movements. (But) what they did in the past 15 years does not go with their heritage, the spirit of the Liberation War,” Nazrul said.

He said the party had established the “most barbaric fascism” in Bangladesh’s history for which someone might have individual or its leaders might have collective responsibility “but I don’t think it will be a wise decision to ban it as a political party”.

Secretary General of ex-premier Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said that anyone should be able to form an independent political party, that is the main goal of democracy.

“We are not in favour of banning any political party; any party and any individual has the right to form an independent party. But they must be on the side of freedom and sovereignty. Those who do not believe in freedom cannot be supported,” he said at a media briefing on Tuesday.

No senior leader of the Awami League, which ran the country for the past 15 years, is seen in the public domain while several ministers of Hasina’s cabinet were arrested, on the run or believed to have fled the country since the ouster of the regime.

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

The Jamaat, founded in 1941 in undivided India, was first banned in 1972, the year Bangladesh framed its Constitution, which disbanded the functioning of any association, 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.

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

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Mariinsky Palace in Kyiv

Kyiv: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday conveyed to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that both Ukraine and Russia should sit together without wasting time to end the ongoing war and that India was ready to play an “active role” to restore peace in the region.

In his talks with Zelenskyy in Kyiv that came a day ahead of Ukraine’s Independence Day, the prime minister said India was on the side of peace since the beginning of the conflict and he would even like to contribute personally for a peaceful resolution of the crisis.

Modi’s nearly nine-hour visit to Ukraine, the first by an Indian prime minister since its independence in 1991, came six weeks after he held summit talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin that triggered anguish in some Western countries.

The prime minister reiterated the need for “sincere and practical” engagement between all stakeholders to develop innovative solutions that will have “broad acceptability” and contribute towards early restoration of peace in Ukraine, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said.

“I have come with a message of peace..I want to assure you and the entire global community that India is committed to respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity (of states) and it is of utmost importance to us,” Modi told Zelenskyy at the talks.

The prime minister also asserted India’s strong commitment towards respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states.

“I want to assure you and the entire global community that India is committed towards respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity (of states) and it is of utmost importance to us,” he said.

Modi arrived in Kyiv following a nearly 10-hour train journey from Poland in the second leg of his two-nation trip.

Modi’s wide-ranging talks with Zelenskyy primarily focused on ways to end the war and boost bilateral cooperation in areas of trade, defence, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, agriculture and education.

“We (India) are not neutral. From the very beginning, we have taken sides. And we have chosen the side of peace. We have come from the land of Buddha where there is no place for war; we have come from the land of Mahatma Gandhi who had given a message of peace to the entire world,” Modi said.

The prime minister also apprised Zelenskyy of his message to Putin in Samarkand in September 2022 as well as in Moscow last month.

“Some time back, when I met President Putin in Samarkand, I had told him that this was not the era of war. Last month when I went to Russia, I said in clear words that the solution to any problem is never found on the battlefield,” Modi said.

“The solution comes through talks, dialogue and diplomacy and we should move ahead in that direction without wasting time.

Both sides should sit together and find ways to come out of this crisis,” Modi said.

Following the talks, Zelenskyy said India supports Ukraine’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity and it is “critical because everyone in the world must equally respect the UN Charter.”

“Following the visit, we also agreed on a joint statement focusing on the development of a strategic partnership, bilateral trade, and continued military-technical cooperation,” he said.

Zelenskyy said “history was made” today as the Indian prime minister made the first visit to Ukraine since “our independence, on the eve of our Independence Day.”

In a post on ‘X’, Modi described his talks with Zelenskyy as “productive” and said India “firmly” believes that peace must always prevail.

At a media briefing, Jaishankar said Modi conveyed to Zelenskyy India’s willingness to contribute in “all possible ways” to facilitate an early return of peace to Ukraine, he said.

“We are very, very keen that this conflict should come to an end,” the external affairs minister said.

It was a “very detailed, open and in many ways constructive discussion”, he said.

The talks revolved around to some extent on the military situation, on concerns like food and energy security, and on “conceivable pathways to peace”, Jaishankar said.

“It is India’s view that the two sides (Ukraine and Russia) need to engage with each other to find a solution,” he said, adding the talks revolved around the military situation, on concerns like food and energy security, and on “conceivable pathways to peace”.

The external affairs minister also defended India’s procurement of crude oil from Russia.

“India is a big oil consumer, it is a big oil importer..It is not like there is a political strategy to buy oil, there is an oil strategy to buy oil, there is a market strategy to buy oil,” Jaishankar said.

A joint statement released after the talks said Modi and Zelenskyy reiterated their readiness for further cooperation in upholding principles of international law, including the UN Charter, such as respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty of states.

It said the Indian side reiterated its principled position and focus on peaceful resolution through dialogue and diplomacy, as a part of which, India has attended the Summit on Peace in Ukraine, held in Switzerland in June.

The Ukrainian side welcomed such participation by India and highlighted the importance of high-level Indian participation in the next peace summit, it said.

In the talks the Ukrainian side conveyed that the joint communique on a peace framework, adopted at the Summit on Peace in Ukraine, could serve as a basis for further efforts to promote just peace based on dialogue, diplomacy, and international law, the statement said.

The two leaders appreciated various efforts to ensure global food security, including the Ukrainian humanitarian grain initiative.

The importance of an uninterrupted and unhindered supply of agricultural products to global markets, especially in Asia and Africa, was emphasised in the talks.

In his remarks at the meeting, the prime minister conveyed to Zelenskyy that he has come to Kyiv also with a message of peace from the Global South. The Ukrainian side wanted continued involvement of India with the Global Peace summit, he said.

“It is India’s view that the two sides (Ukraine and Russia) need to engage with each other to find a solution,” he said.

The external affairs minister said the two leaders reiterated their readiness to continue cooperation to uphold principles of international law such as respect for territorial integrity and protect the sovereignty of states.

Jaishankar said the prime minister sought the president’s assessment of both the ground situation as well as the diplomatic scenario and Zelenskyy spoke on both issues.

The external affairs minister described Modi’s visit to Kyiv as a “landmark”

Jaishankar said a significant part of discussions between PM Modi and President Zelenskyy was devoted to the bilateral relations.

There were discussions on trade, economic issues, defence, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, education, he said.

Modi and Zelenskyy also tasked the India-Ukraine inter-governmental commission to specifically focus on rebuilding trade and economic relations.

Taipei: Chinese and Philippine coast guard ships collided at sea, damaging at least two boats, in an encounter early Monday near a new flashpoint in their increasingly alarming confrontations in the disputed South China Sea.

Both blamed the other for the collision near Sabina Shoal, a disputed atoll in the Spratly Islands, where overlapping claims are also made by Vietnam and Taiwan. There were no reports of injuries.

China’s coast guard accused the Philippines of deliberately crashing one of its ships into a Chinese vessel. Two Philippine coast guard ships entered waters near the shoal, ignored the Chinese coast guard’s warning and intentionally collided with one of China’s boats at 3:24 am, a spokesperson said in a statement on the Chinese coast guard’s website.

“The Philippine side is entirely responsible for the collision,” spokesman Gan Yu said. “We warn the Philippine side to immediately stop its infringement and provocation, otherwise it will bear all the consequences arising from that.”

The Philippines’ National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea said two of the coast guard’s ships, BRP Bagacay and BRP Cape Engano, “encountered unlawful and aggressive maneuvers” from Chinese coast guard vessels while en route to Patag and Lawak islands in the area.

“These dangerous maneuvers resulted in collisions, causing structural damage to both Philippine Coast Guard vessels,” the statement read.

The task force said the collision between BRP Cape Engano and one of the Chinese ships created a hole on the deck of the Philippine ship with a diameter of about 5 inches (12.7 centimetres).

About 16 minutes later, the other Philippine ship, BRP Bagacay, was rammed twice on its port and starboard sides by a different Chinese vessel, leading to minor structural damage, according to the task force.

“The (Philippine Coast Guard) stands firm in its responsibility to ensure the safety and security of our maritime domain while addressing any threats to our national interests,” it said.

Gan added China claimed “indisputable sovereignty” over the Spratly Islands, known in Chinese as Nansha Islands, including Sabina Shoal and its adjacent waters. The Chinese name for Sabina Shoal is Xianbin Reef.

In a separate statement, he said the Philippine ship that was turned away from Sabina Shoal entered waters near the disputed Second Thomas Shoal, ignoring the Chinese coast guard’s warnings. “The Chinese coast guard took control measures against the Philippine ship in accordance with law and regulation,” he added.

Sabina Shoal, which lies about 140 kilometres west of the Philippines’ western island province of Palawan, has become a new flashpoint in the territorial disputes between China and the Philippines.

The Philippine coast guard deployed one of its key patrol ships, the BRP Teresa Magbanua, to Sabina in April after Filipino scientists discovered submerged piles of crushed corals in its shallows that sparked suspicions that China may be bracing to build a structure in the atoll. The Chinese coast guard later deployed a ship to Sabina.

Sabina lies near the Philippine-occupied Second Thomas Shoal, which has been the scene of increasingly alarming confrontations between Chinese and Philippine coast guard ships and accompanying vessels since last year.

China and the Philippines reached an agreement last month to prevent further confrontations when the Philippines transports new batches of sentry forces, along with food and other supplies, to Manila’s territorial outpost in the Second Thomas Shoal, which has been closely guarded by Chinese coast guard, navy and suspected militia ships.

The Philippine navy transported food and personnel to the Second Thomas Shoal a week after the deal was reached and no incident was reported, sparking hope that tensions in the shoal would eventually ease.

China has been at odds with many other countries in the Asia-Pacific for years over its sweeping maritime claims, including almost all of the South China Sea, a strategic and resource-rich waterway around which Beijing has drawn a 10-dash line on official maps to delineate what it says is its territory.

Beijing is in the midst of a massive military expansion and has become increasingly assertive in pursuing its claims, giving rise to more frequent direct confrontations, primarily with the Philippines, though it is also involved in longtime territorial disputes with Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei.

A 2016 arbitration ruling by a United Nations tribunal invalidated Beijing’s claims in the South China Sea, but China did not participate in the proceedings and rejected the ruling.

Dhaka: Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal has started an investigation against former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and nine others on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity that took place from July 15 to August 5 during students’ mass movement against her government.

A complaint was filed on Wednesday with the investigation agency of Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal against Hasina, Awami League general secretary and former road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader, former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, and several other prominent figures within the party.

The complainant’s lawyer Gazi MH Tamim confirmed on Thursday that the Tribunal started the probe on Wednesday night.

Hasina, 76, fled to India on August 5 after resigning from her post amidst unprecedented anti-government student-led protests.

The Hasina-led Awami League along with its affiliated organisations is also named in the petition.

The petition was filed by Bulbul Kabir, the father of Arif Ahmed Siam, a Class IX student who was killed during the anti-discrimination student movement.

“The (ICT-BD) investigation agency has started reviewing the charges… The accusation of genocide and crimes against humanity has been recorded as a case,” said the lawyer.

The application accuses Hasina and others of orchestrating a violent crackdown on student protestors, resulting in widespread casualties and human rights violations.

He said the progress of this investigation outcome would be informed to the Tribunal, originally constituted to try the Bengali-speaking hardened collaborators of Pakistani troops during the 1971 Liberation War, within seven days.

He said that in line with the tribunal law in addition to the plaintiff and other witnesses, reports published in various media from July 16 to August 6 were submitted as necessary documents.

Separately, a case of enforced disappearance was filed on Wednesday against Hasina and several others, including former ministers of her cabinet, on the charge of kidnapping a lawyer in 2015.

On Tuesday, a murder case was filed against Hasina and six others over the death of a grocery shop owner during last month’s violent clashes that led to the fall of her government.

Meanwhile, a Dhaka court on Thursday asked police to submit by September 15 the probe report of the case filed against Hasina and six others over the death of grocery shop owner Abu Saeed in police firing in the capital’s Mohammadpur area during the quota protests on July 19.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Zaki Al Farabi set the date after the case was placed before his court for the next course of action.

The development coincided with the now scrapped National Mourning Day holiday marking the August 15, 1975 assassination of Hasina’s father and Bangladesh’s founder Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The interim government of Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus cancelled the holiday after discussions with different political parties other than Awami League while most of its leaders are on the run or in jail following the collapse of Hasina’s regime on August 5.

According to media reports, some parties were in favour of keeping the mourning day holiday while others opposed it.

Unlike the previous years, no sombre wreath offering ceremony was held at Bangabandhu’s 32 Dhanmandi private residence later turned into a memorial museum which was burnt into ashes by angry mobs following Hasina’s resignation and fleeing to India.

“Nobody approves of it… but somebody’s (Hasina regime) overdoing caused the overreaction,” ex-premier Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader and spokesman Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury earlier told PTI, referring to the attack on the museum.

Political commentator and New Age newspaper editor Nurul Kabir, known for his stern criticism of the past regime, said Hasina herself was responsible for the defamation of her father.

Kabir added, “Who can deny his contribution to Bangladesh’s creation”.

“The blame lies with them (Hasina regime or party),” he said.

Reports and witnesses said film actress Rokeya Prachi, followed by several people to stage a sit-in, on Wednesday went to the museum but was dispersed by protesters who used sticks to chase them away.

However, a huge group of stick-wielding people on Thursday positioned themselves in front of the museum to bar anyone from paying tributes in front of his bust at Bangabandhu Bhaban, despite calls from the deposed premier.

“I went to pay my respects in the morning. But I could not place wreaths. I felt good as some people gave salam (Muslim traditional greeting) and asked me to go back,” said a 1971 veteran and leader of a Krishak Sramik Awami League, a party belonging to the opposition camp.

He however complained that brickbats were thrown at his car, damaging the vehicle.

The student-led protests demanding reforms in government job quotas evolved into a government-toppling movement in early August.

Over 230 people died in Bangladesh in the incidents of violence that erupted across the country following the fall of the Hasina government on August 5, taking the death toll to 560 during the three weeks of violence.

Following Hasina’s resignation, a caretaker government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was formed in the country, promising to address administrative and political reforms and hold accountable those involved in the violence.

Deir al-Balah (Gaza Strip): More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, the territory’s Health Ministry said Thursday.

Israel’s offensive has also wounded 92,401 people and displaced over 85% of the population from their homes, the ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said.

The announcement came during yet another push from international mediators to broker a cease-fire in the war, now in its 11th month.

The conflict began Oct 7 after Hamas-led group attacked southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people — most of them civilians — and dragging roughly 250 hostages to Gaza.

Israel says 111 of the captives have not been released, including the bodies of 39. The hostages include 15 women and two children under the age of 5.

In Gaza, health officials have struggled to fully identify the dead as bodies stream into overwhelmed hospitals and morgues where they say the count is compiled amid the chaos of war and displacement.

In its most recent detailed report on the dead, issued Thursday, the ministry said 40,005 people have been killed. Health officials and civil defence workers say the true toll is likely thousands higher, since many bodies remain buried under the rubble of buildings destroyed in airstrikes.

Israel’s air and ground offensive in Gaza has been one of the most devastating military campaigns in recent history.

The bombardment and shelling have killed entire Palestinian families. With cemeteries often unreachable, families fleeing Israeli airstrikes bury their dead wherever possible — in backyards, along roadsides and under the staircases of their homes.

Israel says it aims to eliminate Hamas. It blames Hamas for civilian deaths because the group operate in civilian areas and have built extensive tunnel networks underneath them. Israeli forces have regularly targeted mosques, schools, hospitals and cemeteries where it claims fighters or tunnels are located, often causing civilian casualties.

The fighting has also killed 329 Israeli soldiers. The Israeli military claims that over 17,000 Hamas fighters are among those killed in Gaza but has not provided evidence.

Nearly 85% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been driven from their homes, fleeing multiple times across the territory to escape ground offensives. During the war, thousands within Israel and in southern Lebanon have also been displaced.

The assault has created a massive humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The entire territory is at high risk of famine and over 495,000 people — more than a fifth of the population — are expected to experience the most severe level of hunger in the coming months, according to the latest report by the leading authority on measuring hunger.

Also, Gaza’s sanitation systems have been destroyed, leaving pools of sewage and towers of garbage in tent camps packed with displaced families.

The offensive likely either damaged or destroyed 59% of all structures in Gaza by July 3, including 70% of buildings in northern Gaza, according to an analysis of satellite data by Corey Scher and Jamon Van Den Hoek, experts in mapping damage during war.

The conflict has sparked fears of a wider regional war, with Lebanon’s Hezbollah group and the Israeli military trading fire almost daily over their countries’ border.

More than 500 people have been killed on the Lebanese side, including some 350 Hezbollah members and 50 fighters from other groups, with the rest being civilians. In Israel, 22 soldiers and 24 civilians have been killed.