Favourites India continued their winning momentum defeating arch-rivals Pakistan 3-1 in a pool encounter of the 10th men&#39;s Asia Cup hockey tournament, here today.

After the two easy wins against Japan (5-1) and hosts Bangladesh (7-0), as expected India had a relatively tough outing against Pakistan but managed to maintain their all-win record.

India controlled the proceedings for the better part of the match, barring the final quarter when Pakistan, trailing 0-3, came hard at the Indian defence looking for goals.

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<h5>India controlled the proceedings for the better part of the match, barring the final quarter when Pakistan, trailing 0-3, came hard at the Indian defence looking for goals</h5>
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But at the end of the day, the Indians came out superior and continued their recent domination over Pakistan, that includes back-to-back victories in the Hockey World League Semi-Final in London earlier this year.

Chinglesnsana Singh (17th minute), Ramandeep Singh (44th) and Harmanpreet Singh (45th) scored the goals for India, while Pakistan lone strike came from the stick of Ali Shan in the 49th minute.

By virtue of this win, India finished on top of Pool A with nine points from three games while Pakistan secured the second spot with four points.

Both India and Pakistan have managed to secure their place in the round-robin Super 4 stage of the tournament.

Even though Japan defeated hosts Bangladesh 3-1 earlier in the day, the victory was not for them to enter the Super 4 stage as they lost out to Pakistan on goal difference.

Contrary to the win, Pakistan had the first real scoring chance when they earned their first penalty corner but they wasted it.

The Indians came out hard in the second quarter and took the lead in the 17th minute through Chinglesnsana, who slammed home after receiving a fine pass from Akashdeep Singh, who was operating in the wide right.

Three minutes later, Gurjant Singh&#39;s reverse hit from the right flank was just off target.

After wasting another penalty corner, Pakistan were denied by young India goalkeeper Suraj Karkera, who saved Mohammed Attiq&#39;s shot from close range as India went into the breather leading by a goal.

India replaced Karkera with Akash Chikte in the goal at the halfway mark and the young custodian came up with a superb save in the 40th minute to deny Pakistan.

India secured their first penalty corner soon but Varun Kumar&#39;s grounded flick was wide off the target.

Soon Gurjant had a great chance to consolidate India&#39;s lead but his push, after a fine one-two with Akashdeep was saved by the Pakistani goalkeeper.

After Pakistan wasted their third penalty corner, Ramandeep doubled India&#39;s lead in the 44th minute with a neat deflection off Harmanpreet Singh&#39;s fantastic cross from the middle of the pitch.

India extended their lead in the very next minute from their second penalty corner through Harmanpreet.

Pakistan, who looked more purposeful in the fourth and final quarter, reduced the margin in the 49th minute through Shan&#39;s field strike.

Chikte once again came to India&#39;s rescue soon, when he denied Pakistan with a fine save from their fourth penalty corner.

Thereafter, India pressed hard and earned as many as three penalty corners in succession but wasted all. PTI

Favourites India continued their winning momentum defeating arch-rivals Pakistan 3-1 in a pool encounter of the 10th men's Asia Cup hockey tournament, here today. After the two easy wins against Japan (5-1) and hosts Bangladesh (7-0), as expected India had a relatively tough outing against Pakistan but managed to maintain their all-win record. India controlled the proceedings for the better part of the match, barring the final quarter when Pakistan, trailing 0-3, came hard at the Indian defence looking for goals. India controlled the proceedings for the better part of the match, barring the final quarter when Pakistan, trailing 0-3, came hard at the Indian defence looking for goals × But at the end of the day, the Indians came out superior and continued their recent domination over Pakistan, that includes back-to-back victories in the Hockey World League Semi-Final in London earlier this year. Chinglesnsana Singh (17th minute), Ramandeep Singh (44th) and Harmanpreet Singh (45th) scored the goals for India, while Pakistan lone strike came from the stick of Ali Shan in the 49th minute. By virtue of this win, India finished on top of Pool A with nine points from three games while Pakistan secured the second spot with four points. Both India and Pakistan have managed to secure their place in the round-robin Super 4 stage of the tournament. Even though Japan defeated hosts Bangladesh 3-1 earlier in the day, the victory was not for them to enter the Super 4 stage as they lost out to Pakistan on goal difference. Contrary to the win, Pakistan had the first real scoring chance when they earned their first penalty corner but they wasted it. The Indians came out hard in the second quarter and took the lead in the 17th minute through Chinglesnsana, who slammed home after receiving a fine pass from Akashdeep Singh, who was operating in the wide right. Three minutes later, Gurjant Singh's reverse hit from the right flank was just off target. After wasting another penalty corner, Pakistan were denied by young India goalkeeper Suraj Karkera, who saved Mohammed Attiq's shot from close range as India went into the breather leading by a goal. India replaced Karkera with Akash Chikte in the goal at the halfway mark and the young custodian came up with a superb save in the 40th minute to deny Pakistan. India secured their first penalty corner soon but Varun Kumar's grounded flick was wide off the target. Soon Gurjant had a great chance to consolidate India's lead but his push, after a fine one-two with Akashdeep was saved by the Pakistani goalkeeper. After Pakistan wasted their third penalty corner, Ramandeep doubled India's lead in the 44th minute with a neat deflection off Harmanpreet Singh's fantastic cross from the middle of the pitch. India extended their lead in the very next minute from their second penalty corner through Harmanpreet. Pakistan, who looked more purposeful in the fourth and final quarter, reduced the margin in the 49th minute through Shan's field strike. Chikte once again came to India's rescue soon, when he denied Pakistan with a fine save from their fourth penalty corner. Thereafter, India pressed hard and earned as many as three penalty corners in succession but wasted all. PTI

Asia Cup hockey: India beat Pakistan 3-1, top their pool

Hundreds of Rohingya Muslims have crossed into Bangladesh in recent days following a fresh military build-up in Myanmar&#39;s Rakhine state, community leaders said Wednesday.

They said at least 500 Rohingya had made the difficult journey into Bangladesh, some claiming they had been abused by soldiers in Myanmar.

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/rohingya-refugees-hide-run-pay-and-stay-alive-891">Also read:&nbsp;Rohingya refugees--Hide, run, pay and stay alive</a>

The latest influx follows a months-long bloody military crackdown on the mainly Muslim minority in Myanmar last year that led tens of thousands to flee across the border. The United Nations has said the violence may amount to ethnic cleansing.

Abu Toyyob said he escaped with his seven-member family as the army vandalised Rohingya houses and detained young men.

&quot;They arrested my younger brother from home and injured my two-year-old son by kicking him with boots,&quot; the 25-year-old told AFP.

&quot;I immediately set off with my family and crossed the Naf two nights ago,&quot; he added, referring to the river that divides the two countries.

Dhaka estimates that nearly 400,000 Rohingya refugees are living in squalid refugee camps and makeshift settlements in the resort district of Cox&#39;s Bazar, which borders Rakhine.

Their numbers swelled last October when more than 70,000 Rohingya villagers began arriving, bringing stories of systematic rape, murder and arson at the hands of Myanmar soldiers.

Bangladesh border guards said they had stepped up patrols after reports of a military build-up on the other side of the river.

Last week, the UN special rapporteur Yanghee Lee voiced alarm at reports that an army battalion had flown into Rakhine to help local authorities boost security in the region.

Buddhist-majority Myanmar has long faced criticism for its treatment of the more than one million Rohingya who live in Rakhine, who are seen as interlopers from Bangladesh, denied citizenship and access to basic rights.

But they are also increasingly unwelcome in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, where police often blame them for crimes such as drug trafficking.

Dhaka has floated the idea of relocating tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees to a remote, flood-prone island off its coast, despite opposition from rights groups.

An official with the UN International Organisation for Migration (IOM), which looks after settlements for unregistered Rohingya refugees, said the organisation was aware of new arrivals.

The numbers were &quot;not as alarming as the October influx,&quot; the official said.

Dhaka estimates that nearly 400,000 Rohingya refugees are living in squalid refugee camps and makeshift settlements in the resort district of Cox's Bazar, which borders Rakhine

Hundreds of Rohingya Muslims have crossed into Bangladesh in recent days following a fresh military build-up in Myanmar's Rakhine state, community leaders said Wednesday. They said at least 500 Rohingya had made the difficult journey into Bangladesh, some claiming they had been abused by soldiers in Myanmar. Also read: Rohingya refugees--Hide, run, pay and stay alive The latest influx follows a months-long bloody military crackdown on the mainly Muslim minority in Myanmar last year that led tens of thousands to flee across the border. The United Nations has said the violence may amount to ethnic cleansing. Abu Toyyob said he escaped with his seven-member family as the army vandalised Rohingya houses and detained young men. "They arrested my younger brother from home and injured my two-year-old son by kicking him with boots," the 25-year-old told AFP. "I immediately set off with my family and crossed the Naf two nights ago," he added, referring to the river that divides the two countries. Dhaka estimates that nearly 400,000 Rohingya refugees are living in squalid refugee camps and makeshift settlements in the resort district of Cox's Bazar, which borders Rakhine. Their numbers swelled last October when more than 70,000 Rohingya villagers began arriving, bringing stories of systematic rape, murder and arson at the hands of Myanmar soldiers. Bangladesh border guards said they had stepped up patrols after reports of a military build-up on the other side of the river. Last week, the UN special rapporteur Yanghee Lee voiced alarm at reports that an army battalion had flown into Rakhine to help local authorities boost security in the region. Buddhist-majority Myanmar has long faced criticism for its treatment of the more than one million Rohingya who live in Rakhine, who are seen as interlopers from Bangladesh, denied citizenship and access to basic rights. But they are also increasingly unwelcome in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, where police often blame them for crimes such as drug trafficking. Dhaka has floated the idea of relocating tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees to a remote, flood-prone island off its coast, despite opposition from rights groups. An official with the UN International Organisation for Migration (IOM), which looks after settlements for unregistered Rohingya refugees, said the organisation was aware of new arrivals. The numbers were "not as alarming as the October influx," the official said.

Bangladesh witnesses fresh influx of Rohingyas from Myanmar

I am in constant fear. Barely a day goes when I do not hear a distant relative or a friend of another friend or an acquaintance of my family hasn&rsquo;t taken to their bed. The moment I hear it I think to myself: My days are numbered. The anxiety has become palpable. Every day when I wake up and every night when I go to bed I am lucky if am not running a fever.&nbsp;

Clearly, Bangladesh is succumbing to a widespread outbreak of Chikunguniya.

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<h5>According to the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), the number of reported chikungunya cases rose to around 3,000 on Thursday from 2,748 and 2,700 on the previous two days</h5>
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So horrifying is the disease that it is bringing back to me the memories of getting mugged in the past. The muggers, seeing that I am putting up a resistance, slid the sharp blade of a knife across my back.&nbsp; The aftermath was, later, for many months, I suffered from mugging-phobia. Whenever I walked in a quiet street, every now and then I would suddenly look back like a panicked dog to make sure none was coming to grab me from behind. &nbsp;&nbsp;

The recent Chikunguniya outbreak in Dhaka city reminds me of those days.&nbsp;

So what is Chikunguniya? It is a mosquito-borne viral disease that causes fever and severe joint pain. Regardless of having some similarities with Dengue fever, it is not deadly as Dengue, but it could be even deadlier on another level.&nbsp;

The long, lingering pain in hands and feet will make one become so arthritic that the person can hardly walk. Around a month of your life will fly away, leaving you bed-ridden. The minimum is one week. The older age groups suffer more. For some senior citizens, doctors say, it may take a year or so to fully recover.&nbsp;

According to the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), the number of reported Chikungunya cases rose to around 3,000 on Thursday from 2,748 and 2,700 on the previous two days (Daily Star, 16 July 2017).

In a mega-city like Dhaka mosquitoes are everywhere&mdash;in houses, in closed space, in open space, in buses, trains, in alleys, at shops by the street, inside the airport, you name it. And after dark, at some places in Dhaka, you may not stand or sit peacefully for a minute, because you have to use your hands to drive the critters away.&nbsp;

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<h5>Yet the scene is unlikely in certain areas of Dhaka. Scores of residents I have seen live trouble free mosquito life.</h5>
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Yet the scene is unlikely in certain areas of Dhaka. Scores of residents I have seen live a peaceful and safe life that is free of mosquitoes. There are no mosquitoes in our house, the householders would say proudly. Why is that? The reason could be the house is well-netted. And mostly, the area is cleaner. But the area I live in, Mirpur, do not enjoy that peace. In the evening, I try aerosol. Half an hour goes fine. Then the same again, the critters are back. So, we use the electric mosquito bat (a tennis bat like tool, made in China).&nbsp;

It&rsquo;s been months, I quit meditating the first thing in the morning. I can&rsquo;t concentrate, can&rsquo;t focus my mind on oneness. It&rsquo;s the fear of mosquito. Although this Chikunguniya fear is fresh in Bangladesh, mosquitoes are more or less all over the world.&nbsp;

In a three-star hotel room at Bukit Bintang, Malaysia I encountered mosquitoes. Once in London, we saw a mosquito flying in the room. Among us, only one&mdash;a White British, somewhat ran when the flying creature headed toward him. We, all South Asian, laughed aloud.&nbsp;

On another occasion, I found my colleague&mdash;a young Irish girl, with a Band-Aid on the back of her hand. What happened? While cleaning the storeroom, she said, she got a mosquito bite. It did swell a wee bit, so she applied the Band-Aid. I smiled. Thinking back of my country, I resisted telling her that if she were in Dhaka, her whole body would have been wrapped up by bandage then. But, it doesn&rsquo;t apply solely for Dhaka, the most South Asian cities and countries are alike.&nbsp;

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<h5>Bengali poet, mockingly expressed his city life experience: Mosquitoes at night, flies during the day/ This is how in Kolkata I live.</h5>
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Iswar Chandra Gupta, a nineteenth century Bengali poet, mockingly expressed his experience of living in a city: &ldquo;Mosquitoes at night, flies during the day/ This is how in Kolkata I live.&rdquo; While Kolkata, despite being the first capital of the British empire in India, has a long history malaria epidemic, Dhaka is slowing getting the world&rsquo;s attention for its poor infrastructure. This is partly because after the creation of Bangladesh, Dhaka started booming without a plan, madly and uncontrollably. As the nation is on the verge of celebrating its 50-year birthday in 2021, it has already earned the reputation of being the worst city to live on this earth. Now, with this Chikunguniya outbreak, things can only go downhill.&nbsp;

"I quit meditating. I can?t concentrate, can?t focus my mind on oneness. It?s the fear of mosquito", says a resident of Dhaka.

I am in constant fear. Barely a day goes when I do not hear a distant relative or a friend of another friend or an acquaintance of my family hasn’t taken to their bed. The moment I hear it I think to myself: My days are numbered. The anxiety has become palpable. Every day when I wake up and every night when I go to bed I am lucky if am not running a fever. Clearly, Bangladesh is succumbing to a widespread outbreak of Chikunguniya. According to the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), the number of reported chikungunya cases rose to around 3,000 on Thursday from 2,748 and 2,700 on the previous two days × So horrifying is the disease that it is bringing back to me the memories of getting mugged in the past. The muggers, seeing that I am putting up a resistance, slid the sharp blade of a knife across my back. The aftermath was, later, for many months, I suffered from mugging-phobia. Whenever I walked in a quiet street, every now and then I would suddenly look back like a panicked dog to make sure none was coming to grab me from behind. The recent Chikunguniya outbreak in Dhaka city reminds me of those days. So what is Chikunguniya? It is a mosquito-borne viral disease that causes fever and severe joint pain. Regardless of having some similarities with Dengue fever, it is not deadly as Dengue, but it could be even deadlier on another level. The long, lingering pain in hands and feet will make one become so arthritic that the person can hardly walk. Around a month of your life will fly away, leaving you bed-ridden. The minimum is one week. The older age groups suffer more. For some senior citizens, doctors say, it may take a year or so to fully recover. According to the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), the number of reported Chikungunya cases rose to around 3,000 on Thursday from 2,748 and 2,700 on the previous two days (Daily Star, 16 July 2017). In a mega-city like Dhaka mosquitoes are everywhere—in houses, in closed space, in open space, in buses, trains, in alleys, at shops by the street, inside the airport, you name it. And after dark, at some places in Dhaka, you may not stand or sit peacefully for a minute, because you have to use your hands to drive the critters away. Yet the scene is unlikely in certain areas of Dhaka. Scores of residents I have seen live trouble free mosquito life. × Yet the scene is unlikely in certain areas of Dhaka. Scores of residents I have seen live a peaceful and safe life that is free of mosquitoes. There are no mosquitoes in our house, the householders would say proudly. Why is that? The reason could be the house is well-netted. And mostly, the area is cleaner. But the area I live in, Mirpur, do not enjoy that peace. In the evening, I try aerosol. Half an hour goes fine. Then the same again, the critters are back. So, we use the electric mosquito bat (a tennis bat like tool, made in China). It’s been months, I quit meditating the first thing in the morning. I can’t concentrate, can’t focus my mind on oneness. It’s the fear of mosquito. Although this Chikunguniya fear is fresh in Bangladesh, mosquitoes are more or less all over the world. In a three-star hotel room at Bukit Bintang, Malaysia I encountered mosquitoes. Once in London, we saw a mosquito flying in the room. Among us, only one—a White British, somewhat ran when the flying creature headed toward him. We, all South Asian, laughed aloud. On another occasion, I found my colleague—a young Irish girl, with a Band-Aid on the back of her hand. What happened? While cleaning the storeroom, she said, she got a mosquito bite. It did swell a wee bit, so she applied the Band-Aid. I smiled. Thinking back of my country, I resisted telling her that if she were in Dhaka, her whole body would have been wrapped up by bandage then. But, it doesn’t apply solely for Dhaka, the most South Asian cities and countries are alike. Bengali poet, mockingly expressed his city life experience: Mosquitoes at night, flies during the day/ This is how in Kolkata I live. × Iswar Chandra Gupta, a nineteenth century Bengali poet, mockingly expressed his experience of living in a city: “Mosquitoes at night, flies during the day/ This is how in Kolkata I live.” While Kolkata, despite being the first capital of the British empire in India, has a long history malaria epidemic, Dhaka is slowing getting the world’s attention for its poor infrastructure. This is partly because after the creation of Bangladesh, Dhaka started booming without a plan, madly and uncontrollably. As the nation is on the verge of celebrating its 50-year birthday in 2021, it has already earned the reputation of being the worst city to live on this earth. Now, with this Chikunguniya outbreak, things can only go downhill.

Is Bangladesh equipped to fight Chikunguniya?

The building that used to house the Holey Artisan Bakery and O&#39; Kitchen Restaurant in Dhaka, where 23 people were killed in a terror attack on the night of July 1, 2016, will open for four hours on Saturday for relatives of the victims and the general public to pay their respects.&nbsp;

22 people were killed in the terror attack.&nbsp;

17 of the victims had been foreigners, one of whom had been a young Indian girl.&nbsp;

bdnews24 reported that on the first anniversary of the attack, house no. 5 on road no. 79 at Gulshan-2 will be open from 10 am&nbsp;to 2 pm.

The owners of the two-storey building, Samira Ahmmed and her husband Sadat Mehedi, are renovating it and plan on moving into it. &nbsp;

The couple took charge of the building in November last year following a court order.

&quot;We will manage to keep the compound open for four hours for the people to pay tribute to the victims. We`ve also sought law enforcers` help,&quot; Mehedi said.

The original eatery reopened this January at Rangs Arcade on Gulshan Avenue.

23 people had died in the attack on the Holey Artisan bakery on July 1, 2016

The building that used to house the Holey Artisan Bakery and O' Kitchen Restaurant in Dhaka, where 23 people were killed in a terror attack on the night of July 1, 2016, will open for four hours on Saturday for relatives of the victims and the general public to pay their respects. 22 people were killed in the terror attack. 17 of the victims had been foreigners, one of whom had been a young Indian girl. bdnews24 reported that on the first anniversary of the attack, house no. 5 on road no. 79 at Gulshan-2 will be open from 10 am to 2 pm. The owners of the two-storey building, Samira Ahmmed and her husband Sadat Mehedi, are renovating it and plan on moving into it. The couple took charge of the building in November last year following a court order. "We will manage to keep the compound open for four hours for the people to pay tribute to the victims. We`ve also sought law enforcers` help," Mehedi said. The original eatery reopened this January at Rangs Arcade on Gulshan Avenue.

On first anniversary, site of Dhaka cafe attack to open to public for 4 hours

In addition to English and Bengali, my three-and-a-half-year-old son is learning Arabic in school. Even he has Islam as a&nbsp;subject&nbsp;in his playgroup class.&nbsp;

Once, I happened to be in the school&#39;s sports room where children play with toys and listen to rhymes.&nbsp;The first rhyme they listened to was &ldquo;Bismillah Bismillah in the name of Allah&rdquo;. 
&nbsp; 
Some days later, one evening, I found my son flipping through his school book and reading to himself some Arabic alphabets. My wife was impressed. Who wouldn&rsquo;t be? In a country like Bangladesh, Arabic is not just a mere language but a symbol of Islam. &nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
I remember my school days when third grade onwards, we had mandatory religious studies. Muslim students would have to follow a curriculum in consonance with their religion while Hindus did likewise. The textbooks were akin to those studied in moral science lessons. The world is more advanced now. Probably, that is why children are being taught about religion at an earlier stage. 
&nbsp; 
It&rsquo;s not the same everywhere. Public schools follow a combined curriculum set by the government where religion is a compulsory subject from the third grade. But private schools, especially pre-schools, are at liberty to introduce it at earlier levels. Education, like many other things, has become a mushrooming business in Bangladesh. Inclusion of religion in the curriculum, no matter how young the children are, can make all the difference. This is done mainly to attract students, to persuade parents to send their wards to such schools. Ensuring proper education takes a backseat. &nbsp;&nbsp;

&nbsp;

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<h5>Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore famously said, &lsquo;&lsquo;First, know your own mother tongue, then English.&rsquo;&rsquo; He had travelled extensively and had observed&nbsp;that no country could prosper sans its mother language</h5>
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Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore famously said, &lsquo;&lsquo;First, know your own mother tongue, then English.&rsquo;&rsquo; He had travelled extensively and had observed&nbsp;that no country could prosper sans its mother language. Since the creation of Bangladesh, the quality of education has been on a downward spiral. Constant leaks of examination question papers are a big problem. As pass&nbsp;rates of students have been going&nbsp;up, the standard of education has been going&nbsp;down. 
&nbsp; 
The other day, a cousin of mine requested me to fill her bank account opening form which was in English. My cousin, who has a BA degree, cannot read the language. This brings us to an important question.&nbsp;What type&nbsp;of graduates is Bangladesh producing?&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
As a result of the disastrous Bengali medium education system, a number of parents are sending their kids to English medium schools while the poor children have the madrasa education system only. The situation has come to such a head that Dhaka has given the Dawra&nbsp;degree of Qawami madrasa the same recognition that is accorded to a university master&#39;s degree. Bangladesh is one country, there is one language but&nbsp;there are four types of education systems. &nbsp;

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<h5>Our language and culture are in grave danger in these dark&nbsp;moments</h5>
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&nbsp;

Few weeks ago, the ruling Awami League Party allegedly approved a project to build mosques and Islamic cultural centres in every district and sub-district across the country, with over $1 billion in funding from Saudi Arabia. The Saudi government has subsequently denied any such funding but it is known that the&nbsp;Kingdom, for long, has been known to fan Sunni extremism through these kind of donations around the globe. &nbsp;&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
Also, earlier this year, school textbooks in Bangladesh were changed to appease the Islamist groups, particularly Hefazat-e-Islam. This is an excerpt published in New York Times on February 3, 2017 on the matter:&nbsp;&lsquo;&lsquo;The Bengali letter &ldquo;o&rdquo;?used to stand for &ldquo;ol,&rdquo; a yam; now it stands for &ldquo;orna,&rdquo; a scarf worn by women for modesty. Texts by non-Muslim writers&mdash;including some revered as part of Bengali heritage, like the classical poet Gyandas or the contemporary novelist Sunil Gangopadhyay&mdash;have been removed. Also gone are a small excerpt from the Ramayana, a Hindu classic that Islamists reject as foreign to the Muslim canon, and songs of the Sufi icon Lalon Shah, whose syncretic faith is anathema to Muslim conservatives.&rsquo;&rsquo; &nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
This is not all. Removal of the statue of Lady Justice from the Supreme Court building also sent shockwaves through the secular sections of Bangladesh&#39;s people. Taking cue from this, now the Islamist groups want all statues in the country destroyed.&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
Our language and culture are in grave danger in these dark&nbsp;moments. The celebration of the Bengali New Year did not go smoothly this year. Some fundamentalist groups protested against the celebrations, terming the festivities un-Islamic and a rub-off of Hindu culture. &nbsp;&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
The consequences of this rampant Arabisation are everywhere &mdash; in thinking, and even in clothing. Over the last 20 years, there has been a remarkable increase in the number of women wearing hijab and burqa. On Dhaka&rsquo;s streets, it is quite normal to spot a five or a six-year-old girl, walking on the streets, covered head to toe. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

 
&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

School textbooks in Bangladesh were changed to appease Islamist groups

In addition to English and Bengali, my three-and-a-half-year-old son is learning Arabic in school. Even he has Islam as a subject in his playgroup class. Once, I happened to be in the school's sports room where children play with toys and listen to rhymes. The first rhyme they listened to was “Bismillah Bismillah in the name of Allah”. Some days later, one evening, I found my son flipping through his school book and reading to himself some Arabic alphabets. My wife was impressed. Who wouldn’t be? In a country like Bangladesh, Arabic is not just a mere language but a symbol of Islam. I remember my school days when third grade onwards, we had mandatory religious studies. Muslim students would have to follow a curriculum in consonance with their religion while Hindus did likewise. The textbooks were akin to those studied in moral science lessons. The world is more advanced now. Probably, that is why children are being taught about religion at an earlier stage. It’s not the same everywhere. Public schools follow a combined curriculum set by the government where religion is a compulsory subject from the third grade. But private schools, especially pre-schools, are at liberty to introduce it at earlier levels. Education, like many other things, has become a mushrooming business in Bangladesh. Inclusion of religion in the curriculum, no matter how young the children are, can make all the difference. This is done mainly to attract students, to persuade parents to send their wards to such schools. Ensuring proper education takes a backseat. Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore famously said, ‘‘First, know your own mother tongue, then English.’’ He had travelled extensively and had observed that no country could prosper sans its mother language × Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore famously said, ‘‘First, know your own mother tongue, then English.’’ He had travelled extensively and had observed that no country could prosper sans its mother language. Since the creation of Bangladesh, the quality of education has been on a downward spiral. Constant leaks of examination question papers are a big problem. As pass rates of students have been going up, the standard of education has been going down. The other day, a cousin of mine requested me to fill her bank account opening form which was in English. My cousin, who has a BA degree, cannot read the language. This brings us to an important question. What type of graduates is Bangladesh producing? As a result of the disastrous Bengali medium education system, a number of parents are sending their kids to English medium schools while the poor children have the madrasa education system only. The situation has come to such a head that Dhaka has given the Dawra degree of Qawami madrasa the same recognition that is accorded to a university master's degree. Bangladesh is one country, there is one language but there are four types of education systems. Our language and culture are in grave danger in these dark moments × Few weeks ago, the ruling Awami League Party allegedly approved a project to build mosques and Islamic cultural centres in every district and sub-district across the country, with over $1 billion in funding from Saudi Arabia. The Saudi government has subsequently denied any such funding but it is known that the Kingdom, for long, has been known to fan Sunni extremism through these kind of donations around the globe. Also, earlier this year, school textbooks in Bangladesh were changed to appease the Islamist groups, particularly Hefazat-e-Islam. This is an excerpt published in New York Times on February 3, 2017 on the matter: ‘‘The Bengali letter “o”?used to stand for “ol,” a yam; now it stands for “orna,” a scarf worn by women for modesty. Texts by non-Muslim writers—including some revered as part of Bengali heritage, like the classical poet Gyandas or the contemporary novelist Sunil Gangopadhyay—have been removed. Also gone are a small excerpt from the Ramayana, a Hindu classic that Islamists reject as foreign to the Muslim canon, and songs of the Sufi icon Lalon Shah, whose syncretic faith is anathema to Muslim conservatives.’’ This is not all. Removal of the statue of Lady Justice from the Supreme Court building also sent shockwaves through the secular sections of Bangladesh's people. Taking cue from this, now the Islamist groups want all statues in the country destroyed. Our language and culture are in grave danger in these dark moments. The celebration of the Bengali New Year did not go smoothly this year. Some fundamentalist groups protested against the celebrations, terming the festivities un-Islamic and a rub-off of Hindu culture. The consequences of this rampant Arabisation are everywhere — in thinking, and even in clothing. Over the last 20 years, there has been a remarkable increase in the number of women wearing hijab and burqa. On Dhaka’s streets, it is quite normal to spot a five or a six-year-old girl, walking on the streets, covered head to toe.

The rise of Islamism in Bangladesh threatens to destroy the country's Bengali way of life

I have been following anti-terrorist operations of the security forces closely, particularly since the Dhaka cafe attack in July 2016, which killed at least 20 civilians. The attack was claimed by the Islamic State overnight, before the Bangladesh government and its security agencies could confirm the identities of the terrorists inside the Holey Artisan Bakery, at the diplomatic area of Dhaka. 
&nbsp; 
The police since then have intensified their counter terrorist drive across the country. In six months between December 2016 and May 2017, at least <a href="http://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2017/04/01/four-children-among-seven-killed-in-moulvibazar-militant-hideout">32 suspected terrorists</a> have been killed. Five of them were children and four women.&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
Four of those killed are below the age of 10 including an infant.

Following the July cafe attack, modus operandi of the security forces have changed. Specialised units of the security forces, mostly the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crimes Unit carry out &quot;block raids&quot;, where they cordon off an area for several hours that would span a few days and subsequently result in suspected terrorists blowing only themselves up in &quot;suicide blasts&quot;.&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
As someone following the global terrorist activities, I have observed that most suicide blasts by extremists target individuals they consider infidels. 
&nbsp; 
Under current circumstances, the police crackdown on militancy in the country has two-pronged sentiments, 1. Fear in people&#39;s&nbsp;minds allow such police actions in the hope that this will curb militancy, and 2. Nature of these operations prompts curiosities. 
&nbsp; 
Media, including myself, can report only the narrative presented by the security forces. The operational areas are off-limits to civilians and journalists because of risk they pose to lives. 
&nbsp; 
Once they are killed, no knowledge about their whereabouts or family is available. In some <a href="http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/crime/2017/04/30/jhenaidah-militant-abdullah-among-deceased-operation-eagle-hunt">cases</a> even the police have not been able to identify the persons they suspected as terrorists.&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
Human rights organisation say that the style of the operations indicate that the security forces are pursuing a <a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/bangladesh-5-members-of-a-family-suspected-of-links-with-neo-jmb-killed-in-police-raid-15459">complete elimination of the suspects</a>, which prevents media from getting any more&nbsp;information beyond what is officially provided.&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
In &ldquo;Operation Hit Back&rdquo; at Moulvibazar, Sylhet on March 29, the police cordoned off the &ldquo;militant den&rdquo; for three days. They said there has been exchange of fire but eventually eight suspects, including four children below the age of ten killed themselves in suicide explosions. 
&nbsp; 
One of the children was an infant.&nbsp;

Platoons of policemen were deployed. What efforts were made to save the lives of the children in the three days? Are we then resorting to the narrative of compromising a few lives, in other words, human rights for the &quot;greater good&quot; of the society? 
&nbsp; 
In an earlier operation in Sylhet codenamed &ldquo;Operation Twilight&rdquo; as well as in &ldquo;Operation Hit Back&rdquo;, &ldquo;militant dens&rdquo; were planted with improvised explosive devices. Security personnel said the operations were sensitive because the buildings were planted with IED. Yet, the security forces were able to <a href="http://www.thedailystar.net/country/sporadic-gunshots-mark-day-3-sylhet-militant-den-raid-1381606">fire rocket launchers</a>&nbsp;at one of the buildings and continue exchanging fires disregarding the possibility that the terrorist could blow up the building. 
&nbsp; 
The nature of the anti-terrorist operations in Bangladesh since last July have been deadly and confrontational. The question is whether the confrontation could have been avoided. 
&nbsp; 
Bangladesh is known for being a tolerant Muslim-majority nation, where the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina thrives on the secular principle of the state. 
&nbsp; 
Although radicalisation has shown its ferocity through terror plots in the form of countrywide explosions and attacks waged at cultural programmes and political rallies in early 2000, the suicide explosions and confrontation between extremists and security forces in recent months have been unprecedented for the people of Bangladesh. It is indeed a grave concern how this group of radicals evolved in a country that has not seen such frequency of violence in the past. 
&nbsp; 
Extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances alarmed human rights organisations and civil society in Bangladesh. This has ensued for nearly a decade since the government of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia introduced paramilitary force Rapid Action Battalion. 
&nbsp; 
Human right groups report that such actions have not stopped entirely but the focus has largely shifted to the area of militancy and anti-terror raids. Some even question if this is the new face of extrajudicial killing.

(WION)

Bangladesh?s growing anti-terror raids raise concerns

I have been following anti-terrorist operations of the security forces closely, particularly since the Dhaka cafe attack in July 2016, which killed at least 20 civilians. The attack was claimed by the Islamic State overnight, before the Bangladesh government and its security agencies could confirm the identities of the terrorists inside the Holey Artisan Bakery, at the diplomatic area of Dhaka. The police since then have intensified their counter terrorist drive across the country. In six months between December 2016 and May 2017, at least 32 suspected terrorists have been killed. Five of them were children and four women. Four of those killed are below the age of 10 including an infant. Following the July cafe attack, modus operandi of the security forces have changed. Specialised units of the security forces, mostly the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crimes Unit carry out "block raids", where they cordon off an area for several hours that would span a few days and subsequently result in suspected terrorists blowing only themselves up in "suicide blasts". As someone following the global terrorist activities, I have observed that most suicide blasts by extremists target individuals they consider infidels. Under current circumstances, the police crackdown on militancy in the country has two-pronged sentiments, 1. Fear in people's minds allow such police actions in the hope that this will curb militancy, and 2. Nature of these operations prompts curiosities. Media, including myself, can report only the narrative presented by the security forces. The operational areas are off-limits to civilians and journalists because of risk they pose to lives. Once they are killed, no knowledge about their whereabouts or family is available. In some cases even the police have not been able to identify the persons they suspected as terrorists. Human rights organisation say that the style of the operations indicate that the security forces are pursuing a complete elimination of the suspects, which prevents media from getting any more information beyond what is officially provided. In “Operation Hit Back” at Moulvibazar, Sylhet on March 29, the police cordoned off the “militant den” for three days. They said there has been exchange of fire but eventually eight suspects, including four children below the age of ten killed themselves in suicide explosions. One of the children was an infant. Platoons of policemen were deployed. What efforts were made to save the lives of the children in the three days? Are we then resorting to the narrative of compromising a few lives, in other words, human rights for the "greater good" of the society? In an earlier operation in Sylhet codenamed “Operation Twilight” as well as in “Operation Hit Back”, “militant dens” were planted with improvised explosive devices. Security personnel said the operations were sensitive because the buildings were planted with IED. Yet, the security forces were able to fire rocket launchers at one of the buildings and continue exchanging fires disregarding the possibility that the terrorist could blow up the building. The nature of the anti-terrorist operations in Bangladesh since last July have been deadly and confrontational. The question is whether the confrontation could have been avoided. Bangladesh is known for being a tolerant Muslim-majority nation, where the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina thrives on the secular principle of the state. Although radicalisation has shown its ferocity through terror plots in the form of countrywide explosions and attacks waged at cultural programmes and political rallies in early 2000, the suicide explosions and confrontation between extremists and security forces in recent months have been unprecedented for the people of Bangladesh. It is indeed a grave concern how this group of radicals evolved in a country that has not seen such frequency of violence in the past. Extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances alarmed human rights organisations and civil society in Bangladesh. This has ensued for nearly a decade since the government of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia introduced paramilitary force Rapid Action Battalion. Human right groups report that such actions have not stopped entirely but the focus has largely shifted to the area of militancy and anti-terror raids. Some even question if this is the new face of extrajudicial killing. (WION)

Growing anti-terror raids in Bangladesh raise human right concerns

The sane people in Bangladesh do not think that Bangladesh and India are enemies although since 1975, right wing political forces have tried to paint such a picture. Even today, some fringe elements in the Bangladeshi intelligentsia keep peddling such a narrative to an audience that thrives on this.

However, over the past several years, the sensible quarters of the civil society and media have been able to reassert, by and large, the objective narrative of mutual trust and the benefits of Bangladesh-India cooperation and the need for strengthening it. India didn&rsquo;t do anything in the last 46 years that shows New Delhi&#39;s intent to gobble up Bangladesh. Nor it is possible. False fear mongering and small neighbour mentality are out.

There are big economic and political changes taking place in the region and beyond. It is an ongoing geopolitical game and all the interested parties are trying to get the most out of it through conventional non-violent means i.e. strategic posturing, economic cooperation, diplomacy, etc.

Unlike in the past, today, bigger domestic constituencies of leading developing countries are getting increasingly interested in their nations&#39; regional and global standings. Therefore, alongside international politics and security, other factors such as economic benefits, regional or international stature and even domestic politics have become important determinants of bilateral and multilateral relationship between countries.

Since the Narendra Modi-led Hindu nationalist BJP government came to power in India in 2014, riding on the development plank, India-Bangladesh relationship needed a reboot. The secular Awami League under Sheikh Hasina, with a history of good relations with the secular Indian National Congress, continued to be in power in Dhaka for a second term.

Both the governments realised that inter-state relations come ahead of inter-party relations across the border and thus developed a good working relationship. Moreover, Bangladesh and India have a shared history and commonalities of culture, not to mention the huge volume of bilateral trade and other interactions.

However, Bangladesh is an aspirational country and it is already the world&rsquo;s 31st largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity. It has a big population with a large number of young people who want jobs and a good life. Therefore, when it comes to economy, Bangladesh, like other Least Developed Countries (LDCs), needs more FDI in infrastructure, manufacturing, processing industries and other fields. As the western, Japanese and West Asian finances are drying out, China is fast stepping into that vacuum. It has overtaken India as the largest trading partner of Bangladesh. Bangladesh&#39;s military is also dependent on Chinese supply of military hardware as those are of reasonable standards and are affordable.

Bangladesh&rsquo;s cosiness with China seems to have puzzled India, Beijing&#39;s geopolitical competitor. It is a different matter that India is currently utilising China&rsquo;s economic rise and has replaced Pakistan as China&#39;s largest trade partner in South Asia.

To nullify the Bangladesh-China intimacy, India has proposed a long-term defence cooperation pact with Bangladesh which&nbsp;&nbsp;involves purchasing Indian military armaments, various military-to-military cooperation measures like training, capacity building, joint exercises, etc.

Much has not been disclosed but there is a sense that India would also seek a deeper military strategic alliance. This would serve the Modi government very well as the overall security and geopolitical rise of India are key promises made by Modi. If successful, this defence agreement with Bangladesh would help Modi in his 2019 re-election bid. He can then claim that he has been successful in &lsquo;isolating Pakistan in South Asia&rsquo; and &lsquo;resisting China in this part of South Asia&rsquo;.

What does this mean for Bangladesh and the Awami League government?

Bangladesh doesn&rsquo;t need Indian armaments which are not known for their quality although Dhaka may wish to reduce its dependence on Chinese armaments, owing to China&rsquo;s proximity to Myanmar. But for that, Dhaka would do better to look at Russia or Eastern Europe.

The Awami League government of Bangladesh, unlike the BJP in India, will be significantly embarrassed in the domestic political sphere if this agreement goes through. Its detractors have long accused it as a pro-India party.&nbsp;&nbsp;Moreover, Bangladesh still has important unresolved issues with India like water sharing of the Teesta and other rivers.

India also did not support Bangladesh on the humanitarian Rohingya issue, considering its own geostrategic interest in Myanmar. Most importantly, a comprehensive India-Bangladesh defence pact would inevitably raise the obvious question as to who the pact is against. It will send China, Bangladesh&rsquo;s strategic economic partner, a wrong signal. Beijing has just committed to invest a whopping $27 billion in Bangladesh while indicating that it could invest another $13 billion in the private sector. Bangladesh, therefore, will do well to keep out of the India-China geopolitical competition and engage in economic ties with both.

The Modi government made the lingering Land Boundary Agreement a reality and allowed more Bangladeshi products to reach the Indian markets without tariff. Bangladesh actively and consistently went after hideouts of northeast Indian insurgents along its border. Bangladesh will probably reciprocate by allowing India&rsquo;s landlocked northeast region to use its seaports for a reasonable fee.

Bangladesh doesn&rsquo;t consider India as an enemy but it is surrounded by the country on three sides. The adjacent northeastern region of India is a highly militarised zone and keeps Bangladesh wary at all times. It is also difficult for Bangladesh to gauge the direction of India&#39;s domestic politics in the light of anti-Bangladesh rhetoric, specially on immigrants, used in previous general elections. India&rsquo;s record of politico-military involvement in Sri Lanka also doesn&#39;t help.

Many Bangladeshis are worried about the state of Muslims in India as news of discrimination and persecution by Hindutva activists keep making news. On the other hand, Bangladesh&rsquo;s current relationship with Pakistan is moving from bad to worse. Currently, Bangladesh&rsquo;s relationship with the rest of the Islamic world is less cosy than in the past for obvious reasons. Even though India and Bangladesh share a warm relationship at present, Bangladesh doesn&rsquo;t want to put all its eggs in the same basket by aligning too closely with the saffron dispensation in New Delhi.

Therefore, neither Bangladesh wants acrimony with India nor does it need any defence cooperation. It&rsquo;s better that Bangladesh&rsquo;s defence remains independent of India. Rather, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on friendly coexistence and cooperation in countering terrorism and extremism would be a fair shot for both the countries. Hopefully, the Indian government would understand Bangladesh&rsquo;s conundrum and would settle for something sustainable for both the sides.

Dhaka and New Delhi should instead agree on friendly coexistence and cooperation in countering terrorism

The sane people in Bangladesh do not think that Bangladesh and India are enemies although since 1975, right wing political forces have tried to paint such a picture. Even today, some fringe elements in the Bangladeshi intelligentsia keep peddling such a narrative to an audience that thrives on this. However, over the past several years, the sensible quarters of the civil society and media have been able to reassert, by and large, the objective narrative of mutual trust and the benefits of Bangladesh-India cooperation and the need for strengthening it. India didn’t do anything in the last 46 years that shows New Delhi's intent to gobble up Bangladesh. Nor it is possible. False fear mongering and small neighbour mentality are out. There are big economic and political changes taking place in the region and beyond. It is an ongoing geopolitical game and all the interested parties are trying to get the most out of it through conventional non-violent means i.e. strategic posturing, economic cooperation, diplomacy, etc. Unlike in the past, today, bigger domestic constituencies of leading developing countries are getting increasingly interested in their nations' regional and global standings. Therefore, alongside international politics and security, other factors such as economic benefits, regional or international stature and even domestic politics have become important determinants of bilateral and multilateral relationship between countries. Since the Narendra Modi-led Hindu nationalist BJP government came to power in India in 2014, riding on the development plank, India-Bangladesh relationship needed a reboot. The secular Awami League under Sheikh Hasina, with a history of good relations with the secular Indian National Congress, continued to be in power in Dhaka for a second term. Both the governments realised that inter-state relations come ahead of inter-party relations across the border and thus developed a good working relationship. Moreover, Bangladesh and India have a shared history and commonalities of culture, not to mention the huge volume of bilateral trade and other interactions. However, Bangladesh is an aspirational country and it is already the world’s 31st largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity. It has a big population with a large number of young people who want jobs and a good life. Therefore, when it comes to economy, Bangladesh, like other Least Developed Countries (LDCs), needs more FDI in infrastructure, manufacturing, processing industries and other fields. As the western, Japanese and West Asian finances are drying out, China is fast stepping into that vacuum. It has overtaken India as the largest trading partner of Bangladesh. Bangladesh's military is also dependent on Chinese supply of military hardware as those are of reasonable standards and are affordable. Bangladesh’s cosiness with China seems to have puzzled India, Beijing's geopolitical competitor. It is a different matter that India is currently utilising China’s economic rise and has replaced Pakistan as China's largest trade partner in South Asia. To nullify the Bangladesh-China intimacy, India has proposed a long-term defence cooperation pact with Bangladesh which involves purchasing Indian military armaments, various military-to-military cooperation measures like training, capacity building, joint exercises, etc. Much has not been disclosed but there is a sense that India would also seek a deeper military strategic alliance. This would serve the Modi government very well as the overall security and geopolitical rise of India are key promises made by Modi. If successful, this defence agreement with Bangladesh would help Modi in his 2019 re-election bid. He can then claim that he has been successful in ‘isolating Pakistan in South Asia’ and ‘resisting China in this part of South Asia’. What does this mean for Bangladesh and the Awami League government? Bangladesh doesn’t need Indian armaments which are not known for their quality although Dhaka may wish to reduce its dependence on Chinese armaments, owing to China’s proximity to Myanmar. But for that, Dhaka would do better to look at Russia or Eastern Europe. The Awami League government of Bangladesh, unlike the BJP in India, will be significantly embarrassed in the domestic political sphere if this agreement goes through. Its detractors have long accused it as a pro-India party. Moreover, Bangladesh still has important unresolved issues with India like water sharing of the Teesta and other rivers. India also did not support Bangladesh on the humanitarian Rohingya issue, considering its own geostrategic interest in Myanmar. Most importantly, a comprehensive India-Bangladesh defence pact would inevitably raise the obvious question as to who the pact is against. It will send China, Bangladesh’s strategic economic partner, a wrong signal. Beijing has just committed to invest a whopping $27 billion in Bangladesh while indicating that it could invest another $13 billion in the private sector. Bangladesh, therefore, will do well to keep out of the India-China geopolitical competition and engage in economic ties with both. The Modi government made the lingering Land Boundary Agreement a reality and allowed more Bangladeshi products to reach the Indian markets without tariff. Bangladesh actively and consistently went after hideouts of northeast Indian insurgents along its border. Bangladesh will probably reciprocate by allowing India’s landlocked northeast region to use its seaports for a reasonable fee. Bangladesh doesn’t consider India as an enemy but it is surrounded by the country on three sides. The adjacent northeastern region of India is a highly militarised zone and keeps Bangladesh wary at all times. It is also difficult for Bangladesh to gauge the direction of India's domestic politics in the light of anti-Bangladesh rhetoric, specially on immigrants, used in previous general elections. India’s record of politico-military involvement in Sri Lanka also doesn't help. Many Bangladeshis are worried about the state of Muslims in India as news of discrimination and persecution by Hindutva activists keep making news. On the other hand, Bangladesh’s current relationship with Pakistan is moving from bad to worse. Currently, Bangladesh’s relationship with the rest of the Islamic world is less cosy than in the past for obvious reasons. Even though India and Bangladesh share a warm relationship at present, Bangladesh doesn’t want to put all its eggs in the same basket by aligning too closely with the saffron dispensation in New Delhi. Therefore, neither Bangladesh wants acrimony with India nor does it need any defence cooperation. It’s better that Bangladesh’s defence remains independent of India. Rather, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on friendly coexistence and cooperation in countering terrorism and extremism would be a fair shot for both the countries. Hopefully, the Indian government would understand Bangladesh’s conundrum and would settle for something sustainable for both the sides.

Why a long-term defence pact with India is not in Bangladesh?s interest

Indian foreign secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar is due in Dhaka tomorrow to convey a letter of invitation to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to meet her Indian counterpart Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi. 
&nbsp; 
Jaishankar would meet with Bangladesh foreign secretary Shahidul Haque to finalise the date and firm up the agendas to be discussed during her visit, which is expected in April. 
&nbsp; 
Bangladesh should be expecting an affirmation of commitment towards investments and lines of credit mostly in areas of infrastructure projects such as roads, railways, waterways and energy, Ambassador Munshi Faiz Ahmad, chairman of Bangladesh Institute of International Strategic Studies told WION. 
&nbsp; 
&ldquo;Around $11 billion of investments from India in the power, LNG (liquefied natural gas) and port sectors in Bangladesh are in the pipeline. India has also been offered sites by Bangladesh for setting up Special Economic Zones exclusively for Indian companies to invest,&rdquo; said Harsha Vardhan Shringla, the High Commissioner of India in Bangladesh in a statement last week. 
&nbsp; 
At $6.14 billion for financial year 2015-16, Bangladesh is India&rsquo;s largest trade partner in South Asia. 
&nbsp; 
The water sharing of Teesta, which has a downstream towards Bangladesh restrained during the period of irrigation, will not likely find a resolution even this time due to bureaucracy and strains between India&#39;s central and provincial government. 
&nbsp; 
&ldquo;We are in a way stuck on India&rsquo;s centre-provincial relations. It&rsquo;s not easy to get out of that,&rdquo; said Ahmad. 
&nbsp; 
There will likely be reaffirmation on security cooperation between the two countries that already shares &ldquo;extremely friendly cooperation on security matters and on issues of reducing threats of extremism, separatism and insurgency,&rdquo; he said. 
&nbsp; 
Ahmad expressed concerns over the non-traditional security issues across the frontiers between India and Bangladesh that stretch over 4,000 kilometres. The trafficking of contraband, cattle and even human is causing serious implications through killing of unarmed Bangladeshi people by the Indian border security. 
&nbsp; 
&ldquo;There is a marked reduction in it but it has not stopped completely and therefore we would like to see more progress on this,&rdquo; Ahmad shared with WION.

(WION)

At more than $6 billion for the financial year 2015-16, Bangladesh is India?s largest trade partner in South Asia

Indian foreign secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar is due in Dhaka tomorrow to convey a letter of invitation to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to meet her Indian counterpart Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi. Jaishankar would meet with Bangladesh foreign secretary Shahidul Haque to finalise the date and firm up the agendas to be discussed during her visit, which is expected in April. Bangladesh should be expecting an affirmation of commitment towards investments and lines of credit mostly in areas of infrastructure projects such as roads, railways, waterways and energy, Ambassador Munshi Faiz Ahmad, chairman of Bangladesh Institute of International Strategic Studies told WION. “Around $11 billion of investments from India in the power, LNG (liquefied natural gas) and port sectors in Bangladesh are in the pipeline. India has also been offered sites by Bangladesh for setting up Special Economic Zones exclusively for Indian companies to invest,” said Harsha Vardhan Shringla, the High Commissioner of India in Bangladesh in a statement last week. At $6.14 billion for financial year 2015-16, Bangladesh is India’s largest trade partner in South Asia. The water sharing of Teesta, which has a downstream towards Bangladesh restrained during the period of irrigation, will not likely find a resolution even this time due to bureaucracy and strains between India's central and provincial government. “We are in a way stuck on India’s centre-provincial relations. It’s not easy to get out of that,” said Ahmad. There will likely be reaffirmation on security cooperation between the two countries that already shares “extremely friendly cooperation on security matters and on issues of reducing threats of extremism, separatism and insurgency,” he said. Ahmad expressed concerns over the non-traditional security issues across the frontiers between India and Bangladesh that stretch over 4,000 kilometres. The trafficking of contraband, cattle and even human is causing serious implications through killing of unarmed Bangladeshi people by the Indian border security. “There is a marked reduction in it but it has not stopped completely and therefore we would like to see more progress on this,” Ahmad shared with WION. (WION)

India set to invest $11bn in Bangladesh power and port sectors

A protest against a $2.4-billion Chinese-backed power plant in&nbsp;Bangladesh turned violent, killing one person and injuring about a dozen, risking delay to a project seen as a symbol of warming ties between the two nations.

The coal-fired plant being built 265 km (165 miles) southeast of Dhaka, the capital, is a major draw for foreign investment in&nbsp;Bangladesh, and is expected to begin power generation by the end of 2019.

Police said security forces were guarding the site on Thursday to prevent disruption to construction work that villagers fear will force several evictions, disturb graveyards where relatives are buried, and damage the environment.

&quot;There is an uneasy situation, and police are patrolling the area to avoid any further clashes,&quot; said Alamgir Hussain, an official of the Banshkhali police station near the plant site.

Protesters were chanting slogans on Wednesday when project supporters attacked them, said Nurul Mostafa, a leader of the group that wants the plant shifted.

About a dozen people were injured in the clashes. A similar protest last year led to the deaths of four demonstrators, halting work on the plant.

Such protests risk delaying the project and hamper fund-raising efforts, said a senior official of conglomerate S Alam Group, which has a deal with China&#39;s SEPCOIII Electric Power Construction Corp to build the 1,320-MW plant.

&quot;We hope to resolve the problem soon, otherwise we may not be able to finish our project in time,&quot; said the official, who declined to be identified because he is not authorised to speak to the media.

Chinese banks are expected to provide 70 per cent of the projected investment, he added.

The plant will use the &quot;most sophisticated technology&quot; to reduce its environmental impact, said Masud Alam, chairman of the&nbsp;Bangladesh&nbsp;conglomerate, who offered to help with medical treatment for the injured.

Late last year, China signed 27 pacts worth billions of dollars with the south Asian nation, as it steps up a competition with India to build regional influence. It is also seeking to boost investment in another of India&#39;s neighbours, Sri Lanka.

&nbsp;

(Reuters)

The coal-fired plant being built 165 miles southeast of Dhaka, the capital, is a major draw for foreign investment in?Bangladesh

A protest against a $2.4-billion Chinese-backed power plant in Bangladesh turned violent, killing one person and injuring about a dozen, risking delay to a project seen as a symbol of warming ties between the two nations. The coal-fired plant being built 265 km (165 miles) southeast of Dhaka, the capital, is a major draw for foreign investment in Bangladesh, and is expected to begin power generation by the end of 2019. Police said security forces were guarding the site on Thursday to prevent disruption to construction work that villagers fear will force several evictions, disturb graveyards where relatives are buried, and damage the environment. "There is an uneasy situation, and police are patrolling the area to avoid any further clashes," said Alamgir Hussain, an official of the Banshkhali police station near the plant site. Protesters were chanting slogans on Wednesday when project supporters attacked them, said Nurul Mostafa, a leader of the group that wants the plant shifted. About a dozen people were injured in the clashes. A similar protest last year led to the deaths of four demonstrators, halting work on the plant. Such protests risk delaying the project and hamper fund-raising efforts, said a senior official of conglomerate S Alam Group, which has a deal with China's SEPCOIII Electric Power Construction Corp to build the 1,320-MW plant. "We hope to resolve the problem soon, otherwise we may not be able to finish our project in time," said the official, who declined to be identified because he is not authorised to speak to the media. Chinese banks are expected to provide 70 per cent of the projected investment, he added. The plant will use the "most sophisticated technology" to reduce its environmental impact, said Masud Alam, chairman of the Bangladesh conglomerate, who offered to help with medical treatment for the injured. Late last year, China signed 27 pacts worth billions of dollars with the south Asian nation, as it steps up a competition with India to build regional influence. It is also seeking to boost investment in another of India's neighbours, Sri Lanka. (Reuters)

Bangladesh: One killed in protest against Chinese-backed power plant

The typical assessment for militancy in Bangladesh has been a case of poverty and illiteracy. This year&nbsp;has seen suspects with diverse identities and ones that have until recently been unsuspected. 
&nbsp; 
Former defence personnel, educated youths and women are among members that have shocked people about the avenues of terrorist recruitment. 
&nbsp; 
The diversity of profiles that has&nbsp;become more apparent now is a result of an ideological environment that has extended a moral license to radicalisation. 
&nbsp; 
While security forces are on an all-out effort to crack down on militants in the country, Bangladesh is experiencing newer levels of extremism. 
&nbsp; 
The chief of Al-Qaida&rsquo;s local affiliate Ansar Al Islam is Syed Ziaul Haque, a former major who was sacked from Bangladesh Army in 2011. Dhaka&rsquo;s counter terrorist forces killed&nbsp;Jahidul Islam, another former major, who was one of the leaders of Neo Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh. 
&nbsp; 
There are youths from educated and affluent backgrounds joining terrorist outfits. This first came to prominence through the July attack at the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka, where at least three of the attackers came from top universities and schools. 
&nbsp; 
The latest revelation for Bangladesh is how women have joined militant outfits to become suicide bombers. 
&nbsp; 
The latest raid at Ashkona in Dhaka on December 24, titled &ldquo;Operation Ripple 24&rdquo;, revealed how terrorists have motivated female members into becoming suicide bombers. While two suspected female militants surrendered to the police during the raid, one of them blew herself up. This is the first time Bangladesh has seen radicalised women go to such an extreme. 
&nbsp; 
Security forces say that most of the Bangladeshi female radicals were influenced by their husbands and that they did not voluntarily become radicals. That is still a considerable threat. Expanding tribes through kinship in the Chinese dynasties has been a political strategy to keep supremacy as early as in 1500 BC. Such practice has evolved among political parties, even in Bangladesh. 
&nbsp; 
WION has learned&nbsp;from investigators that contrary to the belief that the female jihadists became radicalised under pressure of their husbands, there are also those such as Jebunnahar Shila, wife of deceased militant Jahidul Islam, who is&nbsp;defensive about her extremist values. 
&nbsp; 
&ldquo;We need to recognise that the threat as we knew it has evolved quite substantially. The type of people who were attracted to militancy and the radical path in the past, the profiles of those individuals have changed a lot,&rdquo; says Shafqat Munir, a research fellow with Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies. 
&nbsp; 
&ldquo;When we look at 2017, we have to acknowledge that the threat is substantial and various new kinds of people are getting attracted to radical ideology. So our countering violent extremism and counter radicalisation strategy have to be geared towards that,&rdquo; he tells WION. 
&nbsp; 
Investigators are saying that youths devoid of the history and culture of Bangladesh are more susceptible to radicalisation. As a result, although there is no one theory explaining what is motivating the youths irrespective of their socioeconomic backgrounds to become radical, clearly the access and exposure of extremist ideologies have become more pervasive. 
&nbsp; 
No militant attacks have occurred since July in Dhaka, but the tension is no longer local. Under cover of religious virtues, terrorism seeks to lend local and personal grievances a global perspective. There is an awkward silence in the atmosphere, where security analysts fear that the possibility of more attacks cannot be ruled out.

(WION)

The old profile of radicals is expanding.?Former defence personnel, educated youths and women have taken part in terror activity this year

The typical assessment for militancy in Bangladesh has been a case of poverty and illiteracy. This year has seen suspects with diverse identities and ones that have until recently been unsuspected. Former defence personnel, educated youths and women are among members that have shocked people about the avenues of terrorist recruitment. The diversity of profiles that has become more apparent now is a result of an ideological environment that has extended a moral license to radicalisation. While security forces are on an all-out effort to crack down on militants in the country, Bangladesh is experiencing newer levels of extremism. The chief of Al-Qaida’s local affiliate Ansar Al Islam is Syed Ziaul Haque, a former major who was sacked from Bangladesh Army in 2011. Dhaka’s counter terrorist forces killed Jahidul Islam, another former major, who was one of the leaders of Neo Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh. There are youths from educated and affluent backgrounds joining terrorist outfits. This first came to prominence through the July attack at the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka, where at least three of the attackers came from top universities and schools. The latest revelation for Bangladesh is how women have joined militant outfits to become suicide bombers. The latest raid at Ashkona in Dhaka on December 24, titled “Operation Ripple 24”, revealed how terrorists have motivated female members into becoming suicide bombers. While two suspected female militants surrendered to the police during the raid, one of them blew herself up. This is the first time Bangladesh has seen radicalised women go to such an extreme. Security forces say that most of the Bangladeshi female radicals were influenced by their husbands and that they did not voluntarily become radicals. That is still a considerable threat. Expanding tribes through kinship in the Chinese dynasties has been a political strategy to keep supremacy as early as in 1500 BC. Such practice has evolved among political parties, even in Bangladesh. WION has learned from investigators that contrary to the belief that the female jihadists became radicalised under pressure of their husbands, there are also those such as Jebunnahar Shila, wife of deceased militant Jahidul Islam, who is defensive about her extremist values. “We need to recognise that the threat as we knew it has evolved quite substantially. The type of people who were attracted to militancy and the radical path in the past, the profiles of those individuals have changed a lot,” says Shafqat Munir, a research fellow with Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies. “When we look at 2017, we have to acknowledge that the threat is substantial and various new kinds of people are getting attracted to radical ideology. So our countering violent extremism and counter radicalisation strategy have to be geared towards that,” he tells WION. Investigators are saying that youths devoid of the history and culture of Bangladesh are more susceptible to radicalisation. As a result, although there is no one theory explaining what is motivating the youths irrespective of their socioeconomic backgrounds to become radical, clearly the access and exposure of extremist ideologies have become more pervasive. No militant attacks have occurred since July in Dhaka, but the tension is no longer local. Under cover of religious virtues, terrorism seeks to lend local and personal grievances a global perspective. There is an awkward silence in the atmosphere, where security analysts fear that the possibility of more attacks cannot be ruled out. (WION)

?Terrorism, beyond the poor and illiterate: Bangladesh case study

A massive fire broke out Saturday morning in a four-storey garment packaging factory in Ghazipur, just north of the Bangladesh capital, killing at least 25 people, government officials said. 
 
As many as 70 others sustained burn injuries after the fire broke out following a boiler explosion at the factory, AFP reported.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;The death toll has risen to 25 and at least 70 people have been injured,&quot; Parvez Mia, a doctor at the Tongi state-run hospital, told AFP. &nbsp;&quot;Most of them had burn injuries. We sent the critically injured victims to the hospitals in Dhaka,&quot; he said. 
 
&quot;The fire broke out in the morning just when work was about to start,&quot; fire official Mohammad Akhtaruzzaman was quoted as saying by Reuters. 
 
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About 100 people were working &nbsp;at the factory in the industrial town of Tongi when flames tore through the building following an explosion in the boiler room.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;The fire is still not under control,&quot; police inspector Sirajul Islam told AFP. Tahmidul Islam of Bangladesh&#39;s industrial police unit pointed out chemicals may have been stored on the ground floor of the factory.&nbsp; 
 
Police say they are concerned many workers may still be trapped inside the building. 
 
Bangladesh is world&#39;s second-biggest apparel exporter after China; however, fires and similar accidents are common in the factories that make up the $27-billion garment industry. &nbsp; 
 
More than 1,100 workers died in a 2013 building collapse that ranks as the country&#39;s worst industrial disaster. Earlier in &nbsp;November 2012, at least 111 workers were killed when a devastating fire engulfed a nine-storey garment factory in the Ashulia industrial area, outside the capital Dhaka. 
 
(WION with inputs from agencies)&nbsp; 
 
 
 
&nbsp;

About 100 people were working ?at the factory in the industrial town of Tongi when flames tore through the building

A massive fire broke out Saturday morning in a four-storey garment packaging factory in Ghazipur, just north of the Bangladesh capital, killing at least 25 people, government officials said. As many as 70 others sustained burn injuries after the fire broke out following a boiler explosion at the factory, AFP reported. "The death toll has risen to 25 and at least 70 people have been injured," Parvez Mia, a doctor at the Tongi state-run hospital, told AFP. "Most of them had burn injuries. We sent the critically injured victims to the hospitals in Dhaka," he said. "The fire broke out in the morning just when work was about to start," fire official Mohammad Akhtaruzzaman was quoted as saying by Reuters. Bangladesh is the world's second-biggest apparel exporter after China but fires are common in the factories that make up the $27-billion industry About 100 people were working at the factory in the industrial town of Tongi when flames tore through the building following an explosion in the boiler room. "The fire is still not under control," police inspector Sirajul Islam told AFP. Tahmidul Islam of Bangladesh's industrial police unit pointed out chemicals may have been stored on the ground floor of the factory. Police say they are concerned many workers may still be trapped inside the building. Bangladesh is world's second-biggest apparel exporter after China; however, fires and similar accidents are common in the factories that make up the $27-billion garment industry. More than 1,100 workers died in a 2013 building collapse that ranks as the country's worst industrial disaster. Earlier in November 2012, at least 111 workers were killed when a devastating fire engulfed a nine-storey garment factory in the Ashulia industrial area, outside the capital Dhaka. (WION with inputs from agencies)

Bangladesh garment factory fire kills at least 25, 70 injured

Bangladesh police killed the deputy of the Dhaka attack mastermind during a raid on a house in the city&#39;s Rupnagar area .&nbsp; 
 
The militant, identified as the leader of the Islamic fundamentalist organisation Neo-Jama&#39;atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), had helped the mastermind Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury to plan the Holey Artisan bakery seige in Dhaka on July 1. 
 
The attack had killed 22 people, including 16 foreigners and an Indian girl. 
 
Detective Branch additional deputy commissioner Sanwar Hossain identified the deceased as &#39;Murad&#39;. He was known as &#39;Major Murad&#39; in the terrorist organisation, police&#39;s counter-terrorism unit chief Monirul Islam said.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;We raided the house on information that he had rented it,&quot; Hossain was quoted as saying by BD News. 
 
Three policemen, including the officer in charge of the nearby police station, were injured in the gunfight and were being treated at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital. 
 
&quot;He (Murad) stabbed police officers when they entered the house. He died after being hit by a bullet during a scuffle that ensued when he tried to flee,&quot; the police official said.&nbsp; 
 
Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury, the alleged mastermind of the attack, was killed in a house raid in Narayanganj on August 27. 
 
The Islamic State had claimed responsibility of the attack but the Bangladesh police believe that it was a home-grown Islamist organisation that carried it out.&nbsp; 
 
(WION with inputs from PTI) 
 
&nbsp;

The militant was killed during a raid on a house in Dhaka's Rupnagar area

Bangladesh police killed the deputy of the Dhaka attack mastermind during a raid on a house in the city's Rupnagar area . The militant, identified as the leader of the Islamic fundamentalist organisation Neo-Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), had helped the mastermind Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury to plan the Holey Artisan bakery seige in Dhaka on July 1. The attack had killed 22 people, including 16 foreigners and an Indian girl. Detective Branch additional deputy commissioner Sanwar Hossain identified the deceased as 'Murad'. He was known as 'Major Murad' in the terrorist organisation, police's counter-terrorism unit chief Monirul Islam said. "We raided the house on information that he had rented it," Hossain was quoted as saying by BD News. Three policemen, including the officer in charge of the nearby police station, were injured in the gunfight and were being treated at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital. "He (Murad) stabbed police officers when they entered the house. He died after being hit by a bullet during a scuffle that ensued when he tried to flee," the police official said. Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury, the alleged mastermind of the attack, was killed in a house raid in Narayanganj on August 27. The Islamic State had claimed responsibility of the attack but the Bangladesh police believe that it was a home-grown Islamist organisation that carried it out. (WION with inputs from PTI)

Deputy of Dhaka cafe attack mastermind shot dead

A Bangladeshi court today issued arrest warrants against 67 BNP leaders and activists, including top aides of former prime minister Khaleda Zia, in a case related to last year&#39;s violent campaign spearheaded by the opposition party in which more than 100 people died. 
 
&quot;The court issued the warrant taking into cognizance a case against them under the (tough) Special Powers Act,&quot; an official of Metropolitan Sessions Judges Court said.&nbsp;Justice Kamrul Hossain Mollah passed the order after accepting the charges pressed against 93 people but issued the warrants against 67 people, including BNP&#39;s vice chairman and former minister Selima Rahman, Zia&#39;s press secretary Maruf Kamal Sohel and her special aide Shimul Biswas.&nbsp; 
 
The court directed the police to submit a report on October 10 on the execution of the warrants.&nbsp;Legal experts, however, said the accused might seek the reversal of the order by a High Court. 
 
Police earlier said that the 67 people were accused of attacking and damaging buses and cars and obstructing police in discharging duties in a particular incident at Mugda area of the capital in February last year.&nbsp;More than 100 people died in arson attacks on vehicles. 
 
The BNP-led four-party alliance boycotted the January 2014 general elections, saying polls with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina&#39;s government in power would not be credible.&nbsp;And the main opposition party outside the Parliament waged a protracted and violent street campaign, coinciding with the first anniversary of the second consecutive term of the incumbent regime. 
 
BNP and its right-wing allies had enforced a nationwide blockade last year. Zia and 50 other leaders and activists of her party were charged earlier in a Dhaka court in two cases over the violence. Police accused her of instigating party activists to torch buses and trigger explosions. 
 
(PTI)

Police said thoe accused attacked buses and cars, and obstructed police, in an incident which killed more than 100 people

A Bangladeshi court today issued arrest warrants against 67 BNP leaders and activists, including top aides of former prime minister Khaleda Zia, in a case related to last year's violent campaign spearheaded by the opposition party in which more than 100 people died. "The court issued the warrant taking into cognizance a case against them under the (tough) Special Powers Act," an official of Metropolitan Sessions Judges Court said. Justice Kamrul Hossain Mollah passed the order after accepting the charges pressed against 93 people but issued the warrants against 67 people, including BNP's vice chairman and former minister Selima Rahman, Zia's press secretary Maruf Kamal Sohel and her special aide Shimul Biswas. The court directed the police to submit a report on October 10 on the execution of the warrants. Legal experts, however, said the accused might seek the reversal of the order by a High Court. Police earlier said that the 67 people were accused of attacking and damaging buses and cars and obstructing police in discharging duties in a particular incident at Mugda area of the capital in February last year. More than 100 people died in arson attacks on vehicles. The BNP-led four-party alliance boycotted the January 2014 general elections, saying polls with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government in power would not be credible. And the main opposition party outside the Parliament waged a protracted and violent street campaign, coinciding with the first anniversary of the second consecutive term of the incumbent regime. BNP and its right-wing allies had enforced a nationwide blockade last year. Zia and 50 other leaders and activists of her party were charged earlier in a Dhaka court in two cases over the violence. Police accused her of instigating party activists to torch buses and trigger explosions. (PTI)

Bangladesh court issues arrest warrants for 67 opposition leaders and activists

Bangladeshi and Indian rescuers pulled two Indian fishermen alive today from the Bay of Bengal one day after their trawler capsized, but 10 others were still missing, officials said. 
 
Five bodies have also been recovered, as naval and coast guard rescuers search an area just south of the huge Sundarbans mangrove forest that straddles both countries. 
 
&quot;So far two fishermen were rescued alive and we recovered five bodies,&quot; Tapushi Rabeya, a Bangladesh defence ministry spokesperson, told AFP. 
 
The trawler sent out a distress signal in rough seas on Saturday, some 40 nautical miles (70 kilometres) south of Hiron Point, a docking station in the Sundarbans. 
 
Rescuers have located the sunken boat but efforts to find the fishermen were being hampered by continuing bad weather. 
 
Two Bangladesh naval ships, three coast guard speedboats and a maritime patrol plane have been deployed in the search. 
 
&quot;Indian coastguards and patrol aircraft have also joined us in the rescue mission,&quot; a senior naval officer told AFP. 
 
&quot;The sunken vessel has been located and the Bangladeshi and Indian rescue teams were trying to salvage it. But the rescue efforts have been hampered by very rough seas,&quot; he said. 
 
The Sundarbans is the world&#39;s largest mangrove forest and the Hiron docking station is popular with both fishermen and tourists. 
 
(AFP)&nbsp;

The fishermen were rescued alive today from the Bay of Bengal, a day after their trawler capsized

Bangladeshi and Indian rescuers pulled two Indian fishermen alive today from the Bay of Bengal one day after their trawler capsized, but 10 others were still missing, officials said. Five bodies have also been recovered, as naval and coast guard rescuers search an area just south of the huge Sundarbans mangrove forest that straddles both countries. "So far two fishermen were rescued alive and we recovered five bodies," Tapushi Rabeya, a Bangladesh defence ministry spokesperson, told AFP. The trawler sent out a distress signal in rough seas on Saturday, some 40 nautical miles (70 kilometres) south of Hiron Point, a docking station in the Sundarbans. Rescuers have located the sunken boat but efforts to find the fishermen were being hampered by continuing bad weather. Two Bangladesh naval ships, three coast guard speedboats and a maritime patrol plane have been deployed in the search. "Indian coastguards and patrol aircraft have also joined us in the rescue mission," a senior naval officer told AFP. "The sunken vessel has been located and the Bangladeshi and Indian rescue teams were trying to salvage it. But the rescue efforts have been hampered by very rough seas," he said. The Sundarbans is the world's largest mangrove forest and the Hiron docking station is popular with both fishermen and tourists. (AFP)

Rescuers find 2 Indian fishermen in Bangladesh, 10 still missing

More than a month after the attack on Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka sent shockwaves across Bangladesh, two photographs of a British citizen who was at the cafe on the fateful night have surfaced, where he is seen with one of the supected perpetrators.&nbsp; 
 
The photographs show Briton Hasnat Karim, a university teacher, and Canadian university student Tahmid Hasib, along with one of the gunmen, Rohan Imtiaz, who attacked the cafe, Bangladesh newspaper, the Daily Star, has reported. 
 
The report points out Hasnat went to the restaurant with his wife and two children, according to family members, to celebrate the birthday of one of his daughters on July 3 when the bakery was attacked.&nbsp; 
 
The assailants, however, allowed the family to leave, before the siege, said the newspaper report.&nbsp; 
 
In the photographs, the millitant and Tahmid are seen holding firearms while talking with Hasnat at the rooftop of the cafe.&nbsp; 
 
The Daily Star report underlines that Hasnat and Tahmid were granted remand on August 4 for eight days after police sought a 10-day remand for each claiming that they &ldquo;instigated&rdquo; the Gulshan caf? attackers.&nbsp; 
 
(WION)&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

The photographs show Briton Hasnat Karim, a university teacher and Canadian student Tahmid Hasib, along with alleged gunman Rohan Imtiaz

More than a month after the attack on Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka sent shockwaves across Bangladesh, two photographs of a British citizen who was at the cafe on the fateful night have surfaced, where he is seen with one of the supected perpetrators. The photographs show Briton Hasnat Karim, a university teacher, and Canadian university student Tahmid Hasib, along with one of the gunmen, Rohan Imtiaz, who attacked the cafe, Bangladesh newspaper, the Daily Star, has reported. The report points out Hasnat went to the restaurant with his wife and two children, according to family members, to celebrate the birthday of one of his daughters on July 3 when the bakery was attacked. The assailants, however, allowed the family to leave, before the siege, said the newspaper report. In the photographs, the millitant and Tahmid are seen holding firearms while talking with Hasnat at the rooftop of the cafe. The Daily Star report underlines that Hasnat and Tahmid were granted remand on August 4 for eight days after police sought a 10-day remand for each claiming that they “instigated” the Gulshan caf? attackers. (WION)

British teacher suspected of instigating Dhaka attackers seen with 'terrorist' in new photos: Daily Star

The Bangladesh education ministry has asked the home ministry to shut down the country&#39;s &ldquo;peace schools&rdquo; without further delay. 
 
&ldquo;We have taken the decision as the educational institutions have no approval from the government,&rdquo; education minister Nurul Islam Nahid told The Daily Star on Tuesday evening. &ldquo;No institute can run without following rules and regulations.&rdquo; 
 
The shut down of the schools was ordered following intelligence and media reports that the schools&#39; curriculum promoted religious extremism.&nbsp; 
 
&ldquo;As we did not approve them (peace schools), we have nothing to do with them. These unapproved schools must be closed with the force of law enforcers. That&#39;s why we have made the call to the home ministry,&rdquo; a senior education ministry official told the Daily Star. 
 
The schools have been up and running due to a lack of government oversight, he added. 
 
The directive -- to shut down the schools -- was passed after detailed discussion of an intelligence report about the operations of the peace schools, the Daily Star&nbsp;quoted sources who had been part of that meeting as saying. 
 
According to the report, as many as 27 schools in six districts were regulated by Jamaat-e-Islami and a part of their earnings was spent on the party&#39;s organisational activities. 
 
(WION web team)

Officials said the schools had been up and running due to a lack of government oversight

The Bangladesh education ministry has asked the home ministry to shut down the country's “peace schools” without further delay. “We have taken the decision as the educational institutions have no approval from the government,” education minister Nurul Islam Nahid told The Daily Star on Tuesday evening. “No institute can run without following rules and regulations.” The shut down of the schools was ordered following intelligence and media reports that the schools' curriculum promoted religious extremism. “As we did not approve them (peace schools), we have nothing to do with them. These unapproved schools must be closed with the force of law enforcers. That's why we have made the call to the home ministry,” a senior education ministry official told the Daily Star. The schools have been up and running due to a lack of government oversight, he added. The directive -- to shut down the schools -- was passed after detailed discussion of an intelligence report about the operations of the peace schools, the Daily Star quoted sources who had been part of that meeting as saying. According to the report, as many as 27 schools in six districts were regulated by Jamaat-e-Islami and a part of their earnings was spent on the party's organisational activities. (WION web team)

Bangladesh orders closure of 'peace schools' which reportedly promoted religious extremism

A Canadian citizen was one of the masterminds behind a mass killing at a Dhaka cafe, Bangladesh police said on Saturday, after new information came to light following a raid on an extremist hideout. 
 
Tamim Chowdhury, whose whereabouts are unknown, returned to Bangladesh from Canada three years ago. He has since led and financed efforts to radicalise young Muslims, officers with knowledge of a probe into recent attacks told AFP. 
 
The dual Canadian-Bangladeshi national, in his early 30s, is thought by counter-terrorism officials to lead a faction of the Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) militant group, blamed for scores of murders of foreigners and religious minorities. 
 
Five assailants stormed an upscale cafe in Dhaka&#39;s Gulshan neighbourhood on July 1 and killed 20 hostages, including 18 foreigners in Bangladesh&#39;s deadliest single militant attack.&nbsp;A week later, gunmen attacked an Eid prayer gathering of 250,000 people held to mark the end of Ramadan, killing three. 
 
&quot;So far what we learnt is that Tamim Chowdhury is one of the masterminds of the attacks of Gulshan cafe and Sholakia Eid prayer ground,&quot; an officer told AFP on condition of anonymity. 
 
&quot;He trained the extremists behind the two attacks and the nine extremists killed at Kalyanpur,&quot; the officer said, referring to a shoot-out by police at a flat used as an extremist hideout on Tuesday.&nbsp;He added that Chowdhury &quot;has been working to radicalise&quot; young Muslims. 
 
Another senior police officer told AFP that Chowdhury&#39;s role in fostering extremism was revealed during the interrogation of Rakibul Hasan, 25, who was arrested in the raid on the hideout. 
 
According to a police first information report into the raid, seen by AFP, Chowdhury and others gave him and the nine militants killed in the raid &quot;money, explosives and weapons&quot; and &quot;trained and advised&quot; them. 
 
Hasan told police during the interrogation that Chowdhury &quot;used to visit the extremists&#39; flat and give them necessary funds and encourage them by talking about jihad and religious issues,&quot; the report said. 
 
Authorities blame the JMB militant group for the attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka and the assault on the Eid gathering.&nbsp;However, the Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the cafe attack, releasing photos of the carnage and of extremists posing with the group&#39;s flag. 
 
Arrested extremist Hasan told police the group busted in the raid were members of IS, with officers recovering its signature black flags and robes from their hideout.&nbsp;But the national police chief A K M Shahidul Hoque has rejected that claim, asserting that they were members of the banned JMB. 
 
Another senior officer told AFP that foreign intelligence agencies sounded alarm bells on Chowdhury&#39;s extremist activities a year ago.&nbsp;Police are investigating whether the JMB faction allegedly led by Chowdhury has any ties with IS. 
 
(AFP)

Tamim Chowdhury's role supplying 'money, explosives and weapons' was revealed while interrogating a fellow militant arrested in a raid

A Canadian citizen was one of the masterminds behind a mass killing at a Dhaka cafe, Bangladesh police said on Saturday, after new information came to light following a raid on an extremist hideout. Tamim Chowdhury, whose whereabouts are unknown, returned to Bangladesh from Canada three years ago. He has since led and financed efforts to radicalise young Muslims, officers with knowledge of a probe into recent attacks told AFP. The dual Canadian-Bangladeshi national, in his early 30s, is thought by counter-terrorism officials to lead a faction of the Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) militant group, blamed for scores of murders of foreigners and religious minorities. Five assailants stormed an upscale cafe in Dhaka's Gulshan neighbourhood on July 1 and killed 20 hostages, including 18 foreigners in Bangladesh's deadliest single militant attack. A week later, gunmen attacked an Eid prayer gathering of 250,000 people held to mark the end of Ramadan, killing three. "So far what we learnt is that Tamim Chowdhury is one of the masterminds of the attacks of Gulshan cafe and Sholakia Eid prayer ground," an officer told AFP on condition of anonymity. "He trained the extremists behind the two attacks and the nine extremists killed at Kalyanpur," the officer said, referring to a shoot-out by police at a flat used as an extremist hideout on Tuesday. He added that Chowdhury "has been working to radicalise" young Muslims. Another senior police officer told AFP that Chowdhury's role in fostering extremism was revealed during the interrogation of Rakibul Hasan, 25, who was arrested in the raid on the hideout. According to a police first information report into the raid, seen by AFP, Chowdhury and others gave him and the nine militants killed in the raid "money, explosives and weapons" and "trained and advised" them. Hasan told police during the interrogation that Chowdhury "used to visit the extremists' flat and give them necessary funds and encourage them by talking about jihad and religious issues," the report said. Authorities blame the JMB militant group for the attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka and the assault on the Eid gathering. However, the Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the cafe attack, releasing photos of the carnage and of extremists posing with the group's flag. Arrested extremist Hasan told police the group busted in the raid were members of IS, with officers recovering its signature black flags and robes from their hideout. But the national police chief A K M Shahidul Hoque has rejected that claim, asserting that they were members of the banned JMB. Another senior officer told AFP that foreign intelligence agencies sounded alarm bells on Chowdhury's extremist activities a year ago. Police are investigating whether the JMB faction allegedly led by Chowdhury has any ties with IS. (AFP)

Canadian citizen confirmed mastermind behind Dhaka siege

Emdadul Islam&#39;s three-decade-long career in Bangladesh&#39;s garment trade has seen the industry hit by riots, labour unrest, power shortages and safety scandals, but he had never lost faith in its ability to weather the latest crisis and continue to grow. 
 
Now, after a group of radicalised young Bangladeshis killed about 20 people, including 18 foreigners, in an attack on an upscale Dhaka restaurant claimed by Islamic State, he fears for the future of the $28 billion sector. 
 
&quot;I thought it impossible for this to happen in Bangladesh,&quot; said Islam, a director of Babylon Group, which makes garments for international brands like H&amp;M and Tesco. &quot;It was just a nightmare. This is not Afghanistan, or Pakistan, or something.&quot; 
 
Bangladesh relies on garments for more than 80 per cent of its exports and roughly 4 million jobs. It ranks behind only China as a clothing supplier to developed markets in Europe and the United States. 
 
But the July 1 attack has confronted the industry with its biggest image crisis since the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory building in 2013, with some fearing security worries could cripple a sector that is the lifeblood of the economy. 
 
&quot;I never thought Islamic extremism would be a big threat to the industry directly, and I never thought it would happen quite like this,&quot; said Rubana Huq, managing director at the Mohammadi Group, which owns a string of garment factories and other businesses. 
 
Foreign companies, including Japan&#39;s Uniqlo, have suspended all but critical travel to the country since the attack, although there are no signs yet of big players moving orders elsewhere. The government says it has stepped up security for foreign business travellers, investors and diplomats. 
 
Black Friday 
 
Despite a long history of turbulent domestic politics that often spills onto the streets, Islam said the relative stability of Bangladesh compared with rival manufacturing bases had been an important factor in the rise of its garment sector. 
 
&quot;When we started in the 1980s, Sri Lanka at that time was in a very volatile situation, so companies came to us. They wanted Bangladesh to produce - that&#39;s how we grew,&quot; said Islam, 60, one of the founding partners of garment maker Babylon Group back in 1986. 
 
Islamic State and al-Qaeda have made competing claims for a series of killings of liberals and members of Bangladesh&#39;s religious minorities in the past year.&nbsp;But the July 1 attack signalled a far more sophisticated threat from those seeking to replace the mainly Muslim country&#39;s secular democracy with strict Islamic rule. 
 
&quot;On that night, we lost the identity of our country,&quot; said Mesbha Uddin Ali, chairman of garment maker Wega Group. 
 
What has been particularly shocking to many middle-class Bangladeshis is that the attackers mostly came from well-to-do backgrounds, and appear to have been radicalised only recently. 
 
&quot;One of my friends called it &#39;Black Friday&#39;, which I think was pretty accurate,&quot; said an American in the garment industry, who has been living in Bangladesh for seven years. 
 
&quot;Bangladesh has such a strong family culture, and yet the fact that these young, educated boys chose to leave that and do something like this is shocking.&quot; 
 
Many of the victims of the latest attack worked in the garment trade, and the US executive, who declined to be identified due to personal safety concerns, said it had prompted him to take extra precautions. 
 
&quot;I don&#39;t walk anymore,&quot; he said. &quot;I don&#39;t take the rickshaws anymore. And I&#39;m not a man who likes to waste time, or money, so I did take a rickshaw for short distances. Now I just lay low.&quot; 
 
Some local executives have taken more drastic measures.&nbsp;&quot;Earlier I had this pistol, but it was never loaded and I did not carry it,&quot; said Mohsin Uddin Ahmed Niru, a director of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA). &quot;Now I carry it every day.&quot; 
 
Warning signs 
 
There had been warning signs that the radicalisation threat in Bangladesh was growing.&nbsp;An Italian aid worker was shot dead in Dhaka&#39;s diplomatic quarter in September 2015, in the same week masked gunmen killed a Japanese farmer in northern Bangladesh. 
 
In response, the government deployed paramilitary soldiers on night-time patrols in the diplomatic quarter and a number of companies stepped up security for visiting executives.&nbsp;More protection has been promised in the wake of the July 1 killings. 
 
&quot;We have already re-arranged security measures all over the country after the terror attack,&quot; said industries minister Amir Hossain Amu, who also heads the cabinet committee on law and order.&nbsp;&quot;All foreigners including diplomats, business travellers, garment buyers, investors and development partners are all covered by extra security.&quot; 
 
Industry sources say H&amp;M last week sent an email to all its vendors informing them about a series of upgraded security norms at its office in Bangladesh. 
 
&quot;We are in contact with our office in Dhaka, and none of H&amp;M&#39;s company workers are affected,&quot; a spokesman for the Swedish fashion retailer said in an email.&nbsp;&quot;We have safety routines to assure our co-workers safety on-site. Regarding our sourcing, there are no plans in changing any sourcing, but we are following developments closely.&quot; 
 
An official at El Corte Ingles, one of Europe&#39;s largest department store chains, said the company had moved all eight of its foreign staff out of the country and was observing a two-month &quot;hold period&quot;, before deciding whether they would return. 
 
All of the company&#39;s meetings in Dhaka have been cancelled, and would be rescheduled in Hong Kong, said the official, who declined to be identified. El Corte did not respond to a request for comment. 
 
One garment exporter, who also declined to be named, said he had already lost a $3.6 million order from privately-held French retailer Celio.&nbsp;&quot;They were supposed to come to Dhaka on July 13, but after the attack they cancelled the visit,&quot; he said. &quot;This meeting was vital for me. I tried to convince them to meet somewhere else, but they said they had already shifted the order to China.&quot;&nbsp;Celio did not respond to a request for comment. 
 
There are no signs yet of major buyers shifting orders away from Bangladesh, not least because the production cycle has entered the busy Christmas season and pulling out business now would be expensive and logistically challenging.&nbsp;But industry players fear that, over time, security worries may prompt buyers to look to up-and-coming garment centres such as Myanmar and Ethiopia that offer similar cost advantages to Bangladesh. 
 
&quot;There may not be any short-term impact, but medium-to-longer term, for sure,&quot; said Mohammadi Group&#39;s Huq.&nbsp;&quot;Buyers have a right to go wherever they feel their business is more secure, and most importantly, their lives. They do not want to die in Bangladesh.&quot; 
 
(Reuters)&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

Fears after the July 1 terror attack, which saw 20 killed, including 18 foreigners, threaten the $28 billion sector

Emdadul Islam's three-decade-long career in Bangladesh's garment trade has seen the industry hit by riots, labour unrest, power shortages and safety scandals, but he had never lost faith in its ability to weather the latest crisis and continue to grow. Now, after a group of radicalised young Bangladeshis killed about 20 people, including 18 foreigners, in an attack on an upscale Dhaka restaurant claimed by Islamic State, he fears for the future of the $28 billion sector. "I thought it impossible for this to happen in Bangladesh," said Islam, a director of Babylon Group, which makes garments for international brands like H&M and Tesco. "It was just a nightmare. This is not Afghanistan, or Pakistan, or something." Bangladesh relies on garments for more than 80 per cent of its exports and roughly 4 million jobs. It ranks behind only China as a clothing supplier to developed markets in Europe and the United States. But the July 1 attack has confronted the industry with its biggest image crisis since the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory building in 2013, with some fearing security worries could cripple a sector that is the lifeblood of the economy. "I never thought Islamic extremism would be a big threat to the industry directly, and I never thought it would happen quite like this," said Rubana Huq, managing director at the Mohammadi Group, which owns a string of garment factories and other businesses. Foreign companies, including Japan's Uniqlo, have suspended all but critical travel to the country since the attack, although there are no signs yet of big players moving orders elsewhere. The government says it has stepped up security for foreign business travellers, investors and diplomats. Black Friday Despite a long history of turbulent domestic politics that often spills onto the streets, Islam said the relative stability of Bangladesh compared with rival manufacturing bases had been an important factor in the rise of its garment sector. "When we started in the 1980s, Sri Lanka at that time was in a very volatile situation, so companies came to us. They wanted Bangladesh to produce - that's how we grew," said Islam, 60, one of the founding partners of garment maker Babylon Group back in 1986. Islamic State and al-Qaeda have made competing claims for a series of killings of liberals and members of Bangladesh's religious minorities in the past year. But the July 1 attack signalled a far more sophisticated threat from those seeking to replace the mainly Muslim country's secular democracy with strict Islamic rule. "On that night, we lost the identity of our country," said Mesbha Uddin Ali, chairman of garment maker Wega Group. What has been particularly shocking to many middle-class Bangladeshis is that the attackers mostly came from well-to-do backgrounds, and appear to have been radicalised only recently. "One of my friends called it 'Black Friday', which I think was pretty accurate," said an American in the garment industry, who has been living in Bangladesh for seven years. "Bangladesh has such a strong family culture, and yet the fact that these young, educated boys chose to leave that and do something like this is shocking." Many of the victims of the latest attack worked in the garment trade, and the US executive, who declined to be identified due to personal safety concerns, said it had prompted him to take extra precautions. "I don't walk anymore," he said. "I don't take the rickshaws anymore. And I'm not a man who likes to waste time, or money, so I did take a rickshaw for short distances. Now I just lay low." Some local executives have taken more drastic measures. "Earlier I had this pistol, but it was never loaded and I did not carry it," said Mohsin Uddin Ahmed Niru, a director of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA). "Now I carry it every day." Warning signs There had been warning signs that the radicalisation threat in Bangladesh was growing. An Italian aid worker was shot dead in Dhaka's diplomatic quarter in September 2015, in the same week masked gunmen killed a Japanese farmer in northern Bangladesh. In response, the government deployed paramilitary soldiers on night-time patrols in the diplomatic quarter and a number of companies stepped up security for visiting executives. More protection has been promised in the wake of the July 1 killings. "We have already re-arranged security measures all over the country after the terror attack," said industries minister Amir Hossain Amu, who also heads the cabinet committee on law and order. "All foreigners including diplomats, business travellers, garment buyers, investors and development partners are all covered by extra security." Industry sources say H&M last week sent an email to all its vendors informing them about a series of upgraded security norms at its office in Bangladesh. "We are in contact with our office in Dhaka, and none of H&M's company workers are affected," a spokesman for the Swedish fashion retailer said in an email. "We have safety routines to assure our co-workers safety on-site. Regarding our sourcing, there are no plans in changing any sourcing, but we are following developments closely." An official at El Corte Ingles, one of Europe's largest department store chains, said the company had moved all eight of its foreign staff out of the country and was observing a two-month "hold period", before deciding whether they would return. All of the company's meetings in Dhaka have been cancelled, and would be rescheduled in Hong Kong, said the official, who declined to be identified. El Corte did not respond to a request for comment. One garment exporter, who also declined to be named, said he had already lost a $3.6 million order from privately-held French retailer Celio. "They were supposed to come to Dhaka on July 13, but after the attack they cancelled the visit," he said. "This meeting was vital for me. I tried to convince them to meet somewhere else, but they said they had already shifted the order to China." Celio did not respond to a request for comment. There are no signs yet of major buyers shifting orders away from Bangladesh, not least because the production cycle has entered the busy Christmas season and pulling out business now would be expensive and logistically challenging. But industry players fear that, over time, security worries may prompt buyers to look to up-and-coming garment centres such as Myanmar and Ethiopia that offer similar cost advantages to Bangladesh. "There may not be any short-term impact, but medium-to-longer term, for sure," said Mohammadi Group's Huq. "Buyers have a right to go wherever they feel their business is more secure, and most importantly, their lives. They do not want to die in Bangladesh." (Reuters)

'Black Friday' massacre in Dhaka affects Bangladesh garment industry

A court in Bangladesh today formally charged 38 people with murder in connection with the 2013 collapse of the Rana Plaza building which killed 1,135 people in the country&#39;s worst industrial disaster. 
 
Forty-one defendants in total face charges over the collapse of the complex, which housed five garment factories supplying global brands. Plaza owner Sohel Rana is the principal accused. 
 
Public Prosecutor Abdul Mannan said 38 had been charged with murder while three had been charged with helping Rana to flee. 
 
Of the 41 charged, 35, including Rana, who is being held on remand, appeared before the court and pleaded not guilty, Mannan told reporters. 
 
The other six will be tried as fugitives from justice. 
 
The collapse of the complex, built on swampy ground outside the capital Dhaka, sparked demands for greater safety in the world&#39;s second-largest exporter of readymade garments and put pressure on companies buying clothing from Bangladesh to act. 
 
The duty-free access offered by Western nations and low wages for its workers helped turn Bangladesh&#39;s garment exports into an industry with $28 billion in annual revenue. 
 
The minimum monthly wage for garment workers in Bangladesh is $68, compared with about $280 in mainland China, which remains the world&#39;s biggest clothes exporter. 
 
(Reuters)&nbsp;

Collapse of the complex, built on swampy ground, sparked demands for greater safety in world's second-largest exporter of readymade garments

A court in Bangladesh today formally charged 38 people with murder in connection with the 2013 collapse of the Rana Plaza building which killed 1,135 people in the country's worst industrial disaster. Forty-one defendants in total face charges over the collapse of the complex, which housed five garment factories supplying global brands. Plaza owner Sohel Rana is the principal accused. Public Prosecutor Abdul Mannan said 38 had been charged with murder while three had been charged with helping Rana to flee. Of the 41 charged, 35, including Rana, who is being held on remand, appeared before the court and pleaded not guilty, Mannan told reporters. The other six will be tried as fugitives from justice. The collapse of the complex, built on swampy ground outside the capital Dhaka, sparked demands for greater safety in the world's second-largest exporter of readymade garments and put pressure on companies buying clothing from Bangladesh to act. The duty-free access offered by Western nations and low wages for its workers helped turn Bangladesh's garment exports into an industry with $28 billion in annual revenue. The minimum monthly wage for garment workers in Bangladesh is $68, compared with about $280 in mainland China, which remains the world's biggest clothes exporter. (Reuters)

Bangladesh's worst industrial disaster: 38 charged with murder in 2013 factory collapse

Bangladesh&nbsp;on Friday&nbsp;moved to regulate weekly sermons in hundreds of thousands of mosques as part of a stepped-up campaign to combat Islamist extremism, officials said. 
 
The move comes after the deadly attack in an upscale Dhaka cafe in which 20 hostages were brutally shot and hacked to death in the nation&#39;s worst attack by suspected Islamist militants. 
 
Since then, authorities have shut down a television channel run by a controversial Indian preacher, and decided to monitor the social media and&nbsp;Friday&nbsp;sermons of local mosques in a bid to prevent radicalisation. 
 
As part of the drive, the state-run Islamic Foundation, which works as a watchdog for mosques and religious establishments, has prepared a sermon for the main national mosque which it has asked other mosques to follow. 
 
The sermon, which was published by the agency ahead of&nbsp;Friday&#39;s&nbsp;prayers, invokes Koranic verses and traditions of the prophet Mohammed to rail against murderous extremism. 
 
&quot;Whoever kills a person unjustly, it is as though he has killed all mankind,&quot; it said, citing a verse of the Koran. 
 
It also quoted the prophet as saying the killing of a human being is the biggest sin and urged parents to take good care of their children so they cannot be &quot;brainwashed&quot;. 
 
It was not clear how many of Bangladesh&#39;s mosques, which are run by independent neighbourhood lay committees, would follow the instructions. 
 
But a senior police official said local administrations, police and regional Islamic Foundation officials would &quot;monitor&quot; the sermons. 
 
Foundation chief Shamim Mohammad Afzal told AFP that the sermon had been distributed to more than 300,000 mosques. 
 
&quot;It is not mandatory but we hope the imams will follow our sermon or take their inspiration from it,&quot; he said. 
 
&quot;Our core message is there is no place for terrorism in Islam. We want to make sure our children cannot be brainwashed to commit an act of terrorism.&quot; 
 
Islamic parties, who have strongly denounced the cafe siege and a string of other recent attacks on minorities, have criticised the sermon regulation as &quot;undesirable&quot;. 
 
&quot;Long before the Foundation issued its instructions, our clerics have been vocal against terrorism,&quot; said Mufti Faiz Ullah, secretary general of Islamic Oikya Jote, a faith-based party. 
 
Last month, just ahead of the cafe attack, a pro-government council of clerics issued a fatwa against violent Jihad, which was endorsed by more than 100,000 imams. 
 
(AFP)

A state-run foundation has prepared a sermon for the main national mosque that invokes Koranic verses to rail against murderous extremism

Bangladesh on Friday moved to regulate weekly sermons in hundreds of thousands of mosques as part of a stepped-up campaign to combat Islamist extremism, officials said. The move comes after the deadly attack in an upscale Dhaka cafe in which 20 hostages were brutally shot and hacked to death in the nation's worst attack by suspected Islamist militants. Since then, authorities have shut down a television channel run by a controversial Indian preacher, and decided to monitor the social media and Friday sermons of local mosques in a bid to prevent radicalisation. As part of the drive, the state-run Islamic Foundation, which works as a watchdog for mosques and religious establishments, has prepared a sermon for the main national mosque which it has asked other mosques to follow. The sermon, which was published by the agency ahead of Friday's prayers, invokes Koranic verses and traditions of the prophet Mohammed to rail against murderous extremism. "Whoever kills a person unjustly, it is as though he has killed all mankind," it said, citing a verse of the Koran. It also quoted the prophet as saying the killing of a human being is the biggest sin and urged parents to take good care of their children so they cannot be "brainwashed". It was not clear how many of Bangladesh's mosques, which are run by independent neighbourhood lay committees, would follow the instructions. But a senior police official said local administrations, police and regional Islamic Foundation officials would "monitor" the sermons. Foundation chief Shamim Mohammad Afzal told AFP that the sermon had been distributed to more than 300,000 mosques. "It is not mandatory but we hope the imams will follow our sermon or take their inspiration from it," he said. "Our core message is there is no place for terrorism in Islam. We want to make sure our children cannot be brainwashed to commit an act of terrorism." Islamic parties, who have strongly denounced the cafe siege and a string of other recent attacks on minorities, have criticised the sermon regulation as "undesirable". "Long before the Foundation issued its instructions, our clerics have been vocal against terrorism," said Mufti Faiz Ullah, secretary general of Islamic Oikya Jote, a faith-based party. Last month, just ahead of the cafe attack, a pro-government council of clerics issued a fatwa against violent Jihad, which was endorsed by more than 100,000 imams. (AFP)

Bangladesh regulates?Friday?sermons after attacks

A huge earthquake may be building beneath Bangladesh, which can turn urban areas in eastern India into &quot;ruins&quot;, a new study has warned. 
 
Scientists said they have new evidence of increasing strain where two tectonic plates underlie the world&#39;s largest river delta. 
 
They estimate that at least 140 million people in the region could be affected if the boundary ruptures; the destruction could come not only from the direct results of shaking, but changes in the courses of great rivers, and in the level of land already perilously close to sea level. 
 
The newly identified threat is a subduction zone, where one section of earth&#39;s crust, or a tectonic plate, is slowly thrusting under another. 
 
Strain between tectonic plates building for at least 400 years&nbsp; 
 
All of earth&#39;s biggest known earthquakes occur along such zones; these include the Indian Ocean quake and tsunami that killed some 230,000 people in 2004, and the 2011 Tohoku quake and tsunami off Japan, which swept away more than 20,000 and caused the Fukushima nuclear disaster. 
 
Up to now, all known such zones were only under the ocean; this one appears to be entirely under the land, which greatly multiplies the threat. 
 
The strain between the plates has been building for at least 400 years -- the span of reliable historical records, which lack reports of any mega-quake, said lead author Michael Steckler, a geophysicist at Columbia University. 
 
When an inevitable release comes, the shaking is likely to be larger than magnitude 8.2 on the Richter scale and could even reach a magnitude of 9, similar to the largest known modern quakes, said Steckler. 
 
 
Bangladesh, eastern India sit atop vulnerable landscape&nbsp; 
 
A giant plate comprising India and much of the Indian Ocean has been thrusting northeasterly into Asia for tens of millions of years, researchers said. 
 
This collision has caused the Himalayas to rise to the north, bringing events like the 2015 Nepal quake that killed nearly 9,000 people. 
 
Bangladesh and eastern India sit atop a landscape vulnerable even to moderate earthquakes: the vast delta of the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers, researchers said. 
 
This is basically a pile of mud as deep as 12 miles, washed from the Himalayas to the coast, covering the subduction zone. 
 
In a quake, this low-lying substrate would magnify the shaking like gelatin, and liquefy in many places, sucking in buildings, roads and people, said study coauthor Syed Humayun Akhter, a geologist at Dhaka University. 
 
&quot;We don&#39;t have a good idea of its geometry, we don&#39;t know how far it goes down,&quot; said James Ni, a seismologist at New Mexico State University. 
 
He said that if researchers are right, and the slab is building strain, a quake would probably turn urban areas in eastern India &quot;into ruins,&quot; and effects likely would extend into Myanmar and beyond. 
 
The findings appear in the journal Nature Geoscience.&nbsp; 
 
(PTI)&nbsp;

When an inevitable release comes, shaking is likely to be larger than magnitude 8.2 on Richter scale and could even reach a magnitude of 9

A huge earthquake may be building beneath Bangladesh, which can turn urban areas in eastern India into "ruins", a new study has warned. Scientists said they have new evidence of increasing strain where two tectonic plates underlie the world's largest river delta. They estimate that at least 140 million people in the region could be affected if the boundary ruptures; the destruction could come not only from the direct results of shaking, but changes in the courses of great rivers, and in the level of land already perilously close to sea level. The newly identified threat is a subduction zone, where one section of earth's crust, or a tectonic plate, is slowly thrusting under another. Strain between tectonic plates building for at least 400 years All of earth's biggest known earthquakes occur along such zones; these include the Indian Ocean quake and tsunami that killed some 230,000 people in 2004, and the 2011 Tohoku quake and tsunami off Japan, which swept away more than 20,000 and caused the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Up to now, all known such zones were only under the ocean; this one appears to be entirely under the land, which greatly multiplies the threat. The strain between the plates has been building for at least 400 years -- the span of reliable historical records, which lack reports of any mega-quake, said lead author Michael Steckler, a geophysicist at Columbia University. When an inevitable release comes, the shaking is likely to be larger than magnitude 8.2 on the Richter scale and could even reach a magnitude of 9, similar to the largest known modern quakes, said Steckler. Bangladesh, eastern India sit atop vulnerable landscape A giant plate comprising India and much of the Indian Ocean has been thrusting northeasterly into Asia for tens of millions of years, researchers said. This collision has caused the Himalayas to rise to the north, bringing events like the 2015 Nepal quake that killed nearly 9,000 people. Bangladesh and eastern India sit atop a landscape vulnerable even to moderate earthquakes: the vast delta of the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers, researchers said. This is basically a pile of mud as deep as 12 miles, washed from the Himalayas to the coast, covering the subduction zone. In a quake, this low-lying substrate would magnify the shaking like gelatin, and liquefy in many places, sucking in buildings, roads and people, said study coauthor Syed Humayun Akhter, a geologist at Dhaka University. "We don't have a good idea of its geometry, we don't know how far it goes down," said James Ni, a seismologist at New Mexico State University. He said that if researchers are right, and the slab is building strain, a quake would probably turn urban areas in eastern India "into ruins," and effects likely would extend into Myanmar and beyond. The findings appear in the journal Nature Geoscience. (PTI)

Massive earthquake threat looms over Bangladesh, India; 140 million people may be at risk: Study

Bangladesh has been hit by a surge in Islamist attacks in the past three years that reached new heights last weekend when 20 hostages were murdered in Dhaka. 
 
The wave of attacks has been notably brutal with many of the victims, including the hostages, hacked to death with machetes. 
 
One week on from the end of the siege at an upmarket cafe in the capital, AFP looks at some of the factors that might be responsible for fuelling the attacks and at how the government is reacting: 
 
Bangladesh has been blighted by unrest since it broke from Pakistan in a war of independence in 1971 and has witnessed more than a dozen coups. 
 
Islamist groups such as Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and the newer Ansarullah Bangla Team have long posed a challenge to authorities, with the JMB killing at least 28 people in a bombing campaign in 2005. 
 
The group, blamed by the government for the Dhaka siege, was banned after the 2005 attacks and is seen as a largely spent force following the subsequent arrest and execution of its leaders. 
 
While the 2005 attacks were largely indiscriminate, the recent killings have had specific targets, including secular bloggers and gay activists. 
 
Members of minority groups such as Hindus, Christians and Sufi Muslims have also been victims, with many of them hacked to death. 
 
Although a handful of foreigners had previously been killed, last weekend&#39;s siege was by far the deadliest attack. 
 
The victims included nine Italians and seven Japanese. Experts point to several factors behind the recent violence, including the execution of top Islamists over their role in the independence war. 
 
Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in 2013 to protest at the guilty verdicts handed down by a domestic tribunal that critics say was intent on neutering opposition to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. 
 
The Supreme Court then barred the biggest Islamist political party Jamaat-e-Islami from contesting the 2014 general election, disenfranchising millions of supporters. 
 
The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, allied to Jamaat, subsequently boycotted the polls. What was then effectively a one-horse race was held against the backdrop of firebombings across the country. 
 
Many observers say the lack of genuine democracy has made Bangladesh a fertile ground for extremists. 
 
&quot;There is a lot of support for the organisations (Hasina) is trying to quash,&quot; said C. Christine Fair, associate professor at Georgetown University in Washington and South Asia expert. 
 
&quot;The country is torn. She is essentially silencing, politically, half the country. &quot;Both the Islamic State (IS) organisation and the competing Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) have claimed many of the attacks. 
 
However, the government insists international jihadist networks have not got a foothold in Bangladesh and that local extremists are culpable. 
 
There is little evidence that IS trains and funds attackers in the country, although it has recruited Bangladeshis to fight in Syria.&nbsp; 
 
More likely, analysts say, is that radicalised youths are being inspired by the group and pledge allegiance -- a murky line in the age of social media. 
 
During the cafe siege, IS was sent gruesome pictures of the carnage by the attackers, which it immediately distributed via its affiliate news agency Amaq. 
 
Al-Qaeda may have more of a claim of presence in Bangladesh, with Bangladeshi fighters aiding the anti-Soviet mujahedeen in Afghanistan as far back as the 1980s. 
 
&quot;The ties to AQIS are much more credible. South Asia is Al-Qaeda territory,&quot; said Fair. The use of machetes has become a chilling hallmark of the murders and nearly all the slain hostages were attacked with sharp blades, even though their killers had automatic weapons. 
 
Some experts say a lack of access to suicide vests or car bombs explains the prevalence of machete attacks, but others see a more deliberate reason behind the brutal killing style. 
 
&quot;They wanted to show the world that they can go to any extent for jihad,&quot; said K G Suresh of New Delhi&#39;s Vivekananda International Foundation think-tank. Bangladesh is intensely politically polarised, characterised by a poisonous rivalry between Hasina and the main opposition leader Khaleda Zia that stretches back decades. 
 
Although around 90 per cent of Bangladesh&#39;s 160 million-strong population is Muslim, mostly Sunni, the nation is officially secular. 
 
Creeping popular support for fundamentalism has led to mounting calls for Islamist representation in government and public life.&nbsp; 
 
One recent study found around 47 per cent of Bangladeshis say suicide bombing is justifiable to defend Islam, higher than other Muslim-majority nation in South and Southeast Asia. 
 
(AFP)

12 hours, six terrorists and 29 dead, the Dhaka siege was one of the deadliest in a spate of violence that Bangladesh has been witnessing

Bangladesh has been hit by a surge in Islamist attacks in the past three years that reached new heights last weekend when 20 hostages were murdered in Dhaka. The wave of attacks has been notably brutal with many of the victims, including the hostages, hacked to death with machetes. One week on from the end of the siege at an upmarket cafe in the capital, AFP looks at some of the factors that might be responsible for fuelling the attacks and at how the government is reacting: Bangladesh has been blighted by unrest since it broke from Pakistan in a war of independence in 1971 and has witnessed more than a dozen coups. Islamist groups such as Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and the newer Ansarullah Bangla Team have long posed a challenge to authorities, with the JMB killing at least 28 people in a bombing campaign in 2005. The group, blamed by the government for the Dhaka siege, was banned after the 2005 attacks and is seen as a largely spent force following the subsequent arrest and execution of its leaders. While the 2005 attacks were largely indiscriminate, the recent killings have had specific targets, including secular bloggers and gay activists. Members of minority groups such as Hindus, Christians and Sufi Muslims have also been victims, with many of them hacked to death. Although a handful of foreigners had previously been killed, last weekend's siege was by far the deadliest attack. The victims included nine Italians and seven Japanese. Experts point to several factors behind the recent violence, including the execution of top Islamists over their role in the independence war. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in 2013 to protest at the guilty verdicts handed down by a domestic tribunal that critics say was intent on neutering opposition to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The Supreme Court then barred the biggest Islamist political party Jamaat-e-Islami from contesting the 2014 general election, disenfranchising millions of supporters. The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, allied to Jamaat, subsequently boycotted the polls. What was then effectively a one-horse race was held against the backdrop of firebombings across the country. Many observers say the lack of genuine democracy has made Bangladesh a fertile ground for extremists. "There is a lot of support for the organisations (Hasina) is trying to quash," said C. Christine Fair, associate professor at Georgetown University in Washington and South Asia expert. "The country is torn. She is essentially silencing, politically, half the country. "Both the Islamic State (IS) organisation and the competing Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) have claimed many of the attacks. However, the government insists international jihadist networks have not got a foothold in Bangladesh and that local extremists are culpable. There is little evidence that IS trains and funds attackers in the country, although it has recruited Bangladeshis to fight in Syria. More likely, analysts say, is that radicalised youths are being inspired by the group and pledge allegiance -- a murky line in the age of social media. During the cafe siege, IS was sent gruesome pictures of the carnage by the attackers, which it immediately distributed via its affiliate news agency Amaq. Al-Qaeda may have more of a claim of presence in Bangladesh, with Bangladeshi fighters aiding the anti-Soviet mujahedeen in Afghanistan as far back as the 1980s. "The ties to AQIS are much more credible. South Asia is Al-Qaeda territory," said Fair. The use of machetes has become a chilling hallmark of the murders and nearly all the slain hostages were attacked with sharp blades, even though their killers had automatic weapons. Some experts say a lack of access to suicide vests or car bombs explains the prevalence of machete attacks, but others see a more deliberate reason behind the brutal killing style. "They wanted to show the world that they can go to any extent for jihad," said K G Suresh of New Delhi's Vivekananda International Foundation think-tank. Bangladesh is intensely politically polarised, characterised by a poisonous rivalry between Hasina and the main opposition leader Khaleda Zia that stretches back decades. Although around 90 per cent of Bangladesh's 160 million-strong population is Muslim, mostly Sunni, the nation is officially secular. Creeping popular support for fundamentalism has led to mounting calls for Islamist representation in government and public life. One recent study found around 47 per cent of Bangladeshis say suicide bombing is justifiable to defend Islam, higher than other Muslim-majority nation in South and Southeast Asia. (AFP)

Rising violence in Bangladesh: What's behind it?

India today denied that a team of National Security Gaurd (NSG) was visiting Bangladesh amidst reports that it was in Dhaka to study the recent terrorist attacks that have shocked that country. 
 
External Affairs Spokesperson Vikas Swarup, who is currently in South Africa accompanying Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said,&quot;Just to clarify, reports of an NSG team visiting Bangladesh are false.&quot; 
 
His remarks came amidst reports that a special team of NSG officers was visiting Bangladesh to &quot;analyse and study&quot; the bombings at an Eid prayer gathering yesterday and the recent terror siege at a high-end restaurant in the neighbouring country. 
 
Officials had said that the NSG team has been authorised by the government to travel to Dhaka after the Special Forces establishment in Bangladesh approved the former&#39;s request to visit the spots of the terror attacks for a first-hand understanding of the situation. 
 
The team, which includes NSG experts in post-blast analysis and counter-terror operations, was to study the July 1 incident where terrorists laid siege at a bakery and killed 22 and also analyse yesterday&#39;s bombings in Kishoreganj area in Bangladesh, they had said.&nbsp; 
 
(PTI)&nbsp; 
 
&nbsp;

There were reports that a special team of NSG officers was visiting Bangladesh to "analyse and study" the recent bombings in the country

India today denied that a team of National Security Gaurd (NSG) was visiting Bangladesh amidst reports that it was in Dhaka to study the recent terrorist attacks that have shocked that country. External Affairs Spokesperson Vikas Swarup, who is currently in South Africa accompanying Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said,"Just to clarify, reports of an NSG team visiting Bangladesh are false." His remarks came amidst reports that a special team of NSG officers was visiting Bangladesh to "analyse and study" the bombings at an Eid prayer gathering yesterday and the recent terror siege at a high-end restaurant in the neighbouring country. Officials had said that the NSG team has been authorised by the government to travel to Dhaka after the Special Forces establishment in Bangladesh approved the former's request to visit the spots of the terror attacks for a first-hand understanding of the situation. The team, which includes NSG experts in post-blast analysis and counter-terror operations, was to study the July 1 incident where terrorists laid siege at a bakery and killed 22 and also analyse yesterday's bombings in Kishoreganj area in Bangladesh, they had said. (PTI)

India denies reports of NSG team visiting Bangladesh

An eerie silence pervades the restaurants and shopping malls in Dhaka&#39;s diplomatic quarter, usually teeming with well-heeled urbanites, now standing empty since the killing of 20 hostages at a popular cafe.&nbsp;Five days after the brutal siege at the Holey Artisan Bakery in the Bangladeshi capital, many establishments remain closed, with shaken residents of Gulshan too afraid to venture out. 
 
&quot;Our guest numbers have gone down dramatically so the management took the decision to keep it shut for a while,&quot; said Abdul Mazid, a guard at Meraki, a well-known restaurant in the neighbourhood. 
 
The run-up to Eid celebrations that mark the end of the holy month of Ramzan usually sees shopping malls overflowing with crowds and millions of Dollars changing hands in just a few days.&nbsp;But this year Gulshan DCC market, usually bustling with Eid shoppers ahead of the biggest festival in the Muslim calendar, stood deserted. 
 
At least five gunmen stormed the bakery on Friday evening, sparking an 11-hour stand-off with police that saw victims murdered with machetes, most of them Italian or Japanese.&nbsp;Around the corner from the site of the bloodbath, Thai restaurant Soi 71 and neighbouring Korean diner Suaron, which usually remain lively past midnight, were shuttered on Tuesday. 
 
&quot;Ours is a happening business, it&#39;s hard to believe how quiet it has become over the past few days,&quot; said Mohammad Farhan, manager of the upmarket Butlers Chocolate Cafe, where waiters were standing around. 
 
&quot;It has just turned upside down.&quot; 
 
Britain was among countries urging its citizens to avoid areas frequented by foreigners, such as international hotels, large supermarkets or clubs, while Japanese firm Uniqlo restricted non-urgent travel for employees.&nbsp;As Dhaka residents attempt to regroup, fears are mounting that the attack may herald an escalation of violence in Bangladesh. 
 
Islamist militants have been blamed for a wave of murders of foreigners, religious minorities and secular writers over the past three years.&nbsp;However, Friday&#39;s murders were on a totally different scale. 
 
&quot;I keep thinking about escape routes in our apartment and the building complex... I am too scared to be in my city any more,&quot; Dhaka-based private university researcher Shahana Siddiqui posted on Facebook.&nbsp;The revelation that the attackers were educated, well-off members of society has sparked fears that Islamism has become a fashion not confined to disenfranchised youngsters being radicalised in madrasas. 
 
&quot;Missing young men are potential moving bombs now. They can strike anywhere, any time,&quot; Mushtaq Ahmed, an entrepreneur, posted on social media.&nbsp;At a mourning ceremony for the dead at a heavily secured park in Gulshan on Monday night, some expressed fears that the weekend attack will not be the last. 
 
&quot;What we are seeing today is only the tip of the iceberg,&quot; retired Brigadier General Sakhawat Hossain, a security analyst, told the gathering.&nbsp;&quot;They came to kill and propagate their agenda. The ideology is there among our children.&quot; 
 
(AFP)

The residents of Gulshan are scared to venture out, tourists have been told to avoid the country and restaurants are closed after the attack

An eerie silence pervades the restaurants and shopping malls in Dhaka's diplomatic quarter, usually teeming with well-heeled urbanites, now standing empty since the killing of 20 hostages at a popular cafe. Five days after the brutal siege at the Holey Artisan Bakery in the Bangladeshi capital, many establishments remain closed, with shaken residents of Gulshan too afraid to venture out. "Our guest numbers have gone down dramatically so the management took the decision to keep it shut for a while," said Abdul Mazid, a guard at Meraki, a well-known restaurant in the neighbourhood. The run-up to Eid celebrations that mark the end of the holy month of Ramzan usually sees shopping malls overflowing with crowds and millions of Dollars changing hands in just a few days. But this year Gulshan DCC market, usually bustling with Eid shoppers ahead of the biggest festival in the Muslim calendar, stood deserted. At least five gunmen stormed the bakery on Friday evening, sparking an 11-hour stand-off with police that saw victims murdered with machetes, most of them Italian or Japanese. Around the corner from the site of the bloodbath, Thai restaurant Soi 71 and neighbouring Korean diner Suaron, which usually remain lively past midnight, were shuttered on Tuesday. "Ours is a happening business, it's hard to believe how quiet it has become over the past few days," said Mohammad Farhan, manager of the upmarket Butlers Chocolate Cafe, where waiters were standing around. "It has just turned upside down." Britain was among countries urging its citizens to avoid areas frequented by foreigners, such as international hotels, large supermarkets or clubs, while Japanese firm Uniqlo restricted non-urgent travel for employees. As Dhaka residents attempt to regroup, fears are mounting that the attack may herald an escalation of violence in Bangladesh. Islamist militants have been blamed for a wave of murders of foreigners, religious minorities and secular writers over the past three years. However, Friday's murders were on a totally different scale. "I keep thinking about escape routes in our apartment and the building complex... I am too scared to be in my city any more," Dhaka-based private university researcher Shahana Siddiqui posted on Facebook. The revelation that the attackers were educated, well-off members of society has sparked fears that Islamism has become a fashion not confined to disenfranchised youngsters being radicalised in madrasas. "Missing young men are potential moving bombs now. They can strike anywhere, any time," Mushtaq Ahmed, an entrepreneur, posted on social media. At a mourning ceremony for the dead at a heavily secured park in Gulshan on Monday night, some expressed fears that the weekend attack will not be the last. "What we are seeing today is only the tip of the iceberg," retired Brigadier General Sakhawat Hossain, a security analyst, told the gathering. "They came to kill and propagate their agenda. The ideology is there among our children." (AFP)

Eerie silence envelopes Dhaka's diplomatic quarter, Eid celebrations dampened

Two people were arrested today in connection with Saturday night&#39;s terror attack at a Dhaka cafe in which 22 people, mostly foreigners, were brutally killed by suspected IS militants, as authorities stepped up the probe into the international links of the hostage-takers. 
 
Inspector general of police (IGP) AKM Shahidul Haque, however, did not disclose the identities of either of the detainees or where they were being kept. 
 
He said they were both physically unwell and will be quizzed after their condition improves. 
 
&quot;One of them is in hospital, the other is in custody,&quot; he said. 
 
Earlier, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the Bangladesh Army said one terrorist was captured alive from the site of the attack. However, the identity of the suspect was not disclosed. 
 
&quot;They (attackers) may have some contact with international terrorist groups,&quot; he said. 
 
Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the killing of the 20 hostages and two police officers during the 12-hour siege that ended after the army stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery, popular with expats in the diplomatic zone here, killing six attackers and capturing one alive. 
 
Hostages who were killed include 19-year-old Indian girl Tarishi Jain. Nine Italians, 7 Japanese, one American of Bangladeshi origin, and two Bangladeshis were also among the people who were killed. 
 
&quot;You have seen the pictures of the slain militants supplied to the media, we have found out the background of four of them,&quot; a senior police officer, familiar with the investigation, told PTI, preferring anonymity. 
 
The official added that all the attackers were in their 20s. Four of them came from wealthy families and studied at elite schools and universities in Dhaka and abroad. 
 
One of the slain assaulters was studying in a Malaysian university while his family said they had no idea that he returned home and took part in the attack. 
 
He said the fifth youth hailed from a village in northwestern Bogra district and studied in a madrassa, led the attackers during the Friday night&#39;s massacre. 
 
&quot;This Khairul (of Bogra) was wanted by police for the past seven months for three deadly militant attacks in northwestern region...We understand it is him who led the Holey Artisan restaurant attack on that night,&quot; the official said. 
 
Prothom Alo Khairul was missing for the past several months. Bogra police had detained his parents for questioning. 
 
One of the slain attackers, private BRAC university student Rohan Imtiaz, was the son of a leader of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina&#39;s ruling Awami League, while his mother was a teacher Dhaka&#39;s posh Scholastica School. 
 
The family reported him missing in December last year. 
 
Of the five pictures of five bodies provided by police, four appeared to be the ones seen in the photos on Facebook in which the youths were seen smiling in front of a black Islamic State flag. 
 
(PTI)

Cops said one militant is in the hospital and the other is in custody. They will be questioned once their physical condition improves

Two people were arrested today in connection with Saturday night's terror attack at a Dhaka cafe in which 22 people, mostly foreigners, were brutally killed by suspected IS militants, as authorities stepped up the probe into the international links of the hostage-takers. Inspector general of police (IGP) AKM Shahidul Haque, however, did not disclose the identities of either of the detainees or where they were being kept. He said they were both physically unwell and will be quizzed after their condition improves. "One of them is in hospital, the other is in custody," he said. Earlier, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the Bangladesh Army said one terrorist was captured alive from the site of the attack. However, the identity of the suspect was not disclosed. "They (attackers) may have some contact with international terrorist groups," he said. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the killing of the 20 hostages and two police officers during the 12-hour siege that ended after the army stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery, popular with expats in the diplomatic zone here, killing six attackers and capturing one alive. Hostages who were killed include 19-year-old Indian girl Tarishi Jain. Nine Italians, 7 Japanese, one American of Bangladeshi origin, and two Bangladeshis were also among the people who were killed. "You have seen the pictures of the slain militants supplied to the media, we have found out the background of four of them," a senior police officer, familiar with the investigation, told PTI, preferring anonymity. The official added that all the attackers were in their 20s. Four of them came from wealthy families and studied at elite schools and universities in Dhaka and abroad. One of the slain assaulters was studying in a Malaysian university while his family said they had no idea that he returned home and took part in the attack. He said the fifth youth hailed from a village in northwestern Bogra district and studied in a madrassa, led the attackers during the Friday night's massacre. "This Khairul (of Bogra) was wanted by police for the past seven months for three deadly militant attacks in northwestern region...We understand it is him who led the Holey Artisan restaurant attack on that night," the official said. Prothom Alo Khairul was missing for the past several months. Bogra police had detained his parents for questioning. One of the slain attackers, private BRAC university student Rohan Imtiaz, was the son of a leader of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ruling Awami League, while his mother was a teacher Dhaka's posh Scholastica School. The family reported him missing in December last year. Of the five pictures of five bodies provided by police, four appeared to be the ones seen in the photos on Facebook in which the youths were seen smiling in front of a black Islamic State flag. (PTI)

Bangladesh police arrest two in connection with bakery attack

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid homage to the victims of the Gulshan attack at the Army Stadium in Banani on Monday morning. 
 
The 12-hour-long hostage crisis had ended on Saturday morning after a two hour assault by commandos, leading to the death of six gunmen and capturing one alive. Nine Italians, seven Japanese, one Indian, one Bangladeshi American and two Bangladeshis were among the 20 killed in the terror attack at Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan on Friday night. 
 
Two senior police officers, Banani Police Station officer-in-charge Salauddin Ahmed Khan and Detective Branch Assistant commissioner Robiul Islam also lost their lives while trying to rescue the hostages. 
 
While Salauddin was laid to rest at Banani Graveyard in Dhaka, Robiul was buried at her village home in Manikganj. Meanwhile, security continues to be tight at all sensitive points in the capital, with police checking all vehicles especially in the secured diplomatic area where the gruesome hostage killings took place. 
 
In the wake of the terror attack in Dhaka,&nbsp;US secretary of state John Kerry had also called the Bangladeshi Prime Minister and offered her assistance from American law enforcement agencies, including the FBI. State department spokesperson John Kirby said that the secretary on Sunday encouraged Bangladesh to conduct its investigation in accordance with the highest international standards and offered immediate US assistance in this regard.&nbsp; 
 
(ANI)&nbsp;

Security continues to be tight at all sensitive points in the capital in the wake of the terror attack

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid homage to the victims of the Gulshan attack at the Army Stadium in Banani on Monday morning. The 12-hour-long hostage crisis had ended on Saturday morning after a two hour assault by commandos, leading to the death of six gunmen and capturing one alive. Nine Italians, seven Japanese, one Indian, one Bangladeshi American and two Bangladeshis were among the 20 killed in the terror attack at Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan on Friday night. Two senior police officers, Banani Police Station officer-in-charge Salauddin Ahmed Khan and Detective Branch Assistant commissioner Robiul Islam also lost their lives while trying to rescue the hostages. While Salauddin was laid to rest at Banani Graveyard in Dhaka, Robiul was buried at her village home in Manikganj. Meanwhile, security continues to be tight at all sensitive points in the capital, with police checking all vehicles especially in the secured diplomatic area where the gruesome hostage killings took place. In the wake of the terror attack in Dhaka, US secretary of state John Kerry had also called the Bangladeshi Prime Minister and offered her assistance from American law enforcement agencies, including the FBI. State department spokesperson John Kirby said that the secretary on Sunday encouraged Bangladesh to conduct its investigation in accordance with the highest international standards and offered immediate US assistance in this regard. (ANI)

Bangladesh PM pays tribute to victims of Dhaka cafe siege

The seven militants, who killed 20 at a restaurant in Dhaka, were local Bangladeshis and authorities had tried before to arrest five of them, police said, as the country began a two-day period of mourning today. 
 
Gunmen stormed the upmarket restaurant popular with expatriates in the diplomatic zone late on Friday, before killing 18 foreigners in a coordinated mass killing that experts said marked a level of scale and sophistication not previously seen in the South Asian country. 
 
Most of the victims were hacked to death with machetes before commandos entered the building, killing six of the militants and capturing a seventh, after a 12-hour standoff, police said. 
 
&quot;All gunmen were Bangladeshi. Five of them were listed as militants and law enforcers made several drives to arrest them,&quot; national police chief Shahidul Hoque told reporters in Dhaka late on Saturday. 
 
Police have yet to comment on Islamic State&#39;s claims of responsibility, but security sources said authorities were probing deeper for possible ties between the gunmen and trans-national Islamist extremist groups given the scale and sophistication of the attack. 
 
Bangladesh has blamed two home-grown groups for a series of grisly killings targeting liberals or members of minority groups over the past 18 months, and local authorities have maintained that no operational links exist between Bangladeshi militants and international jihadi networks. 
 
Islamic State posted photos on Saturday of five fighters it said were involved in the killings but its claim has not been confirmed. 
 
Police said nine Italians, seven Japanese, two Bangladeshis, an Indian and a US citizen were killed during the attack at the Dhaka building, split between the Holey Artisan Bakery and the O&#39;Kitchen Restaurant. 
 
Italian media said several of the Italians victims worked in the garment industry, and the attack will frighten expatriates working in the $26 billion garment sector that accounts for 80 per cent of its exports. 
 
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced two days of national mourning on Saturday and said the country would stand up and fight the &quot;terror threat&quot;. 
 
(Reuters)

The national police chief said five of the gunmen were listed as militants and law enforcers had tried to arrest them in the past.

The seven militants, who killed 20 at a restaurant in Dhaka, were local Bangladeshis and authorities had tried before to arrest five of them, police said, as the country began a two-day period of mourning today. Gunmen stormed the upmarket restaurant popular with expatriates in the diplomatic zone late on Friday, before killing 18 foreigners in a coordinated mass killing that experts said marked a level of scale and sophistication not previously seen in the South Asian country. Most of the victims were hacked to death with machetes before commandos entered the building, killing six of the militants and capturing a seventh, after a 12-hour standoff, police said. "All gunmen were Bangladeshi. Five of them were listed as militants and law enforcers made several drives to arrest them," national police chief Shahidul Hoque told reporters in Dhaka late on Saturday. Police have yet to comment on Islamic State's claims of responsibility, but security sources said authorities were probing deeper for possible ties between the gunmen and trans-national Islamist extremist groups given the scale and sophistication of the attack. Bangladesh has blamed two home-grown groups for a series of grisly killings targeting liberals or members of minority groups over the past 18 months, and local authorities have maintained that no operational links exist between Bangladeshi militants and international jihadi networks. Islamic State posted photos on Saturday of five fighters it said were involved in the killings but its claim has not been confirmed. Police said nine Italians, seven Japanese, two Bangladeshis, an Indian and a US citizen were killed during the attack at the Dhaka building, split between the Holey Artisan Bakery and the O'Kitchen Restaurant. Italian media said several of the Italians victims worked in the garment industry, and the attack will frighten expatriates working in the $26 billion garment sector that accounts for 80 per cent of its exports. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced two days of national mourning on Saturday and said the country would stand up and fight the "terror threat". (Reuters)

Dhaka bakery attackers Bangladeshis, 5 on militant watch list: Police

Some leaders of Bangladesh&#39;s $26 billion garment industry expect Western fashion retailers to review their ties with the world&#39;s second-largest garment exporter after Islamist militants killed 20 foreigners in an attack on a Dhaka restaurant. 
 
Bangladesh, one of the world&#39;s poorest countries, relies on garments for about 80 per cent of its exports and for about 4 million jobs, and ranks behind only China as a supplier of clothes to developed markets like Europe and the United States. 
 
Islamist militants killed 20 people, including at least nine Italians, seven Japanese and an American, inside an upmarket restaurant in Bangladesh&#39;s capital, before security forces stormed the building and ended a 12-hour standoff on Saturday. 
 
Islamic State said it was responsible for one of the most brazen attacks in the South Asian nation&#39;s history, but a senior minister said the&nbsp;jihadists who slaughtered 20 hostages at a Dhaka restaurant&nbsp;were&nbsp;members of a homegrown Bangladeshi militant outfit and not followers of IS. 
 
&quot;They are members of the Jamayetul Mujahdeen Bangladesh,&quot; home minister Asaduzzaman Khan told AFP, referring to a group which has been banned in Bangladesh for more than a decade.&nbsp;&quot;They have no connections with the Islamic State.&quot; 
 
It marks a major escalation in a campaign by militants over the past 18 months that had targeted mostly individuals advocating a secular or liberal lifestyle in majority-Muslim Bangladesh with 160 million people. 
 
&quot;An incident like this will definitely impact us, in as much as our importers from places such as (the) US and China will be wary to visit because of the security concerns,&quot; said Shahidul Haque Mukul, managing director of Ananta Garments. 
 
The industry had been recovering strongly from a major tragedy three years ago, when a factory building collapsed, killing more than 1,100 people, prompting safety checks that led to many factory closures and the loss of exports and jobs. 
 
It had also seemed little touched by a spate of recent murders on liberals, gays, foreigners and religious minorities in sporadic attacks claimed by Islamic State and al Qaeda. 
 
Between October and January, its exports surged 14 per cent from a year earlier. 
 
But Friday&#39;s attack signalled a more chilling threat to foreigners. The militants targeted a building housing two upmarket eateries popular with foreigners, and several of those killed were Italian garment entrepreneurs. 
 
&quot;Bangladesh has never seen such a horrific incident,&quot; said Mohammad Siddiqur Rahman, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association. 
 
&quot;It is a strong slap to our image. It will put pressure on our business, but we cannot say to what extent at the moment.&quot; 
 
A Bangladesh-based executive for a French-based garment buyer said he feared a deep slump in business in the coming days. 
 
But other industry figures said heightened security fears could be managed and that manufacturers could hold more meetings with Western customers outside Bangladesh, in Asian cities such as Singapore or Hong Kong, a trend that had begun some time ago. 
 
&quot;Concerns on visiting our factories, holding meetings, etc, by foreign nationals will be there for a few months, but I believe within six months, the intensity will thaw and things will be back to normal,&quot; said Abdullah Hil Rakib, head of exporter Brothers Fashion Ltd. 
 
At least two European retailers which source clothes from Bangladesh, Sweden&#39;s H &amp; M Hennes &amp; Mauritz AB and Britain&#39;s Marks and Spencer Group PLC, say their operations in the country are not immediately affected. 
 
Both said their workers are unaffected and that they have no plans to change their sourcing, but are monitoring the situation. 
 
H &amp; M&#39;s spokeswoman said the company has &ldquo;safety routines&rdquo; for workers, though she did not elaborate. 
 
The industry owes its resilience to some of the world&#39;s lowest wages, the right skills and the fact that China has become less competitive as a producer in recent years. 
 
The minimum monthly wage for garment workers in Bangladesh is $68, compared with about $280 in mainland China. 
 
(Reuters)

The country relies on garment exports for 4 million jobs. Italian garment entrepreneurs were killed in the attack at Holey Artisan Bakery.

Some leaders of Bangladesh's $26 billion garment industry expect Western fashion retailers to review their ties with the world's second-largest garment exporter after Islamist militants killed 20 foreigners in an attack on a Dhaka restaurant. Bangladesh, one of the world's poorest countries, relies on garments for about 80 per cent of its exports and for about 4 million jobs, and ranks behind only China as a supplier of clothes to developed markets like Europe and the United States. Islamist militants killed 20 people, including at least nine Italians, seven Japanese and an American, inside an upmarket restaurant in Bangladesh's capital, before security forces stormed the building and ended a 12-hour standoff on Saturday. Islamic State said it was responsible for one of the most brazen attacks in the South Asian nation's history, but a senior minister said the jihadists who slaughtered 20 hostages at a Dhaka restaurant were members of a homegrown Bangladeshi militant outfit and not followers of IS. "They are members of the Jamayetul Mujahdeen Bangladesh," home minister Asaduzzaman Khan told AFP, referring to a group which has been banned in Bangladesh for more than a decade. "They have no connections with the Islamic State." It marks a major escalation in a campaign by militants over the past 18 months that had targeted mostly individuals advocating a secular or liberal lifestyle in majority-Muslim Bangladesh with 160 million people. "An incident like this will definitely impact us, in as much as our importers from places such as (the) US and China will be wary to visit because of the security concerns," said Shahidul Haque Mukul, managing director of Ananta Garments. The industry had been recovering strongly from a major tragedy three years ago, when a factory building collapsed, killing more than 1,100 people, prompting safety checks that led to many factory closures and the loss of exports and jobs. It had also seemed little touched by a spate of recent murders on liberals, gays, foreigners and religious minorities in sporadic attacks claimed by Islamic State and al Qaeda. Between October and January, its exports surged 14 per cent from a year earlier. But Friday's attack signalled a more chilling threat to foreigners. The militants targeted a building housing two upmarket eateries popular with foreigners, and several of those killed were Italian garment entrepreneurs. "Bangladesh has never seen such a horrific incident," said Mohammad Siddiqur Rahman, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association. "It is a strong slap to our image. It will put pressure on our business, but we cannot say to what extent at the moment." A Bangladesh-based executive for a French-based garment buyer said he feared a deep slump in business in the coming days. But other industry figures said heightened security fears could be managed and that manufacturers could hold more meetings with Western customers outside Bangladesh, in Asian cities such as Singapore or Hong Kong, a trend that had begun some time ago. "Concerns on visiting our factories, holding meetings, etc, by foreign nationals will be there for a few months, but I believe within six months, the intensity will thaw and things will be back to normal," said Abdullah Hil Rakib, head of exporter Brothers Fashion Ltd. At least two European retailers which source clothes from Bangladesh, Sweden's H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB and Britain's Marks and Spencer Group PLC, say their operations in the country are not immediately affected. Both said their workers are unaffected and that they have no plans to change their sourcing, but are monitoring the situation. H & M's spokeswoman said the company has “safety routines” for workers, though she did not elaborate. The industry owes its resilience to some of the world's lowest wages, the right skills and the fact that China has become less competitive as a producer in recent years. The minimum monthly wage for garment workers in Bangladesh is $68, compared with about $280 in mainland China. (Reuters)

Bangladesh attack puts its $26 billion garment industry under threat

The attack on a cafe in the Bangladeshi capital left 26 people dead including six armed attackers, the Bangladesh army said on Saturday, most killed with sharp weapons. 
 
Army Brigadier General Naim Asraf Chowdhury told a news conference that 13 people were rescued including one Japanese and two Sri Lankans. 
 
The army concluded an operation to clear the cafe on Saturday after a 12-hour siege that began when gunmen stormed the restaurant, which was popular with foreigners, on Friday night. 
 
(Reuters)

One Japanese national and two Sri Lankans were among the 13 rescued

The attack on a cafe in the Bangladeshi capital left 26 people dead including six armed attackers, the Bangladesh army said on Saturday, most killed with sharp weapons. Army Brigadier General Naim Asraf Chowdhury told a news conference that 13 people were rescued including one Japanese and two Sri Lankans. The army concluded an operation to clear the cafe on Saturday after a 12-hour siege that began when gunmen stormed the restaurant, which was popular with foreigners, on Friday night. (Reuters)

26 killed in Dhaka cafe, most by sharp weapons: Bangladesh Army

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday said she was determined to eradicate terrorism in Bangladesh after security forces stormed into a cafe where Islamist extremists had taken dozens of diners hostage. 
 
&quot;It was an extremely heinous act. What kind of Muslims are these people? They don&#39;t have any religion,&quot; she said in a televised speech. 
 
&quot;People must resist these terrorists. My government is determined to root out terrorism and militancy from Bangladesh,&quot; she added.&nbsp; 
 
The Bangladesh cafe hostage siege finally ended on Saturday after a bloody fight between commandos and militants. 
 
&quot;We have been able to save 13 people, six gunmen have been killed,&quot; the PM said and added, &quot;All security agencies did a great job.&quot; 
 
Eight to nine gunmen had attacked the upscale cafe Holey Artisan in the diplomatic area of Dhaka late on Friday and had been holding about 20 hostages, including foreigners. 
 
The security forces launched an offensive to end the hostage crisis at the restaurant today morning, reports the Daily Star.The assailants, believed to be carrying assault rifles and grenades, exchanged sporadic gun fire with police outside for several hours after the attack, which began around 9 pm on Friday.&nbsp; 
 
(Agencies)&nbsp;

The Bangladeshi Prime Minister says she is determined to eradicate terrorism from her country

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday said she was determined to eradicate terrorism in Bangladesh after security forces stormed into a cafe where Islamist extremists had taken dozens of diners hostage. "It was an extremely heinous act. What kind of Muslims are these people? They don't have any religion," she said in a televised speech. "People must resist these terrorists. My government is determined to root out terrorism and militancy from Bangladesh," she added. The Bangladesh cafe hostage siege finally ended on Saturday after a bloody fight between commandos and militants. "We have been able to save 13 people, six gunmen have been killed," the PM said and added, "All security agencies did a great job." Eight to nine gunmen had attacked the upscale cafe Holey Artisan in the diplomatic area of Dhaka late on Friday and had been holding about 20 hostages, including foreigners. The security forces launched an offensive to end the hostage crisis at the restaurant today morning, reports the Daily Star.The assailants, believed to be carrying assault rifles and grenades, exchanged sporadic gun fire with police outside for several hours after the attack, which began around 9 pm on Friday. (Agencies)

'What kind of Muslims are these people?' asks Hasina

Early in June, a man walked into the Dhaka premises of the Ramakrishna Mission, a Hindu centre for spirituality and learning in the Bangladesh capital, and delivered a handwritten note warning of an attack by Islamic State. 
 
Days later, armed policemen were sitting inside the mission&#39;s compound among orange-robed monks, the gates outside were closed and fewer people than normal showed up at a medical clinic it runs for the neighbourhood. 
 
&quot;We are monks, we will live and die here, but people with families are worried,&quot; Swami Shivananda, a priest managing the administration of the mission, said of the country&#39;s Hindu community, which accounts for 10 per cent of the population. 
 
Islamic State and al Qaeda have claimed responsibility for the killings of more than 30 people since early last year, in an escalation of militant violence targeting liberals, atheists, foreigners, gays and religious minorities. 
 
They have shocked the largely moderate Muslim country of 160 million people and heightened fears that Bangladesh, once hailed as the next Asian tiger economy with its huge garment industry, could lose out to more stable competitors in the region. 
 
Unlike some security experts, Bangladesh authorities say the two international jihadi movements are not directly involved in the murders, many of which were carried out with machetes. 
 
But, as the police at the Hindu mission attest, the danger is real, and counter-terrorism officials warn it could get worse with one local militant group adopting al Qaeda&#39;s methods and calling on the expertise of a former army major implicated in a failed 2011 coup. 
 
Deadly rivalry&nbsp; 
 
Security officials say two local militant groups, Ansar-al-Islam and Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, are behind the killings. 
 
Of the two, Ansar, which pledges allegiance to al Qaeda, has emerged as the most organised and dangerous, they say, while Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen is seen as a looser organisation that claims it represents Islamic State but has no proven links to it. 
 
&quot;By now we have a clear idea of the organisational structure, command and control and methods of operations of Ansar-al-Islam,&quot; Monirul Islam, chief of Bangladesh&#39;s counter-terrorism police, told Reuters in a recent interview. 
 
&quot;They follow the ideology of al Qaeda, their operational leaders are mostly educated men, (from a) middle class background. They declare their allegiance to al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and, through it, to Ayman al-Zawahri,&quot; he said, referring to al Qaeda&#39;s global leader. 
 
According to Thomas Joscelyn, senior editor at The Long War Journal that tracks jihadi groups worldwide, there was evidence of more direct links between Bangladesh and al Qaeda, and he warned the Islamist militant threat had been underestimated. 
 
&quot;We now have competition between al Qaeda and the Islamic State in Bangladesh, which means that the jihadist pool is deep enough for both organizations to operate in the country.&quot; 
 
In May, 2015, AQIS leader Asim Umar claimed responsibility for the murder of Avijit Roy, a US citizen and blogger hacked to death in Bangladesh that February. US officials said at the time they were unable to confirm the claim. 
 
Initially, Ansar struck bloggers and publishers critical of radical Islam, then university teachers, including one who asked a woman student to remove her veil in class. 
 
In April, it said it murdered two gay rights activists, saying they were promoting anti-Islamic activities, police said. 
 
Mysterious ex-officer 
 
Also worrying for authorities is the apparent rise within Ansar&#39;s ranks of former army Major Syed Mohammad Ziaul Haque, who went into hiding after the military accused him of involvement in a plot to overthrow the government in 2011. 
 
&quot;We have a suspicion that the ex-major is one of their leaders,&quot; said counter-terrorism chief Islam. &quot;He is in hiding. We know his capability. If he is involved, it is a strength for Ansar-al-Islam.&quot; 
 
Zia, as intelligence agencies call him, was from the engineer corps and trained in special operations. 
 
His would be the first known case of a Bangladesh military officer switching sides to join a militant group, although it has happened elsewhere. 
 
A military spokesman said Zia had been dismissed from service five years ago, but added that he was not in a position to speak about Zia&#39;s activities since then. 
 
Zia&#39;s involvement with Ansar was first mentioned by the head of its predecessor group following his capture in 2013, two police officials said. 
 
Zia was helping in the training of the fighters, motivating them to carry out jihad against &quot;anti-Islam&quot; forces and also taught bomb-making skills, one official briefed on the interrogation report said. 
 
Reuters could not independently verify the police claims. 
 
At the same time, Islamic State has said it was behind the killings of Hindus, Buddhists and members of minority Muslim sects, which have accelerated in recent weeks. 
 
Security officials tie those deaths to Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, a home grown group inspired by Islamic State&#39;s vision of a caliphate. 
 
Police official Islam said authorities had found computer evidence that Bangladesh-origin foreign fighters, some in Syria, were claiming attacks on behalf of Islamic State as soon as they occurred. 
 
But he said there was no evidence of operational ties with the Middle East-based movement. 
 
(Reuters) 
&nbsp;

They follow the ideology of al Qaeda and their operational leaders are mostly educated men from the middle class

Early in June, a man walked into the Dhaka premises of the Ramakrishna Mission, a Hindu centre for spirituality and learning in the Bangladesh capital, and delivered a handwritten note warning of an attack by Islamic State. Days later, armed policemen were sitting inside the mission's compound among orange-robed monks, the gates outside were closed and fewer people than normal showed up at a medical clinic it runs for the neighbourhood. "We are monks, we will live and die here, but people with families are worried," Swami Shivananda, a priest managing the administration of the mission, said of the country's Hindu community, which accounts for 10 per cent of the population. Islamic State and al Qaeda have claimed responsibility for the killings of more than 30 people since early last year, in an escalation of militant violence targeting liberals, atheists, foreigners, gays and religious minorities. They have shocked the largely moderate Muslim country of 160 million people and heightened fears that Bangladesh, once hailed as the next Asian tiger economy with its huge garment industry, could lose out to more stable competitors in the region. Unlike some security experts, Bangladesh authorities say the two international jihadi movements are not directly involved in the murders, many of which were carried out with machetes. But, as the police at the Hindu mission attest, the danger is real, and counter-terrorism officials warn it could get worse with one local militant group adopting al Qaeda's methods and calling on the expertise of a former army major implicated in a failed 2011 coup. Deadly rivalry Security officials say two local militant groups, Ansar-al-Islam and Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, are behind the killings. Of the two, Ansar, which pledges allegiance to al Qaeda, has emerged as the most organised and dangerous, they say, while Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen is seen as a looser organisation that claims it represents Islamic State but has no proven links to it. "By now we have a clear idea of the organisational structure, command and control and methods of operations of Ansar-al-Islam," Monirul Islam, chief of Bangladesh's counter-terrorism police, told Reuters in a recent interview. "They follow the ideology of al Qaeda, their operational leaders are mostly educated men, (from a) middle class background. They declare their allegiance to al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and, through it, to Ayman al-Zawahri," he said, referring to al Qaeda's global leader. According to Thomas Joscelyn, senior editor at The Long War Journal that tracks jihadi groups worldwide, there was evidence of more direct links between Bangladesh and al Qaeda, and he warned the Islamist militant threat had been underestimated. "We now have competition between al Qaeda and the Islamic State in Bangladesh, which means that the jihadist pool is deep enough for both organizations to operate in the country." In May, 2015, AQIS leader Asim Umar claimed responsibility for the murder of Avijit Roy, a US citizen and blogger hacked to death in Bangladesh that February. US officials said at the time they were unable to confirm the claim. Initially, Ansar struck bloggers and publishers critical of radical Islam, then university teachers, including one who asked a woman student to remove her veil in class. In April, it said it murdered two gay rights activists, saying they were promoting anti-Islamic activities, police said. Mysterious ex-officer Also worrying for authorities is the apparent rise within Ansar's ranks of former army Major Syed Mohammad Ziaul Haque, who went into hiding after the military accused him of involvement in a plot to overthrow the government in 2011. "We have a suspicion that the ex-major is one of their leaders," said counter-terrorism chief Islam. "He is in hiding. We know his capability. If he is involved, it is a strength for Ansar-al-Islam." Zia, as intelligence agencies call him, was from the engineer corps and trained in special operations. His would be the first known case of a Bangladesh military officer switching sides to join a militant group, although it has happened elsewhere. A military spokesman said Zia had been dismissed from service five years ago, but added that he was not in a position to speak about Zia's activities since then. Zia's involvement with Ansar was first mentioned by the head of its predecessor group following his capture in 2013, two police officials said. Zia was helping in the training of the fighters, motivating them to carry out jihad against "anti-Islam" forces and also taught bomb-making skills, one official briefed on the interrogation report said. Reuters could not independently verify the police claims. At the same time, Islamic State has said it was behind the killings of Hindus, Buddhists and members of minority Muslim sects, which have accelerated in recent weeks. Security officials tie those deaths to Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, a home grown group inspired by Islamic State's vision of a caliphate. Police official Islam said authorities had found computer evidence that Bangladesh-origin foreign fighters, some in Syria, were claiming attacks on behalf of Islamic State as soon as they occurred. But he said there was no evidence of operational ties with the Middle East-based movement. (Reuters)

Home-grown militants and former army officer behind attacks on Bangladeshi minorities, say police

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