#khaleda zia release

[globaltrendingnews247]

Khaleda Zia is being released

President Md. Sahabuddin said that a decision has been taken regarding the release of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia. 

Full Details

[beardedmrbean]

Bangladesh's parliament has been dissolved, a day after prime minister Sheikh Hasina was forced from power.

Ms Hasina resigned and fled the country after weeks of student-led protests spiralled into deadly unrest.

The dissolution of parliament, a key demand of protesters, paves the way for establishing an interim government.

Bangladeshis are waiting to see what comes next, as the country's military chief is holding talks with political leaders and protest organisers.

According to local media, more than 100 people died in violent clashes across Bangladesh on Monday, the single deadliest day since mass demonstrations began.

Hundreds of police stations were also torched, with the Bangladesh Police Service Association (BPSA) declaring a strike "until the security of every member of the police is secure".

The group also sought to place the blame at the door of authorities, saying they were "forced to fire".

Overall, more than 400 people are believed to have died, as protests were met with harsh repression by government forces.

The protests began in early July with peaceful demands from university students to abolish quotas in civil service jobs, but snowballed into a broader anti-government movement.

Weeks of unrest culminated in the storming of the prime minister's official residence, not long after Ms Hasina had fled to neighbouring India, ending nearly 15 years of rule.

Bangladeshi leaders are under pressure to establish an interim government to avoid a power vacuum that could lead to further clashes.

Within hours of her resignation, Bangladesh's army chief Gen Waker-uz-Zaman pledged that an interim administration would be formed, adding on state television that "it is time to stop the violence".

Student leaders have been clear they will not accept a military-led government, pushing for Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus to become the interim government's chief adviser.

Mr Yunus, who agreed to take up the role, said: “When the students who sacrificed so much are requesting me to step in at this difficult juncture, how can I refuse?”

He is returning to Dhaka from Paris, where he is undergoing a minor medical procedure, according to his spokesperson.

Meanwhile, ex-prime minister and key opposition leader Khaleda Zia was released from years of house arrest, a presidential statement said.

She chairs the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which boycotted elections in 2014 and again in 2024, saying free and fair elections were not possible under Ms Hasina.

The BNP wanted the polls to be held under a neutral caretaker administration. This has now become a possibility after the departure of Ms Hasina, who had always rejected this demand.

Ms Zia, 78, served as prime minister of Bangladesh from 1991 to 1996, but was imprisoned in 2018 for corruption, although she said the charges were politically motivated.

She was not the only opposition figure to be released after years of detention.

Activist Ahmad Bin Quasem was also released from detention, according to his lawyer Michael Polak.

Rights groups say Mr Quasem was taken away by security forces in 2016, just one of hundreds of forced disappearances in the country under Ms Hasina's rule.

"There were many points during his detention that he was feared dead, and the uncertainty was one of the many tools of repression utilised by the regime," Mr Polak explained, adding they hoped the decision to release political prisoners "is a positive sign of their intentions".

"Unfortunately, the good news won’t be shared by all," he told the BBC, stating that a number of political prisoners had died in custody.

At least 20 other families of political prisoners gathered outside a military intelligence force building in the capital Dhaka earlier in the day, still desperately waiting for news about their loved ones, AFP news agency reports.

"We need answers," Sanjida Islam Tulee, a co-ordinator of Mayer Daak (The Call of the Mothers) campaign group, told the news agency.

Across the border in India, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said he was "deeply concerned till law and order is visibly restored" in Bangladesh, with which India shares a 4,096-km (2,545-mile) border and has close economic and cultural ties.

He gave the first official confirmation that Ms Hasina made a request to travel to India at "very short notice" and "arrived yesterday evening in Delhi".

India also deployed additional troops along its border with Bangladesh.

"Our border guarding forces have also been instructed to be exceptionally alert in view of this complex situation," Mr Jaishankar said.

[follow-up-news]

Bangladesh’s president dissolved Parliament Tuesday, clearing the way for new elections to replace the longtime prime minister who resigned and fled the country following weeks of demonstrations against her rule that descended into violence. President Mohammed Shahabuddin also ordered the release of opposition leader Khaleda Zia from house arrest. Zia, a longtime rival of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was convicted on corruption charges by Hasina’s government in 2018. On Tuesday, some senior positions in the military were reshuffled. The student protesters said they would not allow any military-backed government.

[zvaigzdelasas]

Fakhrul, the top Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader in the absence of convicted chief Khaleda Zia and her exiled son Tarique Rahman, led the sit-in protest in front of the party office in Dhaka.[...]

Several other opposition parties raised similar demands in separate demonstrations across the capital. Ruling Awami League held some counter demonstrations in Dhaka in support of the Hasina government.[...]

The political showdown came at a time when two foreign delegations, from the European Union and the United States, respectively, were in Bangladesh to hold talks with different stakeholders over various issues, including a free and fair general election, democracy, and human rights. The Asian country is scheduled to hold general elections later this year or in early 2024.

Wednesday’s rally is the biggest opposition rally since December when the BNP defied police obstacles, attacks, and arrests to hold a public rally in the capital.[...] The BNP has been holding protests since August against rising commodity prices and demanding the unconditional release of Zia and the formation of an interim government for polls.[...]

The Awami League and the BNP have ruled Bangladesh since 1991, except for a brief quasi-military rule in 2007-08.

12 Jul 23

[head-post]

Sheikh Hasina’s coalition party office attacked

Attackers set fire on Thursday night to the headquarters of a Bangladesh party supporting ousted leader Sheikh Hasina, media reports said. 

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack on the Jatiya Party office in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka. TV channels and other media reported that the attackers stormed the party headquarters in Dhaka’s Bijoy Nagar neighbourhood, clashed with party members there and eventually set the premises on fire. No information was reported on whether there were any casualties.

The extent of the damage was not immediately known. According to Rashed bin Khaled, a fire and civil defence official, firefighters rushed to the scene. Bin Khaled, who spoke to The Associated Press by phone, gave no other details.

The party is Bangladesh’s third-largest and was founded by former military dictator H.M. Ershad in the 1980s.

At the time of the attack, a prominent leader of the student protest movement that led to Hasina’s ouster from power in August said the Jatiya Party should be “destroyed” for supporting her government.

Hasnat Abdullah, a student leader, said in a Facebook post that the Jatiya Party is a “national traitor.”

Abdullah is a spokesman for the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, which led the July protests. He also called on students to gather at Dhaka University and march to the Jatiya Party headquarters.

Hasina’s Bangladesh Awami League party has ruled the country for 15 years, since 2009. Its critics say the Jatiya Party acted to give Hasina’s rule a semblance of democracy as other major political parties did not participate in the elections.

Protests against Sheikh Hasina

Protests in Bangladesh began in July, with demonstrators demanding the abolition of the job quota system for relatives of the 1971 war of independence. Anti-government protests erupted with renewed vigour on August 4 when protesters demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Hasina. On August 5, head of government Sheikh Hasina left office amid widespread protests and flew to India.

After the Prime Minister fled, President Mohammed Shahabuddin ordered the release of detained protesters as well as former Prime Minister and opposition leader Khaleda Zia.

Amid the protests, Bangladesh imposed a curfew and restricted internet access.

Read more HERE

[sa7abnews]

Yunus sworn in to lead Bangladesh interim government

New Post has been published on https://sa7ab.info/2024/08/11/yunus-sworn-in-to-lead-bangladesh-interim-government/

Yunus sworn in to lead Bangladesh interim government

Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus was sworn into office Thursday as Bangladesh’s interim leader, vowing to guide the country back to democracy after a student-led uprising ended the 15-year rule of Sheikh Hasina.

Yunus, who only returned home hours earlier, swore to “uphold, support and protect the constitution”, in front of Bangladeshi political and civil society leaders, generals and diplomats at the presidential palace.

“Today is a glorious day for us,” Yunus, 84, told reporters when he returned to Dhaka from Europe.

“Bangladesh has created a new victory day. Bangladesh has got a second independence.”

Yunus called for the restoration of order in the South Asian nation after weeks of violence that left at least 455 people dead, calling on citizens to guard each other, including minorities who came under attack.

“Law and order is our first task… We cannot take a step forward unless we fix the law and order situation,” he said.

“My call to the people is if you have trust in me, then make sure there will be no attacks against anyone, anywhere in the country.”

“Every person is our brother… our task is to protect them,” Yunus said, adding that “the whole of Bangladesh is one big family”.

More than a dozen members of his cabinet – given the title of advisers, not ministers – also took the oath.

The group included two top leaders of the Students Against Discrimination group that led the weeks-long protests, Nahid Islam and Asif Mahmud.

Others included a former foreign secretary, a former attorney general, an environmental lawyer, and prominent rights activist Adilur Rahman Khan, who was sentenced to two years in jail during Hasina’s rule.

The caretaker administration is a civilian team, bar one retired brigadier-general.

Hasina, accused of widespread human rights abuses including the jailing of her political opponents, was forced to flee to neighbouring India on Monday as masses of protesters flooded Dhaka’s streets.

The military then agreed to student demands that Yunus – who won the Nobel prize in 2006 for his pioneering microfinancing work – lead an interim government.

Yunus choked with emotion Thursday as he recalled the killing of student activist Abu Sayeed, shot dead in July by police from close range.

He paid tribute to the youth who sparked the protest movement and those who risked all for their desire for change.

“They protected the nation and gave it a new life”, he said.

‘Beautiful democratic process’

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his “best wishes” to Yunus, saying New Delhi – which had close ties with Hasina – was “committed” to working with Dhaka.

The United States and European Union also voiced readiness to work with the interim government, with State Department spokesman Matthew Miller saying Washington hoped to work together as Bangladesh “charts a democratic future”.

During Hasina’s reign, Yunus was hit with more than 100 criminal cases and a smear campaign by a state-led Islamic agency that accused him of promoting homosexuality.

Yunus had travelled abroad this year while on bail after being sentenced to six months in jail on a charge condemned as politically motivated. A Dhaka court acquitted him of that charge on Wednesday.

Army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman said Wednesday he supported Yunus.

“I am certain that he will be able to take us through a beautiful democratic process,” Waker said.

Bangladeshis voiced hope for the future at a rally in Dhaka on Wednesday for the former opposition Bangladesh National Party (BNP), whose chairperson, former prime minister Khaleda Zia, 78, was released from years of house arrest.

“I expect that the country is run in a nice way, and the police force is reformed so that they can’t harass people,” Moynul Islam Pintu told AFP.

Monday’s events were the culmination of more than a month of unrest, which began as protests against a quota plan for government jobs but morphed into an anti-Hasina movement.

“The protests are a seismic moment in Bangladesh history,” said International Crisis Group analyst Thomas Kean.

“The country really had been at risk of becoming a one-party state, and through a peaceful street-based movement led by Gen Z students in their 20s, they’ve managed to force her from power.”

Military move

The military’s switching of allegiance was the decisive factor in her ouster. It has since acceded to a range of demands from the student leaders.

The president on Tuesday dissolved parliament and sacked the head of the police force, who protesters had blamed for leading Hasina’s crackdown.

The new chief, Mainul Islam, offered an apology Wednesday for the conduct of officers and vowed a “fair and impartial investigation” into the killings of “students, common people and the police”.

Besides Zia, some other political prisoners were freed.

The military has demoted some generals seen as close to Hasina and sacked Ziaul Ahsan, a commander of the feared Rapid Action Battalion paramilitary force.

[allthenewzworld]

In her first reaction after being released from jail, former #Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia urged her countrymen to build a "democratic Bangladesh where all religions are respected".

In a video message in Bangla, Khaleda Zia said, "You have been praying for my health all this while. I am able to speak to you to due to the blessings of Allah. We have been able to get independence from this fascist government. I pay my obeisance to the brave ones who gave their lives."

(Bangladesh violence, interim government, Sheikh Hasina)

[citizenrecord]

"No Provision For…": What UK Said On Sheikh Hasina Asylum Reports

British immigration rules do not allow individuals to travel to that country to seek asylum or temporary refuge, the UK Home Office told NDTV Tuesday morning, amid persistent speculation ousted Bangladesh leader Sheikh Hasina, now in Delhi, will fly to London to claim sanctuary.

The UK government - now headed by Sir Keir Starmer following Labour's landslide win last month - also said individuals seeking asylum must do so "in the first safe country they reach".

"The UK has a proud record of providing protection for people who need it. However, there is no provision for someone to be allowed to travel to the UK to seek asylum or temporary refuge."

Those who need international protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach - that is the fastest route to safety," a UK Home Office spokesperson told NDTV.

Nevertheless, sources indicate a formal asylum request is being processed.

Mrs Hasina, 76, was forced to resign as Prime Minister Monday evening after weeks-long protests over a jobs quota killed over 300 people. She fled Dhaka in a military aircraft - reportedly after the Bangladesh Army gave her a 45-minute ultimatum - and flew first to an IAF base in Uttar Pradesh.

Sources last night told NDTV Mrs Hasina - met on arrival in India by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval - would proceed on to London after her plane was refuelled. Since then, though, there has been confirmation of the former Prime Minister's schedule or, indeed, about her location.

Sources have, though, said she is in "protective custody" of Indian intelligence services.

She is accompanied by her younger sister, Sheikh Rehana, who is a UK citizen, which could be useful to claim asylum in that country. Also, her niece, Tulip Siddiq, is a British Labour parliamentarian.

Mrs Hasina's daughter, Saima Wazed, is based in Delhi as the regional chief for the World Health Organization. This, though, may not open doors as she works for an international agency.

This morning Bangladeshi publication Daily Sun cited unconfirmed sources as saying India has granted permission for an "interim stay", during which Mrs Hasina will get comprehensive logistical support.

This is reportedly only temporary and pending relocation to Britain.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been briefed on the Bangladesh situation, and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has spoken to leaders of all major political parties in the country.

At that meeting Mr Jaishankar spoke of a "conspiracy" to topple Mrs Hasina's government. This was in response to a question by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, who asked if there could be an involvement of foreign powers, specifically Pakistan, in the dramatic developments in Dhaka over the past few weeks.

In speculation that has emerged (inevitably so) since Mrs Hasina quit, three key names are at the forefront, two of whom are the Army, which took charge after Mrs Hasina quit, and which may have given her a 45-minute ultimatum; and her nemesis and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, who was jailed in 2018 on corruption charges and whose release was ordered by the President.

[kimskashmir]

Sheikh Hasina flees, Bangladesh President orders Ex PM Khaleda Zia's release

DHAKA — Bangladeshi President Mohammed Shahabuddin on Monday ordered the release of jailed former prime minister and key opposition leader Khaleda Zia, hours after her arch-rival Sheikh Hasina was ousted and the military took power. The president’s press team said in a statement that a meeting led by Shahabuddin had “decided unanimously to free Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson Begum…

[sebahotnews]

সেবা ডেস্ক: জামালপুরের বকশীগঞ্জে সাবেক প্রধানমন্ত্রী ও বিএনপি চেয়ারপারসন বেগম খালেদা জিয়ার মুক্তি ও বিএনপির সিনিয়র ভাইস চেয়ারম্যান তারেক রহমানের বিরুদ্ধে দায়ের করা মামলা বাতিলের দাবিতে অনশন কর্মসূচি পালিত হয়ে

[globaltrendingnews247]

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Today's Update

[freedomnews24]

Khaleda Zia will return home in the afternoon

BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia will be taken home from Evercare Hospital. He will be taken from the hospital to his Gulshan residence Firoza on Sunday (November 8) afternoon.

Khaleda Zia's medical team member BNP Vice Chairman. AZM Zahid Hossain said the medical board would meet at noon to decide on the matter. Only then will the decision be made. There is a possibility of taking it home, but it depends on the decision of the medical board.  

Earlier, Khaleda Zia was taken to Evercare Hospital for a medical check-up from her Gulshan residence at 3.40 pm on October 12. He was later admitted to the hospital on the advice of doctors.

Khaleda Zia was sent to jail on February 8, 2016 after being convicted in a corruption case. On March 25 last year, in the wake of the Corona epidemic, the government released him on parole. So far, Khaleda Zia's release time has been extended in four phases.

[sristybarta]

Khaleda Zia returns home from hospital

Khaleda Zia returns home from hospital

BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia has returned to her Gulshan residence after getting release from the hospital tonight. BNP Media wing member Shairul Kabir Khan confirmed the matter to Daily Bangladesh. Shairul Kabir Khan said that BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia was admitted to Bashundhara Evercare Hospital on April 27 with corona. She will return home from the hospital after 7 pm today. Khaleda Zia was…

[head-post]

Bangladesh president orders Khaleda Zia’s release, ISKCON temple targeted

Bangladesh President Muhammad Shahabuddin has signed an order releasing former prime minister and opposition leader Khaleda Zia from house arrest, hours after her rival Sheikh Hasina was ousted from power and the military took over.

The president’s press team said in a statement that a meeting led by Shahabuddin took a “unanimous decision to immediately release Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia.”

Khaleda Zia is the leader of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, a post she held as prime minister from 1991 to 1996 and from 2001 to 2006. In 2007, Mrs. Zia was arrested on corruption charges and sentenced to prison. She was released on bail a year later. Dozens more cases were subsequently brought against the former prime minister. In 2018, she was sentenced to prison again, then the preventive measure was changed several times to house arrest due to Khaleda Zia’s health problems.

The meeting was attended by army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman, heads of the navy and air force, and top leaders of several opposition parties, including BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami. The statement said:

“The meeting also decided to release all the people who were arrested during the student protests.” 

Earlier on Monday, Waker said on state television that Hasina had resigned and the military would form an interim government. The statement added:

“The meeting decided to form an interim government immediately.” 

Hasina had been trying to quell nationwide protests against her government since early July, but she left the country after violent riots on Sunday that left about 100 people dead.

Read more HERE

[sa7abnews]

Yunus sworn in to lead Bangladesh interim government

New Post has been published on https://sa7ab.info/2024/08/11/yunus-sworn-in-to-lead-bangladesh-interim-government-2/

Yunus sworn in to lead Bangladesh interim government

Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus was sworn into office Thursday as Bangladesh’s interim leader, vowing to guide the country back to democracy after a student-led uprising ended the 15-year rule of Sheikh Hasina.

Yunus, who only returned home hours earlier, swore to “uphold, support and protect the constitution”, in front of Bangladeshi political and civil society leaders, generals and diplomats at the presidential palace.

“Today is a glorious day for us,” Yunus, 84, told reporters when he returned to Dhaka from Europe.

“Bangladesh has created a new victory day. Bangladesh has got a second independence.”

Yunus called for the restoration of order in the South Asian nation after weeks of violence that left at least 455 people dead, calling on citizens to guard each other, including minorities who came under attack.

“Law and order is our first task… We cannot take a step forward unless we fix the law and order situation,” he said.

“My call to the people is if you have trust in me, then make sure there will be no attacks against anyone, anywhere in the country.”

“Every person is our brother… our task is to protect them,” Yunus said, adding that “the whole of Bangladesh is one big family”.

More than a dozen members of his cabinet – given the title of advisers, not ministers – also took the oath.

The group included two top leaders of the Students Against Discrimination group that led the weeks-long protests, Nahid Islam and Asif Mahmud.

Others included a former foreign secretary, a former attorney general, an environmental lawyer, and prominent rights activist Adilur Rahman Khan, who was sentenced to two years in jail during Hasina’s rule.

The caretaker administration is a civilian team, bar one retired brigadier-general.

Hasina, accused of widespread human rights abuses including the jailing of her political opponents, was forced to flee to neighbouring India on Monday as masses of protesters flooded Dhaka’s streets.

The military then agreed to student demands that Yunus – who won the Nobel prize in 2006 for his pioneering microfinancing work – lead an interim government.

Yunus choked with emotion Thursday as he recalled the killing of student activist Abu Sayeed, shot dead in July by police from close range.

He paid tribute to the youth who sparked the protest movement and those who risked all for their desire for change.

“They protected the nation and gave it a new life”, he said.

‘Beautiful democratic process’

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his “best wishes” to Yunus, saying New Delhi – which had close ties with Hasina – was “committed” to working with Dhaka.

The United States and European Union also voiced readiness to work with the interim government, with State Department spokesman Matthew Miller saying Washington hoped to work together as Bangladesh “charts a democratic future”.

During Hasina’s reign, Yunus was hit with more than 100 criminal cases and a smear campaign by a state-led Islamic agency that accused him of promoting homosexuality.

Yunus had travelled abroad this year while on bail after being sentenced to six months in jail on a charge condemned as politically motivated. A Dhaka court acquitted him of that charge on Wednesday.

Army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman said Wednesday he supported Yunus.

“I am certain that he will be able to take us through a beautiful democratic process,” Waker said.

Bangladeshis voiced hope for the future at a rally in Dhaka on Wednesday for the former opposition Bangladesh National Party (BNP), whose chairperson, former prime minister Khaleda Zia, 78, was released from years of house arrest.

“I expect that the country is run in a nice way, and the police force is reformed so that they can’t harass people,” Moynul Islam Pintu told AFP.

Monday’s events were the culmination of more than a month of unrest, which began as protests against a quota plan for government jobs but morphed into an anti-Hasina movement.

“The protests are a seismic moment in Bangladesh history,” said International Crisis Group analyst Thomas Kean.

“The country really had been at risk of becoming a one-party state, and through a peaceful street-based movement led by Gen Z students in their 20s, they’ve managed to force her from power.”

Military move

The military’s switching of allegiance was the decisive factor in her ouster. It has since acceded to a range of demands from the student leaders.

The president on Tuesday dissolved parliament and sacked the head of the police force, who protesters had blamed for leading Hasina’s crackdown.

The new chief, Mainul Islam, offered an apology Wednesday for the conduct of officers and vowed a “fair and impartial investigation” into the killings of “students, common people and the police”.

Besides Zia, some other political prisoners were freed.

The military has demoted some generals seen as close to Hasina and sacked Ziaul Ahsan, a commander of the feared Rapid Action Battalion paramilitary force.

[probirbidhan]

WikiLeaks: Reformist BNP leader GM Siraj says Tarique loves notorious guys

Golam Mohammad Siraj, the convener of Bogura unit BNP, got party’s nomination after a decade of isolation in 2018 In December 2008, then US ambassador Moriarty met with Siraj at Food Village, his hyper-busy travelers’ rest stop on the main road to Dhaka. He proudly noted he did not go to see Khaleda Zia to curry favor after her release from jail on bail in September. “I want democracy to…