epubdos : Afghanistan
SCA MORNING PRESS CLIPS
Prepared for the U.S. Department of State
Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs
TO:
SCA & Staff
DATE:
Wednesday, August 7, 2024 6:30 AM ET

Afghanistan
Taliban says millions of Afghans returning home; IOM says millions leaving — who is right? (VOA)
VOA [8/6/2024 1:00 PM, Ayaz Gul, 4032K, Negative]
Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban said Tuesday that about 3.7 million former refugees have returned to the country since the Islamist group took power three years ago. The statement was a response to the International Organization for Migration, or IOM, which reported last week that more than twice as many Afghans have left the country since 2020.

Which side is correct? Possibly both.

The dispute began with a July 31 IOM report that said “nearly 8 million Afghans” have departed the country over the last four years.

Of those, said the IOM, 85% moved to neighboring countries, mostly Iran and Pakistan, and almost 1 million headed to Europe. The IOM said almost 70% of Afghans who went to Iran cited a lack of job opportunities as the main factor driving their migration.

The Taliban-run Ministry of Refugees and Returnees challenged the IOM figure, saying there has not been such a significant exodus of people from the country since the Soviet invasion and subsequent decade-long occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s.

"In the last three years alone, 3.7 million Afghan citizens have returned home, marking the first instance of such a substantial influx in the last 40 years in Afghanistan’s history,” the ministry declared.

The ministry accused the U.N. agency of issuing false and misleading figures to attract donor funding.

While neither side’s figure can be independently confirmed, it’s conceivable that both numbers are accurate.

Afghanistan has experienced significant outflows and inflows of people this decade. Many Afghans flee turmoil sparked by the withdrawal of the U.S.-led anti-terrorism coalition and the return to power of the Taliban, who continue to battle Afghan insurgent groups as well as sanctions imposed by Western countries over human rights concerns, mainly laws that ban women from most aspects of public life.

At the same time, many Afghans are getting a cold welcome in what they hoped would be countries of refuge. In its report, the IOM acknowledged that the number of Afghans repatriating from Iran “remains consistently high.” It stated that nearly 1 million Afghans came back home in 2023, with “70% being undocumented and 60% forcibly returned.”

Meanwhile, neighboring Pakistan reported this week that its crackdown on undocumented foreigners in the country has led to the repatriation of nearly 700,000 Afghans in the last 10 months. Another 1.4 million legal Afghan refugees remain in the country.

IOM and its partner agencies have repeatedly urged all countries to “immediately halt the forced returns of Afghans, both in the short and long term, until conditions are established to ensure safe, dignified, and voluntary returns, regardless of legal status.”

Climate change impact

Meanwhile, Save the Children reported Tuesday that extreme weather events forced at least 38,000 people, about half of them children, from their homes in Afghanistan in the first six months of this year.

The aid group said, “While most displacements in recent decades have been due to conflict, in 2022, climate disasters became the main reason people fled their homes and moved to other areas within Afghanistan.”

The report noted that more than one-third of Afghans are facing crisis levels of hunger, driven mostly by climate shocks and high food prices.

Recent U.N. reports have cited drought as the main reason for disaster-driven displacement in Afghanistan, ranked as the sixth most vulnerable country to the impacts of climate change. The assessments found that 25 of the 34 Afghan provinces “face severe or catastrophic” drought conditions, affecting more than half the country’s more than 40 million population.

The Taliban reclaimed power in August 2021 from the then-internationally backed government in Kabul, as the United States and NATO troops withdrew from the country after almost two decades of involvement in the Afghan war.

No country has officially recognized the fundamentalist Taliban regime over its sweeping restrictions on women’s rights to education, employment, and public life, among other human rights concerns.

The international isolation has deterred potential partners from providing development assistance to help Taliban-ruled Afghanistan in addressing climate change and post-conflict reconstruction challenges.
Pakistan
Justice Dept. Charges Pakistani Man in Alleged Plot to Kill U.S. Leaders (New York Times)
New York Times [8/6/2024 5:09 PM, Glenn Thrush, 2042K, Negative]
The Justice Department said on Tuesday that it had charged a Pakistani man who had recently visited Iran with trying to hire a hit man to assassinate political figures in the U.S. Investigators believe that potential targets likely included former President Donald J. Trump, according to a senior law enforcement official.

The man, Asif Raza Merchant, 46, was arrested in New York on July 12, one day before a 20-year-old man, Matthew Crooks, shot at and slightly wounded Mr. Trump during a rally in Pennsylvania, according to a complaint unsealed in federal court in Brooklyn on Tuesday.

Officials said they had no evidence indicating the plot was connected to the shooting in Butler, Pa. But they said the arrest of Mr. Merchant — who had recently spent two weeks in Iran — had disrupted what they characterized as a far-ranging plot that also included seeking to steal computer files from U.S. officials.

U.S. intelligence agencies were tracking a potential Iranian assassination plot against Mr. Trump in the weeks before the assassination attempt that prompted the Secret Service to enhance security for the former president before his outdoor campaign rally in Pennsylvania. It is not clear if the scheme made public on Tuesday precipitated those moves.

Mr. Merchant “orchestrated a plot to assassinate U.S. government officials and steal information on U.S. soil,” prosecutors wrote in documents unsealed on Tuesday.

“After spending time in Iran, Merchant flew from Pakistan to the U.S. to recruit hit men to carry out his scheme,” they said.

In an affidavit accompanying the charges, an F.B.I. agent said that “the tradecraft and operational security measures” employed by Mr. Merchant were consistent with the actions of someone “plotting on behalf of a foreign adversary.”

The agent likened Mr. Merchant’s actions to the foiled plot by Iranian operatives to murder John R. Bolton, the former national security adviser under Mr. Trump, in revenge for the 2020 killing of Qassim Suleimani, a high-ranking member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, in a U.S. drone attack in Iraq.

The bureau had been investigating Mr. Merchant for weeks before they arrested him as he attempted to leave the country from New York. They relayed details of the case to other federal agencies, including the Secret Service, said Representative Michael R. Turner, Republican of Ohio and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

Mr. Turner said that the failure of the Secret Service to protect Mr. Trump from an assassin’s bullet “is even more outrageous” because they were aware of the potential threat and did not take sufficient steps to safeguard the former president.

After arriving in the U.S. in April, Mr. Merchant contacted a person who he thought could help him carry out his plans, which also included organizing protests of American treatment of Muslim countries.

Instead, his contact quickly told law enforcement officials, and became a confidential informant.

In early June, Mr. Merchant traveled from Texas to New York to visit that person and laid out a scheme that included targeted assassinations of people “who are hurting Pakistan” and the “Muslim world,” according to the informant.

He offered to pay the person $5,000 as a down payment on a potential $100,000 fee, under the guise of a dyed-rug business. He also claimed to be a “representative” for other conspirators outside the U.S., but did not specify who his handlers were.

Mr. Merchant offered to channel the money through an informal network in Dubai or Istanbul, prosecutors said. The filings do not indicate if Mr. Merchant revealed whom he was working with, but he said he had wives in Pakistan and Iran, and had traveled to Iraq in recent years.

Mr. Merchant did not say whom he wanted to assassinate in his discussions with the informant, but said he hoped to pull off the killing, or killings, in late August or early September.

He specified that he was not targeting “normal” people, and that the political figures he had in mind were prominent enough to warrant security details, the law enforcement official said.

His targets included current and former U.S. officials, according to a senior federal law enforcement official. The bureau’s leadership said in recent testimony before Congress that Mr. Trump was a longstanding target of threats from Iran.

Mr. Merchant encouraged the informant to travel to Iran personally, and said he had gotten permission from higher-ups to “finalize” the assassination plot.

During a trip to New York, Mr. Merchant asked the informant to drive him around to “clubs” in Brooklyn to recruit potential hit men, and people to engage in an unspecified criminal scheme that could earn participants up to a million dollars.

It was on that trip that the informant introduced Mr. Merchant to two people who were represented as killers for hire, but who were in fact undercover federal operatives.

At one point, Mr. Merchant — a slim man with a close-cropped, salt-and-pepper beard — grabbed a napkin and scrawled out a code for their future interactions based on his cover as a textile broker. “T-shirt” would be an order to organize counter-protests at political rallies, “flannel shirt” meant “stealing” and “fleece jacket” was code for assassination, prosecutors said.

But he did not tell those informants whom he wanted to have killed, and said he would send them names after he left the country, according to the complaint.

He was arrested soon afterward.

Mr. Merchant’s lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.

The arrest and the charges against Mr. Merchant were reported earlier by CNN.
U.S. charges man in alleged plot that raised concerns about Trump’s safety (Washington Post)
Washington Post [8/6/2024 5:33 PM, Devlin Barrett, Shayna Jacobs and Josh Dawsey, 2042K, Neutral]
Prosecutors in New York have charged a suspect in an alleged plot to pay for an assassination or other crimes on Iran’s behalf — an investigation that raised safety concerns about Donald Trump and others even before an apparently unrelated shooting at a Trump rally in July.

A complaint unsealed Tuesday in federal court in Brooklyn charges Asif Merchant, 46, of Pakistan with a murder-for-hire plot to assassinate a politician or U.S. government official on American soil. Authorities said they foiled it before any violence could be attempted — in part because the people Merchant allegedly tried to hire were undercover FBI agents.

According to court documents, Merchant met in June with people he thought were hit men, and he told them he would have a number of assignments for them, including an assassination of targets he would identify later.

Merchant was arrested, according to court papers, on July 12 — which happened to be one day before a 20-year-old man fired shots during a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., grazing Trump’s ear, killing an audience member and wounding two others. Investigators do not believe the Iranian plot and the actions by the Pennsylvania gunman are related, according to law enforcement officials.

The alleged Iranian-backed plot, however, had raised concerns about Trump’s safety in the weeks before the shooting, according to U.S. officials familiar with the investigation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal discussions.

The investigation prompted a number of meetings among top officials at the Justice Department in the weeks leading up to the July 13 assassination attempt against Trump, according to one senior U.S. official. The alleged plot raised security concerns among law enforcement officials in part because it involved an individual traveling to the United States to hire specific people to carry out violence or other crimes, the officials said.

“For years, the Justice Department has been working aggressively to counter Iran’s brazen and unrelenting efforts to retaliate against American public officials for the killing of Iranian General [Qasem] Soleimani,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a written statement Tuesday.

The U.S. military killed Soleimani, a top commander in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in a January 2020 drone strike in Baghdad. Iran vowed to respond at a time of its choosing, and ever since the Soleimani operation, U.S. officials have tracked potential retaliation plots.

In 2022, federal authorities charged a member of the IRGC in an alleged plot to assassinate John Bolton, then a former Trump national security adviser.

“The Justice Department will spare no resource to disrupt and hold accountable those who would seek to carry out Iran’s lethal plotting against American citizens, and will not tolerate attempts by an authoritarian regime to target American public officials and endanger America’s national security,” Garland said.

FBI Director Christopher A. Wray said the alleged plot “is straight out of the Iranian playbook” and was met with “the full might and resources of the FBI.”

According to the criminal complaint, Merchant arrived in the United States from Pakistan in April, shortly after spending time in Iran. Once in the United States, he allegedly contacted someone he believed could help him with the plot. That person reported Merchant’s request to law enforcement, who set up a sting operation.

Merchant allegedly told the source that his plan involved several criminal schemes, including stealing documents or computer data from a target’s home, planning a protest and killing a politician or government official.

Officials say he also described clothing-related code words that he would use to direct them from overseas about what he wanted them to do — “tee-shirt” would mean a protest, “flannel shirt” would mean stealing, and “fleece jacket” would mean “commit the act of the game” — a phrase prosecutors said meant killing someone.

He then described potential assassination scenarios, including situations in which there was extensive security around the person, according to court documents. He also indicated that any such assassination would take place after Merchant had left the United States, probably in late August or early September, officials said.

In late June, Merchant allegedly met with the undercover agents and gave them $5,000 in cash as a down payment for their planned work. In court papers, officials said they have video and audio recordings of the meetings.
Pakistan Secures Debt Extension Assurances From China, UAE (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [8/6/2024 9:43 AM, Kamran Haider, 27296K, Positive]
Pakistan has secured commitments from China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to rollover debt for a year, a boost for the nation as it awaits a final approval for its new $7 billion loan program with the International Monetary Fund.

The amount of rollovers will be the same as last year, Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb told reporters in Islamabad after a parliamentary committee meeting. Pakistan has $12 billion

in bilateral loans that have been extended for the past few years.

The assurances come as the South Asian country goes from one loan program to another with the IMF to keep on track with its debt payments. It has also requested debt relief from China for power plants set up under the Belt and Road Initiative. The nation expects a final approval from the IMF by the end of the current month for its loan program.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government expects to manage a financing gap of as much as $5 billion during the fund’s three-year program, said Aurangzeb. Pakistan is moving in the right direction with a stable currency, he said.

Fitch Ratings increased the nation’s credit rating last week by one notch to CCC+ after it secured an initial approval from the IMF. The finance minister targets to raise the rating to B-, he said.
Unrest Grows in Balochistan as Protesters Assert Baloch Ownership of Gwadar (The Diplomat)
The Diplomat [8/6/2024 11:59 AM, Samand Muhammad Shahi, 1156K, Negative]
Balochistan is experiencing a new wave of political unrest as the Pakistani government continues its tradition of using force to suppress peaceful protests in the region. Since July 27, the situation in this southwestern province of Pakistan has remained tense as the standoff between the government and Baloch protesters persists. Rallies, demonstrations, sit-ins, and protests are ongoing in various parts of Balochistan despite crackdowns by the government.

The protests began after the government blocked the main highways in Balochistan the day before a political gathering organized by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) was scheduled to take place in Gwadar. The government aimed to prevent people and activists from participating in the Baloch Raji Machi or Baloch National Gathering. This led to a crackdown by security forces, including arrests, baton charges, shelling, and use of firearms on the participants from all parts of Balochistan who were marching toward Gwadar. In response, the BYC announced to turn its rally in Gwadar into a sit-in.

Currently, life in Balochistan has come to a standstill due to the road blockades and communication blackouts in several areas. At least four protesters have been killed, and dozens have been injured in various parts of Balochistan as a result of firing by security forces. Additionally, hundreds of people have been arrested, with many facing charges of sedition. Although both the government and protest leaders have expressed a willingness to resolve the issues through negotiations, the talks have been hindered by deadlocks.

The BYC is a rights group advocating for the civil, political, and socioeconomic rights of the Baloch. It described the Baloch National Gathering as a “referendum against the Baloch genocide, the exploitation of Baloch resources under the guise of so-called megaprojects, and the conversion of Balochistan into a prison under the pretext of security.”

The spokesperson of Pakistan’s military, however, has denounced the BYC as a “proxy of terrorist organizations and criminal mafias” tasked to make development projects in Balochistan controversial. He has termed the Baloch National Gathering as an “unlawful violent mob” and the protests as foreign sponsored, claiming that a security personnel was also killed by “violent protesters.”

However, national and international rights groups have taken note of the situation. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) said it had “received reports of violence against protesters… and alleged attempts by state authorities to intimidate leaders of the BYC into calling off the gathering, including through arrests and enforced disappearances.”

Amnesty International has called for “an end to the brutal crackdown on the Baloch protests and the immediate and unconditional release of all those arrested for exercising their right of peaceful assembly.” Human Rights Watch has asked the Pakistani authorities to “exercise restraint in responding to demonstrations in Balochistan province, release all detained for peaceful protest, and restore internet access.”

Pakistani authorities in Balochistan appear to have adopted a policy of suppressing peaceful political dissent in Balochistan with an iron hand. For years, the protesting families of the victims of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings have faced similar patterns of violence by security forces. In Gwadar, the authorities use such tactics to suppress protests for basic rights and protection of the livelihoods of local people. Even Baloch students highlighting educational issues time and again face violence and crackdowns.

The state apparatus of Pakistan views Balochistan through colonial and security lenses. It considers any political activities that raise awareness and mobilize the Baloch people to demand their national rights as detrimental to its extractive institutions and interests in this resource-rich and strategically significant region. Thus, the authorities deny space for peaceful expression of dissent and struggle for rights, which appears equivalent to deliberately pushing the Baloch people toward violent means of resistance. This might be because the authorities are accustomed to the use of violence and find it harder to deal with peaceful political movements due to a militarized mindset.

Amnesty International has also identified a pattern of violence against Baloch protests. Babu Ram Pant, deputy regional director for South Asia at Amnesty, stated, “Every time Baloch protests take place, their demands are met with violence by security forces and mass arrests…in what is clearly a punitive attempt by the Pakistani authorities to deter, vilify, and criminalize peaceful protesters.”

The government’s stance on the Baloch National Gathering has added to the apprehensions of Baloch people about their future in Gwadar, a coastal city in Balochistan. The port city is at the center of the $65 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship project of the Chinese Belt and Road initiative.

The government declared that it would not allow the BYC to hold the Baloch gathering in Gwadar, citing it as an “international city.” A Baloch activist told Voice of America that “Gwadar is being called a game-changer for Pakistan and China, so it was important to tell them and the international media that this land belongs to us… the crackdown shows Baloch are not allowed to enter Gwadar.”

The Baloch feel marginalized and excluded from the economic initiatives led by Pakistan and China in Gwadar. The indigenous population of this so-called “international city” still lacks access to clean drinking water and other necessities. Their way of life and livelihoods have been encroached upon in the name of progress and security. The Baloch fear that they will eventually be displaced from Gwadar and may turn into a minority in their homeland due to the potential demographic changes resulting from the influx of outsiders. Therefore, asserting their ownership of Gwadar and protecting Baloch rights there has become a critical issue in Baloch politics, seen as a matter of national survival.

The Chinese Consul General in Karachi Yang Yundong expressed Beijing’s view on the protests in Balochistan to reporters, stating, “We hope that all the political parties and social organizations take their overall national interest into account and to set aside that difference and focus on construction and economic development and to take the people’s interest as a top priority.” However, it is ironic that the interests and development of the Baloch people have never been incorporated into the framework of CPEC. As a result, what Pakistan and China describe as economic development, the Baloch consider it as colonization and exploitation.

The unrest and conflict in Balochistan have deep roots in the structural discrimination and colonial approach of the state toward Balochistan. The seriousness of Pakistani authorities in finding a peaceful solution to the Baloch national question remains in doubt. History shows that Islamabad’s policy of using force and military operations to resolve the Baloch problem has only made the situation worse. Unless those in charge of Balochistan affairs are beneficiaries of the conflict, there is no point in repeating the same old mistakes. There is simply no military solution to the problem.
India
India evacuates non-essential staff from its embassy, consulates in Bangladesh, Indian official sources say (Reuters)
Reuters [8/7/2024 2:04 AM, Shivam Patel, Krishn Kaushik, and Sakshi Dayal, 5.2M, Neutral]
India has evacuated all non-essential staff and their families from its embassy and consulates in neighbouring Bangladesh, two Indian government sources said on Wednesday, after weeks of unrest forced Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to quit and flee.

All Indian diplomats remain in Bangladesh and the missions are functional, the sources added.

Besides the high commission or embassy in the capital Dhaka, India has assistant high commissions or consulates in Chittagong, Rajshahi, Khulna and Sylhet.
India on alert at Bangladesh border, confirms Hasina in New Delhi (VOA)
VOA [8/6/2024 10:38 AM, Anjana Pasricha, 4032K, Neutral]
The Indian foreign minister said that India, which shares a long land border with Bangladesh, has put its border forces on high alert following the collapse of Sheikh Hasina’s government.

He also confirmed that the former prime minister is in the Indian capital after she fled the country Monday, following weeks of widespread protests led by students.

“At very short notice, she [Hasina] requested approval to come for the moment to India. We simultaneously received a request for flight clearance from the Bangladesh authorities. She arrived yesterday evening in Delhi," Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar told parliament on Tuesday.

Hasina was one of India’s closest allies in South Asia, and the dramatic fall of her government in Bangladesh presents a challenge for New Delhi, which had built strong ties with Dhaka during her 15 years in office.

She stepped down after scores of people were killed during a violent crackdown on a student-led uprising that erupted last month.

Jaishankar said that India is in touch with the army in Bangladesh, which took control after Hasina’s resignation.

“Our border-guarding forces have also been instructed to be exceptionally alert in view of this complex situation in the last 24 hours. We will naturally remain deeply concerned till law and order is visibly restored," Jaishankar said.

India shares a largely porous border of more than 4,000 kilometers (almost 2,500 miles) with Bangladesh along several of its eastern and northeastern states, where insurgent groups used to be active. During Hasina’s tenure, however, the border had been relatively calm because those groups had not been allowed to take sanctuary in Bangladesh.

The Indian minister also expressed concern about the status of minority communities in Bangladesh, a mostly Muslim country. “What was particularly worrying was that minorities, their business and temples also came under attack at multiple locations. The full extent of this is still not clear,” Jaishankar said.

European Union diplomats in Bangladesh have echoed similar concerns. EU heads of mission "are very concerned about incoming reports of multiple attacks against places of worship and members of religious, ethnic and other minorities in Bangladesh," EU Ambassador to Bangladesh Charles Whiteley posted on social media platform X.

Bangladesh’s president dissolved parliament Tuesday, paving the way for the formation of an interim government. Student groups that led the uprising against Hasina have said they want Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel laureate and a pioneer of microfinance, to help lead the interim government.

Yunus, who is currently in Paris, has called Hasina’s resignation the country’s “second liberation day.”

In an interview with Indian broadcaster NDTV Tuesday, Yunus said the country had “got rid of a very authoritarian government.” He said, “The ultimate goal for stability is to bring democracy, which was completely denied in Bangladesh.”

Yunus also said that restoration of law and order was the biggest priority facing Bangladesh. “If that cannot be achieved, there will be a spillover effect in neighboring countries,” including India and Myanmar, he said.
US woman found chained to tree in India tied herself, say police (BBC)
BBC [8/6/2024 12:20 PM, Geeta Pandey and Mushtaq Khan, 65502K, Neutral]
An American woman who was found chained to a tree "screaming" in a forest in the western Indian state of Maharashtra had shackled herself, police and her doctor have told the BBC.

Lalita Kayi, 50, was rescued about 10 days ago from the dense forests of Sindhudurg district after her cries for help were heard by shepherds.

In a written statement to the police, she had alleged that her husband "chained her and left her in the forest to die without food or water".

Ms Kayi, who is receiving treatment in a psychiatric facility, has not spoken publicly. The US embassy has also refused to comment, citing her right to privacy.

Ms Kayi’s discovery had shocked India and police had constituted several teams to investigate how she came to be in the forest.

Saurabh Agarwal, superintendent of police for Sindhudurg, told BBC Marathi on Tuesday that Ms Kayi had now said that she was not married and that she was probably suffering from hallucinations when she gave her first statement.

Police said she told them she had been distressed because her visa had run out and she was running out of money, so she had bought locks and chains and tied herself to the tree.

Dr Sanghamitra Phule, superintendent of the psychiatric hospital where Ms Kayi is being treated, told BBC Marathi that "her condition is improving".

"She eats, walks and also exercises. She is under treatment and we are also giving her some nutrients that her body was lacking."

Dr Phule said her family had been traced in the US and that Ms Kayi was in touch with them on the phone.

She was found on 27 July by a cow herder who had taken his cattle to graze in the forest and heard "a woman screaming loudly".

"The sound was coming from the forest on the side of the mountain. When I went there, I saw that one of her legs was tied to a tree. She was screaming like an animal. I called other villagers and the local police."

They police sawed off the chain and rescued her. Ms Kayi, who appeared completely emaciated, was taken to hospital and after her physical health improved, she was moved to the psychiatric facility for further treatment.

Police said that on her, they found a copy of her passport - which stated that she was a US citizen who came from Massachusetts - and some other documents with her home address in Tamil Nadu. She also had a mobile phone, a tablet and 31,000 rupees ($370; £290) in her possession.

Ms Kayi, who was initially unable to speak, communicated with the police and doctors by scribbling notes on a pad.

She said she was married to a man in the southern state of Tamil Nadu and blamed him for tying her to the tree. She claimed that she had gone without food and water for 40 days. Police had questioned her claim, saying it was unlikely that someone would survive without food or water for so long.
Indian government eases new property tax rules after backlash (Reuters)
Reuters [8/6/2024 1:11 PM, Nikunj Ohri and Gnaneshwar Rajan, 85570K, Neutral]
The Indian government has relaxed new property tax rules it proposed just two weeks ago, after criticism that the changes added to an already heavy financial burden on the middle class.

On July 23, India lowered the long-term capital gains tax on real estate to 12.5% from 20%, but dropped a benefit that allowed individuals to adjust prices for inflation before the capital gain - and so tax payable - was calculated.

Now the government is offering taxpayers the option of using the new rate or the previous 20% rate with the inflation adjustment, according to a government document seen by Reuters.

Real estate assets are considered to be long-term if they have been held for at least 24 months.

The change comes after criticism from opposition parties that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first budget since being reelected was aimed at increasing the tax burden on the middle class.

The federal finance ministry has so far not responded to an email sent outside office hours.
AI Is Coming for India’s Famous Tech Hub (Wall Street Journal)
Wall Street Journal [8/6/2024 11:00 PM, Megha Mandavia, 810K, Neutral]
Artificial intelligence is upending India’s technology outsourcing business. The industry is pivoting to adapt, but the changes could cost a large number of coveted jobs.

The country’s big outsourcing companies are already using AI and have plans to integrate it throughout their businesses. That might not save the low-end operations that run call centers or do other basic tasks within the so-called business process outsourcing sector.

“If I am just doing a simple contact center service then generative AI is going to replace that person very quickly,” said Keshav Murugesh, chief executive of WNS, a U.S.-listed Indian tech-services company. “It’s as simple as that.”

AI is threatening to disrupt most businesses around the world, not just India’s $250 billion outsourcing industry. The outsourcing boom in India over the past few decades created the “getting Bangalore-d” phenomenon in the U.S., often used for Americans who lost their jobs to more affordable Indian talent.

AI’s impact could have big repercussions as the industry employs 5.4 million people, according to tech-industry body Nasscom, and contributes about 8% of the country’s economy. More than 80% of companies in the S&P 500 outsource some operations to India, according to HSBC.

Vin Kumar, a tech consultant at Hackett Group, said U.S. companies will stop using Indian outsourcing businesses unless they replace people with automation whenever possible. “If Indian firms are not able to do it then they will bring these operations back in-house,” he said.

The most vulnerable operations employed more than 1.4 million people in 2021, according to the latest data from Nasscom. A third of these jobs are in call centers. “The prize is to move up the value chain and go after new processes,” said Murugesh.

AI might accelerate trends that have already made the industry less labor-intensive. About a decade ago, companies needed about 27 employees to earn $1 million in annual revenue. That number has now fallen to 21 employees, Nasscom data show.

Companies typically charged clients based on the number of employees working on their projects. Now, fees in some cases are linked to the outcome delivered.

“Global demand for people is going to decrease. India’s share of this decline is less clear, but I am a little pessimistic,” said Danielle Li, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management who co-wrote a paper titled “Generative AI at Work.”

The industry added 60,000 jobs in the year ended in March, the lowest annual increase in more than a decade, according to Nasscom. And at three of India’s largest tech companies—Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, and Wipro—combined head count fell more than 60,000 for the same period.

The industry largely attributes the slowdown to overhiring coming out of the pandemic, when the industry added 450,000 employees in a single year, and not automation. It expects hiring to pick up this year.

“Note that the roles of the future will require greater levels of critical thinking, design, strategic goal setting, and creative problem-solving skills,” said Harrick Vin, chief technology officer at TCS.

Industry executives are optimistic that AI tools will create businesses even as some old operations get cannibalized.

Balakrishna D. R., global head of AI at Infosys, said the projects it has piloted for clients include AI assistance for code generation and development support, and a customized GPT for a bank to address internal staff queries. “It is only a matter of time until more organizations go there,” he said.

Tech Mahindra, a smaller Indian tech company, has developed an AI chat tool that helps on-site engineers of a telecom client install fiber networks, replacing a 70-page manual. It has also created a large language model in Hindi that it wants to sell to its clients for customer support and content creation.

“Generative AI gives an incredible boost to the programming workforce,” said Mohit Joshi, chief executive at Tech Mahindra. “You may have individual projects that may need fewer people but if companies are spending more on technology then it is a much bigger opportunity for us.”

Job seekers are already feeling pressure and growing pessimistic.

On a recent July day, dozens of young job aspirants were lined up with their résumés in a rundown and dimly lit mall in Bengaluru, India’s outsourcing hub, where a staffing company was interviewing workers for basic tech jobs.

“I wanted to work for an information-technology company but no one is hiring,” said Pooja K.S., a 24-year-old who was in the line. Even if she lands a call-center job, she said, she didn’t expect to hold on to it for long. “ChatGPT will, anyway, finish the BPOs.”
Can India’s economy thrive without China’s help? (Financial Times)
Financial Times [8/6/2024 11:35 PM, Chris Kay and John Reed, 14.7M, Neutral]
At a testing facility near the town of Cheyyar in India’s southern Tamil Nadu state, a new generation of Mahindra Group vehicles are being put through their paces.

The carmaker’s latest flagship sport utility vehicles whizz around a high-speed racetrack with sheer banking slopes, muddy off-road courses, and potholed lanes designed to simulate Indian roads. At the company’s nearby research centre, electric vehicle prototypes due to be released early next year are being fine tuned and equipped with the latest digital technology.

Mahindra’s futuristic fleet attests not only to a rising automotive sector in India, but to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan, or “Self-reliant India”, campaign.

EVs are one of the industrial sectors, alongside advanced batteries and microchips, to which the Modi government has devoted billions of dollars of “production-linked incentives” or PLIs — sweeteners for companies that pledge to “Make in India”, in the words of one of the leader’s top slogans.

After missing out on the export-led growth spurt that lifted China’s economy over the past three decades, India is determined to catch up with its neighbour and rival — but strictly on its own terms. That has translated to some of the harshest restrictions on Chinese inward investment of any major world economy.

Since 2020, companies with Chinese shareholders have needed to apply for permission from New Delhi to invest in India — and this has rarely been granted. BYD, the Chinese EV behemoth that increasingly dominates world markets, is among the companies the Modi government has refused permission to build a factory.

At the same time, India has outlawed dozens of Chinese apps, while launching a tax and legal crackdown on Chinese mobile phone producers. Indian officials boast of being the world’s first country to have banned the China-owned social media app TikTok. India has also cut back visas for Chinese nationals, making it one of Asia’s few countries where they are a rare sight.

These moves come against the backdrop of a long-standing Indian penchant for protectionism, a toxic border dispute with China in the Himalayas, and mounting paranoia over the security risks of allowing Beijing a free hand in its consumer markets, companies, and high tech.

But some critics are warning that India’s tough line on China could starve it of the capital, components and knowhow needed to realise its ambition of becoming a major manufacturing power.

Even as the Modi government strives to restrict the flow of Chinese investment and visitors, Indian companies remain heavily dependent on Chinese imports. Mahindra’s EVs — for all their localised ingenuity — use battery cells made by BYD and imported from China.

Chinese goods dominate other industries too, from solar panels to the active pharmaceutical ingredients that go into drugs. In the latest financial year, India’s imports from China hit a record $101.7bn, a 66 per cent rise since the same period seven years ago. China has now supplanted the US as the country’s top trading partner.

“The shrill rhetoric against China has created a situation where there is an incongruence between political messaging and economic requirements, and this contradiction is placing New Delhi under stress,” says Sushant Singh, lecturer in South Asian studies at Yale University. “Eventually, India cannot do without close economic ties with Beijing.”

A backlash is forming in the business community. Some argue the Modi administration’s Sinophobia is working at cross purposes with its industrial ambitions in sectors such as consumer electronics. They say tough rules are keeping out suppliers and technicians serving companies like Apple, who have faced long delays in obtaining visas.

Top conglomerates from Adani Group to Tata Sons are among those pushing for visa access for Chinese workers needed to install machinery or design plants. “This [industry] never existed in India, so the expertise has to come from somewhere,” says one executive.

Anand Mahindra, the billionaire chair of the eponymous conglomerate, acknowledges it is “not going to be easy” for India to go it alone. “There’s going to be an enormous pull for India, an enormous call for India to move much more swiftly on trying to become a substitute for China,” he tells the Financial Times.

Inside India’s government, a debate is under way about whether or not the restrictions are an own goal for a country that aspires to build an export-driven manufacturing sector to rival other Asian powerhouses. Officials privately acknowledge that to become a credible “China plus one” manufacturing destination, India — paradoxically — needs key inputs from China.

The government’s annual economic survey released in July argued it was “inevitable” that India would have to plug itself into China’s supply chains to meet that aim.

But even amid a growing corporate clamour to loosen the restrictions on Chinese capital, anti-China sentiment remains high in New Delhi, which has refused to reset relations with Beijing until normality is restored at their frontier.

As India’s foreign secretary S Jaishankar asked a corporate audience in May, “would you do business with someone who has barged into your turf?”

India’s rethink of its relationship with China dates back to 2020, when its economic and security circumstances altered dramatically.

The Covid-19 pandemic was then laying bare India’s reliance on China for about 70 per cent of its bulk drugs — such as paracetamol — and ingredients, after shortfalls from its neighbour caused a drop in medicine supplies.

At around the same time, bilateral relations deteriorated after Indian and Chinese troops clashed on the disputed border in the Himalayan region of Ladakh, killing at least 24.

Even before the Ladakh skirmishes, New Delhi had sought to “curb opportunistic takeovers/acquisitions of Indian companies” due to the pandemic. In a measure dubbed Press Note 3, India made all investments by “land border-sharing countries” subject to government approval and introduced a bureaucratic process that Indian policymakers themselves privately acknowledge is opaque.

While the measure made explicit reference only to Bangladesh and India’s arch-enemy Pakistan, it was widely understood as primarily a defence against China. “China’s Covid-era actions and the border crisis have been an inflection point in how Delhi saw economic ties with China,” says Tanvi Madan, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

“The goal hasn’t been decoupling but de-risking, with the idea being to identify and reduce or mitigate India’s vulnerabilities, particularly in critical sectors and build a more resilient economy.”

Yet officials acknowledge the moves are not only about Indian weaknesses but also Chinese strengths. “China is not a market economy and yet the world has given it the benefits of a market economy,” one senior Indian official told the FT last year. “They have flooded our markets with their goods.”

India’s soaring import bill is indeed in part due to Chinese dumping as its economy slows, says Nandita Rajhansa, economist at Marcellus Investment Managers in Mumbai. “They have a lot of capacity, but no one to consume within the country,” she says. Indian companies should “take that as an opportunity, get raw materials really cheap . . . then obviously they gain benefits from scale”.

New Delhi’s hawkishness seems prescient at a time when the EU, US and others are also taking measures to build resilience against China in areas such as chips and EVs. But inside the Indian establishment, doubts are increasingly being voiced about the wisdom of the government’s anti-China stance.

“There is a general discussion going on whether Press Note 3 should be done away with, whether it’s harming the setting up of manufacturing here,” one government bureaucrat says. “If you want Apple here and you don’t get suppliers here, value addition will always be low.”

In June the electronics industry complained about a backlog of thousands of visas for Chinese engineers and technicians. Pankaj Mohindroo, chair of the Indian Cellular and Electronics Association, told the FT that the bottleneck was hitting not only Chinese companies, but American, British, Taiwanese, Japanese and domestic firms that are building capabilities in India and need Chinese experts to set up or run their lines.

According to three government officials, Luxshare, the Chinese manufacturer that supplies Apple, was thwarted by Press Note 3 in its attempt to expand its operations in India, and instead shifted its planned investment to Vietnam. In a partial course correction, Modi’s government has in recent months fast-tracked the provision of visas for Chinese citizens whose work falls under the rubric of India’s PLIs.

According to a second government official, there is a split within the establishment. The ministries of foreign and home affairs support a more hawkish stance, while economic technocrats argue for more flexibility.

“Over time we have convinced them we would not be doing ourselves any favours if they didn’t provide visas for engineers,” the bureaucrat says. “It would be self-harm on our part.”

Apart from the commanding lead China holds in critical industries, and the bigger subsidies it pours into them, Beijing is also far better endowed with critical minerals such as lithium. Here too the Modi government is making a belated push to secure mining rights in places like Argentina, though it does not yet have much to show for the process.

With perhaps more success, New Delhi appears to have been pushing some Chinese investors that want to work in India into joint ventures with local interests — an echo of Beijing’s own policy decades ago of demanding tie-ups in sectors like carmaking to ensure a transfer of skills and intellectual property.

In March, China’s SAIC Motor, which owns the MG brand, announced a partnership with Indian steelmaker JWS to produce and sell cars in India. A number of the mainland Chinese companies that supply Apple via its Taiwanese contract manufacturers have also formed JVs with Indian partners and received government approval, Indian government officials told the FT, although it is unclear how many are actually operating.

But, at the end of July, India’s commerce minister Piyush Goyal told reporters that the government was not rethinking its overall hawkish stance on Chinese investment.

“India will probably make exceptions, but there is unlikely to be a blanket lifting of restrictions,” says Madan at Brookings.

“India’s competition with and concerns about China will persist.”

Meanwhile, some companies are quietly working to extricate themselves from Chinese supply chains.

More than 350 miles further south from Mahindra’s research and testing facilities in Tamil Nadu, Tata Power is manufacturing some of the core building blocks for Indian green power at a solar panel factory that opened in March.

With the country’s electricity demand expanding at around 8 per cent annually — a bit faster than economic growth — the spotless new facility in Tirunelveli is of critical national importance.

On a heavily mechanised line, the factory’s mostly female workers are overseeing the assembly of large solar modules, for which Tata itself will be the biggest customer as one of India’s leading conglomerates pushing into renewables.

But the cells that go into the modules are mostly still made in China, as are many of the machines assembling them for the venerable Indian industrial group. That is about to change: Tata is opening its own solar cell unit in Tirunelveli this month, after which it will be relying on made-in-India cells only.

“We will stop importing the cells,” Praveer Sinha, Tata Power’s chief executive, tells the FT. “We need the security of supply.”

In its push to create new supply chains not reliant on China, New Delhi has allies — notably in Washington, which is working more closely than ever with India to develop alternatives: The US International Development Finance Corporation last year approved $425mn in financing for the Tirunelveli plant.

India’s government extended PLI subsidies to support the factory, which also won incentives from Tamil Nadu, one of India’s most business-friendly states. Those ramp-ups will aid India’s goals to become domestically self-sufficient in the coming years, according to the National Solar Energy Federation of India.

“Undoubtedly India is headed towards a position where in the next two to three years we will be decreasing our dependence on China to a larger extent,” says Subrahmanyan Pulipaka, chief executive of the lobby group.

India’s economic survey also pointed to other manufacturing growth in areas such as toys, with Chinese imports falling from $214mn to $41.6mn in the past decade.

Yet in other industries, the subsidies do not appear to be working their magic. Shipments of bulk drugs and precursors from China for finished pharmaceuticals grew 5.9 per cent in the most recent financial year.

Even those that import little or nothing from China, such as the Serum Institute of India — the world’s largest vaccine producer — believe local manufacturers in the short term will remain dependent on cheaper raw materials from across the border.

“Whether they’re in vaccines or pharmaceuticals, they need to be conscious of their margins,” Adar Poonawalla, Serum’s billionaire scion and chief executive, tells the FT.

However, he adds, “over time I see a major shift coming. In five years’ time, if you were to ask me the same question, you’re maybe going to see half the dependency at least.”

That transformation is already being actively pursued at major Indian companies, including the Mahindra Group, whose executives are contemplating setting up a domestic EV battery plant.

“The goal is very clear,” says Anand Mahindra. “We will have to try to become a more value-added player in the global supply chain, particularly in areas where China has a stranglehold.”
NSB
Blinken Says Bangladesh Must Respect ‘Democratic Principles’ (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [8/6/2024 6:12 PM, Staff, 85570K, Negative]
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Tuesday on Bangladesh to respect democracy after Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was tapped to lead an interim government following an uprising.

"Any decisions that the interim government makes, they need to respect democratic principles, need to uphold the rule of law, need to reflect the will of the people," Blinken told reporters.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who met with Blinken and recently visited Bangladesh, called on all sides to avoid violence.

"We call on all parties to de-escalate and respect universal rights, and we urge a full and independent and impartial investigation into the events in recent weeks," Wong said after the talks at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
State Department warns Americans to avoid travel to Bangladesh amid violent unrest (FOX News)
FOX News [8/6/2024 10:46 AM, Stephen Sorace and Cassie Cassick, 48215K, Negative]
The U.S. State Department is urging Americans to avoid traveling to Bangladesh due to escalating civil unrest, crime and terrorism after the South Asian country’s prime minister fled the country in a helicopter as a mob of protesters breached the palace.

The State Department updated its travel advisory on Monday, which also ordered all non-emergency U.S. government employees and their families to leave the country.

"Travelers should not travel to Bangladesh due to ongoing civil unrest in Dhaka," the State Department wrote in the advisory. "Violent clashes have occurred in the city of Dhaka, its neighboring areas, and throughout Bangladesh, and the Bangladeshi Army is deployed nationwide."

The State Department said that Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport temporarily paused operations on Monday, urging travelers to check their airlines to confirm the status of future flights.

The advisory warned that due to these travel restrictions, along with a lack of infrastructure and support from the Bangladeshi government, the U.S. government’s ability to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens may be limited.

This directive follows the resignation of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday, which ended her 15-year tenure.

Hasina’s departure was spurred after thousands of protesters stormed her residence, leading her to escape by military helicopter to neighboring India.

The violent protests, which have resulted in nearly 300 deaths, began as a movement against job quotas in government positions and evolved into a campaign to oust Hasina.

In the wake of Hasina fleeing the country, Bangladesh’s military has taken control and says it will soon form an interim government.

On Tuesday, Bangladesh’s president dissolved parliament and cleared the way for elections to find a new prime minister.
Nobel Laureate Tapped to Lead Interim Government in Bangladesh (New York Times)
New York Times [8/6/2024 4:14 PM, Saif Hasnat, Shayeza Walid and Anupreeta Das, 831K, Neutral]
The president of Bangladesh on Tuesday appointed Muhammad Yunus, a pioneer in microfinance and a Nobel laureate, to oversee an interim government, accommodating demands by protesters and offering a reprieve for a country scarred by violence.

The plans for a new government were announced a day after Bangladesh’s authoritarian leader, Sheikh Hasina, resigned and fled the country amid a popular uprising.

Word of the Yunus appointment came from the main coordinator of the protests, Nahid Islam, who was among a group of people who met with President Mohammed Shahabuddin on Tuesday. Military officials also attended the meeting, though Mr. Yunus did not.

With the Bangladeshi Parliament dissolved, Mr. Yunus, 84, is expected to lead a temporary government for an uncertain period of time.

“We are forming a government in an extraordinary situation,” said Asif Nazrul, a law professor at the University of Dhaka who was also present at the meeting with the president. “The tenure of the government is yet to be finalized,” Mr. Nazrul said.

The other members of the interim government will be announced within the next few days, meeting attendees said.

Mr. Yunus, who is widely admired in Bangladesh and once made a brief foray into politics, has two immediate tasks.

First, he will have to restore order to a country of 170 million people that has been roiled by weeks of student protests and violent clashes with security forces that have killed around 300 people.

And second, he will have to define the role of the interim government and what its mandate will be until Bangladesh holds elections to choose a new leader.

For days before Ms. Hasina stepped down, protesters had been demanding her resignation, angered after her government began a brutal crackdown on students who had agitated against a preferential quota system being used for public-sector jobs.

Restoring peace and addressing the incidents of violence and vandalism will be top priorities for the interim government, said Fahmida Khatun, head of research at the Centre for Policy Dialogue, a think tank.

“As you can see, there is no order on the streets, a lack of trust in police and there has been significant property damage,” Ms. Khatun said.

Some analysts think Bangladesh may have a chance now to reset.

“It’s an opportune moment for any new interim government in Bangladesh to show solidarity with its people, protect the most vulnerable and not repeat the mistakes of the past,” said Smriti Singh, regional director for South Asia at Amnesty International.

Mr. Yunus will likely have to move quickly to appoint people to stabilize the various government ministries so that the Bangladesh economy doesn’t falter.

Mr. Yunus pioneered the concept of microfinance — lending to people too poor to get bank loans to help them find economic opportunities — and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his work, along with Grameen Bank, the institution he founded in 1983.

In 2007, when Bangladesh was under a military-backed interim government, Mr. Yunus began a political party, offering an alternative to a corruption-riddled political establishment. That party didn’t last long, and Mr. Yunus abandoned the idea.

By then, however, he had offended some powerful figures, including Ms. Hasina, analysts said.
Bangladeshi officials meet student demand to name Nobel laureate as leader (Washington Post)
Washington Post [8/6/2024 2:47 PM, Azad Majumder, Karishma Mehrotra, Anant Gupta, Tanbirul Miraj Ripon and Anika Arora Seth, 54755K, Neutral]
Bangladesh’s president and security chiefs met the demand of student leaders on Tuesday to name Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus as the country’s transitional leader, an initial step in restoring order after mass protests forced the former prime minister to resign and flee, according to a statement from the office of President Mohammed Shahabuddin.

The organizers of the student protests that ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had nominated Yunus as their pick for transitional leader, and they met with Shahabuddin and the heads of the country’s security services for nearly six hours to negotiate the formation of an interim government.

Up until the late-night decision, the country’s political future had hung in the balance after protesters stormed Hasina’s residence on Monday.

Yunus, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, is seen as having drawn the ire of Hasina after briefly considering a political career — she once accused him of “sucking blood from the poor.” Under her tenure, he faced more than 100 lawsuits ranging from money laundering to labor law violations, allegations that he has consistently denied. Yunus said he expected the “fake cases” to be dropped now that Hasina is no longer in power.

Shahabuddin had earlier dissolved Parliament by the midafternoon deadline demanded by protesters, effectively annulling the outcome of disputed elections earlier this year.

Nahid Islam, the coordinator of the protests, told reporters that his organization recommended names of students and civil society members to form the rest of the government. “Only an interim government proposed by students who led the upsurge will be an acceptable one. That is the promise we received from Bangabhaban,” Islam said, referring to the president’s palace.

Islam added that student organizers will consult with political parties about who else to name to the interim government.

Gen. Waker-Uz-Zaman, the army chief, had said Monday that the army would work with political parties and Shahabuddin to form a temporary government — only for Islam to issue a message on social media that day rejecting “any army-supported or army-led government.”

Weeks of bloody clashes between protesters and security forces culminated in the storming of Hasina’s residence and the Parliament building as well as the burning of government offices Monday. Even as Waker-Uz-Zaman called for calm, 99 people were killed in clashes on Monday and Tuesday, according to a Washington Post tally following interviews with seven hospital authorities and doctors across Bangladesh — bringing the estimated death toll to at least 400 on both sides in the past month.

With a government curfew lifted Tuesday, schools and some businesses were open, and the streets were still packed with people celebrating Hasina’s ouster, though in fewer numbers. Police and the security forces with which protesters have clashed in recent weeks were absent. Even traffic police were a rare sight in the capital.

Volunteers guarded buildings and historical monuments that were vandalized or damaged as the protests boiled over. Small fires continued to burn in official establishments. Hundreds of people continued to occupy the Parliament, some even showering in the bathrooms, while army personnel in the lobby turned a blind eye.

Islam, the protest organizer, had urged Shahabuddin to quickly form an interim government led by Yunus, an economist and banker known for pioneering microlending, which many see as helping lift the country out of poverty. Islam said the student leaders had spoken to Yunus, who agreed to head the temporary administration.

“We’re all rejoicing — the monster who is on top of us has left. Today we are free,” Yunus said by phone from Paris on Monday night, adding that he would return to Bangladesh as soon as possible.

“A new force has emerged: the young people,” he said, adding, “This is a kind of volcanic eruption.”

Local media reported that Hasina escaped minutes before protesters entered her residence, leaving on a military helicopter to India with her younger sister, Sheikh Rehana, in a dramatic end to her 15 years at the country’s helm.

“The million-dollar question today is what ultimately led to her downfall,” said Shafqat Munir, a research fellow at the Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies. “What we do know is that the military made it clear that they will stand with the people and they will not fire on the protesters. That might have precipitated the whole chain of events.”

On Sunday evening, the students called for a mass march to Dhaka the next day. Authorities shut down the internet and implemented a curfew Monday but were unable to control the people flooding into the capital, which local media reported to be in the hundreds of thousands.

As people took to the streets across Bangladesh, regular life was upended. Most of the garment factories that power the country’s economy did not open. Dhaka’s main airport temporarily shut down operations. Vehicles and buildings were set ablaze.

Footage on social media and TV showed some protesters lying in the beds of top officials’ homes and carrying away objects such as sofas, an air cooler and buckets. Others attempted to destroy monuments to the country’s founding president, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who is also Hasina’s father — at one point using an excavator to chip away at a colossal statue in his likeness.

Hasina, the country’s longest-serving prime minister and the world’s longest-serving female leader until her ouster, attempted to tell state agencies to crack down further on the protesters violating curfew and vandalizing property, according to local media.

But even after her top officials said the situation could no longer be handled by force, she was persuaded to resign only after speaking to her son and sister, the reports said.

Hasina sought to record an address to the nation, according to the reports, but intelligence officers assessed that she had no time. The protesters were coming.

This is not the first time Hasina has sought refuge in India. She was forced into exile there in 1975 after her father and other family members were killed in a military coup — the first of many in Bangladesh after independence from Pakistan in 1971.

The protests that have gripped the country over the past month started in opposition to a government policy that reserves half of civil service jobs for certain groups, but they evolved into a broad-based opposition movement against Hasina, who has become increasingly authoritarian, rights groups and security analysts say.

Since taking office in 2009, she has been accused of manipulating the country’s elections — including by suing and jailing political opponents — to maintain her grip on power. Hasina’s Awami League and its allies won an election this year that the United States said was neither free nor fair and that the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the main opposition, boycotted for those reasons.

Rana Dasgupta, who heads the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, said that since Monday, there had been sporadic attacks against minorities — most of them Hindu — and places of worship in more than half of the country’s 64 districts.

“The police are too busy trying to protect themselves. How will they protect citizens?” Dasgupta said.

“We want to see the Bangladeshi people decide the future of the Bangladeshi government,” U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters Monday during a daily briefing.

“All decisions regarding the interim government should be made with respect to democratic principles, rule of law and the will of the Bangladeshi people.”

Many experts said they had anticipated Monday’s seismic events. “All the preconditions were there,” said Thomas Kean, a Bangladesh expert at the International Crisis Group nonprofit. “It just wasn’t clear where the spark would come from.”

Opposition politicians called for an interim government to be formed on the basis of strong engagement with the student protesters. “They are the architects of this movement,” said Zonayed Saki, a member of the Ganosamhati Andolan progressive political party who attended a meeting Monday headed by the army chief with several other parties. The students “are showing a new path forward for Bangladeshi people,” he said.

While jubilation over Hasina’s departure continued into Tuesday, some observers warned that there was a long road ahead before Bangladeshi politics could be said to have a truly fresh start — including major reforms of institutions that can hold the prime minister accountable.

“Our politicians forgot the invincibility and power of youth. The ruling regime created their own Frankenstein,” said Iftekhar Zaman, executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh, which aided students in the recent protests. “But whether this fall of the regime will translate into a genuine victory with the spirit and content of the student movement remains to be seen.”
Microcredit Pioneer Muhammad Yunus to Lead Caretaker Bangladesh Government (Wall Street Journal)
Wall Street Journal [8/6/2024 10:48 PM, Tripti Lahiri, 810K, Neutral]
The Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, a widely respected microcredit pioneer, was chosen Tuesday to lead Bangladesh’s caretaker government after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned following weeks of violent protests and fled the country.

The appointment was decided Tuesday in talks between the president, armed-forces chiefs and more than a dozen student protest leaders, said Bangladesh’s news agency, citing the president’s press secretary. The executive director of the Yunus Center, Yunus’s Dhaka-based development think tank, and a student leader confirmed the appointment.

Political experts said Yunus will be a widely accepted choice within Bangladesh. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 jointly with Grameen Bank, the microlender he founded in 1976 to make small loans to impoverished people. He was the choice put forward by student leaders, who said they wouldn’t agree to a military-led interim government.

The role marks a remarkable change in fortunes for the Bangladeshi economist, who fell afoul of Hasina more than a decade ago. She once called him a “bloodsucker.” He was ousted in 2011 as head of Grameen Bank. In recent months, he has faced legal proceedings under Hasina’s government.

“He is the best choice,” said Ali Riaz, a professor of politics at Illinois State University. “Despite his persecution, in terms of his integrity, he didn’t compromise, he didn’t bow down, and he didn’t leave the country…. His dedication to the country cannot be questioned.”

The army chief announced Monday that Hasina had resigned and that a temporary government would be formed until new elections could be held. India’s foreign minister said Tuesday that the country had received a request from Hasina to allow her to come to India “at very short notice.” She remains in India for now.

In public comments to news outlets, Yunus called the resignation a “second liberation day” for his country.

Yunus, 84 years old, was convicted of labor-related civil violations in January but was granted bail. In recent weeks, he was set to face fresh charges of embezzlement. Yunus has maintained he has committed no wrongdoing and was the target of a political vendetta.

Rights groups have said that an increasingly autocratic Hasina, the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the leader of Bangladesh’s independence movement, frequently targeted political opponents such as Yunus with legal proceedings.

Some political experts trace Hasina’s animosity regarding Yunus to a perception that he could be a formidable political challenger. He moved briefly to set up a political party in 2007 in a public bid to clean up Bangladesh’s politics after winning the Nobel Prize.

“He is a very important figure politically and internationally,” said Lamia Karim, professor of anthropology at the University of Oregon, Eugene. “That did not sit well with her.”

Hasina had ruled continuously since 2009. She lost her grip on power as security forces became uncomfortable with a crackdown on protests against government job quotas that had turned violent.

Young people in Bangladesh are contending with a double-digit unemployment rate. They were angered by a court decision in June to reinstate a system to reserve a large number of civil-service jobs for family members of freedom fighters in the country’s independence struggle in 1971, a measure seen as favoring Hasina’s followers.

Government officials, including Hasina, referred to the protesters as “terrorists” and “traitors.” In one instance that helped galvanized public anger against her, Hasina used the word “razakar,” a reference to people who collaborated with Pakistan during the independence struggle.

Former army generals on Sunday spoke out against the deployment of armed forces in city streets. More than 300 people have died in the protests since mid-July, and many more have been injured.

Riaz said Yunus faces many challenges, in particular meeting the aspirations of a young people’s political movement that formed largely independently of the major political parties. In addition, he will have to repair the damage done to many of Bangladesh’s administrative institutions during Hasina’s rule, the Illinois State professor said.

“In the past 15 years, the Hasina regime has decimated all the institutions in such a manner and put in her loyalists in such a way that the integrity of most of the institutions is gone,” Riaz said.

Yunus’s challenges will be economic as much as political once he returns from Paris, where he has been promoting the concept of social business at the Olympics.

Bangladesh has been regarded as an economic success story thanks in part to its global apparel exports. But the country has been struggling with a dearth of jobs for its young people, as well as inflation and diminishing foreign reserves.

Global political and business leaders’ admiration for Yunus and his work could help in his efforts to shore up the economy.

A crucial step to stabilizing the economy will be restoring law and order and depoliticizing law enforcement, said Karim, the University of Oregon professor.

“The police were brought out to shoot at the protesters, and they did shoot—and there were counterattacks,” she said. “You have to be able to provide security to people so they can go to work, go to school, so that businesses can operate, so that our garment factories can go back to manufacturing. That’s the most important thing.”
Bangladesh protesters expect interim government to be finalised on Wednesday (Reuters)
Reuters [8/7/2024 3:55 AM, Ruma Paul and Sudipto Ganguly, 5.2M, Neutral]
Bangladesh’s protest leaders said they expect members of an interim government, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, to be finalised on Wednesday after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina quit and fled to India following a violent crackdown on a student-led uprising.

Bangladesh’s president appointed Yunus, who was recommended by student leaders, as the head of the interim government late on Tuesday and said the remaining members need to be finalised soon to overcome the current crisis and pave way for elections.

The interim government will fill a power vacuum left after Bangladesh’s army chief announced Hasina’s resignation in a televised address on Monday that followed weeks of deadly violence that ripped through the country, killing about 300 people and injuring thousands.

"It is critical that trust in government be restored quickly," Yunus, 84, told the Financial Times on Wednesday, saying he was not seeking an elected role or appointment beyond the interim period.

His spokesperson said he is expected to return to Dhaka on Thursday after a medical procedure in Paris.

"We need calm, we need a road map to new elections and we need to get to work to prepare for new leadership," Yunus told the newspaper.

"In the coming days, I will talk with all of the relevant parties about how we can work together to rebuild Bangladesh and how they can help."

Hasina’s resignation had triggered jubilation across the country and crowds stormed into her official residence unopposed after she fled, ending a 15-year second stint in power in the nation of 170 million that has suffered economic distress in recent years.

Normalcy slowly began returning after Monday’s chaos but fresh protests broke out in a Dhaka neighbourhood on Wednesday when hundreds of officials from the central bank forced four of its deputy governors to resign over alleged corruption, Bangladesh Bank sources said.

The bank did not immediately comment.

Hundreds of people gathered at a rally in Dhaka by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, whose leader Khaleda Zia was freed from house arrest by the president on Tuesday.

RETURN TO NORMALCY

Giant neighbour India, which has strong cultural and business ties with Bangladesh, evacuated all non-essential staff and their families from its embassy and four consulates in the country, two Indian government sources said.

Most schools and university campuses in Dhaka and other cities that shut in mid-July due to the protests, reopened while people took buses and other transport to offices and banks. The country’s mainstay garments factories that had been shut for days began opening on Wednesday.

The movement that toppled Hasina rose out of demonstrations against public sector job quotas for families of veterans of the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan, seen by critics as a means to reserve jobs for allies of the ruling party.

President Mohammed Shahabuddin has also recommended that a veteran of the war should be nominated to the interim government.

Pakistan’s foreign ministry, commenting for the first time since protests broke out, said on Wednesday that "the government and people of Pakistan stand in solidarity with the people of Bangladesh, sincerely hoping for a peaceful and swift return to normalcy."

Nahid Islam, one of the main leaders of the student movement, told reporters after the president’s announcement that students have recommended 10-15 members for the interim government in an initial list they shared with the president.

Islam said he expects interim government members to be finalised in 24 hours starting from late Tuesday evening. The students’ recommendations for the government include civil society members and also student representatives, Islam said.

Hasina landed in New Delhi on Monday and is staying at a safe house on the outskirts of the capital. Indian media reports have said that she plans to travel onwards to Britain, but the British Home Office has not commented.
Bangladesh’s Muhammad Yunus calls for new elections after political turmoil (Financial Times)
Financial Times [8/7/2024 1:35 AM, Benjamin Parkin, 14.7M, Neutral]
Nobel Peace Prize-winning economist Muhammad Yunus has called for “stability” and new elections in Bangladesh after agreeing to lead an interim government following the sudden ousting of prime minister Sheikh Hasina this week.

Sheikh Hasina, who ruled the country of 170mn people for the past 15 years, resigned and fled to neighbouring India on Monday after thousands of protesters defied a curfew to march on her residence following weeks of violence and demonstrations.

A movement that began with students had escalated into an anti-government uprising against 76-year-old Sheikh Hasina’s repressive rule, after she ordered a violent crackdown on the protests that led to about 300 deaths. Political turmoil over the weekend continued on Monday, with widespread looting and arson attacks on buildings associated with Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League party.

Yunus, the internationally celebrated founder of microfinance lender Grameen Bank, said on Wednesday that he had agreed to lead an interim government to fill the precarious power vacuum that followed Sheikh Hasina’s departure.

“It is critical that trust in government be restored quickly,” Yunus, 84, said in a statement. “We need calm, we need a road map to new elections, and we need to get to work to prepare for new leadership in order to fulfil the extraordinary potential of Bangladesh.”

Student leaders had requested Yunus’s involvement in the new administration amid concerns in Bangladeshi civil society about the possible role of the military in the country’s political future.

Bangladesh’s military has long intervened in domestic politics through coups and dictatorships, and army chief Waker-uz-Zaman said in a press conference on Monday after Sheikh Hasina’s departure that he would also be engaged in talks to form the new government.

Yunus, who was subjected to multiple investigations and court cases under Sheikh Hasina that his supporters called politically motivated, said he was reluctant to accept the students’ request but ultimately agreed.

“Given the sacrifices of the students, especially those who have lost their lives for our nation’s liberation, I am not in a position to say no to them,” Yunus said.

“In the coming days, I will talk with all of the relevant parties about how we can work together to rebuild Bangladesh and how they can help,” he added. “I have no intention to seek any elected or appointed office beyond this role during this interim period.”

Many Bangladeshis hope his appointment and swift elections will bring an end to one of the most turbulent periods in the country’s 53-year history.

Sheikh Hasina comfortably won elections in January after rounding up thousands of political rivals, a result criticised by the US and others.

She had faced growing popular dissatisfaction over a painful economic slowdown after years of rapid growth helped in part by the country’s garments export sector, the world’s second-largest after China. Bangladesh is an important supplier to companies such as H&M and Zara.

The student protests last month initially called for reform to a controversial job quota system, which they said benefited supporters of the Awami League, before spiralling into a broader anti-government movement. The ensuing upheaval upended the economy and forced factories to shut for days.

India’s foreign minister confirmed that New Delhi had agreed to receive Sheikh Hasina on Monday “at very short notice”. She is now reportedly seeking shelter in a third country.
Bangladesh’s Leader Fled Just Ahead of an Angry Crowd, Urged by Family to Go (New York Times)
New York Times [8/7/2024 1:49 AM, Mujib Mashal, Shayeza Walid and Saif Hasnat, 831K, Neutral]
The protesters were closing in.

A convoy of about a dozen vehicles carrying Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh out of her sprawling official residence tried at first to escape through the usual gate, then spun around and took a different route — and still found itself facing a crowd of demonstrators.

Thousands had defied a curfew, pushed through police barricades and poured into the heart of the capital, Dhaka, enraged by the killing of nearly 100 protesters the day before.

Ms. Hasina’s security detail appealed for reinforcements. Armored vehicles rushed to clear a path, and her car sped to a helipad. A helicopter whisked her to an airfield, where she boarded the military plane that would take her out of the country.

In her chaotic final hours on Monday as Bangladesh’s leader — recounted in conversations with nearly a dozen diplomatic, security and government officials, some of whom were caught in its panic — Ms. Hasina clung to the idea that she could hold out against the throng converging on her. According to three people with knowledge of the discussions, she resisted the advice of her security chiefs, who told her that their crackdown on antigovernment protests had failed after claiming some 300 lives over a few weeks, that trying to suppress them would require much more bloodshed.

Her decision to let go after 15 years in office, and to make what appears to have been a hastily arranged escape to India, did not ultimately come because of international pressure or a diplomatic push. Instead, according to security officials and diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the delicate matter, her top security advisers appealed to her closest family members to persuade her that it was the end.

“At very short notice, she requested approval to come for the moment to India,” India’s foreign minister, S. Jaishankar, told the Parliament on Tuesday.

Bangladesh now is gripped by political uncertainty. Ms. Hasina had amassed unrivaled, increasingly autocratic power, and her departure leaves an enormous vacuum. The president, who largely holds a ceremonial role, on Tuesday appointed the Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus to form an interim government, but it remains unclear who will take part in it, what authority it will wield or what role the military might play.

The army chief announced Ms. Hasina’s departure on Monday afternoon and said she had resigned, but so far no written resignation has been made public, and neither she nor her political party has commented. That silence, and reports that her plan to fly from India to London had been delayed by paperwork hiccups, has left some diplomats to wonder whether she is remaining close to home because she still harbors hopes of a return.

The army, which has promised to oversee the installation of an interim government, is struggling to contain the chaos on the streets. After Ms. Hasina’s flight on Monday, the police presence in the streets melted away and there was widespread looting, arson and revenge-taking that left dozens dead. Law enforcement officers, seen as an overzealous extension of her authority, were the targets of many attacks.

Late on Monday, protesters surrounded the international airport in Dhaka, in what diplomats said was an attempt to prevent Ms. Hasina’s officials from fleeing the country. The airport remained shut and out of operation for at least six hours. When it reopened on Tuesday, there were reports of at least two cabinet ministers being stopped from boarding flights and taken to detention.

Considering how thoroughly she had centralized power in her own hands, Ms. Hasina’s unraveling was swift — and largely of her own doing, critics said.

Student protests over a preferential quota system to give half of government jobs to specific groups had carried on for weeks peacefully, with little sign of loosening her grip on power. But the situation turned chaotic after Ms. Hasina unleased the aggressive youth wing of her party on the protesters, followed by a crackdown by all shades of security forces. What had been demonstrations became street battles, and the crowds were growing.

More than 200 people were killed in late July protests. She announced a curfew and shut down the internet as law enforcement swept more than 10,000 people into jails, and charged tens of thousands of others with crimes.

When the restrictions eased last week, the movement turned into a call for justice for the killings. The protesters, while ratcheting up their demands, still stopped short of demanding Ms. Hasina’s ouster. Her supporters, particularly officials in India, which enjoyed close ties with her, were optimistic that she would survive the moment.

On Sunday, all that changed, as protesters turned out in their largest numbers since the demonstrations began. Government forces responded with more violence than they had used before, making it the deadliest single day, with about 100 killed.

By nightfall, a dangerous showdown was set up: Protesters demanded her resignation, and called for a march on Dhaka. She promised an “iron hand” response to what she described as anarchism.

Publicly, Monday morning started with all the signs of official defiance: Another internet shutdown, heavy security presence on the streets and barriers to keep protesters from moving toward the city center.

But behind the scenes, the conversation had shifted.

When Ms. Hasina’s security chiefs — the heads of the army, police, air force and navy — arrived at her residence midmorning, she met them along with her sister, Sheikh Rehana, who lives in London and had arrived just days earlier to visit. The two women were the only members of their family to survive the 1975 coup that killed their father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh’s founding leader.

Ms. Hasina insisted on beating back the protests, the people familiar with the conversations said. She held up the police’s performance as something the other forces should emulate. But her chiefs made clear that would be impossible. The numbers streaming into the city were in the hundreds of thousands. Many were already getting close to the neighborhood around her residence. To protect her would require carnage, and even then they weren’t sure they could repel crowds so big.

When Ms. Hasina still pushed back, her sister asked to speak to her privately. When they returned about 20 minutes later from a side room, the prime minister was quiet, but still reluctant. The army chief, Gen. Waker-uz-Zaman, who is related to Ms. Hasina by marriage, then dialed up her son, Sajeeb Wazed, who lives in Virginia, and asked for his help in getting his mother to accept the gravity of her situation.

The general passed the phone to the prime minister, and as he and the other military leaders watched, Ms. Hasina listened silently to her son. Then she nodded.

“She wanted to stay, she did not want to leave the country at all,” Mr. Wazed later told Indian news channels. “We were concerned for her physical safety first. So we persuaded her to leave.”

The generals estimated that she had less than an hour to get out.

Ms. Hasina and her sister descended from her upstairs quarters around 1 p.m., Ms. Rehana carrying a large photo frame tucked under her arm. Aides on the ground floor were preparing for a televised address they were told the prime minister wanted to make.

But confusion took over. The live broadcast truck that was meant to come to Ms. Hasina’s address had actually gone to the army chief’s headquarters, a sign that the power had shifted. Members of her staff watched as Ms. Hasina was quickly ushered into her vehicle before the convoy set off into a city already being overrun.

When television stations announced that the army chief would make an important address to the nation after hours of silence from the prime minister, the protesters sensed it was her end.

Yet the address was delayed, hour after hour. One senior diplomat said it was likely because the generals just weren’t sure she would follow through until her aircraft had actually taken off. The army chief then held hasty meetings with members of the opposition parties, including one Ms. Hasina had banned just days earlier, before announcing the end of her rule and the promise of an interim government.

“I promise you that we will bring justice for all murders and wrongdoings,” he said. “I promise that you won’t be disappointed.”
Hindu homes, temples targeted in Bangladesh after Hasina ouster, minority group says (Reuters)
Reuters [8/6/2024 10:27 AM, Ruma Paul and Krishna N. Das, 42991K, Negative]
Hundreds of Hindu houses, businesses and temples have been vandalised since the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, a community association said on Tuesday, and mainly Hindu India said it was worried about the incidents.

Hindus constitute about 8% of Bangladesh’s 170 million people and have historically largely supported Hasina’s Awami League party, which identifies as largely secular, instead of the opposition bloc that includes a hardline Islamist party.

Neighbouring India, now sheltering Hasina after she fled on Monday from deadly protests after 15 years in power, said what was "particularly worrying was that minorities, their businesses and temples also came under attack at multiple locations".

The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC) said 200-300 mainly Hindu homes and businesses had been vandalised since Monday, and 15-20 Hindu temples damaged. Up to 40 people have been injured though not seriously, its general secretary, Rana Dasgupta, told Reuters.

"The communal atrocities erupted hours before she resigned," he said. "Although there is no killing, there is injury. Houses and businesses of minorities, especially Hindus, as well as temples, have been targeted, looted, damaged."

Dasgupta said some people he could not identify had thrown a brick at his car when he was out on the road on Monday in the southeastern district of Chattogram.

"I stand against communal atrocities and will not stop," he said. "Until my death, I shall fight for them. I may not be able to physically protect them, but I can give them courage. I may not be able to resist attacks, but I can protest."

Reuters could not verify the scale of reported incidents amid the post-Hasina turmoil and police officers did not answer calls from Reuters seeking comment after mobs attacked many police stations.

"The situation is horrific," said Manindra Kumar Nath, a Hindu community leader. "Even today, we are getting calls from people asking us to save their lives, but we are not receiving any support from anywhere."

The military’s media office said security forces were helping maintain law and order across the South Asian nation, without specifying any incidents.

"Everyone’s cooperation is highly desired in this regard," it said in a statement.

Students who led the protests against Hasina that have killed nearly 300 people since July have repeatedly urged people not to target minority communities in the overwhelmingly Muslim country.

But Hindu community leaders said they were feeling vulnerable because of the lack of a functioning government.

The army chief has promised an interim government soon, while the students have said they want Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus as the chief adviser to the interim government.
Bangladesh ex-PM Zia freed after arch-rival toppled (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [8/6/2024 6:43 AM, Shafiqul Alam, 85570K, Negative]
Bangladesh’s uncompromising ex-prime minister Khaleda Zia has been released from years of house arrest after her bitter enemy Sheikh Hasina was ousted as premier and fled as protesters stormed her palace.

The ferocious rivalry between the two women -- born in blood and cemented in prison -- has defined politics in the Muslim-majority nation for decades.

Zia, 78, was sentenced to 17 years in prison for graft in 2018 under Hasina’s rule.

Hasina, 76, was ousted on Monday after mass protests, with the army chief declaring the military would form an interim government.

Orders were then issued for the release of prisoners from the protests, as well as Zia.

Zia is chairperson of the key opposition Bangladesh National Party (BNP). Party spokesman A.K.M Wahiduzzaman told AFP Tuesday that she "is now freed".

She is in poor health, confined to a wheelchair with rheumatoid arthritis and struggling with diabetes and cirrhosis of the liver.

The enmity between Zia and Hasina is known popularly in Bangladesh as the "Battle of Begums", with "begum" a Muslim honorific in South Asia for powerful women.

Their feud has its roots in the murder of Hasina’s father -- the country’s founding leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman -- along with her mother, three brothers and several other relatives in a 1975 military coup.

Zia’s husband Ziaur Rahman was then the deputy army chief and effectively took control himself three months later.

He kickstarted economic recovery in poverty-stricken Bangladesh with privatisations but was killed in another military coup in 1981.

The BNP mantle fell to his widow, then a 35-year-old mother of two young sons who was dismissed by critics as a politically inexperienced housewife.

Zia led opposition to dictator Hussain Muhammad Ershad, boycotting sham elections in 1986 and mounting street protests.

She and Hasina joined forces to push Ershad out in a wave of protests in 1990 and then faced off in Bangladesh’s first free polls.

Zia won and led from 1991-96, and again in 2001-2006, as she and Hasina alternated in power.

Their mutual dislike was blamed for a January 2007 political crisis that prompted the military to impose emergency rule and set up a caretaker government. Both were detained for more than a year.

Hasina won elections in December 2008 by a landslide and led uninterrupted until she fled to India in a helicopter on Monday.

She had tightened her grip on power by detaining tens of thousands of BNP members. Hundreds also disappeared.

Zia was convicted and jailed in 2018 on graft charges her party rejected as politically motivated.

She was later released into house arrest on condition she neither took part in politics nor went abroad for medical treatment.

Zia’s first cabinet was hailed for liberalising Bangladesh’s economy in the early 1990s, sparking decades of growth.

However, her second term as the premier of an Islamist-allied coalition was marked by graft allegations against her government and sons.

There was also a series of Islamist attacks, one of which killed more than 20 people and almost claimed Hasina’s life.

The anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion police unit Zia created has been accused of hundreds of extrajudicial killings.

Her eldest son Tarique Rahman led the BNP from exile in London while she was in jail but he was convicted in absentia and sentenced to life in prison over his alleged role in a bomb attack on a Hasina rally in 2004.

The BNP says the charges were a politically motivated attempt to expel Zia’s dynasty from politics.

Zia won respect for her resolute attitude, although her inability to compromise left her unable to cut deals with important allies at home or abroad.

That defiance extended even to the death of her youngest son from a heart attack in Malaysia in 2015.

Hasina went to her home to offer sympathy and condolences but Zia did not open the door.
China Treads Cautiously After Hasina Is Driven From Power in Bangladesh (The Diplomat)
The Diplomat [8/6/2024 4:10 PM, Shannon Tiezzi, 1156K, Neutral]
On August 5, in a stunning turn of events, Bangladesh’s long-time Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was driven from office – and from the country – by massive protests. As often is the case, things happened gradually – the protests had been building for over a month, despite increasingly repressive tactics from Hasina’s governments – and then suddenly.

Now Bangladesh’s neighbors are struggling to come to grips with the unexpected upheaval in a country that had been a hallmark of political stability, albeit at the cost of an authoritarian turn, during Hasina’s 15-year reign.

For China, Hasina’s ouster brings both peril and promise, and the government knows it. So far, Beijing has been tight-lipped on the shocking development, issuing only one terse statement. “China is following closely the developments in Bangladesh,” said a Foreign Ministry spokesperson in a written statement posted on the ministry’s website. “As a friendly neighbor and comprehensive strategic cooperative partner of Bangladesh, China sincerely hopes that social stability will be restored soon in the country.”

There was little opportunity to press for details, as the regular weekday press conference was on summer break from August 5 to 16. (Curiously, though, the Foreign Ministry held a press conference on August 6 – but didn’t address Bangladesh at all. Instead, the lion’s share of the questions dealt with Pakistan, including ongoing unrest in Balochistan and the safety of Chinese workers.)

China’s state news agency, Xinhua, likewise ran only a brief story, with a focus on the military chief’s call for people to “remain calm” and “maintain peace and order.”

The emphasis on stability underlined China’s main concern. Beijing doesn’t want political unrest in its neighborhood, and while Bangladesh doesn’t immediately border China, the two have a close relationship.

“Political turmoil means instability, which is not something China would like to see,” Yun Sun, director of the China Program at the Stimson Center, told The Diplomat via email. “It will bring more uncertainty and volatility to Chinese projects in the country.”

China has been increasingly active in Bangladesh under the framework of Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative. According to the Bangladeshi outlet Prothom Alo, China has loaned Bangladesh nearly $3 billion since fiscal year 2019-2020, equal to around 40 percent of China’s total loans to Dhaka since the two established diplomatic relations. “Currently, some 14 projects are being implemented with Chinese loans amounting to nearly $10 billion,” Prothom Alo reported.

Perhaps most notably, a Chinese firm constructed the Padma Bridge, held up by the Hasina government as a crowning achievement upon its completion in June 2022.

China was quite comfortable doing business with Hasina, and in fact the two sides elevated their relationship to the level of a “comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership” during Hasina’s visit to Beijing in July – less than a month before she fled the country. On the same trip, China and Bangladesh “signed 20+ agreements,” Yun pointed out. “The relationship with China has been doing well during her reign.”

However, China has also faced setbacks in Bangladesh, often due to Hasina’s attempts to balance between the interests of China and India. Even as Beijing stepped up its financing to Bangladesh, Dhaka nixed a deep-sea port at Sonadia Island that would have been constructed by a Chinese firm. These Chinese port projects in the Indian Ocean are a perennial concern to New Delhi, which sees them as dual-use facilities that can host Chinese surveillance ships in peacetime and potentially encircle India in a contingency.

More recently, Hasina is believed to have irked China by deciding to take up India’s offer to fund the Teesta River water management project – which Beijing had offered $1 billion toward. Analysts believe that’s one reason why China declined to provide a $5 billion loan Hasina had requested during her recent trip to Beijing.

Now, the sense that China was losing ground to India in the competition for influence in Bangladesh under Hasina could turn into a blessing in disguise. New Delhi is widely believed to have supported Hasina, looking the other way as she cracked down on opposition and preventing critics of Hasina’s authoritarian bent – including the U.S. government – from exacting penalties.

That approach has indelibly tied together India and Hasina’s Awami League in the mind of ordinary Bangladeshis. Following the controversial general election of 2024, which saw Hasina re-elected for a fourth consecutive time amid reported irregularities and an opposition boycott, Bangladeshi social media influencers launched an “India Out” campaign to register their frustration with New Delhi. Proponents of the boycott directly accused India of “relentless meddling in Bangladesh’s domestic affairs.”

With Hasina now gone, India’s all-in approach to the Awami League has turned out to be a bad bet. Beijing will be looking to step in with a larger role as creditor and partner when the next government is formed, pending a fresh round of elections.

Notably, in late June Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Vice President Abdul Awal Mintoo was one of the many political leaders who met with Liu Jianchao, head of the Chinese Communist Party’s International Department, during Liu’s visit to Dhaka. In India, the BNP – which as the main opposition party is now in prime position to form the next government – is seen as “anti-India” and responsible for the “India Out” campaign.

“Bangladesh is traditionally seen as in the Indian sphere of influence. If the change of government has an impact over that, I don’t think the Chinese government will necessarily see itself as a net loser from the political turmoil,” Yun said.

That said, China is hardly celebrating Hasina’s ouster, even if it could improve Beijing’s standing in the geopolitical contest with India. For one, China has not supported the cause of democracy in Bangladesh any more than India has. Beijing proudly and loudly supported Hasina’s election victory this year, while slamming the United States and other governments for interfering in Bangladesh’s internal affairs by pointing to the uneven playing field.

The Bangladesh-China joint statement issued on July 10 during Hasina’s trip to Beijing doubled down on that narrative, congratulating Bangladesh for the election and the Awami League for its victory. “The Chinese side firmly supports Bangladesh in maintaining peace and stability… non-interference in its internal affairs, and independently choosing a development path suited to its national conditions,” the statement declared.

That support from China came even as protests against the Awami League government gained steam. In fact, Hasina’s controversial comment comparing student protesters to “Razakars,” or traitors – which arguably changed the course of the entire protest movement by galvanizing student anger against her – was made in a press conference ostensibly devoted to discussing her China trip.

That awkward timing will dent Beijing’s efforts to distance itself from the Awami League now – even if China is far better positioned than India to make the attempt.
Sri Lanka Clan Returns as Rajapaksa Scion Runs for President (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [8/7/2024 1:56 AM, Anusha Ondaatjie and Asantha Sirimanne, 5.5M, Neutral]
A scion of the powerful Rajapaksa clan is running for Sri Lankan president in elections next month, more than two years after his populist uncle led the country to its worst economic crisis ever.
The clan’s Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna party named Namal Rajapaksa, 38, as their presidential candidate at a ceremony attended by his family members in Colombo. The party, which leads the government coalition, had supported the incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe in the current term.

“Victory for Namal is guaranteed because he possesses local values, understands the aspirations of the people, and can face up to challenges,” said party general secretary Sagara Kariyawasam after announcing the candidacy.

The national vote on Sept. 21 will be the first for the country after a historic debt default in May 2022 that saw living standards plummet and widespread unrest, forcing Namal’s uncle Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country and resign. Namal’s participation in the presidential election signals the Rajapaksa clan is trying to re-consolidate power among the country’s Buddhist majority.

The former sports minister will run against Wickremesinghe, main opposition leader Sajith Premadasa, and Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who is backed by the socialist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna party. Nearly 20 candidates have so far placed deposits at Sri Lanka’s Election Commission to contest the polls, for which the nominations are due on Aug. 15.

Namal’s father Mahinda Rajapaksa, whose decade in power saw the end of Sri Lanka’s ethnic war, and uncle Basil Rajapaksa, a former finance minister, attended Wednesday’s event at the party headquarters. Supporters held prayers and cheered the announcement. Gotabaya Rajapaksa, however, wasn’t present at the celebrations, suggesting some friction within the clan.

In an interview with Bloomberg News in 2022, Namal said that while his uncle’s government had inherited a bad economy from the previous administration, it also made some key policy errors and failed to pivot quickly when the pandemic hit.

Wickremesinghe, 75, who took the presidency through a parliament vote, is standing as an independent candidate. He’s won endorsement from some members of the SLPP, who have been part of his cabinet that oversaw a recovery of the economy and backed a $3 billion International Monetary Fund bailout package.

Wickremesinghe is campaigning on a platform of continuing reforms in order to tap more funds and sustain growth, while Premadasa has said revisions need to be made in tax measures and debt restructuring that’s part of the IMF program.

Dissanayake has won support amid a campaign for equitability of growth and elimination of corruption.
Sri Lanka’s Contentious Rajapaksa Scion Enters Presidential Race (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [8/7/2024 4:14 PM, Amal Jayasinghe, 1.4M, Neutral]
Sri Lanka’s ruling party nominated a scion of the controversial Rajapaksa family Wednesday to challenge the incumbent president in next month’s polls, the first since the country’s unprecedented economic meltdown.

The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party named Namal Rajapaksa, 38, as its candidate in the September 21 election at a Buddhist ceremony at their party office in the capital Colombo.

"After careful consideration, the party decided to make Namal Rajapaksa our presidential candidate," SLPP Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam said.

Namal, a former sports minister under his father Mahinda Rajapaksa’s presidency, which ended in January 2015, said circumstances forced him into the fray.

His uncle, Gotabaya, also won the presidency in November 2019, but was forced to resign and flee the country in 2022 following months of protests over corruption and mismanagement.

It was widely expected that the 38-year-old Namal would run only at the 2029 presidential polls because of the lasting impact of the country’s economic ruin under Gotabaya.

"Now we have to sit and plan the campaign, because this is something that I didn’t expect," Namal Rajapaksa told AFP shortly after the formal announcement of his candidacy.

He put his name forward after the expected candidate, businessman Dhammika Perera, dropped out on Tuesday citing "personal reasons".

Namal said he wanted to be "my own character", but was aware that he would have to live with both the positive and negative legacies of his family’s rule.

"That is something that I will face throughout my life, not only this election," he said.

"I will present my own case. I will take the best out of my instinct and my father’s policies."

Mahinda is credited with ending Sri Lanka’s Tamil separatist war in 2009 -- but which also sparked allegations that troops killed up to 40,000 Tamil civilians in the final months of fighting.

The entry of a Rajapaksa into the presidential race formalised a widening split in the government.

A majority of legislators from the SLPP had wanted the party to back their new ally, President Ranil Wickremesinghe, after praising him for turning the economy around after the 2022 crisis.

Wickremesinghe is not from the SLPP, but he had the party’s backing to replace then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Despite the downfall of Gotabaya, the SLPP enjoyed a majority in the 225-member parliament, controlled the government -- and had supported Wickremesinghe.

However, the parting of ways began when the election was called last month.

That revealed the divisions in the once-dominant SLPP, a nationalist party appealing to the Sinhala-Buddhist majority.

Namal’s entry turns the presidential poll into a battle among four main candidates.

Wickremesinghe had contested two presidential elections and lost both. However, he had been prime minister six times since entering parliament in 1977.

He is seeking a full five-year term to press ahead with his austerity measures, which he says are necessary to shore up reserves of the cash-strapped nation and start repaying its external loans.

Sri Lanka defaulted on its $46 billion foreign debt in April 2022 when it ran out of foreign exchange for essential imports.

Two other front runner candidates -- Sajith Premadasa and Anura Kumara Dissanayake -- say they will continue with the $2.9 billion IMF bailout negotiated by Wickremesinghe last year, but will reduce taxes and halt privatisation.

Dissanayake, leader of a leftist party, is also vowing to jail members of the Rajapaksa family, as well as Wickremesinghe, who is accused of blocking investigations into corruption during their time in power.
Central Asia
Kazakhstan: Opposition influencer sentenced to seven years in prison (EurasiaNet)
EurasiaNet [8/6/2024 4:14 PM, Almaz Kumenov, 57.6K, Negative]
It hasn’t been a good summer for Kazakh anti-government social media influencers. First, vlogger Aidos Sadykov was whacked in broad daylight in Ukraine. And now another critic, Duman Mukhammedkarim, has received a seven-year prison term for “financing extremism” and “participating” in a banned organization.

Mukhammedkarim’s sentencing occurred August 2 at a court in the Almaty region, following a closed trial. In addition to prison time, he was banned from engaging in public and political activities for three years.

The criminal conviction stems from an interview the 46-year-old Mukhammedkarim did in late 2022 with Kazakh officialdom’s bête noire #1 – former banker Mukhtar Ablyazov, the founder of the opposition Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) movement. Ablyazov, who now lives in an undisclosed location in Europe, is wanted in his homeland, having been convicted in absentia on murder and embezzlement charges. In 2018, a court in Astana determined that DVK was an “extremist organization” and banned its activities.

While interviewing Ablyazov, Mukhammedkarim included a graphic on the YouTube screen showing bank account details to which viewers could send the ex-banker money, ostensibly to fund a campaign to protect the rights of political dissidents. Kazakh prosecutors portrayed this as financing DVK, a banned organization.

Galym Nurpeisov, Mukhammedkarim’s lawyer, told journalists on August 5 that the investigation did not provide evidence of his client’s guilt. Mukhammedkarim himself denies the charges brought against him and considers the case politically motivated. He intends to appeal.

Mukhammedkarim first caught officials’ attention with extensive reporting on the bloody January 2022 events, the most significant instance of political upheaval during independent Kazakhstan’s existence. At least 238 people died in the upheaval. Officials have sought to keep public discussion of the causes, protagonists and aftermath of the January events to a minimum. Mukhammedkarim, however, persisted in interviewing eyewitnesses and relatives of victims, as well as exploring allegations of the torture of those detained during the turmoil. He emerged as a vocal critic of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s administration.

In March 2023, Mukhammedkarim ran for parliament as an independent candidate. He lost his race, and later spent 25 days in jail for an administrativeviolation connected with his one-man protest against election fraud. Local human rights organizations have classified Mukhammedkarim as a political prisoner.
Kyrgyz-Tajik Border Agreement Hoped for in ‘Nearest Future’ (The Diplomat)
The Diplomat [8/6/2024 9:58 AM, Catherine Putz, 1156K, Neutral]
Kyrgyz and Tajik officials are hopeful of completing border negotiations in the next two to three months. If an agreement is indeed reached, it will signal a major milestone in a long-running border dispute that triggered deadly violence in 2021 and 2022.

Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Jeenbek Kulubayev said in an August 5 press conference that while “a number of points remain” the two sides are moving toward an agreement. Kulubayev said that the two countries’ heads of state want an agreement reached in the “nearest future.”

“You understand that the border is a very sensitive issue, so now active negotiations are underway and we are comparing the positions of the parties. I think in the nearest future, in the next two or three months, we will complete it,” Kulubayev said.

The Kyrgyz-Tajik border is about 975 kilometers long (sometimes it is reported as 972 km, sometimes 980 km). The border – particularly the stretch that divides Kyrgyzstan’s Batken and Osh regions from Tajikistan’s Sughd – has been a source of tension for more than three decades, culminating in the violence in September 2022, when researchers say both sides may have committed war crimes in targeting civilians.

Kulubayev’s comments come in the wake of months of negotiations between working groups and various officials, and numerous meetings that have alternated between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

This latest round of positive announcements comes after an early July meeting in Buston, Tajikistan, of the co-chairs of the Kyrgyz and Tajik government delegations engaged in the negotiation process: Kyrgyzstan’s Kamchybek Tashiev, the powerful head of the State Committee for National Security, and his Tajik counterpart, Saimumin Yatimov.

That meeting was followed on July 21-24 with a visit by Kyrgyz representatives to disputed territories near Chorkuh, a Tajik village which has had disputes with an upstream Kyrgyz village over the flow of a water canal, and Vorukh, a Tajik exclave surrounded by Kyrgyz territory, which has been a long-standing flashpoint.

The head of Tajikistan’s Sughd region, Rajabboy Akhmadzoda, said during a July 26 press conference that “94 percent of the border line has been fully described.”

The special representative of Kyrgyzstan’s Cabinet of Ministers on border issues, Nazirbek Borubaev, quoted the same figure to RFE/RL in a July 30 interview. Borubaev added that the remaining 6 percent were in “difficult areas” in Batken region’s Batken district.

Akhmadzoda and Borubaev both said that the next meeting of the relevant working groups was scheduled to be held August 11-17 in Batken city.

But the road ahead is not easy.

In December 2023, Kyrgyz and Tajik officials said that more than 90 percent of their mutual border had been agreed upon. In the ensuing seven months, the two sides have notched that figure up to 94 percent. Specifics on what parts of the border are agreed upon have not been published, nor has there been much reporting on the content of the discussions between the working groups. Arguably the most difficult portions remain unsettled.

An agreement on paper will be a powerful diplomatic achievement for Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, but the real work will come after in implementing the border. How the two sides plan to realize their border after decades of dispute in and among the affected communities and navigate future conflicts responsibly is unclear. On both sides of the border, officials have leaned into nationalist rhetoric when domestically useful, and have struggled to communicate the rationale and necessity of at-times controversial government decisions to the publics that have to live them out.
Tajik-Iranian Visa-Free Travel Deal To Begin August 10 (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [8/6/2024 5:40 AM, Staff, 1530K, Neutral]
A deal allowing Tajik and Iranian citizens to travel between the two nations without visas for up to 90 days per year -- with the first visit limited to 30 days -- will take effect on August 10, the Tajik Foreign Ministry said on August 6. The ministry said that in the first stage of the program, only those traveling by plane between Dushanbe and Tehran will be eligible for visa-free entrances. The deal allowing citizens of the two Persian-speaking nations to enter Iran and Tajikistan without visas was signed in November 2023.
Another High-Profile Uzbek Crime Boss Gets Lengthy Prison Term (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [8/6/2024 4:14 PM, Staff, 235K, Neutral]
Amid an ongoing crackdown on criminal bosses, a Tashkent court on August 5 sentenced notorious Uzbek criminal kingpin Saidaziz Saidaliev (aka Saidaziz Medgorodok) to 20 years in prison on charges of extortion, organizing a criminal group, illegal drugs possession, money laundering, and hooliganism. The 36-year-old was arrested in November along with several other notorious criminal bosses -- Baxtiyor Qudratullaev, Bahodir Sultonov, Lutfulla Umarov, and Salim Abduvaliev -- some of whom were considered "thieves-in-law," a title of elite status in the criminal hierarchy of the former Soviet Union. They all were sentenced to prison terms on similar charges in recent months.
Twitter
Afghanistan
Freshta Razbaan
@RazbaanFreshta
[8/6/2024 1:57 PM, 4.8K followers, 1 retweet]
Under the oppressive and misogynistic Taliban regime, Afghan women have lost all support and hope. They face daily threats of suicide or become victims of male violence. No institution or law exists in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan to protect them, leaving Afghan women abandoned and vulnerable.

Freshta Razbaan
@RazbaanFreshta
[8/6/2024 12:20 PM, 4.8K followers, 1 like]
The Taliban kidnapped and subsequently killed a member of the former government’s special forces in Parwan. #Afghanistan #NotSafe #Terrorism

Freshta Razbaan
@RazbaanFreshta
[8/6/2024 7:11 AM, 4.8K followers]
The Taliban intelligence agency has reportedly tortured a general from the previous Afghan government in Kunar, highlighting the ongoing repressive measures employed by the Taliban against former officials and perceived opponents. This incident underscores the broader pattern of human rights abuses that have been documented since the Taliban’s return to power. Former government officials, members of the Afghan National Security Forces, and individuals associated with the governement have been particularly vulnerable to arrest, detention, and torture. Such actions by the Taliban serve multiple purposes: they consolidate the Taliban’s control by eliminating potential threats, instill fear among the populace to deter any form of resistance, and send a clear message that opposition will be met with severe consequences. The use of torture and extrajudicial measures not only violates basic human rights but also undermines any prospects for reconciliation and stability in Afghanistan.

Jahanzeb Wesa
@JahanzebWesa
[8/7/2024 6:07 AM, 2.6K followers, 3 retweets, 4 likes]
Today Afghanistan is the only country in the world where the right to education for girls and women is legally banned.
Pakistan
Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Pakistan
@ForeignOfficePk
[8/6/2024 10:53 AM, 479.8K followers, 19 retweets, 51 likes]
Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar @MIshaqDar50 arrives in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to participate in the Extraordinary Meeting of the OIC Executive Committee. At the Madinah airport, Deputy Prime Minister was received by Ambassador of Pakistan to Saudi Arabia Ambassador Ahmad Farooq and Director General of the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs @KSAMOFA Madinah Branch Ibrahim bin Muhammad Saeed Alsobhi.

Anas Mallick
@AnasMallick
[8/7/2024 1:48 AM, 73.4K followers, 4 retweets, 31 likes]
Pakistan issues first formal statement on the chaos in Bangladesh, Hopeful for peaceful and swift return to normalcy. @ForeignOfficePk says, "The Government and people of Pakistan stand in solidarity with the people of Bangladesh, sincerely hoping for a peaceful and swift return to normalcy. We are confident that the resilient spirit and unity of the Bangladeshi people will lead them towards a harmonious future." #Pakistan #Bangladesh

Anas Mallick
@AnasMallick
[8/6/2024 4:29 PM, 73.4K followers, 5 retweets, 22 likes]
First reaction by Pakistan’s @ForeignOfficePk Reacts US report of Pak national charge sheeted, "We have seen the media reports. We are in touch with the US authorities and await further details. Noted statements by US officials that this is an ongoing investigation. Before giving our formal reaction, we also need to be sure of the antecedents of the individual in question.”

C. Raja Mohan
@MohanCRaja
[8/7/2024 12:18 AM, 108.8K followers, 20 retweets, 85 likes]
Five years after end of Article 370, what is the ‘Pakistan hand’ in Kashmir? https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/c-raja-mohan-writes-five-years-after-end-of-article-370-what-is-the-pakistan-hand-in-kashmir-9499415/ via @IndianExpress
India
Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[8/7/2024 12:17 AM, 100.7M followers, 3.5K retweets, 20K likes]
Greetings on National Handloom Day! We take immense pride in the rich heritage and vibrant tradition of handlooms across our nation. We also cherish the efforts of our artisans and reiterate our commitment to be ‘Vocal for Local.’

Vice-President of India
@VPIndia
[8/7/2024 3:25 AM, 1.5M followers, 2 retweets, 31 likes]
I strongly advocate economic nationalism. It is fundamental to our spinal economic growth! No fiscal gain, irrespective of quantum, can justify engaging in imports that are avoidable. @TexMinIndia #NationalHandloomDay

Vice-President of India
@VPIndia
[8/6/2024 10:34 AM, 1.5M followers, 33 retweets, 232 likes]
Hon’ble Vice-President and Chairman, Rajya Sabha, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar interacted with Members of Parliament from various political parties in his chamber at Parliament House today. #RajyaSabha @PawarSpeaks @rautsanjay61 @LKBajpaiBJP @DeoSulata @DrKanimozhiSomu @praful_patel @shaktisinhgohil @Ranjeet4India

Dipanjan R Chaudhury
@DipanjanET
[8/7/2024 12:09 AM, 5.4K followers, 1 retweet, 1 like]
India in touch with Bangladesh authorities, EAM Jaishankar informs Parliament. Closely monitoring law & order situation & condition of minorities in Bangladesh. Minorities & progressives continue to bear brunt in last 2 days I report @ETPolitics -https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/india-in-touch-with-bangladesh-authorities-eam-jaishankar-informs-parliament/articleshow/112327145.cms
NSB
Sultan Mohammed Zakaria
@smzakaria
[8/7/2024 6:50 AM, 5.4K followers, 9 retweets, 24 likes]
#Bangladesh: Sheikh Hasina’s "General in Crime" detained After being dismissed from service earlier today, the notorious Gen. Ziaul Ahsan attempted to flee the country via the airport. Security forces stopped the fight at the last minute and apprehended him. Ziaul was #SheikhHasina’s main man in the Army for planning and executing heinous crimes, including extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.

Sultan Mohammed Zakaria
@smzakaria
[8/6/2024 2:20 PM, 5.4K followers, 57 retweets, 268 likes]
#Bangladesh: It’s now official that Professor Muhammad @Yunus_Centre is the Chief Advisor of the interim government. The President of Bangladesh formally made the decision. The other members of the cabinet will be decided after a thorough civil society consultations. New Bangladesh! It will never look back…

Derek J. Grossman
@DerekJGrossman
[8/6/2024 11:52 AM, 90.8K followers, 356 retweets, 1.2K likes]
The US didn’t sanction a coup in Bangladesh. But I will say that Washington’s decision to unquestioningly support the protesters and refuse to condemn the coup nor call for a return to the duly-elected Hasina govt was…well…odd.

Sabria Chowdhury Balland
@sabriaballand
[8/7/2024 2:03 AM, 6.6K followers, 4 likes]
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Tuesday on #Bangladesh to respect democracy after Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was tapped to lead an interim government following an uprising. "Any decisions that the interim government makes, they need to respect democratic principles, need to uphold the rule of law, need to reflect the will of the people," Blinken told reporters. Blinken Says Bangladesh Must Respect ‘Democratic Principles’ https://barrons.com/articles/blinken-says-bangladesh-must-respect-democratic-principles-aeddc78d via @Barronsonline

Habib Khan
@HabibKhanT
[8/7/2024 12:37 AM, 229K followers, 205 retweets, 576 likes]
Anti-government riots in Bangladesh have turned into anti-Hindu riots, with Muslim attacking Hindu minorities. HRW confirms these attacks. This could lead to a broader Hindu-Muslim conflict, disastrous for the region.

Michael Kugelman
@MichaelKugelman
[8/7/2024 11:27 AM, 212.2K followers, 10 retweets, 52 likes]
To understand one reason why protestors grew so angry at the BD government so quickly, read this @dailystarnews investigation. If found that as of Aug 1, 39 of the 204 deaths were from gunshot wounds to the head (and 35 more were to the chest). https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/count-carnage-3668986

Michael Kugelman
@MichaelKugelman
[8/7/2024 11:27 AM, 212.2K followers, 10 likes]
This report points to just how egregiously brutal the response was from the security forces. There are other examples too, like helicopters firing on crowds below-and even killing a few children being held by their parents in apartments. Just a terrible and stunning tragedy.

Michael Kugelman
@MichaelKugelman
[8/6/2024 5:02 PM, 212.2K followers, 179 retweets, 954 likes]
If someone told you in January (after Sheikh Hasina won another unfree/unfair election) that in 6 months, Hasina would be ousted after a mass movement; Khaleda Zia would be released from jail; and Muhammad Yunus would be leading a new interim gov’t, would you have believed them?

Michael Kugelman
@MichaelKugelman
[8/6/2024 10:27 AM, 212.2K followers, 80 retweets, 342 likes]
According to this revealing report, it was Sheikh Hasina’s son that convinced her to step down. Her sister couldn’t convince her. Earlier, "top officials tried to explain to her that it will no longer be possible for the situation to be controlled by force. But Sheikh Hasina was unwilling to accept that." https://en.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/jo33itpoxc

Tshering Tobgay
@tsheringtobgay
[8/7/2024 12:34 AM, 99.5K followers, 3 retweets, 11 likes]
Excited to announce the launch of the 1st phase of the Concessional Credit Line under the Economic Stimulus Programme, aiming to support new ventures and help distressed businesses recover and grow. I urge all eligible people to take advantage of this opportunity.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maldives
@MoFAmv
[8/6/2024 6:00 AM, 54.4K followers, 26 retweets, 36 likes]
Under the Distinguished Speaker Series, #FOSIM hosted His Excellency Md. Golam Sarwar, Secretary General of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). Secretary General shared his insights on the topic “The Way Forward for SAARC”.
Central Asia
Javlon Vakhabov
@JavlonVakhabov
[8/6/2024 5:21 AM, 6K followers, 2 retweets, 2 likes]
I so appreciated Sanzhar Mukanbetov, Director of the National Institute for Strategic Initiatives under the President of the Kyrgyz Republic, for his candor and openness in advancing the strategic partnership between our two nations. Over the last two months, he visited Uzbekistan four times, attending at least two conferences hosted by @IICAinTashkent. This is further evidence of the progress made in our bilateral relations since 2017. Our continued collaboration underscores the commitment and mutual respect that underpin our partnership, paving the way for a prosperous future together.

Saida Mirziyoyeva
@SMirziyoyeva
[8/6/2024 12:50 PM, 19.1K followers, 36 likes]
Thanks to the political will of our country’s leader, have we raised the fallen flag of the Jadids. Just like the Alash movement members, the Jadids exemplify progressive youth. We are beginning to implement their ideas in education to the level they dreamed of!

Saida Mirziyoyeva
@SMirziyoyeva
[8/6/2024 11:34 AM, 19.1K followers, 7 retweets, 115 likes]
Today, both Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan have adopted laws against domestic violence. And this is our joint victory! But there are many challenges we cannot overcome alone. And most importantly, developing education.

Saida Mirziyoyeva
@SMirziyoyeva
[8/6/2024 11:10 AM, 19.1K followers, 5 retweets, 88 likes]
While conflicts smolder around the planet, the political tandem of Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev strives to transform Central Asia into the safest, most prosperous, and friendliest region.

Saida Mirziyoyeva
@SMirziyoyeva
[8/6/2024 4:40 AM, 19.1K followers, 4 retweets, 93 likes]
I met with Aibek Dadebay, Head of Kazakhstan’s Presidential Administration, ahead of the Uzbekistan President’s state visit. We discussed the progress and future of Uzbek-Kazakh cooperation and reviewed agreements and directives from our leaders.

Saida Mirziyoyeva
@SMirziyoyeva
[8/6/2024 3:26 AM, 19.1K followers, 6 retweets, 58 likes]
As part of our visit to the Republic of Kazakhstan, we met with @erlankarin Kazakhstan’s State Counselor. We discussed bilateral, regional, and multilateral issues, exploring ways to strengthen dialogue in cultural diplomacy and information policy. #Kazakhstan

{End of Report}
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