NEW DELHI, 15 August 2024 (TON) - India is commemorating its 78th Independence Day today on 15 August. The nation achieved Independence from colonial rule on 15 August 1947, after a long-standing struggle spanning nearly two centuries of British rule. India is still a sub-continent of numerous nations struggling for independence.

Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh called a meeting with army and intelligence chiefs on Wednesday and planned military operations in Jammu and Kashmir as well as Ladakh. Thousands of additional troops and drones have been deployed in the Indian-held disputed mountainous region, where new army posts have been authorized.

In an operation carried out by a joint team of Army, Border Security Force (BSF) and police in Doda district seven civilian Kashmiris were martyred on night 14/15 August 2024. In another operation, Captain Deepak Singh of 48 Rashtriya Rifles was killed in an exchange of fire between the freedom fighters who were resisting Indian Independence Day celebrations on 15 August in Srinagar and other districts.

The Jammu & Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha will unfurl the Indian flag at Bakshi Stadium in Srinagar, which the Kashmiris have always resisted as a routine event every year. Indian authorities expand millions of rupees to organize this single event but Kashmiris are determined to exercise their right of self-determination to attain independence as guaranteed under the UNSC Resolutions.

AMSTERDAM,15 August 2024, (TON) - The 2024 WSF World Masters Squash Championships begin at the Fran Otten Stadion in Amsterdam, the Netherlands on Thursday 15 August as a record 1227 players prepare to compete for the world championship titles. The competition concludes on 22 August.

The concept of the Nations Cup is that all members of a national team can contribute to their nation’s success, with the Nations Cup awarded to the country whose players produce the best overall performance across age groups and both men’s and women’s competitions in the championships.

The competition is divided into two categories, with one competition for countries with 10 or more individual entries and a second for countries with 9 or fewer individual entries.

Points are awarded to each individual competitor according to their final position in the competition. A divisor system is then used to attribute points.

PARIS, 8 August (TON) - Arshad Nadeem won gold in the Olympic men's javelin on Thursday, beating defending champion Neeraj Chopra of India to clinch Pakistan's first Olympic medal in athletics. Before throwing the javelin he sought help from Almighty Allah by chanting “Ya Aliy Madad”. Ali is one of the names of Allah repeatedly being recited as in Ayat ul Qursee, “Wa Huwal Aliyyul Azeem”.

Arshad Nadeem threw his arms up in celebration after breaking the Olympic record on his second throw with a stunning 92.97 metres that put him sixth on the all-time list.

"When I threw the javelin, I got the feel of it leaving my hand, and sensed it could be an Olympic record, inshallah. As a strong believer of Allah, he knelt down and performed Sajdah before Allah.

Chopra from India throw 89.45, which won him the silver medal, and Grenada's Anderson Peters took bronze with 88.54.

By Afshain Afzal

Extensive coverage by Indian media channels and its affiliates misled the world that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed issued her first statement from India after her resignation blaming the US for her ouster. There is no doubt, still the whereabouts of the Prime Minister of Bangladesh is not known. The fact remains that neither she opted to proceed to India nor she resigned from the premiership. The helicopter and transport aircraft the story is without foundation. Careful observation of the video clip attributed to PM Hasina and her sister fleeing for India proves that PM Hasina or her sister were not the ladies seen in white Saree in the video as neither the physique was matching PM Hasina nor being a 77 year old PM Hasina can mount on a SUV by standing on the pedestal as shown in the video. Statements of her son who is in US cannot be considered unless the Indian Ministry of External Affairs confirms her official status as Prime Minister of a sovereign country and her video of her presence in the Indian capital is released. There are rumours that New Delhi has conspired to kill two birds with one stone, in the same manner New Delhi did in 1971. She is a brave lady and cannot run away like this leaving her country and nation at the crossroad.

The Constitution of the People‌‌‍’s Republic of Bangladesh, Part IV, Chapter II, Article 57 provides: (1) The office of the Prime Minister shall become vacant– (a) if he resigns from office at any time by placing his resignation in the hands of the President, 2) If the Prime Minister ceases to retain the support of a majority of the members of Parliament, he shall either resign his office or advise the President in writing to dissolve Parliament, and if he so advises the President shall, if he is satisfied that no other member of Parliament commands the support of the majority of the members of Parliament, dissolve Parliament accordingly. Similarly, Part IXA Article 141A provides: (1) If the President is satisfied that a grave emergency exists in which the security or economic life of Bangladesh, or any part thereof, is threatened by war or external aggression or internal disturbance, he may issue a Proclamation of Emergency for one hundred twenty days, provided that such Proclamation shall require for its validity the prior counter signature of the Prime Minister. Since PM Hasina did not present her resignation to the President, nor she lost the support of a majority of the members of Parliament and the President of Bangladesh did not impose an emergency, which was counter signature of the Prime Minister so PM Hasina is still the Prime Minister of Bangladesh and there is no provision of re-elections. 

By Afshain Afzal

The very first statement Sajeeb Wajed, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed’s son gave was, "My mother was so disappointed that she even thought of considering the proposal of her resigning as after all her hard work for the minority, they rise up against her.” As today, there is no evidence that Prime Minister Hasina resigned or left for India. The helicopter and transport aircraft story as well as the one narrated by India was discussed but on the ground it was not implemented. Careful observation of the video clip attributed to PM Hasina and her sister claiming to be taken before fleeing for India proves that PM Hasina or her sister were not the ladies seen in white Saree in the video as neither the physique was matching PM Hasina nor being a 77 year old lady, PM Hasina can mount on a SUV by standing on the pedestal as shown in the video.

The Indian and Western nations since long planned to introduce a broad-based government in Bangladesh with Indians, Iranians and other minorities controlling the helm of affairs. To achieve this task the West assigned Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus, who took oath on 7 August 2024, as the head of Bangladesh's interim government. Yesterday Dr Yunus spoke to the media and said, “People are being attacked, houses are being burnt, properties are being destroyed, instances of theft, offices are being destroyed, minorities are being attacked; Hindus, Buddhists, Christians and Ahmadiyyas are all under attack. Our responsibilities are to protect everyone; all are our brothers and sisters." By such misleading statements the masses around the world will get an impression if the killings carried out in Bangladesh in recent days were that of Bangladeshi minority members. Can Dr Yunus disclose how many minority members got killed since the protests started till today? Independent reports confirm only two deaths and one not related to protests. As the head of Bangladesh's interim government, Muhammad Yunus must clarify motives behind such misinformation before he may be allowed to proceed further.

There are reports that Dr Muhammad Younus changed his religion to Christianity and started attending Church sessions after marrying his first wife, Vera Forostenko, who was also a lifetime member of St. Vladimir's Orthodox Church, Trenton, and St. Alexander Nevsky Russian Orthodox Cathedral, Lakewood. In 1977, first daughter Monica Yunus was born but a few months after the birth of baby girl, Dr Yunus divorced Vera Forostenko, who returned to the US along with few months old Monica to live with her parents, claiming that Bangladesh was not a good place to raise a baby girl. Later, little girl suffered from identity crisis but managed to become an opera singer in New York City.

The drama being staged after the kidnapping of a sitting Prime Minister of a sovereign nation has not been condemned by a single country. Without understanding its repercussions nations are welcoming the formation of an interim government of criminals and money launderers. The fact cannot be denied that Dr Muhammad Yunus, as the head of Bangladesh's interim government was undergoing sentence for his criminal activities. He deposited $1.2M evaded tax amount outstanding against him and a huge amount is still pending as tax evasion. He also influenced the US against the US government and caused blocking of $3 billion funding of the World Bank for the country’s biggest multipurpose Padma bridge project. There is a requirement that UNO and human rights organizations must support the reinstatement of a democratically elected Prime Minister of Bangladesh.

By Afshain Afzal

We all know that it was Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed annulled Quota System from Bangladesh in 2018, and the new 100 percent merit-based recruitment was fully implemented since then. She as a Prime Minister is not above the law therefore she was supporting the rule of law and honoured the verdicts of Bangladeshi courts. In her statement, Prime Minister Hasina on 7^th July 2024 said, “After the court’s verdict, there is no justification for the anti-quota movement.” Again, on 14 July she said, “Why do they have so much resentment towards the freedom fighters? If the grandchildren of the freedom fighters don’t get quota benefits, should the grandchildren of Razakars get the benefit?” Although the statements of the Prime Minister were quite impolite but such statements became necessary to support the judgments passed by the Courts. Just to remind that in Bangladesh, Razakar” are Urdu-speaking who collaborated with Pakistan during the unrest and military crackdown of Bengali-speaking locals in East Pakistan in 1971.

In the early years following independence, the quotas were reserved for war veterans themselves, and then it expanded to include their children in 1997 and then grandchildren in 2010. Students protested in 2018 that it was clearly discriminatory and needed to change. Prime Minister Sheikh, Hasina promised the students to abolish the system, when she announced, “There is nothing to get angry at, the students are demanding end to quota, and I totally accept it.” Prime Minister Hasina scrapped the entire quota system. The 2018 circular said “Direct recruitment in all government jobs in 9th grade (old first class) and from 10th to 13th grade (old second class) will be completely based on merit”, abolishing the existing quota system.

There were protests from civil society groups who called for reform of the quotas, rather than outright cancellation, but the government remained unmoved, and the agitation died down. In June 2024, when a group of people, including relatives of war veterans, went to the High Court and challenged the government’s 2018 order to cancel the quotas. The court ruled that the government order was illegal and restored the quotas in their entirety. On 5 July 2024, The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has upheld (for now) a High Court judgment that declared illegal a 2018 government circular abolishing the 30 percent quota system for the Freedom Fighters' children in the ninth to 13th grades of government jobs.

Bangladesh’s High Court on 14 July 2024, gave its decision to retain the 30 percent government job quota for the children of freedom fighters in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. Following widespread student protests, the Appellate Division of Bangladesh’s Supreme Court has suspended the government service quota system for one month. The Supreme Court order dated 21 July 2024, pronounced that the quota for veterans’ descendants be cut to 5 percent, with 93 percent of jobs to be allocated on merit. The remaining 2 percent will be set-aside for members of ethnic minorities and transgender and disabled people. One wonders that when Prime Minister Hasina Wajed abolished the quota system in her previous term of government, why she is being blamed for the action taken by the judiciary against her decision to abolish quota system? The Western and Indian pressure groups to include transgender and militant groups in quota have directly started interfering in the internal affairs of Bangladesh. This also led to the abduction and imprisonment of sitting Prime Minister with her whereabouts unknown. Prime Minister Hasina is still the legitimate Prime Minister as she never resigned and under what law new interim government has been established? Is this democracy? Why UNO and Human Rights groups are silent?

By Afshain Afzal

The whereabouts of 77 years-old Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina Wajed are not known to anyone, no one heard a single word since her arrest; she is a prisoner of conscience. It all started and nations turned against her when she delivered her first speech at the 14-party meeting at the Gono Bhaban, Dhaka on 23 May 2024. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said, “I was offered a hassle-free reelection in the 7th January polls if she allowed a foreign country to build a military airbase in Bangladesh territory. Told that a plot is in progress to carve out a Christian state like East Timor, comprising of parts from Bangladesh and Myanmar with base in the Bay of Bengal.” Aftermath many nations turned against her and staged a conspiracy against her for her illegal and undemocratic kidnapping. The whereabouts of other politicians loyal to her are also not known.

On 5 August 2024, General Waker-Uz-Zaman, Bangladesh Army Chief confirming Prime Minister Hasina Wajed’s resignation disclosed that she landed at Indian Airforce Base Hindon in Ghaziabad and is being closely monitored by Indian security agencies. The inside circle claimed on the condition of anonymity that Prime Minister Hasina Wajed refused to render resignation and declined to leave for India or any other country so she was forcibly removed to an unknown location. In the recent month India has expelled a large number of non-Indians and pushed them to Bangladesh as illegals; they were also seen in the protests.

On the other hand, Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval confirmed, “Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina along with her family left Dhaka on C130J transport aircraft of Bangladesh Air Force on 5 August 2024, and landed at the Indian Air Force Base, Hindon near Gaziabad, New Delhi at around 5:45 pm. The Indian Air Defence radars kept a close watch on the aircraft as it entered Indian airspace and flew over Kolkata. Indian Air Force personnel also activated two Rafale fighter aircraft to provide any assistance to the flight in case of any emergency. The officials of the IAF and other agencies of the Government of India received her after the aircraft with Prime Minister Hasina, her sister Rehana as well as others close to the family onboard at the Indian Airforce Base, Hindon.”

Amnesty International’s Regional Director for South Asia Smriti Singh in a statement said, “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.” US State Department spokesman welcoming the announcement of the formation of the interim government has declared that America stands with the people of Bangladesh in the wake of the recent political upheaval in Bangladesh and suggested that the interim government should be democratic and multi-party. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina won the January 2024 elections for the fourth consecutive term and is enjoying the 3/4th majority. Her party Awami League and the allies won 225 of 300 parliamentary seats contested while the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the allies boycotted the elections. She is to remain Prime Minister of Bangladesh till 2029. One wonders is this not the slaughter of democracy, violation of human rights and UNO Charter where foreign nations are directly interfering in the internal affairs of a sovereign nation. The human rights organizations, the UNO and  the European Union must investigate the whereabouts of the democratically elected Prime Minister. The people of Pakistan have great respect for Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family. Pakistan welcomes Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed and her family to come to her own country “Pakistan” and reside at her residence at East Pakistan House.

By Afshain Afzal

Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a statement on 31 July 2024, “The criminal and terrorist Zionist regime martyred our dear guest in our house and made us bereaved; it also prepared the ground for a harsh punishment for itself.” The question arises will Iran carry out a direct attack on Israel or the US, other than some symbolic volley of rockets inside Israeli territory? The answer is “No”. It will be encouraging if Tehran reacts within the space provided by International Law. One wonders every time Iran and Lebanon intensify rocket attacks on Israel when there is hope of peace between Jews and Muslims over the issue of complete independence of Palestine.

We all are waiting for the International Court of Justice (ICJ) verdict and implementation of arrest warrants of war criminals declared by the International Criminal Court (ICC). At this juncture, focusing on a single event inside Iran will reduce the broader canvas and harm the Palestinian cause. More so, Hamas did not recognize former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyah as sincere to the Palestinian cause as Hamas has adopted the path of peace and obedience of International Law. Tehran reported that Ismail Haniyah died as a result of Israeli attack at his Tehran residence but it is yet to be ascertained as Iran recently arrested some of her Intelligence personnel while the pattern of attack matches the operations of one of the strongest allies of Israel. Israel has not officially admitted the attack and preferred to keep the silence over the assassination.

Iran has accused Israel of carrying out a cowardly attack inside Iran and vowed to take decisive action against the aggressor but the Iranian tone is too mild otherwise by now action would have been taken. Meanwhile, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will hold an open-ended extraordinary meeting of its executive committee at the foreign ministers’ level at OIC General Secretariat in Jeddah tomorrow,  7th August 2024, to discuss the ongoing crimes of the Israeli intrusion and war crimes against the Palestinian people. An outcome of the conference will be a strong condemnation of Israel's genocide of Palestinian orthodox Muslims and a need for greater unity amongst Muslim nations and allies over the issue of complete withdrawal of Israeli and foreign allies forces from Gaza, full independence and sovereignty of the State of Palestine. We all are waiting for ICJ’s decision, which will be followed by a consolidated response by Muslim nations and allies.

DAKHA, 6 August 2024 (TON): Sajeeb Wazed Joy, son of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed, in a statement to media said, “"My mother had been considering resigning since yesterday as she was so disappointed that after all her hard work the minority to rise up against her and she do not intend to make a political comeback.”

The violence had foreign support and footmarks of elements from neighbouring India were evident. The Bangladeshi protesters started killing police personnel and the official figure reflected 13 Police personnel killed till 5^th August. Under the circumstances Police restored to live firing which could have been avoided. But Indian media using AI techniques reflected that bad law and order situation has paralyzed the political machinery and the resignation of Prime Minister Hasina was the only option to control the events. The US also played a prominent role in the ousting of Prime Minister Hasina when US State Department Spokesperson Mathew Miller blew whistle on 22 July 2024 condemning violence against peaceful protesters called on the Awami League government to uphold the right to peaceful protests.

The general masses of Bangladesh and a great number of Pakistanis still support Prime Minister Hasina and would see her or at least her family's representation in the forthcoming election, however, they are of the view that past mistakes should not be repeated including baring Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat e Islami (JI). The Indian and Western have planned to introduce a broad-based government in Bangladesh with Indian and other minorities controlling the helm of affairs.

DAKHA, 6 August 2024 (TON): Bangladeshi President Mohammed Shahabuddin on Monday ordered the release of jailed former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia. An official statement from Dakha said, “Meeting decided unanimously to free Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia immediately". Bangladeshi Army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman, along with the Chiefs of the Airforce and Navy, and top leaders of several opposition parties including the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami attended the meeting.

Meanwhile, the military authorities announced that it has lifted a curfew imposed to control the protests and the offices, factories, schools, colleges and other establishments will be open from today.

Earlier today, General Zaman said in a broadcast to the nation on state television that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had resigned and the military would form a caretaker government. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced at gunpoint to resign and a deal was made for her extradition to the United Kingdom via India.