KABUL, 21 June 2022, (TON): Taliban and UK officials have said “the Taliban have released several British citizens who were detained in Afghanistan after an agreement was reached between the two countries.”

Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the Taliban government, in a statement said “the detainees were released following a series of meetings between Afghan and British officials.”

He said “a number of British nationals were released, who were arrested about six months ago for violating the laws and traditions of the Afghan people.”

Mujahid didn’t say what laws the UK citizens had broken or elaborate on why they had been detained.

The statement said all of them pledged to respect the laws of Afghanistan, the traditions and culture of the Afghan people and not to violate them again.

DHAKA, 21 June 2022, (TON): Saudi ambassador in Dhaka Essa Yousef Essa Al Duhailan termed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visionary decision to build the country's longest Padma Bridge by own fund as revolutionary.

He told media at the Saudi embassy "I admire Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for taking the revolutionary step of self-financing to build the Padma Bridge.”

The ambassador said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has proven repeatedly that she is the able daughter of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Hasina by uplift the Bangladesh's economy to new height.

Duhailan said Bangladesh premier's ability to make quick decisions in keeping the country's economy on track is marvelous while many big nations have struggled under similar circumstances.

The ambassador appreciated Bangladesh's political stability and overall security environment which he thinks very favorable to foreign investors.  

DHAKA, 21 June 2022, (TON): Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen today said “Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to visit New Delhi in early September in line with the invitation of her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.”

he told newsmen at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport “The probable date of the Honorable Prime Minister’s New Delhi visit could be within first 10 days of September.”

Momen, however, said, the Bangladesh premier’s office would finalise the date while the timeline was proposed during his talks with his counterpart Dr S Jaishankar and both Dhaka and Delhi were looking forward the planned visit to New Delhi.

He said “Dhaka and New Delhi decided to implement the bilateral decisions ahead of Sheikh Hasina’s India tour while Dhaka expected the much-awaited Joint River Commission meeting to be held by then.”

DHAKA, 21 June 2022, (TON): Chinese Ambassador in Dhaka Li Jiming has called extra-courageous Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s decision to go ahead with Padma Bridge project with domestic financing amid overseas funding debacle, expressing his doubts if an average leader of any country could have done so.

He told to a group of select journalists at the Chinese embassy “I doubt, if any average leader of any country could have made such a tough decision as she did, I doubt, I really doubt.”

The envoy said some overseas development partners did not believe that Bangladesh government could ever materialize such a mega structure with own financing, without naming them.

He said “Nevertheless, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, steeled herself for all the doubts, pressures and allegations, and decided to build the bridge with Bangladesh’s own money, 100 percent Bangladesh’s own money.”

By TON Research Desk

Today, 20th June reminds and remembers the historic success and bravery of Muhammad Sirajud-Daulah in capturing Calcutta. Nawab was commonly known as Sirajud-Daulah the last independent Nawab of Bengal. The end of his rule marked the start the rule of the East India Company over Bengal and later on rest of the Indian subcontinent.

The battle occurred between the forces of Nawab of Bengal and the British East India Company on 20th June 1756. The Nawab of Bengal, Sirajud Daulah, aimed to free Calcutta to punish the company for the unauthorized construction of fortifications at fort William and he caught the Company spontaneously and won a decisive victory.

The Nawab of Bengal was the traditional ruler of Bengal Subah before the East India Company. In the early 18th century, the Nawab of Bengal was the sovereign ruler of the three regions of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa which constitute the modern-day sovereign country of Bangladesh, Pakistan and some Indian states also. When the elderly Alivardi Khan died in 1756, he was succeeded as Nawab of Bengal by his grandson, Sirajud Daulah at the age of 23.

His policy of the government changed abruptly; instead of following the footsteps of his grandfather Alivardi, Siraj followed and chose the path of freedom fighting. He was particularly distrustful of the British plans and intended to liberate Calcutta from the East India Company.

In particular, he was angered at the Company's alleged involvement and instigation of some members of his own court in a conspiracy to oust him. His charges against the company were generally threefold. Firstly, they strengthened the fortification around Fort William without any intimation or approval.

Secondly, they grossly molested the trade privileges which caused heavy loss of customs duties for the government; and thirdly, that they gave asylum to some of his officers who fled Dhaka after misappropriating Bengal’s government funds. Hence, when the East India Company began further enhancement of military strength at Fort William in Calcutta, Sirajud Daulah ordered them to stop. The Company did not heed his directives.

After the new fortifications Nawab immediately ordered French and the British to halt their work and to raze any new construction, promising to protect both foreign enclaves from attack as his grandfather had before him. In this regard, the Nawab sent a letters including Governor Drake. It was taken as by the East India Company as no less than a declaration of war. They challenged the authority of Nawab of Bengal and refused to remove the fortification or pay taxes.

The French, realizing just how shaky their position in Bengal, excused that they were not building foreign fortifications, and merely repairing their existing structures. The Company responded inversely. Roger Drake, the acting governor-general of Calcutta, stated that they were only preparing for their own protection strongly indicating that the Nawab would be helpless to protect them in case of any attack. After this the news quickly spread that the Company gathered the forces from Madras (now Chennai) and planned to invade Bengal.

The first catastrophe to befall the Company arose quickly. On 3 June the Nawab's forces surrounded the East India Company fort at Qasimbazar. Two days later, the garrison was surrendered and the only shot fired was by the garrison commander, who committed suicide as his fellow British forces reqused to fight. One story reveals that garrison commander was killed by a British trader while he was planning to flee.

The Nawab gathered his forces together and took Fort William. After the loss of the garrison at Qasimbazar, Drake and the council sent desperate plea for help to the French and Dutch settlements but neither wanted to join the Company in their quandary.

On 13 June, the advance guard of the Nawab's army was within 15 miles of Calcutta and then marched towards Calcutta. The Nawab's army seized all Company guns and ammunition. Sirajud Daula captured Calcutta from the British in June 1756 and renamed Alinagar.

All English women and children were asked to take refuge in the fort for safety, and the outer batteries and palisades were taken by surprise. Every Britisher fled and too refuge inside a hall where women and children were permitted. Sirajud Daula then surrounded Fort William and then assaulted the south wall followed by attack on the rest of the fort, and in no time, the fort was captured as everyone had fled. Sirajud Daula treated women and children as per Islamic tradition while British dead were also allowed to be buried but no one took the responsibility. The surrendered British were held in a prison. British later compliant that Muslim forces placed the 146 Company surrendered prisoners into a room measuring 18 by 15 referred by British as “Black Hole “ where many died.

Leaders like Sirajud Daula and Tipu Sultan reminds us the power of the Bangala nation and Muslims who resisted foreign intruders including imperial aggression of the East India Company to put a hault on movements of East India Company in capturing the rest of India. In Bangladesh, he is highly regarded as the last legitimate ruler of the per-partition era. Siraj's legacy has become the forefront of a cultural and moral war against the aggression of Western expansionism and its colonial period in which the strong subjugated the frail.

By Farzana Tamannur (TON)

The Europeans regard 20 June as day of Black Hole Tragedy, an event that portrays the dark side of Indian History. On June 20, 1756, Siraj-ud-daulah, the then Nawab of Bengal, captured Fort William and Calcutta (Kolkata), wherein lied the core power of the British East India Company. The British and Anglo-Indian prisoners of war were thrust into a small and stuffy prison at Fort William afterward the fall of the fort, which is mentioned to as the ‘Black Hole of Calcutta’. 146 people were reported to be confined, of which only 23 men (including Holwell) came out alive.

The British claimed that the prison with a probable dimension of 24 feet by 18 feet was not roomy enough to accommodate so many persons who were forcibly pushed into the clogged place. The British records held that by the next morning 123 of the prisoners had succumbed to the adverse situations, mainly because of suffocation, unbearable heat and crushing.

John Zephaniah Holwell of the British East India Company plus one of the survivors of this disaster mainly provided this statistical info. But some say that the total amount of captives was not more than 69. The controversies about the precise toll continue till date and the exact figures are not identified. The Black Hole of Calcutta was later used as a warehouse, and an obelisk, 50 feet (15 m) high, was set up in memory of the dead. No traces of the black hole remain today.

Incident of the Black Hole of Calcutta
There is noteworthy history behind the capture of Fort William and the event of the Black Hole of Calcutta. The British set up Fort William to defense the British East India Company’s trade in the city of Calcutta in the area around Bengal. In 1756, with an objective to colonize Bengal and slowly the rest of India and also to be preparing for possible combats with the French forces, the British started strengthening the military defence of Fort William.

In doing so, they interfered a lot into the inside political and military affairs of Bengal. The ruling Nawab of Bengal, Siraj-ud-Daulah, was displeased with such extreme interference and saw it as a possible threat to the rule of Bengal. He ordered the British to cease the continuing military actions but the British did not listen to him. Consequently, to curb the atrocities of the British, the Nawab of Bengal captured the fort and destroyed many. The battalion’s chief officer planned an escape, and a token force was kept in the military fort under the control of John Zephaniah Holwell, who was a military surgeon and a top East India Company civil servant. In the meantime, the soldiers belonging to the allied troops, who were primarily Dutch abandoned the fight and the British eventually failed to resist the attack of the Nawab.

Indian troops took the surviving defenders prisoner. Among the convicts were civilians as well as soldiers. Holwell and three other captives were sent as hostages to Murshidabad, the rest of the survivors were released afterward the interference and succeeding victory of Robert Clive. A few months later, Robert Clive and his troops were sent to ‘retaliate’. They fought the Fight of Plassey and defeated the Nawab. This marked the foundation of the British rule in India.

The morning after

Some historians have trimmed the statistics of dead down to 43 dead out of 64 imprisoned. Either way, the next morning while the Bengali forces opened the doors of the Black Hole there were dozens of dead piled inside. The heat, lack of fresh air and water would go on to kill all of those who did not have a beneficial position near the door and windows. The survivors were allegedly offered cool water plus a chair after their ordeal beforehand being released.

Legacy and aftermath

The event would go onto shockwave the British public who would later read Holwell’s account of the disaster. When British officials in India revealed the mistreatment of their men they launched a reactive campaign against the Bengali in Calcutta. They recaptured the city in January of 1757 and would go on to execute the Nawab who had done the deed.

The Black Hole was retired as a prison afterward the ordeal and was converted to a storing room instead. Today, the site still exists in Calcutta however the old room is one leaving only the foundation behind.

Black Hole Monument
John Zephaniah Holwell had created a memoriam on the spot of the Black Hole of Calcutta to honor the dead, but about 1822 (the precise date is uncertain) it disappeared. Lord Curzon, who became Viceroy of India in 1899, built a new monument in 1901 at the corner of Dalhousie Square, which is the possible site of the Black Hole. During 1940, when the Indian National movement was at its top, the epitaph was removed from Dalhousie Square plus again established in the cemetery of St John’s Church, wherever it remains till date.

For many Bangla, especially people of Bangladesh, 20th June reminds and remembers the historic success and bravery of Muhammad Sirajud Daulah in capturing Calcutta. No doubt, leaders like Sirajud Daula and Tipu Sultan reminds us the power of the Bangla nation and Muslims who resisted foreign intruders including imperial aggression of the East India Company to put a halt on movements of East India Company in capturing the rest of India. In Bangladesh, he is highly regarded as the last legitimate ruler of the per-partition era. Siraj's legacy has become the forefront of a cultural and moral war against the aggression of Western expansionism and its colonial period in which the strong subjugated the frail. The end of his rule marked the start the rule of the East India Company over Bengal and later on rest of the Indian subcontinent.

BERLIN, 20 June 2022, (TON): Germany and Austria announced emergency measures on Sunday to ensure their energy needs after a drop in Russian gas supplies, including reverting to coal in what Berlin called a bitter but indispensable step.

German economy ministry said in a statement “to reduce gas consumption, less gas must be used to generate electricity. Coal-fired power plants will have to be used more instead.”

The move comes after Moscow turned up the pressure on Western allies by sharply reducing flows of natural gas in its pipelines to western Europe, driving up energy prices.

Gazprom said the supply reductions via the Nord Stream pipeline are the result of repair work, but EU officials believe Moscow is punishing allies of Ukraine, where Russian forces launched an invasion in February.

FRANKFURT, 20 June 2022, (TON): NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told media “Russia’s war in Ukraine could take years.”

He added “the supply of state-of-the-art weaponry to Ukrainian troops would increase the chance of liberating the Donbas region from Russian control.”

“We must prepare for the fact that it could take years. We must not let up in supporting Ukraine,” Stoltenberg told Bild am Sonntag.

“Even if the costs are high, not only for military support, also because of rising energy and food prices.”

Stoltenberg said “a NATO summit in Madrid later this month is expected to agree an assistance package for Ukraine that will help the country with the move from old Soviet-era weaponry to NATO standard gear.”

JERUSALEM, 20 June 2022, (TON): Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid plans to visit Turkey this week, his office said on Sunday, after months of warming ties but also recent worries voiced by Israel that its citizens could come under attack by Iranian agents in the NATO-member country.

The statement said “Lapid during his trip on Thursday, would meet with Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu, who last month visited Israel to encourage expanded economic cooperation.”

Israel has warned its citizens against travel to Turkey, citing suspected assassination or abduction plots by Iran, which has vowed to avenge the May 22 assassination of a Revolutionary Guards colonel in Tehran that it blamed on Israeli agents.

MOSCOW, 20 June 2022, (TON): A fuel storage depot in the eastern Ukrainian town of Novomoskovsk exploded on Sunday, killing one and injuring two, after earlier being hit with three Russian missiles, the head of the regional administration said in an online message.

Valentyn Reznichenko had said “eleven people were injured in the strike itself.”

Reznichenko said “firefighters were still trying to put out a fire from the missile strike, some 14 hours after the depot was hit.”

Novomoskovsk lies just to the northeast of Dnipro, the regional capital.