Foreign Minister Dr. Hasan Mahmud called on the OIC member states to take alternate measures to end the conflict in Gaza which has turned into genocide and ensure humanitarian rights and human rights for the Palestinian people. He was speaking at the 19th Extraordinary CFM of the OIC on Israels’ aggression on the Palestinian People at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia today (05 March 2024). Hasan Mahmud reiterated Bangladesh's firm support for the cause of Palestine and called for an immediate ceasefire while ensuring keeping open humanitarian corridors. He stressed on the importance of the Islamic Financial Safety Net to ensure basic necessities for the Palestinians.   He mentioned the strong statement delivered by Bangladesh at the ICJ in February  on the Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and hoped that peace will be established soon in the region which is the demand of the Muslim Ummah. Noting the current development at the United Nations Security Council, Foreign Minister highlighted the need for its reform so that decision on globally effecting issues could be reached. Dr. Hasan Mahmud reiterated the need for unity of the Muslim Ummah and resolve on the part of all parties to end the atrocities against Palestinian people and help them to live safely and peacefully in their own homeland.

Sacheton Nagarik Samaj held a human chain and protest demonstration on Monday at Baitul Mukarram National Mosque, Dhaka to show solidarity with the Uyghur Muslims and remember those who lost their lives on this day in 1997. 250-300 Protestors carrying banners,  posters and placards highlighting Chinese atrocities on the Uyghur Muslims attended the demonstration. Protestors educated the people about the grim torture minorities,  particularly Uyghur Muslims, are subjected to in China.   Muktijodha Mancha (MM) held a human chain and protest meeting today (3 to 0430 pm) in front of National Museum, Shahbag, Dhaka, to commemorate 27th anniversary of Ghulja Massacre Day. MM Chairman, Aminul Islam Bulbul, condemned China for continuously torturing its own Uyghur population in Xinjiang province, just for being Muslims.  China did not stop after killing hundreds of innocent protesters in Ghulja city of Xinjiang province this day in 1997, but incarcerated 10 Lakh Muslims, and, also tortured their numerous women and children. MM General Secretary Al Mamun accused China of trying to lure Bangladesh into debt trap, with the help of anti-Liberation War forces.  MM Coordinator Md Nur Alam highlighted that the Chinese companies in Bangladesh are also torturing the Bangladeshi workers. MM Law Advisor and Supreme Court Lawyer, AUZ Prince, asked Bangladeshi Muslims to take note of the Chinese behaviour towards their own Muslim population. Sculptor Rasha urged the international community to stop this gross human rights violation in China.   Sacheton Nagarik Samaj held (Feb 05) human chain and protest demonstration at Baitul Mukarram National Mosque, Dhaka to show solidarity with the Uyghur Muslims and remember those who lost their lives on this day in 1997. 250-300 Protestors carrying banners,  posters and placards highlighting Chinese atrocities on the Uyghur Muslims attended the demonstration. Protestors educated the people about the grim torture minorities,  particularly Uyghur Muslims, are subjected to in China.   Around 300 persons, including Dhaka University students, Islamic scholars and intellectuals participated in the protest program.  

Ukraine's president showed a harrowing video of dead civilians to the UN Security Council Tuesday and called for "accountability" for apparent Russian atrocities, as fears grow that Moscow is preparing new offensives. With global revulsion solidifying over civilian killings in the town of Bucha, President Volodymyr Zelensky likened Russia's assault to Nazi war crimes and Western nations ramped up sanctions against the Kremlin. The United States is expected Wednesday to ban all new investment in Russia, while Britain announced it has frozen some $350 billion in assets from President Vladimir Putin's "war chest" so far. Despite the pressure, bombardments rocked the Kyiv area villages of Velyka Dymerka and Bogdanivka, where 12 people were killed by Russian firearms and artillery, Ukraine's prosecutor general's office said on Telegram. And new warnings emerged from Ukraine that other shattered communities, notably the town of Borodianka, may have suffered even worse fates than Bucha. Zelensky, in an impassioned speech by videolink from Kyiv to the 15-member Security Council, demanded stronger action as he delivered a chilling account of Putin's six-week-old war. People "were killed in their apartments, houses... civilians were crushed by tanks while sitting in their cars in the middle of the road," Zelensky said. "They cut off limbs, slashed their throats, women were raped and killed in front of their children." "Accountability must be inevitable," he added, calling for Russia's exclusion from the Security Council -- on which it holds veto power. "Are you ready to close the UN" and abandon international law, the president asked. "If your answer is no, then you need to act immediately." Zelensky's plea follows the harrowing discovery of civilian victims in Bucha and other towns near Kyiv following Russian troop withdrawals, which he and other officials have denounced as war crimes and attempted genocide. - 'Deliberate campaign to kill' - In a subsequent address to Spanish lawmakers, Zelensky compared Russia's devastating assault to the Nazis' 1937 bombing of the town of Guernica. During a grim cleanup Tuesday in Bucha, local workers placed the remains of partially burned bodies into black bags and lifted them into a van. After touring the devastation, Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky told journalists that "dozens of bodies" remain in Bucha apartments and in nearby woods. "What we've seen in Bucha is not the random act of a rogue unit. It's a deliberate campaign to kill, to torture, to rape, to commit atrocities," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. Looking ahead, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance expects a Russian push in "coming weeks" to try to seize Ukraine's entire eastern region of Donbas, and create a land bridge to occupied Crimea. Both Washington and the EU have vowed to squeeze Russia's economy until Putin is forced to halt the war he launched. European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, who said she would travel to Kyiv this week, has offered the bloc's assistance in documenting proof of war crimes. The Kremlin has denied any civilian killings, claiming the images emerging from Bucha and other sites are fakes produced by Ukrainian forces, or that the deaths occurred after Russian soldiers pulled out. But one Bucha resident named Olena told AFP she saw Russian soldiers shoot a man in cold blood after "brutal" troop units moved in. "Right in front of my eyes, they fired on a man who was going to get food at the supermarket," said the 43-year-old, who did not wish to give her family name. Despite Olena's and other firsthand accounts, Moscow's UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia rejected Zelensky's claims of Russian atrocities, telling the Security Council that the "ungrounded accusations... are not confirmed by any eye witnesses." Zelensky delivered a forceful rebuttal, airing a graphic, 90-second video of what he said were images from towns including Bucha, Irpin, Dymerka, and the besieged southern port of Mariupol. The footage showed partially uncovered dead people, including children, in shallow graves, bodies in a courtyard, burned corpses in the streets, and slumped victims with hands tied behind their back. In the push to isolate Moscow, Spain, Italy, Denmark and Slovenia expelled dozens of its diplomats suspected of being intelligence operatives, after France and Germany did the same Monday, for a total of some 180 expulsions in 48 hours. The Kremlin called it a "short-sighted move" that would complicate efforts to negotiate an end to the hostilities. Putin warned of "reprisals" for recent European measures targeting Russian gas giant Gazprom -- and said Moscow would "monitor" its food exports to "hostile" nations, raising the spectre of further inflation surges worldwide. - Worse than Bucha? - Europe's worst conflict in decades has killed as many as 20,000 people, according to Ukrainian estimates, and 4.25 million have fled the country. Many in Ukraine are bracing for further Russian bombardments. Ukrainian officials say over 400 civilian bodies have been recovered from the wider Kyiv region, many buried in mass graves. But Zelensky said he had information of worse atrocities in places such as Borodianka. "Bucha is not the worst," Ukrainian presidential advisor Oleksiy Arestovych said on a Russian lawyer's YouTube channel. "Everyone who managed to visit Borodianka says that it is much, much worse." AFP reporters who briefly visited the Borodianka area saw no bodies in the streets, but locals reported many deaths, and buildings were ravaged and blown open. "I know five civilians were killed," said 58-year-old Rafik Azimov. "But we don't know how many more are left in the basements of the ruined buildings after the bombardments." "I buried six people," another resident, Volodymyr Nahornyi, said. "More people are under the ruins." - A chance of talks - Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov meanwhile said Tuesday on Russian television that Russia was "ready" to continue the negotiations. Ukraine has proposed an international agreement with other countries guaranteeing its security in return for accepting a neutral and non-nuclear status, not joining NATO and refusing to host foreign military bases. According to the Ukrainian proposal, Russia would not oppose Kyiv's admission to the European Union. Source: AFP/BSS AH

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today (Thursday) said Bangladesh cannot forget atrocities committed by Pakistan in 1971, according to a press release of the Press Wing of Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). “Incidents of 1971 cannot be forgotten. The pain will remain forever,” she said while Pakistan High Commissioner in Dhaka Imran Ahmed Siddiqui called on the Prime Minister at her official Ganabhaban residence in the capital. Referring to the volumes of the book titled “Secret Documents of Intelligence Branch on Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman”, the PM said all can learn many historical facts from 1948 to 1971 from the books. Noting that (the Urdu version) of the book “Unfinished Memoirs” written by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is one of the best seller books in Pakistan. she said it’s also well read in Pakistan apart from other countries. The PM extended greetings to her Pakistan counterpart Imran Khan when the High Commissioner conveyed good wishes of the Pakistan PM to Sheikh Hasina. The High Commissioner said Pakistan PM advised them to learn about the development miracle of Bangladesh. Mentioning that different bilateral and regional forums have remained inactive, he sought help from the PM to activate Foreign Office consultations between the two countries. The Prime Minister said there is no bar here to continue functioning regularly. Imran Ahmed said Pakistan wants to boost relations with Bangladesh without any obstruction. The PM also said she believes in regional cooperation referring to the Bangladesh foreign policy “friendship to all malice to none.” The High Commissioner lauded Sheikh Hasina for her statesmanship in the global arena. The Prime Minister welcomed the High Commissioner and assured him of all cooperation. PM’s Principal Secretary Dr Ahmad Kaikaus and Military Secretary Major General Naqib Ahmed Chowdhury were present. Source: BSS AH

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said, the way atrocities were done before and after election that is rare in the history. People’s rights are violated in this way. The mockery that happened in the name of election in the country will turn the nation into a situation without democracy and to the era of darkness. We will fight back against this. He said this while visiting the gang rape victim at Subarnachar in Noakhali at the Noakhali General Hospital on Saturday. Mirza Fakhrul said, the perpetrators involved and behind the crime in Subarnachar all have to be brought under justice. They should be given exemplary punishment. Earlier the Oikyafront leaders including Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir came to Noakhali to visit the rape victim. They stayed there and listen to the victim. The leaders also supported her with some amount of money. Mirza Fakhrul was accompanied by ASM Abdur Rab, Bangabir Abdul Kader Siddique, Mahbub Uddin Khokon, Joynal Abdin Faruk, Barkatullah Bulu, Md. Shahjahan, Shaheed Uddin Chowdhury Annie and other district BNP leaders. According to the complain of relatives of the victim, local Awami League leader Ruhul Amin threatened the woman on her way back home as she casted vote for sheaf of paddy in the election which was held on Sunday (December 30). Later in the night 10-12 men led by Ruhul Amin ransacked the house of the victim, tied her husband and children, took her away from home and raped her. On the following day husband of the victim filed a case with Charjabbar police station in Subarnachar accusing 9. So far seven accused were arrested in this connection. AH      

The UN Security Council is scheduled to hear a briefing next week from the head of a UN fact-finding mission that has accused Myanmar’s military of atrocities against Muslim Rohingya, diplomats said Thursday. Reports AFP. Nine countries including the United States, Britain and France requested the briefing that is likely to be opposed by China, which has friendly ties with Myanmar’s military. The meeting was scheduled for October 24 despite objections from Myanmar, which has rejected the findings of the UN inquiry. The fact-finding mission released an explosive report last month that called on the council to refer the Myanmar situation to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, or to create an ad hoc international criminal tribunal, as was done with the former Yugoslavia. The report said that Myanmar’s top generals, including Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing, must be investigated and prosecuted for genocide in Rakhine State. Myanmar has rejected accusations that its military committed atrocities in the crackdown last year that forced more than 7 lakh Rohingya to flee over the border to Bangladesh. Myanmar’s Ambassador Hau Do Suan said in a letter to the Security Council this week that his government “strongly objects” to the request to hear the chairman of the mission. Britain, France, Peru, Sweden, Ivory Coast, the Netherlands, Poland, Kuwait and the United States requested the meeting that could still be blocked by a procedural vote. If there is no move to block the meeting, the council will hear from Marzuki Darusman, an Indonesian lawyer who was appointed last year by the UN Human Rights Council to chair the mission. In its report, the mission said there were reasonable grounds to believe that the atrocities were committed with the intention of destroying the Rohingya, warranting the charges of “genocide.” Myanmar maintains that the violence in Rakhine was triggered by Rohingya extremists who attacked border posts in August 2017. AH