DHAKA: Young Bangladeshi professional Tanushree Shaha is outraged by recent mob violence against her family in the chaotic wake of premier Sheikh Hasina’s ouster from power, fearful that her fellow Hindus could face more reprisals.
Those fears, however justified, are being turbocharged by a wave of false rumors of other, deadly attacks being spread online and amplified by the media in Hindu-majority neighbor India.
Hindus are the largest minority faith in mostly Muslim Bangladesh and are considered a steadfast support base for Hasina’s party, the Awami League.
After Hasina’s abrupt resignation and flight abroad on Monday brought an end to her 15 years of autocratic rule, numerous Hindu families came into the crosshairs of their neighbors.
“A group of people vandalized my uncle’s shop,” said Shaha, the 31-year-old manager of a handicrafts business in the capital Dhaka.
She told AFP the mob had stolen his cash till and emptied the shelves of his grocery store further north in the city of Mymensingh.
They then beat him and demanded more money to prevent future attacks.
Shaha was standing with more than 1,000 Hindus at a boisterous rally near Dhaka University, where the student protests that toppled Hasina began last month.
The group had gathered to demand the country’s new interim government, led by Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus, urgently protect members of their faith from harm.
But Shaha said the animosity toward Hindus ran deeper than the national upheaval of the past month.
“Whenever a government falls or a problem arises, we are victimized by opportunists,” she said.
Hindus account for around eight percent of Bangladesh’s 170 million people.
That is a sharp fall from 1947, when the haphazard partition of India and Pakistan on religious lines at the end of British colonial rule sparked widespread violence.
Many more fled in 1971 during Bangladesh’s devastating liberation war against Pakistan.
Up to three million people died in the conflict and Hindus, seen as supporters of independence, were disproportionate victims.
Over the past week, religious rights groups said they documented more than 200 incidents of attacks on minority communities, a figure that also includes Christians and Buddhists.
“The incidents include attacking homes, vandalising shops and places of worship,” rights activist Rana Dasgupta said in a video statement. “Women were abused too.”
Hundreds of other Hindus arrived at the Indian border after Hasina’s fall, asking to cross.
Nearly all of these attacks took place in the chaotic hours after the premier fled and the police force, loathed for firing on anti-Hasina demonstrators, went on strike.
The young students who ousted her and other members of the public have stepped into the law-and-order vacuum.
They have organized nightly neighborhood watch groups, and posted volunteers outside temples to stop looting.
“We are staying awake at night to catch the robbers,” Mohammed Miad, patrolling one busy Dhaka neighborhood after midnight on Sunday, told AFP.
Student protest leaders met with the Hindu community on Friday to hear their concerns and pass them on to Yunus’s administration.
Yunus himself said on Saturday that there was no room for discrimination in the country.
“Our responsibility is to build a new Bangladesh,” he told reporters.
“Don’t differentiate by religion.”
Anxieties are being further inflamed by the spread of false reports of attacks online suggesting the violence against Hindus is orders of magnitude worse than reality.
Many originated from social media users in India, whose Prime Minister Narendra Modi is an unabashed champion of the Hindu faith and was a staunch backer of Hasina’s rule.
One widely shared X post written in Hindi, India’s most common language, falsely claimed that over 500 Hindus had been killed, hundreds of Hindu women raped and dozens of temples burned to the ground.
Many of the more outlandish claims had also been picked up and reported as fact by Indian media, International Crisis Group’s Thomas Kean told AFP.
“Their reporting and analysis reflects a worldview that is quite out of touch with the reality on the ground,” he said.
Hasina took refuge in India after her fall, heightening animosity toward the regional giant among Bangladeshis.
But whether this provoked a spike in violence against practitioners of India’s majority faith in Bangladesh is far from certain.
Many attacks appear to have been petty and opportunistic robberies against a largely affluent but vulnerable minority.
Kean said that of the more than 450 people killed in the unrest around Hasina’s ouster, there was no indication that Hindus had been disproportionate victims.
Yet even if the worst reports of attacks against Hindus were fabricated, the pervasive sense of fear and anger within the community has persisted.
“After the fall of the dictatorship, we were supposed to hold a victory rally,” student Moumita Adhikari, 20, told AFP at the Hindu protest near Dhaka University.
“So why are we protesting here?” she asked. “Aren’t we citizens of this country?“
Attacks, online misinformation frighten Bangladeshi Hindus in wake of Hasina’s ouster
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Attacks, online misinformation frighten Bangladeshi Hindus in wake of Hasina’s ouster
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- Hindus are the largest minority faith in mostly Muslim Bangladesh and are considered a steadfast support base for Hasina’s party
- After Hasina’s abrupt resignation and flight abroad on Aug. 5, numerous Hindu families came into the crosshairs of their neighbors
Germany, France, UK slap sanctions on Iran over missiles for Russia
They would also “work toward imposing sanctions on Iran Air”
BERLIN: Germany, France and Britain on Tuesday condemned what they said was Iran’s delivery of ballistic missiles to Russia for use in the Ukraine war and declared new sanctions targeting air transport.
“We will be taking immediate steps to cancel bilateral air services agreements with Iran,” they said in a joint statement, adding that they would also “work toward imposing sanctions on Iran Air.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had said earlier, on a visit to London, that Russia had received shipments of the ballistic missiles and “will likely use them within weeks in Ukraine.”
London, Paris and Berlin said that “we now have confirmation that Iran has made these transfers.”
“This is a further escalation of Iran’s military support to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and will see Iranian missiles reaching European soil, increasing the suffering of the Ukrainian people,” they said.
“This act is an escalation by both Iran and Russia, and is a direct threat to European security.”
The three countries said they “will be taking immediate steps to cancel bilateral air services agreements with Iran.”
“In addition, we will pursue the designations of significant entities and individuals involved with Iran’s ballistic missile program and the transfer of ballistic missiles and other weapons to Russia.
“We will also work toward imposing sanctions on Iran Air,” they said, echoing a step also taken by Washington.
Doctors in Kolkata defy court order, protest for safety after medic murder
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- Protesting junior doctors vow to end strike when safety measures are in place
- Top medical body in West Bengal gives ‘unconditional’ support to protesters
NEW DELHI: Junior doctors in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal defied a Supreme Court order requiring them to return to work on Tuesday, as they vowed to continue a weeks-long strike for workplace safety following the gruesome murder of a female doctor.
The 31-year-old trainee doctor was raped and murdered in early August inside the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in West Bengal’s capital, Kolkata, where she worked.
A police volunteer also working at the hospital has been charged with the murder and arrested, but the case has since triggered daily demonstrations by medics calling for greater protection and workplace safety.
On Monday, the Supreme Court, which took up the matter in the wake of nationwide outrage over the incident, ordered the protesting doctors to return to work by 5 p.m. the next day and the state’s authorities to ensure the safety and security of doctors in hospitals.
The West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front, which represents about 7,000 physicians in the state, said it would follow the court’s order only if their safety demands were met by the state.
“The Supreme Court has said that the state can take action after 5 p.m., if they want to. At the same time, the Supreme Court has also asked the state to increase the security measures which has not been done at all,” Dr. Anustup Pal, the association’s member, told Arab News, as protesters gathered in front of the state’s health department to demand the resignation of its key leadership.
“We will continue till the demand is met,” Pal said. “We are unhappy at the representation done by the state at the Supreme Court.”
The protest is supported by the West Bengal chapter of the Indian Medical Association — the country’s top physicians’ body — which issued a statement after the court’s order, saying that no steps were being taken to deliver justice after the brutal murder and that the protest “will not die down.”
Dr. Sourav Datta, member of the association’s central committee, told Arab News that “almost no demand” from the protesting doctors had been fulfilled so far.
“Whatever decision they will take, the IMA will unconditionally give support to them,” he said. “The IMA will be with them.”
EU vows retaliation if Hungary sends buses of migrants to Brussels
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- Asked about Hungary’s plan, commission spokeswoman Anitta Hipper said: “It is unacceptable”
- “In addition, it will also undermine the security of the Schengen area as a whole,” she said
BRUSSELS: Hungary’s threat to send a bus convoy of migrants to Brussels in protest against European Union policies is unacceptable and would prompt EU retaliatory action, the bloc’s powerful executive branch warned on Tuesday.
Hungary’s anti-immigrant government signaled last week that it is serious about giving migrants free one-way travel to Brussels, a measure meant to pressure the European Commission into dropping heavy fines imposed on Hungary over its restrictive asylum policies.
In June, the European Court of Justice ordered Hungary to pay a fine of 200 million euros ($216 million) for persistently breaking the bloc’s asylum rules, and an additional 1 million euros per day until it brings policies into line with EU law. The government in Budapest is delaying payment.
Asked about Hungary’s plan, commission spokeswoman Anitta Hipper said: “It is unacceptable.”
“This action, if carried out, would be in clear breach of the EU law, but also it would be in clear breach of the principle of sincere and loyal cooperation, but also of mutual trust,” Hipper told reporters. The commission has its headquarters in the Belgian capital.
“In addition, it will also undermine the security of the Schengen area as a whole,” she said, in reference to the 29-country zone where people and goods can cross borders without document checks.
The commission is in contact with the Hungarian authorities and those in any neighboring countries that the convoy might pass through should it leave.
Traveling overland, the buses would have to cross either France or Germany – which along with Luxembourg and the Netherlands surround Belgium – and possibly other EU member countries like Austria, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia or the Czech Republic.
“We are also standing ready to use all our powers under the treaty to ensure that EU law is respected,” Hipper said. But the most effective step would certainly be for other member countries to stop the buses by reintroducing border checks.
Hipper did not elaborate on what action the commission is able to take, but it is difficult to see what kind of punishment might dissuade Hungary given that the country is already defying a court order to pay 200 million euros in fines.
On Monday, Belgium’s top migration official, Nicole de Moor, said Hungary’s threat “undermines solidarity and cooperation within the Union.” Her office said the Belgian authorities will “not provide access” to any such migrant arrivals.
Philippines opens Muslim women-dedicated beach in top resort island
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- Boracay is globally known for its white sand beaches and coral reefs
- Marhaba beachfront is located in the island’s Newcoast township
MANILA: Philippine tourism authorities inaugurated on Tuesday a beach for Muslim women travelers in Boracay, the country’s top resort island, to attract visitors from neighboring Muslim-majority countries and the Middle East.
Located in the province of Aklan, in the center of the Philippine archipelago, Boracay is known for its white sand beaches and coral reefs that make it one of the world’s most popular holiday islands.
Developing Muslim-friendly properties and attractions in Boracay has been on the Philippine Tourism Department’s agenda since earlier this year, as it undertook initiatives to ensure that visitors have access to halal products and services.
The new Muslim-friendly cove area — Marhaba Boracay — is located in Boracay Newcoast township and is a place “where Muslims, especially women, would feel comfortable,” Tourism Undersecretary Myra Paz Abubakar told Arab News.
“We know that a lot of foreign visitors go to Boracay. So, it’s also a good invitation for our Muslim brothers and sisters to consider also to visit Boracay because now we have something to offer there, like halal food. Then this beachfront is also for our Muslim friends.”
The Philippines is enjoying an increasing number of visitors from neighboring Muslim-majority Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei, as well as from Middle Eastern countries.
“Marhaba cove represents our dedication to ensuring that all travelers, regardless of faith, can enjoy the world-renowned shores of Boracay,” Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco said during the inauguration ceremony.
“We reaffirm our commitment to transforming the Philippines into a destination for everyone to enjoy.”
In 2023, visitor arrivals from Muslim-majority countries increased by 120 percent compared with the previous year, according to data from the Department of Trade and Industry. Last year, Muslim visitors comprised nearly 11 percent of the Philippines’ total foreign arrivals.
“This year, we are on track to continue this positive trajectory with nearly 270,000 Muslim visitors recorded in just the first half of 2024,” Frasco said.
“The Department of Tourism has also proactively ensured that our Muslim guests feel at home during their stay. Hence, we have accredited 289 Muslim-friendly accommodation establishments and 237 restaurants across the country with significant concentrations in certain areas of the country.”
The Marhaba cove is developed by Megaworld, one of the largest Philippine hospitality chains, with whom the DTI signed an agreement earlier this year that all of its properties would be converted into Muslim-friendly tourism establishments.
The US accuses Iran of sending Russia short-range ballistic missiles to use in Ukraine
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- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that sanctions would be announced later Tuesday
- His comments came as he and Lammy prepare to make a joint visit to Ukraine on Wednesday
LONDON: The United States formally accused Iran on Tuesday of supplying short-range ballistic missiles to Russia for its war in Ukraine and will take measures to punish those involved.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking alongside British Foreign Secretary David Lammy during a visit to London, said that sanctions would be announced later Tuesday.
“Russia has now received shipments of these ballistic missiles and will likely use them within weeks in Ukraine, against Ukrainians,” Blinken said.
His comments came as he and Lammy prepare to make a joint visit to Ukraine on Wednesday.
Word of the alleged transfers began to emerge over the weekend with reports that intelligence indicated they were underway, according to US officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. Blinken said Tuesday that the transfers appear to have been completed.
Iran, as it has with previous US intelligence findings, has denied providing Russia with weapons for its war in Ukraine.