Dhaka:

Authorities in Bangladesh are bracing for the spread of waterborne diseases and racing to get drinking water to people after devastating floods last week that left at least 54 people dead and millions stranded.

As floodwaters recede slowly, many people remain stranded and in urgent need of food, clean water, medicine and dry clothes, especially in remote areas where blocked roads have hindered rescue and relief efforts.

The Bangladesh Meteorological Department said that flood conditions could persist if the monsoon rains continued, as water levels were receding very slowly.

Around 470,000 people have taken refuge in 3,300 shelters across 11 flood-hit districts, where around 600 medical teams are helping provide treatment, with the army, air force, navy, and the border guard assisting in rescue operations, authorities said.

A disaster management ministry official warned that as floodwaters recede, there is a risk of an epidemic, adding that the outbreak of waterborne diseases is likely if clean water is not provided soon.

“Our top priority is to ensure the availability of safe drinking water,” the official said.

In the past 24 hours, around 3,000 people have been hospitalized due to waterborne diseases in flood-hit areas, according to the Directorate General of Health Services. Many areas remained submerged, preventing stranded people from accessing healthcare facilities.

“Water is everywhere but there is no clean water to drink. People are getting sick,” said Farid Ahmed, a resident of one of the worst-hit districts, Lakshmipur.

Vast areas of land are submerged, posing a significant threat to crops, agriculture ministry officials said.

The U.N. children’s agency has warned that two million children were at risk as the worst floods in three decades sweep through eastern Bangladesh. The organization is urgently appealing for $35 million to provide life-saving supplies.

“The devastating floods in eastern Bangladesh are a tragic reminder of the relentless impact of extreme weather events and the climate crisis on children,” said Emma Brigham, Deputy Representative of UNICEF Bangladesh.

An analysis in 2015 by the World Bank Institute estimated that 3.5 million people in Bangladesh, one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries, were at risk of annual river flooding. Scientists attribute the exacerbation of such catastrophic events to climate change.

Farah Kabir, director of ActionAid Bangladesh, said that countries like Bangladesh, which contribute minimally to global emissions, urgently need funding to recover from climate-related losses and build resilience for future impacts while pursuing green development pathways.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Remains of the Gazi auto tyre factory warehouse in Narayanganj, that continued to burn through August 27, 2024
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

A massive fire that began on August 25 in one of the largest tyre factories of Bangladesh is turning out to be a great human tragedy. Located in the industrial township of Narayanganj near Dhaka, the Gazi auto tyre factory of Rupshi, owned by Golam Dastgir Gazi, chairman of the once powerful Gazi group, is well known in the area.

The fortune of the Gazi group began to change with the fall of the Hasina government on August 5. Mr. Gazi, who was the Minister of Textile and Jute under Ms. Hasina was arrested on August 25. He had earlier gone into hiding.

Some time after the news of Mr. Gazi’s arrest was telecast, a large crowd gathered from nearby areas and raided the main warehouse in the back of the tyre factory that had many items, including a large amount of inflammable liquid substances.

ALSO READ: Bangladesh’s student movement and Hasina’s exit: the hard truth and India’s hour of reckoning

The exact size of the crowd that raided the five-storied warehouse is not known. According to store assistant Russel Hossein, who spoke to The Hindu, the size of the crowd filled up the entire staircase of the warehouse, indicating that there were several hundred people, who had turned up to cart away the materials hoping to earn some cash by selling them in the nearby scrap market.

“I saw men, women and even children had turned up to take away wires, rubber sheets and canisters full of liquid items,” said Mr. Hossein, recollecting the evening of August 25.

As the people entered the warehouse, a fire began in the lower portion of the building, which trapped everyone upstairs. “We stood at a distance and it turned totally dark as large explosions were heard from inside the warehouse. No one could escape. The fire spread fast,” said Mr. Hossein. The irony was that the store assistants and guards like Mr. Hossein were reportedly beaten up by the crowd before they broke into the warehouse.

The news of fire in the Gazi auto tyre factory was telecast in the morning of August 26 by TV channels as an attack by miscreants on the Gazi group-owned facility. However soon, family members began to turn up outside the tall gates of the unit, which brought to attention of the fire service and the district authorities that the fire was more than an incident of massive arson.

ALSO READ: A silent democratic backlash in South Asia

Sharyar Apu came to the factory in the evening of August 25, said his father Mohammed Umar Ali, who stood outside the facility for more than a day. Mr. Ali narrated to The Hindu that those who are missing are not labourers of the Gazi group.

“He had come here with his friends. They were young men,” recounted Mr. Ali, explaining that his son had come to the factory like many others that evening with the intention of taking items.

The multi-storied storage facility held sulphur, carbon black and unknown chemical agents that were supplied to other units of the Gazi group. Khadija Begum like Mr. Ali wept while narrating that her son-in-law had also come onto the premises with the crowd and has been missing since the evening of August 25.

Some of those who entered the Gazi auto tyre factory on August 25 and has been missing ever since had made brief phone calls, claiming that they were surrounded by fire and sought help. Nothing more has been heard about them.

Fire service officials and factory guards who met The Hindu claimed that the high intensity fire was fuelled by industry grade chemical agents that probably ignited because of careless handling by the raiding crowd which had broken into the facility after beating the guards and store keepers.

Till evening of Tuesday, the authorities maintained that at least 168 to 178 individuals had been missing because of the fire though wailing relatives outside the gate informed that the actual figure was much higher.

Mahmudul Haq, the District Collector who was controlling the emotionally charged crowd, said, “They literally rushed to commit suicide,” adding that strong policing could have prevented the tragedy from taking place.

Dhaka:

Violent clashes erupted between students and Ansar members near the Secretariat in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka on Sunday night. The confrontation left several people from both sides injured, the Dhaka Tribune reported.

The clash broke out after 9 pm, with both sides engaging in a series of chases. During the turmoil, police intervened in an attempt to restore order.

Earlier, students from various dorms of Dhaka University began gathering at the Raju Memorial Sculpture to march to the Secretariat to confront Ansar members, whom they were calling “agents of autocracy,” according to Dhaka Tribune.

This escalation followed reports that a group of Ansar members were detaining Nahid Islam, an adviser in the interim government and coordinator of the Students Against Discrimination movement, along with coordinators Sarjis Alam, Hasnat Abdullah, and others, at the Secretariat.

Student Protest Coordinator Hasnat Abdullah in a Facebook post blamed former director general of Ansar, Maj Gen AKM Aminul Haque, for a continued blockade of the Secretariat, even after the demands of protesting Ansar members were met. Hasnat also urged everyone to gather in front of the Raju Memorial Sculpture at Dhaka University, Dhaka Tribune reported.

AKM Aminul Haque is the elder brother of former deputy minister of water resources AKM Enamul Haque Shamim.

Hasnat Abdullah on his Facebook wrote, “Everyone, come to Raju. The autocratic forces are trying to make a comeback through the Ansar force. Even after their demands were met, we were kept locked in the Secretariat.”

Earlier in the day, Ansar members ended their protest after receiving assurances from Lt Gen (Retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, the interim government’s adviser for home affairs. The members had been demonstrating for two days, calling for the nationalization of their jobs.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

BSF personnel keep vigil at the India-Bangladesh international Border on the eve of the Independence Day, at Chatrahati in South Dinajpur district of West Bengal .
| Photo Credit: ANI

A retired judge of Bangladesh’s Supreme Court was detained from the northeastern frontier with India in Sylhet while he was allegedly attempting to flee the country, the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) said late on Friday (August 23, 2024).

The report came hours after the arrest of Awami League leader ASM Firoz from his residence.

Watch: The story of Sheikh Hasina

The BGB headquarters, in an SMS, informed reporters that they have detained former apex appellate division judge of the Supreme Court Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik as he was trying to cross over to India through Sylhet’s Kanaighat border.

Newspaper Prothom Alo said Manik was kept at a BGB outpost till midnight citing the camp’s in-charge.

Bangladesh descended into chaos after ousted premier Sheikh Hasina’s government collapsed and she fled to India on August 5 amid violent protests over quota for government jobs, while the Army stepped in to fill the power vacuum.

Before that, anti-government protests had killed more than 500 people since mid-July. Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus took oath as the Chief Adviser of the interim government on August 8.

Since August 5, a number of leaders of the deposed regime, including senior ministers, have been arrested — many of them on murder charges.

The Bangladesh Army has earlier said that several hundred leaders of Hasina’s Awami League and others have been sheltered in cantonments as their lives were at risk.

Former law minister Anisul Huq and the ex-premier’s private sector affairs adviser Salman F Rahman were the first to be arrested from Dhaka’s main river port Sadarghat terminal area as they were allegedly trying to leave Dhaka on a boat.

A number of members of Hasina’s cabinet, including former foreign minister Hassan Mahmud and former social welfare minister Dipu Moni, several lawmakers and leaders of Awami League and its allies, including pro-left Workers Party chairman Rashed Khan Menon, and a number of recently sacked military and civil officials have been arrested.

This included sacked major general Ziaul Hassan, who was serving as the head of the government’s telecommunications system, and Chittagong Port Authority chairman rear admiral Mohammad Sohail, who once was the spokesman of the elite anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion.

A TV journalist couple Farzana Rupa and her husband Shakil Ahmed have also been arrested.

Bangladesh Nationalist Party Chairperson and former PM Khaleda Zia
| Photo Credit: ANI

Tax authorities in Bangladesh on Monday (August 19, 2024) decided to unfreeze the bank accounts of Bangladesh Nationalist Party Chairperson Khaleda Zia, 17 years after banks were ordered to block them.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has instructed banks to unfreeze the accounts of BNP Chairperson Zia, the Daily Star newspaper reported.

In August 2007, the NBR’s Central Intelligence Cell directed banks to freeze the accounts of the BNP Chairperson, who has been elected Bangladesh’s prime minister twice since 1990.

The decision was based on a recommendation of a panel formed during the then Army-backed caretaker government, said a senior official of the NBR.

Since then, her accounts have remained blocked. The BNP has on several occasions demanded that they be unfrozen.

The latest move comes after a mass uprising toppled Sheikh Hasina, a long-time rival of Khaleda, on August 5, ending the Bangladesh Awami League’s 15-year rule. An interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was sworn in on August 8.

Ms. Zia, 79, was released from jail after Hasina, 76, fled to India on August 5.

Ms. Zia served as the prime minister of Bangladesh from March 1991 to March 1996, and again from June 2001 to October 2006.

The NBR said they received an application from Khaleda’s lawyer seeking to unfreeze the accounts.

“As there are no tax-related issues pending investigation relating to her, we have advised banks to unlock all her accounts. We have asked them to take immediate action and provide a compliance report,” the official was quoted as saying.

Members of the minority Hindu community hold a protest against violence on minority community in the country, outside Jamuna State Guest House, where Bangladesh interim govt chief Muhammad Yunus is residing, in Dhaka.
| Photo Credit: ANI

Bangladesh’s newly-appointed Home Affairs Ministry adviser has vowed to take swift legal action against those who attack or abuse minorities, stressing that there is no place for violence, conflict, or hatred in the country.

Brigadier General (retd) M. Sakhawat Hussain’s assurance came during a meeting with a delegation from the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) Bangladesh at his office in the Secretariat on Thursday, the Dhaka Tribune newspaper reported.

What lies ahead for Bangladesh? | In Focus podcast

Bangladesh saw a spike in violence against members of Hindu communities following the fall of the government led by Sheikh Hasina, who resigned and fled to India on August 5 following massive protests against her government over a controversial quota system in jobs.

Mr. Hussain emphasised that Bangladesh is a country of communal harmony, where people of all religions have grown up together without any divisions.

He said that no one would be spared if they attacked or abused minorities, and swift legal action would be taken.

He said that there is no place for violence, conflict, or hatred and that the country believes in peace.

During the meeting, Satyaranjan Baroi, president of ISKCON Bangladesh, requested the adviser to take priority measures for the safety of minorities and presented eight proposals for ensuring their safety, including enacting laws, establishing monitoring cells, forming a Minority Commission and providing continuous state security for temples.

The adviser assured his full support for these matters.

The Bangladesh National Hindu Grand Alliance said that the minority community faced attacks and threats in 278 locations across 48 districts since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led government on August 5 and termed it as an “assault on the Hindu religion.” Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus who is heading the interim government on Tuesday reached out to the distressed Hindu community and urged them to “exercise patience” and assured them that his government would punish those who attacked the minority members.

On Monday, Hossain’s ministry set up a hotline asking people to provide information about attacks on temples, churches or any other religious institutions.

Dhaka:

Hundreds of Bangladeshi students wielding bamboo rods patrolled the site of a planned gathering Thursday of ousted premier Sheikh Hasina’s supporters, vowing to quash any show of strength.

Hasina, 76, fled by helicopter last week to neighbouring India, where she remains, as student-yet protests flooded Dhaka’s streets in a dramatic end to her iron-fisted 15-year rule.

Thursday is the anniversary of the 1975 assassination of her father, independence hero Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, during a military coup — a date her government had declared a national holiday.

Previous years saw huge rallies around Bangladesh to mark the occasion, but the students who toppled Hasina were eager to ensure supporters of her Awami League party did not have a chance to regroup.

“Awami League will try to create chaos on Thursday in the name of observing (the) mourning day,” prominent student leader Sarjis Alam told reporters the previous day, according to the Daily Star newspaper.

“We will remain on the streets to resist any such attempts.”

With no police in sight, hundreds of students on Thursday patrolled the street leading into Hasina’s old family home where her father and many of her relatives were gunned down nearly 50 years ago.

The landmark was until recently a museum to her father, but it was torched and vandalised by a mob hours after her fall.

In her first public statement since her abrupt departure, Hasina had this week asked supporters to “pray for the salvation of all souls by offering floral garlands and praying” outside the landmark.

Thousands of civil servants were required to join public demonstrations marking her father’s death during her tenure.

Awami League organisers would also set up temporary public address systems around Dhaka to blare Mujib’s old speeches and devotional songs praising his leadership.

The caretaker administration now running Bangladesh cancelled observance of the politically charged holiday on Tuesday, requiring bureaucrats to remain in office.

And on Thursday, the prevailing sound in the city of 20 million people was the horns and motors of its perennially gridlocked traffic.

 ‘Identified and punished’ 

Hasina’s statement came hours after a court in the capital opened a murder case into her, two senior Awami League allies and four police officers related to last month’s unrest.

Several other top Awami League politicians have also been detained in unrelated probes, including former law minister Anisul Huq and business adviser Salman Rahman.

Hasina’s statement also demanded an investigation into violence during the unrest that forced her out of office, with the culprits to be “identified and punished”.

Police weaponry was the cause of the more than 450 people killed during the protests that ousted Hasina, according to police and hospital figures previously gathered by AFP.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Members of Hindu organisations hold a march against the violence on the minority community of Bangladesh amid the ongoing turmoil in the country, in Amritsar.
| Photo Credit: ANI

The United States is in touch with India and other countries in the region regarding the situation in Bangladesh and is seeking an end to the violence there, a State Department official has said here.

Also read: U.S. says ‘no involvement’ in ousting Sheikh Hasina

“I’m not going to get into private diplomatic discussions but we continue to push for an end to violence in Bangladesh, accountability and for the respect for rule of law,” US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said at his daily news conference on Wednesday.

He was responding to a question regarding the communication between India and the US on the situation in Bangladesh following the collapse of the Sheikh Hasina government.

“We have been in touch with our Indian partners as well as other countries in the region to discuss recent events in Bangladesh,” Patel said.

He also welcomed Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus’ statement, calling for calm and an end to the recent violence. “We welcome the new government’s focus on restoring security and protection of members of minority communities as well,” Patel said.

Meanwhile, the Hindu American Foundation on Wednesday urged the White House to act to protect the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh.

Biden’s silence questioned

“Latest reports are that the President (Joe Biden) is not commenting on the plight of Bangladeshi Hindus despite continuing reports of attacks,” the foundation said.

“Demand Action Now! The silence from President, Vice President and Secretary Blinken on the atrocities against #BangladeshiHindus is unacceptable. Lives lost, homes & temples destroyed—yet no condemnation from our US government,” it said in a post on X.

Washington-based NGO HinduACTion claimed that Hindus in rural areas of Bangladesh are being targeted the most.

“Their remoteness allows the Islamists more freedom and time to target them. Now that Mohammad Yunus is the new caretaker leaders, should the Vice President and the State Department work towards enabling grassroots education and awareness that ensures that the country’s Madrassa curriculum and the public discourse is purged of its anti-Hindu theological content.

“We hope the president and his advisors realize that if Bangladesh loses the last eight per cent of its Hindus, it will be a Taliban state with a lot of tree canopy cover,” it said on X.

New Delhi:

Amid the ongoing violence in Bangladesh, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said that it is difficult for people in India to be indifferent when every symbol of the country’s friendship with Bangladesh is being attacked there.

Pointing to the turmoil in Bangladesh, Mr Tharoor said it is tragic to see what was hailed as a democratic revolution degenerating into anarchy, and violence targeting the minorities and the Hindu minority.

“It’s extremely tragic that what was hailed as a democratic, popular revolution has degenerated into anarchy, and violence targeting the minorities and the Hindu minority… We in India must stand with the people of Bangladesh. But it’s difficult for us to be indifferent when every symbol of India’s friendship with Bangladesh is being attacked,” Mr Tharoor told ANI.

He highlighted how several institutions were vandalised during the ongoing violence, making it a “very negative” sign for people in India.

Mr Tharoor said, “The statue of the surrender of the Pakistani forces to Indian soldiers has been smashed to bits. The Indian Cultural Centre is destroyed, and a number of institutions are vandalised, including the ISKCON temple. All of these things are very negative signs for people in India. It is not in Bangladesh’s interest either to come across in this way.”

“They should be saying that this is about the restoration of their democracy, but in the process, you turn against the minorities and in particular one minority, inevitably, that will be noticed and resented in our country and elsewhere…” he added.

Bangladesh is experiencing a volatile political situation, after Sheikh Hasina resigned from the post of Prime Minister on August 5 amid mounting protests. The protests, led mainly by students demanding an end to a quota system for government jobs, evolved into anti-government demonstrations.

A clash occurred on Tuesday between Bangladesh Army personnel and members of the minority Hindu community protesting with posters of their family members who went missing during the violence in the country.

The members were protesting outside Jamuna State Guest House in Dhaka, where Bangladesh interim govt chief Muhammad Yunus is residing.

In the early hours on Tuesday, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, chief advisor of the interim government of Bangladesh, visited the historic Dhakeshwari Temple in Dhaka, where he assured the minorities in Bangladesh of their safety and security in the country.

“Rights are equal for everyone. We are all one people with one right. Do not make any distinctions among us. Please, assist us. Exercise patience, and later judge — what we were able to do and not. If we fail, then criticise us,” Prof Yunus was quoted as saying by Bangladesh newspaper Daily Star.”

“In our democratic aspirations, we should not be seen as Muslims, Hindus, or Buddhists, but as human beings. Our rights should be ensured. The root of all problems lies in the decay of institutional arrangements. That is why such issues arise. Institutional arrangements need to be fixed,” he added.

Following Younus’ visit, a significant meeting was held between representatives of the Muslim community and the Hindu minority at the temple. This gathering served as a platform for open dialogue, where both communities discussed various issues and worked towards strengthening communal harmony.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Guwahati:

The Assam Police is on a high alert along the India-Bangladesh border to ensure that no person enters the state illegally in view of the unrest in the neighbouring country, a top officer said.

The Centre has issued a directive that no person be allowed to enter India from Bangladesh illegally, Director General of Police G P Singh said.

“The BSF is the first line of defence along the border and the Assam Police as the second line is also on a high alert,” Singh told reporters on the sidelines of a book launch here on Saturday.

”There is, however, a rider that Indian passport holders, mostly students and traders, will be allowed to enter if their documents are found valid after due verification,” the DGP said.

Another directive has been issued by the Centre that citizens of the neighbouring country will be escorted back to Bangladesh after due verification of their passports and visas through a safe corridor, he added.

”Besides these movements, there has been no entry of any person to the state… the Assam Police are conducting joint patrolling with the BSF,” he said.

Regarding measures taken for the ensuing Independence Day celebrations in Assam, the DGP said that adequate steps have been taken to ensure fool-proof security in the state.

“The SPs have been directed to beef up security in the parade grounds,” he said.

The top police officer recently visited several districts of Upper Assam to review security arrangements, following reports of the presence of a group of ULFA (I) militants along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border.

”We reviewed the prevailing situation with the police, army, CRPF and Assam Rifles and discussed necessary steps to be taken to neutralise the group,” he said.

He urged the outfit not to indulge in violence and create disturbances when increased investments had led to economic prosperity in the state.

”If the ULFA(I) has anything to say, both the central and state governments are ready to hold talks with them,” the DGP added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)