Bangladesh

A new report issued by the US Commission on International Religion Freedom (USCIRF) has slammed Bangladesh for lack of any sort of religious freedom and continuous harassment of the minority Hindus living in the country. The report titled 'Policy Focus on Bangladesh', said that since its last election, 'Bangladesh has experienced growing violence by religious extremists, intensifying concerns expressed by the countries religious minorities'. The report further said that Hindus ... [full story]

The storms in the Bay of Bengal has lead to the death of at least 63 people and hundreds are missing in India and Bangladesh. Around 20 bodies were recovered in the Sundarbans delta. Whereas severe rain in the Andhra Pradesh region has killed 31 people over two days. Bangladesh recovered 12 bodies after dozens of fishing boats - with several hundred fishermen on board - sank. Weather officials in West Bengal say that a ... [full story]

After the successful conclusion of Home Secretary-level talks between India and Bangladesh, both countries have decided to finish pending fencing of the international border in accordance with the Land Boundary Agreement of 1974 by early next year to resolve disputes. According to Union Home Secretary V K Duggal, a Joint Border Working Group on Boundary Management is likely to submit its report by the end of next month. The bilateral ... [full story]

A member of the banned militant outfit Jamaatul Mujahedin Bangladesh (JMB), has been sentenced to 64 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) after he was found guilty of possessing arms and explosives.   Judge Shahed Nuruddin of Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 in Dhaka awarded the verdict to Enayet Ullah Jewel on Monday. According to court reports, Jewel confessed in January that he possessed arms and ammunition. Acting on this statement, the police recovered 17 ... [full story]

In a shocking incident an All India Radio (AIR) Special Correspondent DN Mohanty was brutally attacked even as Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran was in the city by alleged Islamic militants in a high security area in Dhaka on July 31. What’s puzzling is that the Indian agencies have so far maintained a stiff upper lip in the whole issue and have not even registered any sort of protest with ... [full story]

Security experts believe that Bangladesh has now emerged as the second front of Islamic terror in South Asia over the last few years as many Islamic groups linked to Osama bin Laden led al-Qaeda have set up their training camps on Bangladesh soil. Noted South Asia expert Selig S Harrison said in an article published in the Washington Post that Pakistan's intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was using the legacy ... [full story]

  India's paramilitary forces are on a high alert and have stepped up patrolling the porous border with Bangladesh in Cachar sector of Assam as Bangladeshi farmers have reportedly intruded into Indian Territory.     Ironically the incident has occurred a day after Defence Minister Pranab Mukharjee made his statement in Parliament said everything was normal in Cachar sector of Indo-Bangladesh border.    The BSF sources said here that a large number of Bangladeshi farmers, ... [full story]

In a recent development, the Assam government has accused Bangladesh of forcibly occupying more than two square km of land by uprooting border pillars leading to an unabated flow of migrants into the state. According to Assam Revenue Minister Bhumidhar Barman, a total of about 499.83 acres of Assam territory has been encroached and occupied by the neighboring country after the boundary pillars were removed More than 35 % of ... [full story]