United News of Bangladesh

A meeting of the ruling BNP’s parliamentary party, chaired by Prime Minister and BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman, began on Sunday evening. The meeting began at 6:20pm in the ruling party members’ room at the at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban. The meeting comes ahead of the next session of parliament, the date of which has yet to be finalised. Tarique Rahman, also the Leader of the House, called the meeting amid discussions on maintaining party discipline, the law-and-order situation, constitutional amendments and the upcoming local government elections, according to party sources. Usually, meetings of parliamentary parties are held one or two days before the start of a parliamentary session or during the session. This time, however, the meeting was called before the date of the next session was fixed. The next session of parliament may begin in the second week of November.

Leaders and activists of Jatiya Jubo Shakti, the youth wing of the National Citizen Party (NCP), staged a demonstration in front of the Department of Youth Development in Motijheel on Sunday to press home their five-point demand, including the resignation of State Minister for Youth and Sports Md Aminul Haque over an alleged question paper leak in a recruitment examination.

Leader of the Opposition and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Dr Shafiqur Rahman returned home on Sunday after completing his visit to Turkey and performing Umrah in Saudi Arabia on his way back to Dhaka. He arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport around 9:00am, where Jamaat Nayeb-e-Ameer ATM Azharul Islam, MP, Central Executive Council member and Dhaka South City Jamaat Ameer Nurul Islam Bulbul, MP, and Dhaka North City Jamaat Ameer Md Selim Uddin welcomed him with bouquets. Shafiqur left Dhaka on October 7 to attend the Second International Conference on Bangladesh Studies, held at Istanbul University in Turkey, as the chief guest. He delivered the keynote address at the conference on October 9. During his stay in Turkey, he also met Turkish Parliament Speaker Prof Dr Numan Kurtulmus on October 8.  The Jamaat chief then travelled to Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah before returning to Dhaka on Sunday morning.

A meeting of the ruling BNP’s parliamentary party will be held this (Sunday) evening with Prime Minister and BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman in the chair. The meeting is scheduled to take place at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban from 6pm, according to the information disclosed by the Prime Minister’s Press Wing on Saturday night. The date of the next session of parliament has not yet been fixed. Meanwhile, Tarique Rahman, also the Leader of the House, has called a meeting of the party’s parliamentary group. The meeting may discuss establishing discipline within the party, the law-and-order situation, constitutional amendments and the upcoming local government elections, according to responsible sources. Usually, meetings of parliamentary parties are held one or two days before the start of a parliamentary session or during the session. This time, however, the meeting has been called before the date of the next parliamentary session has been determined. The next session of parliament may begin in the second week of November.

BNP leaders and activists will work in coordination with local puja celebration committees to help ensure the security of Durga Puja venues across the country, including Dhaka, party Acting Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said on Saturday night. He said the decision was taken at a meeting of the BNP National Standing Committee held at the party chairman’s office in Gulshan, chaired by BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman. Briefing reporters after the meeting, Rizvi said the party policymakers discussed ways to ensure that members of the Hindu community could celebrate Durga Puja peacefully and share the joy of the festival with others. He said BNP leaders and activists would work as volunteers in coordination with local puja committees across the country. “The leaders discussed in detail how our party activists would coordinate with local puja celebration committees and play a voluntary role at puja venues across the country. Our party leaders and activists will stand guard at every puja venue like vigilant sentinels,” Rizvi said. He said the party has already formed a 12-member Durga Puja monitoring committee led by BNP Joint Secretary General Khairul Kabir Khokon. Rizvi alleged that various quarters were conspiring against the country and the democratic government. He expressed hope that the government would be able to counter all forms of propaganda, misdeeds and conspiracies through efficient management, adding that BNP leaders and activists would remain vigilant. The meeting was held at the BNP chairman’s office in Gulshan in the evening. BNP Standing Committee members Goyeshwar Chandra Roy, Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan, Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, Salahuddin Ahmed, Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku, Selima Rahman, AZM Zahid Hossain, Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, Aman Ullah Aman, Ismail Zabiullah and Farhad Halim were present.

BNP leaders and activists will act as volunteers and sleepless sentinels at every Durga Puja mandap across the country, to ensure the safe and uninterrupted celebration of the festival by members of the Hindu community, BNP Acting Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said on Saturday. “They will act as volunteers and sentinels at every Puja mandap like sleepless guards,” he said. Rizvi made the remarks while briefing reporters after a meeting of the BNP’s highest policymaking body, the National Standing Committee, chaired by BNP Chairman and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Saturday night. The meeting began at 6:30pm at the BNP chairman’s office in Gulshan in the capital. Rizvi said the meeting primarily discussed ensuring the safe and uninterrupted celebration of Durga Puja across the country, allowing members of the Hindu community to take part in the festivities and share their joy with others. The party leaders discussed how BNP activists would coordinate with local Puja committees at different mandaps across the country and perform voluntary duties to help ensure security during the festival, he said. “You know that various kinds of blueprints are being drawn by some quarters against the country and the democratic government,” Rizvi said. He expressed hope that the government would be able to thwart all kinds of propaganda, misdeeds and conspiracies through efficient management and administration, adding that BNP leaders and activists would remain vigilant in this regard. He said the meeting also discussed what steps could be taken on the issue and what the party had already done. Rizvi said the BNP had formed a central Durga Puja monitoring committee on Friday under the leadership of Joint Secretary Generals Khairul Kabir Khokon and Syed Emran Saleh Prince, he added. The party had also issued various instructions earlier to ensure the peaceful celebration of the festival, he said. “We are deeply concerned about this issue, and all of us remain alert,” Rizvi said. The meeting also discussed organisational matters, including the party’s future course of action and ways to further intensify its organisational activities, Rizvi said. He said there was no discussion at the meeting about the upcoming local government elections. Asked whether there was any message regarding the formation of the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) committee, Rizvi said no such message had reached him so far that he could share with the media. He also confirmed that the party’s national council was not discussed at the meeting. Those present at the meeting included Gayeshwar Chandra Roy MP, Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives Minister Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed, Selima Rahman, Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, Power and Energy Minister Iqbal Hasan Mahmood Tuku, Social Welfare Minister Prof AZM Zahid Hossain, Amanullah Aman MP, Prime Minister’s Adviser on Public Administration Ismail Zabiullah, and BNP Chairman’s Adviser Dr Farhad Halim Doner.

A meeting of the BNP’s National Standing Committee was held on Saturday, chaired by BNP Chairman and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman. The meeting began at 6:30pm at the BNP chairman’s office in Gulshan in the capital. BNP media cell member Sayrul Kabir Khan, confirmed the information. Those present at the meeting included BNP Acting Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy MP, Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives (LGRD) Minister Dr. Abdul Moyeen Khan, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed, Selima Rahman, Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, Power and Energy Minister Iqbal Hasan Mahmood Tuku, Social Welfare Minister Prof. AZM Zahid Hossain, Amanullah Aman MP and Farhad Halim Doner.

National Citizen Party (NCP) Convener and Opposition Chief Whip Nahid Islam Saturday expressed firm solidarity with young people in India demanding electoral accountability and defending democratic rights. In a statement issued on Saturday, Nahid said recent detentions of peaceful protesters, organisers and journalists in New Delhi, along with internet suspensions and restrictions at Jantar Mantar, "directly threaten fundamental freedoms." He said concerns over electoral integrity and institutional independence require transparent answers, not barricades and censorship. Drawing parallels with Bangladesh's July 2024 uprising, Nahid said the student-led movement against recruitment quotas turned into a nationwide uprising against 15 years of authoritarian rule. The state responded with live ammunition, he said, adding that the United Nations later estimated as many as 1,400 people were killed during the uprising and its suppression. He recalled the solidarity Indian students, writers and independent voices showed during the uprising. He also paid tribute to India's traditions of democratic resistance, citing the women of Shaheen Bagh and generations of students at JNU and Jadavpur University. Noting the presence of young Indian women on the streets, Nahid said women were also at the forefront of Bangladesh's July Revolution, and their courage and sacrifices helped secure its victory. The NCP convener said Hindutva majoritarianism, fascism and every form of religious supremacy must not define South Asia's future. He said his party rejects authoritarianism, communal hatred and political intolerance in India as it does in Bangladesh. "No society is truly democratic while minorities live in fear, dissent is criminalised, and citizenship is conditional on identity," he said. He called on Indian authorities to: respect the right to peaceful assembly;.disclose the whereabouts and legal grounds for the detention of protest organisers; immediately release those held for exercising their rights; and ensure journalists can report without intimidation or equipment seizure. Referring to Sharjeel Imam and Umar Khalid, Nahid said they continue to be kept behind bars for years without trial. He described all of India's young protesters and prisoners of conscience as "comrades." He said the struggles of the two countries are interconnected, extending to unresolved issues such as border killings, water sharing, environmental protection and national sovereignty. He said he wants a South Asia where nations treat each other as equals and "sovereignty is never an excuse for domination." Concluding the statement, Nahid urged the people of India to stand firm, protect one another and reject communal hatred.

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) on Friday has formed a 12-member monitoring committee ahead of Durga Puja, the biggest religious festival of the Hindu community. BNP Joint Secretary General Khairul Kabir Khokon has been made convener of the committee, while another Joint Secretary General of the party, Syed Emran Saleh Prince, has been named its member secretary. The names of the committee members were announced in a press release signed by BNP Assistant Office Secretary Muhammad Munir Hossain on night. The other members of the committee are BNP National Executive Committee Assistant Organising Secretary Jayanta Kumar Kundu, Assistant Secretary for Marginalised People Development Aparna Roy Das, Assistant Secretaries for Religious Affairs Amalendu Das Apu and John Gomes, and National Executive Committee members Advocate Nipun Roy Chowdhury and Ramesh Dutta. The committee also includes Jubo Dal central committee Labour Affairs Secretary Partha Dey Mondal, former Vice-President of the central committee of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal Joydeb Roy, former student leader Milton Baidya, and Ganesh Chandra Roy Sahas, president of Dhaka University Chhatra Dal.

India’s youth-led “Cockroach” movement is preparing to stage another round of protests in New Delhi on Saturday, expanding a nationwide campaign against a controversial voter list revision that has sparked growing criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government and the country’s election authorities. Thousands of demonstrators are expected to gather at Jantar Mantar, the capital’s designated protest venue. However, authorities have introduced extensive security restrictions, including the suspension of mobile internet services. Police said on Friday that permission for the demonstration had been denied because the organisers submitted their application too late. The protest area has been surrounded by yellow metal barricades, with thousands of police officers deployed nearby. Disruptions to train services and metro stations were also expected to make it more difficult for demonstrators to reach the venue. The extensive security arrangements reflect the authorities’ efforts to contain a rapidly expanding protest movement that has attracted thousands of young people, gained support from opposition parties and increased pressure on Modi’s administration. The demonstrations come at a politically sensitive moment, just months after protests organised by the “Cockroach” movement over alleged examination paper leaks led to the resignation of Modi’s education minister in July. Voter list revision sparks concerns over election fairness The latest protests focus on the Election Commission of India’s Special Intensive Revision of voter lists, a process opposition parties claim has deprived millions of eligible citizens of their voting rights. Demonstrators are demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and an end to the revision process, which has reportedly resulted in the removal of more than 130 million names from electoral rolls. The Election Commission and the government have rejected allegations of electoral manipulation, maintaining that the exercise is intended to remove duplicate registrations and the names of individuals who are no longer eligible to vote. The controversy has become a major political issue for opposition parties seeking to challenge Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Saturday’s planned demonstration follows several days of protests in New Delhi, where opposition lawmakers have intensified their campaign against the voter list changes. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was briefly detained by police during one of the demonstrations. Gandhi and other opposition figures have accused the Election Commission of conducting the revision in a manner that favours the ruling BJP. They allege that voters more likely to support opposition parties have been disproportionately removed from the electoral rolls, while BJP supporters have been protected from deletion or added to the lists. Both the Election Commission and the government have denied these accusations. Youth movement expands its campaign against Modi For the “Cockroach” movement, the controversy over voter registration has created an opportunity to extend its campaign beyond education-related grievances and challenge broader government policies. The movement emerged online in May and gained momentum through street demonstrations, sit-ins and hunger strikes over alleged examination paper leaks. Its campaign culminated in the resignation of Modi’s education minister in July, marking an uncommon political setback for a prime minister who has maintained a strong grip on national politics for more than 12 years. The latest protests represent another challenge for Modi as he continues his third term in office. However, the extent to which the demonstrations will affect his political standing remains uncertain. India’s next national election is not scheduled until 2029. Nevertheless, state elections expected next year in Uttar Pradesh, the country’s most populous state, and Gujarat, Modi’s home state, will provide important tests of the BJP’s political strength. The growing demonstrations could therefore become a significant political issue for the ruling party as it faces increasing scrutiny over electoral procedures and public concerns about democratic representation.