Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday (July 31, 2024) likened the recent violence in the country as ‘almost a terrorist attack’ aimed at creating a situation like what had happened in Sri Lanka to oust her government.“It was not a movement at all, and at one stage it almost into a terrorist attack,” she said while Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pranay Verma called on her at her official residence Ganabhaban. Lives lost during the anti-quota violence will never come back: PM HasinaPM’s Press Secretary M Nayeemul Islam Khan briefed reporters after the call on.He quoted the PM as telling the envoy said that the anarchists actually tried to create a situation like what had happened in Sri Lanka to topple her government.“Actually they (the anarchists) have planned to create Sri Lanka type violence and oust the government,” she said. PM Hasina visits Suhrawardy Hospital to check on violence victims Hasina expressed sorrow for the loss of lives and destruction of properties in the carnage centering the student movement for reformation of quota in public services.Indian HC Verma expressed condolence for the loss of lives during the recent violence.He welcomed the normalcy that steadily is being restored, and the gradual resumption of economic activities in Bangladesh, according to the press secretary. Govt to take foreign technical assistance for judicial probe committee: PMVerma said that Bangladesh is the closest neighbour of India. It always gives support to the Bangladesh government and its people for implementation of Dhaka’s Vision of a progressive and prosperous country.He said that the successful visit of PM Hasina to India produced substantive outcomes, consolidated the past achievements and created a blue print for the future cooperation.“And based on the two countries national development visions, Vision 2041 for Bangladesh and Vision 2047 India, both countries entered into a new era of cooperation,” he said.In this cooperation there will be digital, green, joint development of satellite and new areas of cooperation like blue economy, oceanography and fintech.“That means future oriented partnership is based on our people’s shared aspirations for the future,” Verma said. PM’s Private Industry and Investment Adviser Salman Fazlur Rahman and Ambassador-at-Large Mohammad Ziauddin were present.

A Bangladeshi-owned restaurant in New York’s Queens came under attack by an unidentified gunman on Saturday (June 3, 2023), injuring one employee and sending customers running for cover, CBS News reports. Surveillance video from inside Boishakhi Restaurant -- in the Astoria neighbourhood of Queens -- shows people, including children, who were sitting down eating and in line waiting for food, running out of the establishment and ducking for cover after a gunman opened fire. "We had a lot of customers inside. After the initial shooting, he moved around a bit, then he went behind my counter and shot one of my employees," restaurant owner Abu Taher told CBS News. Read more: Top Instagrammable rooftop restaurants in Banani According to Taher, the gunman, who was wearing a mask and a red hooded sweatshirt, fired three shots. "He didn't say anything. He just came and shot and ran away," he said. One of the bullets hit an employee of the restaurant in the upper thigh. Police say the shooter took off running. Read more: Best Instagrammable Rooftop Restaurants at Gulshan in Dhaka While the motive is still being investigated, sources say the gunman got into an argument with an employee in the store earlier in the week. Now, the shattered glass, bullet holes and half-eaten food left behind are a grim reminder to the family who runs the restaurant that gun violence can affect you when you least expect it. "Definitely scared, you know. It's a very small business," Taher told CBS. "I'm really scared to run a small business in New York City. It's not safe, actually. We are not safe. Our life is not safe." Boishakhi Restaurant -- near 36th Avenue and 29th Street in the Astoria neighbourhood -- was previously featured in The New York Times for its delicious Bangladeshi food. It also received “Special Congressional Recognition” in 2021 for its community service during the Covid-19 pandemic.  Read more: Police: 8 killed in Texas mall shooting, gunman also dead

Iran hanged a man who was allegedly behind an attack that killed dozens of people at a military parade in the southern province of Khuzestan in 2018, state media reported on Saturday. The execution was carried out in Tehran after a top court upheld a death sentence for Farajollah Cha’ab in March, Iran's state TV reported. He was “the main person in the terrorist attack” at the parade in September 2018, authorities said, and was arrested by Iranian agents in 2020 after he left Sweden for Turkey. He is alleged to be the leader of a separatist group. Cha’ab, who holds Iranian and Swedish citizenship, disappeared under mysterious circumstances in Turkey in November 2020. In September 2018, militants disguised as soldiers opened fire on an annual military parade in Ahvaz, the capital of oil-rich Khuzestan. At least 25 people were killed and 70 wounded, including a 4-year-old boy. Iran then claimed that Saudi Arabia and Israeli intelligence services supported what it says was an attack by the separatist group.

The High Court has banned the streaming of “Faraaz” – an Indian film based on the 2016 terrorist attack at the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka’s Gulshan – on online platforms in Bangladesh. The HC bench of Justice Md Khasruzzaman and Justice Md Iqbal Kabir today passed the order after hearing a writ petition filed against the screening of the movie directed by Hansal Mehta. Barrister Rokan Uddin Mahmud and the lawyer Ahsanul Karim stood for the petitioner at the court. Deputy Attorney General Bipul Bagmar represented the state. Read more: Holey Artisan victim's mother vows to fight release of Bollywood film on tragedy The petition was filed against the streaming of the film online and screening at movie theatres by Ruba Ahmed, mother of Abinta Kabir who was one of the victims of the attack. “As the film is yet to be approved by the Censor Board, today’s directive does not mention a ban on screening in cinema halls,” the petitioner’s lawyer Ahsanul Karim told UNB. Produced by T-Series and Benaras Media Works, “Faraaz” is loosely based on the terrorist attack at Holey Artisan Bakery on July 1, 2016. At least 22 people, including 17 foreign nationals, were killed in the attack. Faraaz Ayaaz Hossain and Abinta Kabir were among the victims alongside Tarishi Jain and Ishrat Akhond. Read more: Abinta Kabir Foundation sends legal notice to FARAAZ movie producers Two police officers were also killed in the attack. Since the trailer of Hansal Mehta’s much-talked-about Bollywood film “Faraaz” was released, Ruba Ahmed took to the media to express her objections to releasing and promoting the film in Bangladesh. Ahmed, alongside the mother of Tarishi Jain, an Indian national who was killed in the attack, has also fought a legal battle at Delhi High Court to stop the release of “Faraaz”. However, the Indian court refused to block the film which was released in theatres across India on February 3. Read More: Holey Artisan Victim Faraaz's Heroism is Now on the Silver Screen

It's been over half a decade since the Dhaka cafe massacre, but it still continues to be a subject of macabre curiosity the world over due to its audacity. Now, a Bollywood film will delve into the details of Bangladesh's worst terror attack. According to leading Indian film news portal peepingmoon.com, 53-year-old Bollywood filmmaker Hansal Mehta's upcoming movie 'Faraaz' is based on the grisly terrorist attack on the Holey Artisan cafe in the upmarket Gulshan district of Dhaka. Read:Diplomats pay tribute to Holey Artisan attack victims The film -- a collaboration between Mehta and producer Anubhav Sinha -- chronicles the 12-hour siege that took place on July 1, 2016, the portal reported. The attack was, in fact, carried out by a group of five young militants, who took nearly 50 diners -- mostly Japanese and Italian -- hostage at gunpoint and eventually killed 22 people. All the Islamists were later gunned down by elite Bangladeshi Army commandos. In a televised address to the nation at the time, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina condemned the "extremely heinous act". "What kind of Muslims are these people? They don't have any religion," she had said. Read:5th anniversary of Gulshan Cafe attack: Bangladesh's night of infamy