Bangladesh | Pakistan

LAHORE: A pumped-up Pakistan side will look to go all out against Bangladesh in the second T20 International in Lahore on Friday to take an unassailable lead in the three-match series. Pakistan during the past year or so have experienced an alarming decline in their T20 International contests, winning only nine while losing nineteen. Currently languishing at eighth in the ICC T20 International team rankings, the Green-shirts under new captain Salman Ali Agha no doubt will seek to make progress against Bangladesh who are ninth. The home side in the series opener on Wednesday comfortably defeated Bangladesh by 37 runs at the Gaddafi Stadium thanks to impressive batting by Salman (56), Shadab Khan (48, 4-26) and Hasan Nawaz (44). Returning fast bowler Hasan Ali (5-30) produced his best-ever show in the game. Pakistan are expected to remain unchanged for the second T20 while Bangladesh are most likely to make a couple of changes as they will look to keep the series alive. Both teams did not practise on Thursday, ...

LAHORE: Pakistan defeated Bangladesh by 37 runs in the first T20 match held at Gaddafi Stadium. Chasing a target of 202 runs set by Pakistan, the Bangladesh team was bowled out for 164 runs in 19.2 overs. Skipper Litton Das’s valiant 48-run effort went in vain. Zakir Ali scored 36 runs, while Tanzid Hasan made […]

Primary school teachers in Bangladesh joined public sector workers in protests against the interim government on Monday amid growing discontent and political uncertainty in the South Asian country. Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus, 84, took over as interim head of the country last August after deadly student-led protests forced then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to flee to India. Yunus’ administration has faced pressure from civil servants, teachers, political parties and the military as the caretaker government attempts to guide the country through a fragile transition before holding a general election. The government issued an ordinance on Sunday allowing the Ministry of Public Administration to dismiss public servants for misconduct without lengthy procedures, sparking outrage across the bureaucracy. Government employees continued their demonstrations for a third consecutive day on Monday, calling the ordinance “repressive” and demanding its immediate withdrawal. Thousands of teachers in government prima...

Bangladesh on Sunday began the first trial at a special court prosecuting former senior figures connected to the ousted government of Sheikh Hasina, the chief prosecutor said. The court in the capital Dhaka accepted a formal charge against eight police officials in connection with the killing of six protesters on August 5 last year, the day Hasina fled the country as the protesters stormed her palace. The eight men are charged with crimes against humanity. Four are in custody and four are being tried in absentia. “The formal trial has begun,” Tajul Islam, chief prosecutor of Bangladesh’s domestic International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), told reporters. “The prosecution believes that this prosecution will be able to prove the crimes done by the accused.” It is the first formal charge in any case related to the killings during last year’s student-led uprising, which ended Hasina’s iron-fisted rule of 15 years. Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024 when Hasina’s government launched a brutal cam...

THE government of Bangladesh has cancelled a $21 million contract awarded to Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd (GRSE), an Indian public sector undertaking under the Ministry of Defence, for the construction of an advanced ocean-going tug, The Hindu reported. According to the Indian publication, the cancellation closely follows India’s recent move to withdraw the transhipment facility previously extended to Bangladesh to export its cargo to third countries — a development that analysts interpret as signalling strain in bilateral relations. In a regulatory disclosure submitted to the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd and BSE Ltd under the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Require­ments) Regulations, 2015, GRSE confirmed that the government of Bangladesh had cancelled the order, originally placed in July 2024. The cancellation adds to a series of geopolitical developments since the change in political leadership in Bangladesh following the fall of prime minis...

A key Bangladeshi party leader at the forefront of the revolt that ousted premier Sheikh Hasina warned on Saturday that an army-backed leadership could replace the interim government. Nahid Islam, leader of the National Citizen Party (NCP), made up of many students who spearheaded the uprising that ended Hasina’s 15-year iron-fisted rule last year, said he worried about an “anti-democratic” future. Muhammad Yunus, the 84-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner leading the caretaker government until elections are held, has called for rival political parties jostling for power to give him their full support. Bangladesh has a long history of coups, and the army retains a powerful role. Islam, an ally of Yunus who previously served in his cabinet, told reporters on Saturday that he foresaw a situation similar to January 11, 2007, when a state of emergency was declared, resulting in a two-year-long military-backed government. “There are indications that a 1/11-style military-backed government could re-emerge — one that ...

Human Rights Watch strongly criticised Bangladesh’s interim government on Thursday, warning that it risked “undermining fundamental freedoms” through measures including its ban on the former ruling party. The South Asian nation of around 170 million people has been in political turmoil since the student-led revolt that ousted then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024, with parties protesting on the streets over a string of demands. The interim leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, has promised democratic reforms and vowed polls will be held by June 2026 at the latest. However, New York-based HRW said Yunus risked following the example of Hasina in clamping down on opponents. “Instead of pursuing its pledge to reform the criminal justice system and bring accountability for serious abuses, the government … is attempting to suppress the rights of supporters of the deposed leader,” the rights group said in a statement. HRW said the government had used “newly introduced powers under a draconian a...

Bangladesh’s former prime minister Sheikh Hasina masterminded a deadly crackdown on mass protests that prompted her ouster last year, prosecutors at a domestic war crimes tribunal said on Monday. Up to 1,400 people died in July 2024 when Hasina’s government launched a brutal campaign to silence the opposition, according to the United Nations. Hasina lives in self-imposed exile in India, where she fled by helicopter, and has defied an arrest warrant from Dhaka over charges of crimes against humanity. “The investigation team has found Sheikh Hasina culpable in at least five charges,” Mohammad Tajul Islam, chief prosecutor at Bangladesh’s domestic International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), told reporters. “They have brought charges of abetment, incitement, complicity, facilitation, conspiracy, and failure to prevent mass murder during the July uprising.” Tajul Islam said the prosecution had submitted its first report to be presented at the court set to try Hasina and two of her aides — former home minister Asaduzzaman...

Bangladesh’s interim government has banned all activities of the Awami League, the political party of deposed former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, under the country’s Anti-Terrorism Act, citing national security concerns. The decision, announced late Saturday, follows days of street protests led by the student-driven National Citizen Party, which emerged from last year’s uprising that toppled Hasina. Several Islamist and right-wing parties, including Jamaat-e-Islami and other opposition groups, joined the demonstrations, demanding that the Awami League be designated a terrorist organisation. The ban would remain in place until the trial of the party and its leadership over the deaths of hundreds of protesters at the International Crimes Tribunal is completed, the government said in a statement. The government also announced an amendment to the ICT Act, allowing the tribunal to prosecute not only individuals but also political parties and organisations. The change clears the way for the Awami League to be trie...

Thousands of people rallied on Friday outside the residence of Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus, demanding that he ban the political party of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina. Nobel Peace Prize winner Yunus, 84, has led an interim government since Hasina was overthrown by student-led mass protests in August 2024 and fled into exile as crowds stormed her palace. Friday’s rally came after the sudden departure of Abdul Hamid, a former leader of Hasina’s Awami League party, from Bangladesh early on Thursday. A crowd, mainly made up of young people, had started gathering outside Yunus’ residence on Thursday night. Hasnat Abdullah, the chief organiser of the newly formed National Citizen’s Party, said the demonstration would continue until their demands were met. “Sheikh Hasina robbed the people of Bangladesh of their democratic rights. She manipulated the system to prevent any real opposition from participating in the election,” Kamrul said. “We saw Abdul Hamid leave the country safely. The actions of...

Three days of political rallies began in Bangladesh on Thursday with rival groups set to stage mass demonstrations in Dhaka, drumming up support for eagerly anticipated elections following an uprising last year. Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, 84, who has led an interim government since autocratic prime minister Sheikh Hasina fled into exile as crowds stormed her palace in August, has said elections will be held as early as December, and at the latest by mid-2026. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), widely tipped to win the poll, will hold a May Day rally in Dhaka. “We are confident this will be the most memorable grand rally in recent times,” BNP media officer Shairul Kabir Khan said. Jamaat-e-Islami will also take to the streets of the capital on Thursday. The Jatiya Party, formerly close to Hasina’s regime, will also hold a rally. It will be its first outdoor political event since its offices were vandalised in October, allegedly for helping Hasina’s Awami League cling to power. On Friday, the...