Opinion: Regime-Change Attempts in Bangladesh? PM Sheikh Hasina Thinks So

In April, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina accused the United States of pursuing a regime change in her nation. "They are trying to eliminate democracy and introduce a government that will not have a democratic existence," she said. This came on the back of the US castigating India's neighbour for human rights abuses. Despite the country having done well economically under Sheikh Hasina, reports of discontent against the ruling Awami League were shared in American political circles. However, PM Hasina's allegations seem to have found purchase as India has cautioned the US about interference in Bangladeshi elections.

Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced visa restrictions on Bangladeshi officials in June, and was met with assurances and arguments from Sheikh Hasina's government. While a country reserves the right to offer entry to foreign visitors, government officials involved in trade and policy are often issued tangible reasoning for being denied access instead of unilateral accusations of participating in "democratic backsliding". At the same time, members of the Bangladeshi government wrote to Blinken with video evidence of Bangladesh's opposition vowing to obstruct elections, and requesting that the new American visa policy towards Bangladeshi officials apply equally to establishment and opposition. It may be seen as hypocritical that no official representative of the US is concerned about actual obstructions to free and fair elections in a democracy, as long as they stem from an opposition.

With trade and exports as a matter of constant discussion between governments, Dhaka has been forced to issue statements to mollify the US government, while also accusing them of fomenting unrest with the intent to change the government at the Centre. The US had previously imposed sanctions on officers of Bangladesh's Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and the Bangladesh Police in 2021. The same year, the US did not invite the Asian democracy to their Summit for Democracy. Earlier this year, however, senior state official Donald Lu was in Dhaka and suggested that the sanctions had made a difference, and that the RAB had been reigned in by US action.

Interestingly, the American castigation of the Islamic nation does not consider religious fundamentalism to be an issue. Despite the continued destruction of temples that exemplify the country's recent past as well as the significant but rapidly dwindling Hindu population, the American State Department chooses to instead cite the Rohingya refugee situation, in addition to internal political tussles. It is worth noting that Priya Saha, a minority Hindu woman who had the chance to bring up the persecution of minorities before former US President Donald Trump in 2019, was about to be charged with sedition in her home country. PM Sheikh Hasina disapproved of the move by her government to file charges against her, at the last minute. While the Bangladesh-America relationship has seen its fair share of challenges, attempts to improve ties with the Bangladeshi democracy were underway before the Biden administration took over, and engagement was less than adversarial. The change in the US administration in 2020 has brought forth renewed complications. Accusations of a regime change by a sitting Prime Minister are hardly trivial.

The US now cites accusations by the Bangladeshi Opposition, the Bangladeshi Nationalist Party (BNP) led by Khaleda Zia, as further proof of political persecution. Citing opposition talking points in a democratic nation by an international entity lends credence to suspicions of foreign interference by any nation. Considering American involvement in "Color Revolutions" around the world, it is not unlikely that democratic nations fear there may be similar attempts on their soil. Selfies in the background of the recently concluded G20 meeting in New Delhi featuring PM Hasina and her daughter Saima Wazed with American President Joe Biden have found mention in several reports; however, they come without any solid conclusions about attempts to reset ties between both democracies.

With the Biden administration placing Bangladesh in its crosshairs, one looming fear is that this only helps its largest trading partner China come ever closer. While the Sheikh Hasina - Narendra Modi camaraderie is well-known, India is in no position to substitute China's role in Bangladesh's economy. The Bangladesh-China trade is almost three times the size of Bangladesh-India trade at this time, although Sheikh Hasina is known to have requested India to ensure the supply of essentials to its neighbour.

Unlike Canada, Bangladesh enjoyed a bilateral meeting with the Indian administration to discuss enhanced connectivity, trade and the repatriation of Rohingya to Myanmar, among other issues. The non-fundamentalist Hasina government has worked towards a more stable Indian subcontinent and is strategically important to countering Chinese inroads in the region. However, the US currently seems to believe that antagonizing the Hasina government is a chance worth taking, even in the face of continued Chinese belligerence in the region. 

Puppet governments benefit only western corporates in the long term, as may be seen from history. Citizens are left bereft of means to address concerns, and whole nations remain fraught in poverty or war, often both. Democracy is a serious attempt at ensuring that the will of a people is exercised, and can only be based on free and fair elections. If a nation as powerful as the United States of America chooses to wield their immense diplomatic, media and trade power to undermine elections in a sovereign democracy halfway across the world, they will only bolster claims of democracy functioning as a reason to subdue. All democracies are imperfect democracies, and while the US is a valuable example of a sufficiently functional democracy, it cannot claim leadership of the free world by favouring undemocratic alliances in other democracies. The people of Bangladesh have the right to continue to choose their own leaders through democratic means. The world will keep watch and weigh Sheikh Hasina's assurances of free and fair elections as they approach in 2024, but in the meantime, American heckling will be seen as an explicit threat of regime change.

(Sagorika Sinha is a columnist and podcaster with experience in foreign policy analysis and international relations. She also writes about domestic policy when not working on her fledgling YouTube channel)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author.

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CBI Books Kendriya Vidyalaya Principal For Admitting 193 Students On Fake Certificates

The CBI has booked the principal of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Waltair, for allegedly admitting 193 ineligible students on the basis of fake service certificates purportedly issued by various Central government departments by taking bribes from their parents, officials said Thursday.

The CBI has registered two FIRs against Principal S Sreenivasa Raja pertaining to the admission of 124 ineligible students during the academic year 2022-23 and 69 such students for 2021-22, they said.

The agency has alleged that Raja conspired with the parents of ineligible students, provided admission to them into various classes without verifying the applications and service certificates, and received undue pecuniary advantage to his bank accounts with the State Bank of India and the Union Bank of India through UPI mode.

The irregularities were detected by the CBI during a joint surprise check conducted by its Visakhapatnam unit on May 3 and 4 this year at Kendriya Vidyalaya, Waltair, in order to verify the admissions provided by Raja for 2022-23.

"Raja conspired with the parents of ineligible students and provided admissions to ineligible students of various classes...and received a pecuniary advantage in lieu of providing the admissions," the FIR said.

The action against Raja was initiated after getting sanction from the commissioner of the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangthan.

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Justin Trudeau's "Credible Allegation" Comment After India's Counterattack

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Thursday reiterated that there are "credible allegations" that should be taken "extremely seriously" as he urged the government of India to work with his country to allow justice to follow its course in the killing of a Khalistani extremist leader.

"We call upon the government of India to take this matter seriously and to work with us to shed full transparency and ensure accountability and justice in this matter," he said while responding to questions on the diplomatic row between India and Canada.

"We are a country of the rule of law. We are going to continue to do the work necessary to keep Canadians safe and to uphold our values and the international rules based order. That's our focus right now," Mr Trudeau said when asked whether his government will take any retaliatory measures following India's suspension of visa services for Canadians.

Tensions flared between India and Canada early this week following Mr Trudeau's explosive allegations of a "potential" involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on his country's soil on June 18 in British Columbia. India had designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020.

India angrily rejected the allegations as "absurd" and "motivated" and expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move to Ottawa's expulsion of an Indian official over the case.

"Of course, there are credible allegations that we need to take extremely seriously as Canadians and indeed as a world," Mr Trudeau asserted when asked if the evidence suggested by him was extensive in the matter.

Mr Trudeau also said that his government was not looking to provoke or cause problems.

"There is no question that India is a country of growing importance and a country that we need to continue to work with, not just in the region but around the world. We're not looking to provoke or cause problems. But we are unequivocal around the importance of the rule of law and unequivocal about the importance of protecting Canadians."

"That's why we call upon the government of India, to work with us to establish processes to discover and to uncover the truth of the matter and to allow justice and accountability to be served," he added.

On Thursday, India asked Canada to come down hard on terrorists and anti-India elements operating from its soil and suspended visa services for Canadians, as escalating tensions between the two nations over the killing of Nijjar pushed their ties to an all-time low.

India also asked Canada to downsize its diplomatic staff in the country, arguing that there should be parity in strength and rank equivalence in the mutual diplomatic presence. The size of Canadian diplomatic staff in India is larger than what New Delhi has in Canada.

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

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Chandrayaan-3 Mission Cost Less Than Some Space Movies: Finance Minister

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said that the success of Chandrayaan-3 will have a big impact on India's industrial and technological ecosystem.

While speaking in the Rajya Sabha, the Union Minister briefed the House about the Chandrayaan-3 mission of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

"In 1975, we launched our first satellite Aryabhatta with the help of the Soviet Union's (USSR). Now, the success of Chandrayaan-3 will have a big impact on India's industrial and technological ecosystem. Although we needed help from the Soviet Union to launch our first satellite Aryabhatta, today we have launched 431 foreign satellites for other countries till July 2023," Ms Sitharaman said in the Upper House.

The Minister also praised ISRO's innovative choices in the Chandrayaan-3 project, like choosing a route that allows a cost-effective and sustainable method of accomplishing the project.

"Chandrayaan-3 mission cost only around US $75 million (approximately). Our Chandrayaan-3 mission commanded a lesser budget than some movies made on space itself...," she said.

Notably, day 3 of the Parliament special session witnessed a debate on the women's reservation Bill in the Lok Sabha, while the Rajya Sabha discussed India's space journey focusing on Chandrayaan-3's successful soft-landing on the moon.

India took a giant leap as the Chandrayaan-3 lander module successfully landed on the moon's South Pole on August 23, making it the first country to have achieved the historic feat and bringing to an end the disappointment over the crash landing of the Chandrayaan-2, four years ago.

After having landed, the Vikram lander and the Pragyan rover performed different sets of tasks on the lunar surface, including finding the presence of sulphur and other minor elements, recording relative temperature, and listening to movements around it.

The stated objectives of Chandrayaan-3, India's third lunar mission were a safe and soft landing, rover roving on the Moon's surface, and in-situ scientific experiments. Meanwhile, the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover are in "sleep mode", with awakening expected around September 22.

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"Chacha Chaudhary Aur Chunavi Dangal": Election Commission's New Outreach

The Election Commission on Wednesday launched a special comic book having iconic comic book characters Chacha Chaudhary, Sabu and team to educate, inspire and motivate youths to participate in the voting process.

The comic book titled "Chacha Chaudhary aur Chunavi Dangal" is a joint initiative of the EC and Pran Comics and was released by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and election commissioners Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel.

The primary focus of the book is to encourage young eligible voters to register themselves, ensuring their active participation in forthcoming elections.

"Comic as an outreach medium is irreplaceable and relevant even in today's digital age," Kumar said.

Chacha Chaudhary, Sabu, Raaka,Dhamaka Singh, Billoo & other comic characters will now create awareness amongst children about elections.
In an unique initiative, the comic book, "Chacha Chaudhary aur Chunavi Dangal", published by Pran Comics, was released by the Commission today pic.twitter.com/zpCsYJEkSf

— Spokesperson ECI (@SpokespersonECI) September 20, 2023

In the comic, Chacha Chaudhary also plays a pivotal role in introducing readers to various apps developed by the EC. Furthermore, it strongly emphasises the significance of women's participation in the electoral process.

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

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Black Student's Suspension From US School Over Hairstyle Sparks Controversy

A black male high school student in Texas was suspended from school twice for wearing his hair in twisted dreadlocks. After serving his first in-school suspension, he returned to school the next day with his hair in the same style. He was immediately suspended again.

Darryl George, a junior at Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu, received multiple disciplinary action notes and was placed on in-school suspension for wearing his locs hairstyle in a ponytail, his mother, Darresha George, told CNN.

She said Darryl was suspended the same week the state's CROWN Act, a law prohibiting discrimination based on one's hair texture or protective hairstyle such as locs and braids, went into effect.

According to CNN, school officials told George his loc hairstyle violated the Barbers Hill Independent School District dress and grooming code, which states, "Male students' hair will not extend, at any time, below the eyebrows or below the ear lobes."

Darresha George mentioned that her son is feeling frustrated because of the current situation.

"He's very anxious and very aggravated right now because he keeps getting punished for something that's irrelevant to his education," she said.

"He has to sit on a stool for eight hours in a cubicle. That's very uncomfortable. Every day he'd come home, he'd say his back hurts because he has to sit on a stool," she told NBC News.

In George's family, all the men have dreadlocks, going back generations. To them, the hairstyle has cultural and religious importance, his mother said.

"Our hair is where our strength is; that's our roots," Darresha George said. "He has his ancestors locked into his hair, and he knows that."

George stated that her family has retained legal representation and is contemplating taking legal action.

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Ganesh Chaturthi 2023: Malaika, Pooja Visit Shilpa Shetty's Puja

Shilpa Shetty's Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations is one of the popular ones in Mumbai. Celebs from film fratenity offer prayers at Shilpa's home. The ritual continued this year too. On the auspicious occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi, celebs like Malaika Arora, Pooja Hegde, Govinda with family, Tanishaa Mukerji, Abhimanyu Dassani, Riteish Deshmukh-Genelia D'Souza visited Shilpa's house on Tuesday. They were dressed in their festive best. Starting with Malaika Arora's OOTD. Malaika chose an orange fusion dress for the occasion. Later she was pictured with fashion designer Vikram Phadnis.

Pooja Hegde chose a green saree and looked absolutely gorgeous.

We also spotted Shilpa's sister Shamita Shetty with their mother.

Riteish Deshmukh-Genelia D'Souza twinned in red. They were accompanied by their sons.

Govinda, with wife Sunita Ahuja and son Yashvardan Ahuja also attended Shilpa's puja. Rakul Preet Singh with Jackky Bhagnani were spotted at Shilpa's home. Take a look at the video here:

Take a look at Tanishaa Mukerji, Abhimanyu Dassani's OOTD here:

Shilpa, who is known for sartorial choices, shared a family picture on her Instagram. In the picture, Shilpa, husband Raj Kundra, son Viaan and daughter Samisha were dressed in co-ordinated clothes. While Shilpa and her daughter can be seen looking at the camera, Raj and Viaan are captured with their back to the camera. Shilpa wrote in the caption, "Ganpati Bappa Moriya. Happy Ganesh Chaturthi to you all. Sukhee Bhava."

Take a look at Shilpa's post here:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Shilpa Shetty Kundra (@theshilpashetty)

Meanwhile, Shilpa's upcoming movie Sukhee is to hit the thetares on September 22. Sukhee marks the directorial debut of Sonal Joshi and is produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Vikram Malhotra, and Shikhaa Sharma. Apart from this, Shilpa will be seen in Rohit Shetty's OTT debut Indian Police Force, which also stars Sidharth Malhotra and Vivek Oberoi. The series will stream on the OTT platform Amazon Prime. She will also act in KD-The Devil as Satyavati alongside V Ravichandran, and Sanjay Dutt. The pan-India multilingual will be released in Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, and Hindi.

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