Former Bangladesh PM Khaleda Zia. File.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Accusing Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of a “personal political vendetta” against her predecessor and political rival Khaleda Zia, a senior leader from her party on June 23 claimed she is on her “deathbed” as she has been deprived of advance medical treatment abroad.

A report in The Daily Star said that Ms. Zia, 78, was rushed to Evercare Hospital here in an ambulance around 3:30 a.m. on Saturday as she suddenly fell ill at her residence, ‘Firoza’ in Gulshan.

Ms. Hasina’s action is a result of “personal political vendetta,” Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir alleged and said, “It’s our misfortune that our leader Khaleda Zia is now in critical condition on her deathbed without receiving any (necessary) medical treatment (abroad).” She was quickly admitted to the CCU, where her medical treatment began under the supervision of a medical board.

The BNP leader further alleged that Ms. Zia has been imprisoned for a long period due to the vindictiveness of the current “oppressive fascist” government, the news portal said.

Ms. Zia, who was the prime minister from 1991 to 1996 and then again from 2001 to 2006, fell ill while staying in Old Dhaka Central Jail, but no medical treatment was provided to her there, he said.

“Although she was allowed to stay at home, she is actually under complete confinement and remains imprisoned,” he said.

“The BNP chief complained repeatedly, but the government did not pay heed and did not provide her with medical care. Later, when she was taken to the hospital (by the jail authorities), she did not receive any proper treatment there either,” Alamgir said.

“The medical board has consistently stated that treating Khaleda’s illness here in Bangladesh is not possible, she requires treatment at a multidisciplinary hospital in a developed country,” Alamgir said.

“But Sheikh Hasina out of her personal political vendetta has denied Khaleda access to better medical treatment to kill her and to remove her from politics,” he alleged.

Dhaka:

Bangladesh has begun evacuating millions of people ahead of Cyclone Remal, which is expected to bring winds as fast as 130 kmph when it makes landfall.

The cyclonic storm in the Bay of Bengal is poised to cross the country’s coastlines between Sunday evening and midnight, Xinhua news agency reported.

Bangladesh Meteorological Department on Sunday warned of the danger of flooding, landslides and a storm surge.

The great danger signal No. 10 has been sounded for the country’s coastal districts and seaports, where fishing boats, trawlers and maritime vessels have been advised to remain in shelter till further notice.

At 9.00 a.m. local time Sunday, the cyclone was centred 295 km south of Bangladesh’s Mongla port in the southern Khulna region and 380 km southwest of Chattogram port in southeastern Bangladesh, said the bulletin signed by Kh Hafizur Rahman, a meteorologist at BMD.

Bangladeshi State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief, Md Mohibur Rahman, told Xinhua that at least 8,00,000 people from the ten most vulnerable districts have already been evacuated to shelters.

He said Bangladesh’s navy, coast guard, police, voluntary organisations and political parties were supporting the ongoing massive evacuation efforts.

Television footage showed widespread flooding in the low-lying areas of coastal districts.

Due to the peripheral effect of the severe cyclone and steep pressure gradient, the low-lying areas of the coastal districts of Khulna and Chattogram are likely to be inundated by a wind-driven surge of 8-12 feet height above normal astronomical tide, reads the bulletin.

Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority has suspended operations of all types of river vessels on all inner routes. Authorities of Chattogram Seaport have ordered to stop unloading of cargo at the outer anchorage and asked all the vessels anchored there to go to the deep sea.

Shah Amanat International Airport in Chattogram has suspended its flight operation for eight hours from Sunday afternoon.

In 2007, Cyclone Sidr hit the country’s southwestern coastal belt, leaving more than 4,000 people dead or missing.

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

Saima Wazed and Dr. Shambhu Acharya seen together at a meet in New Delhi.
| Photo Credit: Special arrangement

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s daughter, Saima Wazed, was on Wednesday nominated as the next Regional Director for the World Health Organization’s South-East Asia region.

She defeated Shambu Acharya, a public health veteran from Nepal, in a vote held here during the 76th session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia Region. 

Bangladesh, Bhutan, DPR (North) Korea, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Timor-Leste — 10 of the 11 member countries — took part in the vote. Myanmar did not send a delegation to the meeting. 

The nomination will be submitted to the WHO Executive Board during its 154th session, which is scheduled to take place on January 22-27 in Geneva, Switzerland, the WHO regional office said in an official communication.

The newly appointed Regional Director will take over from the present incumbent, Poonam Khetrapal Singh, on February 1.

Ms. Wazed, in a statement, said the WHO South-East Asia Region was home to over two billion people — more than a quarter of the people of the planet — and that the region represented a diversity with often differences existing within the boundaries of single member states themselves. She said that her priority areas of work would include universal health coverage (UHC), emergency response and pandemic preparedness, collaboration and partnerships (regional and multi-sectoral), and mental health.

“We will work to promote community-based mental healthcare services in member countries, encourage prevention and promotion in mental health while expanding efforts to include mental health in the public health agenda,” Ms. Wazed said.

Reacting to the result, Swarup Sarkar, former Director of WHO SEARO, said the election demonstrated the collective resolve of member states to move forward with the vision set out by Ms. Wazed.

“As a former WHO staff, I would look forward to a stronger, responsive, and responsible WHO working at the global, regional and country levels, on the principle of one WHO and more participation of civil society at all stages of WHO work,” he said.

Dhaka:

Bangladeshi police clashed on Tuesday with thousands of garment workers demanding fair wages for the clothing they make for major Western brands, a day after similar protests left at least two people dead. Police said tens of thousands of workers at dozens of factories had launched strikes in Ashulia and Gazipur, the country’s largest industrial city, with authorities firing tear gas and rubber bullets as crowds smashed up factories and blocked roads.

Gazipur alone is home to more than a thousand plants that make clothing for brands such as H&M and Gap.

“Workers hit the streets as their salaries can no longer cover rising food expenses,” said Al Kamran, a senior garment union leader in Ashulia.

Bangladesh is one of the world’s largest garment exporters, with the industry accounting for 85 percent of the South Asian country’s $55 billion in annual exports.

But conditions are dire for many of its four million apparel workers.

“Some 15,000 of the workers joined protests for a wage hike at separate places in Ashulia,” Mahmud Naser, deputy police chief of the Ashulia industrial area, told AFP.

Union leader Kamran disputed those figures, reporting some 50,000 workers had downed tools in Ashulia alone, with soaring prices a key driver.

The cost of some basic foodstuffs, like potatoes and onions, had more than doubled since last year, Kamran said.

“House rents have also spiked. The only thing that has not increased is salaries.” 

Taslima Akter, the head of the Garment Sramik Samhati union, has said the compensation manufacturers are offering is “less than what a worker got in 2017” once inflation and currency depreciation were taken into account.

Police said protesters had set fire to tyres, broken windows at factories and blocked a key highway connecting the industrial area with the capital Dhaka.

Officers responded by firing “rubber bullets and tear gas”, said Naser, the deputy chief in Ashulia, adding there were no reports of injuries.

The protests erupted early last week, but violence escalated on Monday when tens of thousands left their shifts and staged protests in Gazipur, where a six-storey factory was torched by workers, leading to the death of one labourer. 

Another worker was killed during clashes between police and protesters.

Bangladesh is home to around 3,500 garment factories making clothing for some of the world’s largest retailers and brands, but the basic monthly wage for workers is just 8,300 taka ($75).

Unions said the workers vented their anger on the streets after the powerful manufacturers’ association offered a 25 percent raise, ignoring demands for a new monthly minimum basic wage of 23,000 taka — nearly a threefold increase.

The South Asian country of nearly 170 million has overtaken its neighbour India in per capita income, with the garment industry at the centre of its impressive growth over the past two decades.

But wage protests pose a major challenge to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has ruled the country with an iron fist since 2009. A resurgent opposition has challenged her rule as she readies for elections due before January.

Her government set up a panel this year to set a new minimum wage.

Unions say that garment factory owners — who include ministers and influential lawmakers — have played a role in fixing the minimum wage during past negotiations.

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

At least 13 people were killed and several others injured on October 23 when a passenger train collided with a freight train in Bangladesh, officials said.

The accident took place when the passenger train headed from Kishoreganj to Dhaka collided with the freight train around 4:15 pm.

Thirteen bodies have been found so far, bdnews24 reported, citing a police official at the Bhairab Railway Station.

Several people were trapped under the damaged coaches, the news portal said.

“An initial report said that the freight train crashed into the Egaro Sindhur from behind, striking two of the carriages,” said Anowar Hossain, superintendent of Dhaka Railway Police.

The number of fish imported from Bangladesh has grown from 500 MT in 2019 to 3,950 in 2023.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Weeks ahead of the Durga Puja, the Government of Bangladesh has allowed export of about 3,950 Metric Tonnes (MT) of Hilsa Fish to India.

Ministry of Commerce, Bagaladesh in an order issued on Wednesday said that 79 fish exporters from the country have been given permission to export 50 tonnes of the fish each to India. The permission for export is valid till October 30.

Making an exemption on its blanket ban of Hilsa Fish export, Bangladesh has been allowing Hilsa export every year since 2019, during the puja season. The number of fish exported has grown from 500 MT in 2019 to 3,950 in 2023.

The first shipment of the fish reached markets in Kolkata on Thursday evening, Syed Anwar Maqsood, the secretary of Fish Importers Association said.

Mr. Maqsood said that it was difficult to import such a large amount of fish in the usual 20-30 days and urged the Bangladesh High Commission to give at least 60 days time. “Despite the permission given for the export of 2,900 MT Hilsa fish in September last year, only 1,300 MT could be shipped due to the lack of time,” he said

Mr. Maqsood also pointed out that catching of Hilsa fish in Bangladesh will be prohibited for several days in the window provided for the export, which effectively gives the traders only 22 days to bring 3,950 MT of Hilsa to India.

Before 2012, when there were no restrictions on the import of Hilsa fish, about 5,000 MT of Hilsa fish was exported to India. The Fish Importers Association has been demanding that Bangladesh remove the restrictions on the export of Hilsa fish.

The Hilsa fish is considered a delicacy breed in the Gangetic Delta. The yield of the fish in West Bengal has fallen sharply over the past few decades from 80,000 tones in 2001 to 11,000 in 2021. Experts have blamed overfishing for the sharp decline.

Hilsa diplomacy

The decision of Bangladesh to send fish to India ahead of the festive season over the past few years is considered a part of diplomacy as the neighbouring country has been a part of the Teesta water sharing treaty with India. 

Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina in September 2022 during a diplomatic reception in Delhi had said that, “You [India] aren’t giving us enough water, so I can’t give you Hilsa fish right now”. The Prime Minister, however, promised that she will be able to supply Hilsa by the upcoming Puja season.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has publicly expressed reservations against sharing of Teesta water.