Al Qaeda announces India wing, renews loyalty to Taliban chief

Al Qaeda announces India wing, renews loyalty to Taliban chief.

DUBAI | Msn News | 06 Sep 2014 : :  Al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahri on Wednesday announced the formation of an Indian branch of his militant group he said would spread Islamic rule and "raise the flag of jihad" across the subcontinent.

In a 55-minute video posted online, Zawahri also renewed a longstanding vow of loyalty to Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar, in an apparent snub to the Islamic State armed group challenging al Qaeda for leadership of transnational Islamist militancy.

Zawahri described the formation of "Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent" as a glad tidings for Muslims "in Burma, Bangladesh, Assam, Gujarat, Ahmedabad, and Kashmir" and said the new wing would rescue Muslims there from injustice and oppression.

Counter-terrorism experts say al Qaeda's aging leaders are struggling to compete for recruits with Islamic State, which has galvanized young followers around the world by carving out tracts of territory across the Iraq-Syria border.

Islamic State leader Abu Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi calls himself a "caliph" or head of state and has demanded the loyalty of all Muslims.

The group fell out with Zawahri in 2013 over its expansion into Syria, where Baghdadi's followers have carried out beheadings, crucifixions, and mass executions.

As well being an indirect repudiation of Islamic State, the announcement could pose a challenge to India's new prime minister, Narendra Modi. He has already faced criticism for remaining silent about several incidents deemed anti-Muslim, underscoring fears that his Hindu nationalist followers will upset religious relations in the majority Hindi nation.

However, while al Qaeda is very much at home in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area, due to influential contacts and a long presence there, it is a minnow compared to local militant groups in terms of manpower and regional knowledge. (Courtesy : Retures, Msn News )

At least 18 killed in Bangladesh election violence.

At least 18 killed in Bangladesh election violence.

Bangladeshi police detain a suspect following an
 attack on a polling station in the northern town of
 Bog Photo: AFP/Getty Images

David Bergman in Dhaka and Dean Nelson in New Delhi | The Telegraph | 05 Jan 2014 ::  Bangladesh's opposition has called a new 48-hour general strike to protest at the killing of its supporters by police during a violence-plagued general election More than eighteen protesters have been shot dead in polling day violence through Bangladesh as security forces clashed with opposition groups boycotting the general election.

More than 100 polling stations — most of them in local schools - were set on fire on the eve of the election and voting was, according to the election commission, suspended in nearly 400 voting centres.

Police said they had opened fire on opposition activists launching arson attacks on the election and attempting to sabotage the poll by stealing ballot papers. One auxillary police officer was also beaten to death by opposition supporters.The violence could well continue after the opposition announced it will continue its general strike for a further 48 hours.

Bangladesh Nationalist Party and 20 other other opposition parties boycotted the election in protest at the government’s 2011 decision not to hand over to a neutral caretaker administration — a break with long-standing practice.

Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government has resisted international pressure to delay the election and find a compromise to allow all opposition parties to participate. The European Union and other international organisations declined to monitor the election because of the scale of the boycott.

Despite the violence and sabotage, elections were held in 147 of the countries 300 constituencies but the government was already guaranteed victory because its candidates were unopposed in the rest of them.

Badiul Majumdar, secretary of Sujan, a civil society governance movement told the Telegraph the election was “unacceptable.” 'This is an unacceptable election and the government’s moral authority will never be lower. Either the government can initiate dialogue with opposition for another election [or] try and stay in power and then the government will have to apply force and history shows that nobody can stay in power long when their moral position is weak. This will only complicate situation, make the violence more widespread,” he said.

Tofail Ahmed, a senior Awami League figure, said the party was satisfied with the election and would now form a new government.( courtesy : The Telegraph )

Slippery Indian Mujahideen leader Yasin Bhatkal arrested, to be brought to Delhi.

Slippery Indian Mujahideen leader Yasin Bhatkal arrested, to be brought to Delhi.

Nerw Delhi | 29 Aug 2013 :: Suspected terror mastermind and top Indian Mujahideen leader Yasin Bhatkal was nabbed from the Indo-Nepal border on Wednesday night, apparently giving India a bigger catch than Lashkar-e-Taiba bomb maker Abdul Karim Tunda this month.

 

Bhatkal, wanted in around 40 blast cases and carrying a reward of Rs. 35 lakh, is the biggest IM leader ever arrested and security agencies are hopeful of gaining crucial information on the outfit that was designated a terrorist group in 2010.

 

On the run for over five years in several countries including Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan, Bhatkal (30) was held along with his associate Asadullah Akhtar aka Haddi (26) while crossing into India at Raxaul Nahar Chowk (around 100 km from Patna) opposite Birgunj town of Nepal.(Courtesy:Hindustan Times)

Bangladesh SC rejects Jamaat’s plea against disqualification.

Bangladesh SC rejects Jamaat’s plea against disqualification.

Bangladesh's largest Islamic party Jamaat-e-Islami leaders
 and activists participate in a demonstration in Dhaka. File photo

Bangladesh | PTI | 05 Aug 2013 :: In another blow to Bangladesh’s fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami party, the Supreme Court on Monday rejected its plea against a High Court verdict that declared it illegal and barred it from contesting future polls.

The chamber judge of the Appellate Division Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury Manik rejected the Jamaat’s petition seeking stay on the High Court verdict on August 1.

The judge said there is no merit in the stay petition and the petitioner’s lawyer did not place any argument in support of it, The Daily Star reported.

The Jamaat could move a regular appeal before the Appellate Division against the verdict after getting its full text, the judge said.

The High Court had scrapped the Jamaat’s registration with the Election Commission (EC) and disqualified the country’s once-most powerful right-wing outfit from contesting future polls following a writ petition saying its charter breached the secular Constitution.

Bangladesh Tariqat Federation’s Secretary General Rezaul Haque Chandpuri and 24 others had filed the writ petition on January 25, 2009. Tariqat is a group that preaches Sufi philosophy and promotes secularism.

In the petition, they said the Jamaat was a religion-based political party and it did not believe in independence and sovereignty of Bangladesh.

The Tariqat Federation claimed in the petition that the Representation of People Order (RPO) law does not allow the registration of a communal outfit as a political party.

The verdict last week came amid intensified demands for outlawing the Jamaat blamed for “crimes against humanity” during the 1971 liberation war against Pakistan.

The Jamaat is a crucial ally of main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party headed by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia.(Courtesy:The Hindu)