BANGLADESH opened on Mon
day (30) the murder trial of stu
dent protester Abu Sayeed,
whose killing last year escalated
demonstrations nationwide that
ultimately ousted then prime
minister Sheikh Hasina.
Sayeed died aged 23 in the
northern city of Rangpur, the first
student demonstrator killed in the
police crackdown on protests.
Footage of his last moments on
July 16, 2024 – standing with his
arms outstretched before he was
shot at close range – was shown
repeatedly on Bangladeshi televi
sion after Hasina’s downfall.
Prosecutors at Bangladesh’s war
crimes tribunal charged 30 people
in connection with the killing.
Only four are in custody – two
police officers, a university official
and a student leader – with war
rants issued for the remaining 26.
Up to 1,400 people were killed
between July and August last year,
according to the United Nations,
when Hasina’s government or
dered a crackdown in a failed bid
to cling to power.
Chief prosecutor Mohammad
Tajul Islam said the court had ac
cepted the formal charges, mark
ing the opening of the trial.
“We have stated that Sheikh
Hasina ordered the then interior
minister to use lethal weapons; the
inspector general of police at the
time carried out the instruction,
and the forces on the ground, un
der senior police officers, executed
the order,” Islam told journalists.
“Senior members of the univer
sity administration actively par
ticipated in quashing the protest.”
They include the former vice-
chancellor of Begum Rokeya Uni
versity (BRUR), Hasibur Rashid.
The opening of the Sayeed
murder trial comes a day before
the first anniversary of students
launching their protests.
Initially demanding reforms to
a quota system for public sector
jobs, the demonstrations widened
to include more general grievanc
es against Hasina’s government.
Hasina, who fled to India on
August 5, is not listed in the Say
eed case and her separate trial in
absentia opened in early June.
Prosecutors have filed five charges
against her that amount to crimes
against humanity, which she de
nies according to her now-banned
Awami League. (AFP)
Bangladesh begins trial
over slain student activist
29
Asia
Instagram.com/easterneyenews/ • www.easterneye.biz • July 4, 2025
INDIA’S defence minister, Ra
jnath Singh, told his Chinese
counterpart that the two coun
tries should seek a “permanent
solution” to their decades-old
border dispute, in a new push
for a conclusive outcome.
Singh met China’s Dong Jun
on the sidelines of the meeting
of the defence ministers of the
Shanghai Cooperation Organ
isation (SCO) in Qingdao last
Thursday (26) and stressed on
solving issues between the
countries through a structured
roadmap, India’s defence min
istry said last Friday (27).
“Singh also stressed on bor
der management and to have a
permanent solution of border
demarcation by rejuvenating
the established mechanism on
the issue,” a statement said, re
ferring to the border talks pro
cess between the neighbours.
New Delhi’s stress on a per
manent solution is considered
significant as India has in the
past generally used phrases
such as seeking an early reso
lution to the dispute.
Beijing says the border dis
pute should not affect the larg
er relationship and differences
should be managed until a
mutually acceptable solution
is found through dialogue.
There was no Chinese de
fence ministry statement yet
on the meeting and its foreign
ministry did not respond to a
request for comment.
India wants
border accord
HEAVY rain and flash
flooding across Pakistan
killed 45 people in just a
few days since the start of
the monsoon season, disas
ter management officials
said last Sunday.
The highest toll was in
the province of Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa that borders
Afghanistan, where 10 chil
dren were among 21 killed.
The disaster manage
ment authority said 14 of
those victims died in the
Swat Valley, where media
reported a flash flood
swept away families on a
riverbank. In Pakistan’s
most populous province of
Punjab, along the border
with India, 13 fatalities
were recorded since last
Wednesday (25).
Eight of them were chil
dren who died when walls
or roofs collapsed during
heavy rain, while the adults
were killed in flash floods.
Eleven other deaths re
lated to monsoon were re
corded in Sindh and Balo
chistan provinces.
In May, at least 32 people
were killed in severe
storms in the country,
which experienced several
extreme weather events in
the spring, including
strong hailstorms. Pakistan
is one of the world’s most
vulnerable countries to the
effects of climate change,
and its 240 million resi
dents are facing extreme
weather events with in
creasing frequency.
Pakistan rains
leave 45 dead
AN INDIAN aviation minister
last Sunday (29) said investiga
tors were probing “all angles”
behind an Air India crash
when asked by media about
possible sabotage.
All but one of the 242 people
on board the Boeing 787-8
Dreamliner were killed when it
crashed in Ahmedabad on June
12. Authorities identified 19
others who died on the ground.
India’s minister of state for
civil aviation, Murlidhar Mohol,
said the investigation was look
ing at “all angles” when asked
specifically about possible
“sabotage”, in an interview with
Indian news channel NDTV.
“It has never happened be
fore that both engines have shut
off together,” Mohol said earlier
in the interview, in reference to
theories by some experts of pos
sible dual-engine failure.
Until the investigation report
is published, it would be pre
mature to comment on the
cause, the minister added.
A team investigating the crash
started extracting data from the
plane’s cockpit voice and flight
data recorders last week.
“The analysis... is underway.
These efforts aim to reconstruct
the sequence of events leading
to the accident and identify
contributing factors to enhance
aviation safety and prevent fu
ture occurrences,” a ministry
statement said.
One of the victims’ relatives
said they were waiting for an
swers. “For now, all we know is
the plane took off and then fell.
How? Why? Nobody knows.
And we want to know. We de
serve to know,” said Imtiyaz Ali,
whose brother was on the plane
with his wife and two children.
“I refuse to believe that our
aviation sector is this bad that
we still don’t have any indica
tion about what went wrong,”
he said last Wednesday (24).
Air India said the plane was
“well-maintained” and that the
pilots were accomplished flyers.
Investigators also recovered
more than 100 mobile phones
with the aim of retrieving any
recordings that “may provide
clues about the final moments
of the flight”, Ahmedabad po
lice commissioner GS Malik
said last week.
Airplane crash inquiry
will examine ‘all angles’
TRAGIC FLIGHT:
Engineers recover
parts of the wreckage
RESPECT PAID: Chief adviser of Bangladesh’s
interim government, Muhammad Yunus
(centre), prays at Abu Sayeed’s grave
© Basit Zargar/Getty Images
FOUR SUSPECTS IN CUSTODY
AS HEARING GETS UNDERWAY
© AFP/Getty Images