News from Neighbors

REVERSE CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER

Updated: May 27, 2002 09:39

23-Mar-02 (Zee News) Tribal leader charges govt with violating peace accord - A top leader of the Chittagong Hill tribes has accused the Bangladesh government of violating the peace accord signed five years ago.

20-Mar-02 (Zee News) India in touch with Bangladesh on the condition of minorities - India is in touch with Bangladesh on the stepped up violence against the minorities in the neighbouring country, an external affairs ministry spokesperson said.

18-Mar-02 (Zee News) Violence against minorities in Bangladesh on increase - Violence against members of a minority community in Bangladesh has increased lately and the more recent incident was that of activists of the Jamaat-e-Islami, an ally of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) setting ablaze 20 houses of Hindus in the Lalpur area of Natore district early this month.

17-Mar-02 (Zee News / Times of India) Bangla army chief bribed for Khaleda win - In its bid to gain a foothold into Bangladesh politics and promote Islamic fundamentalist groups in that country, a Pakistan army chief had reportedly paid a bribe of Rs 10 crore to his Bangla counterpart to ensure Khaleda Zia's return to power in Dhaka, a Pakistani media report said.

07-Mar-02 (Times of India / Reuters) Bangla police break up protest over India riot - Bangladesh police used batons to disperse nearly 2,000 radical Muslims who burned an Indian flag and chanted slogans during a street protest against religious clashes in India.

05-Mar-02 (Times of India) Bangladesh rights record poor: US State Department - Torture, extrajudicial killings and deaths in custody are just some of the issues blighting Bangladesh's human rights record, according to a US State Department report. The 21-page annual rights report, released in Washington on Monday, highlights deaths in custody, extrajudicial killings by police and the torture of suspects during questioning as the main concerns.

20-Feb-02 (Indian Express) Dhaka ditches stand, ready to move ahead - The other big issue during the talks was that of atrocities on the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh. According to highly-placed officials, India assessed that the post-election excesses were not just communal but also politically motivated by ‘‘BNP supporters’’. Bangladesh had earlier acknowledged the murders as ‘‘communal violence’’ but then went back on their stand and said they were committed by Awami League supporters based in India. The BNP government has now gone on to say ‘‘nothing actually happened’’.

16-Feb-02 (Zee News) Bangladeshis enroute to Karachi arrested in West Bengal -  BSF has arrested three Bangladeshis, who were proceeding to Karachi for arms training, from a border village in West Bengal's Uttar Dinajpur district, a BSF official said on Saturday.

15-Feb-02 (Zee News) BNP-Jamaat pursuing politics of terrorism, says Hasina - Charging the Bangladesh government with ''pursuing a politics of fanaticism and terrorism'', opposition leader Sheikh Hasina called for restoration of rule of law in the country.

05-Feb-02 (Times of India) Bangla Oppn accuses govt of sheltering Taliban - "There are Taliban elements in the BNP-led four party alliance government who came to power by resorting to irregularities and rigging," Sheikh Hasina, president of main opposition Awami League told reporters here on Tuesday. Referring to the repression of minorities in the country, Hasina said despite government claims on improving their situation, attacks against temples and houses of the minority could be taken to custody.

25-Jan-02 (Times of India) Rough road ahead for Kabir - If he (Shahriyar Kabir) writes the history of the Bangladeshi freedom movement the way he wants to, the BNP-Jamaat Government and other fundamentalists will not spare him.

07-Jan-02 (Indian Express) Letter to Editor: Raise Voices - There are now a number of reports suggesting that minority Hindus are being denied equal rights with the majority Muslim community in Bangladesh. Other reports suggest frank persecution. The Indian government must urge SAARC to eliminate this inequality and protect the rights of Hindus in Bangladesh. Specific instances of persecution must receive greater prominence in the Indian media. Powerful Delhi papers like The Indian Express require to take up this issue with enthusiasm. Unfortunately, this has not happened. -- S. Mukhopadhyay

05-Jan-02 (Hindustan Times) Bangla to take steps to prevent violence against Hindus: Khaleda - Bangladesh on Friday assured India that it is taking all steps to prevent violence against minority Hindus there and said it is setting up a human rights commission. The assurance was given by Bangladesh Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia when she called on prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on the sidelines of the SAARC summit at Kathmandu.

03-Jan-02 (Rediff.com/ Times of India/ Zee News) Indian PM to take up minorities' issue with Khaleda Zia - Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Thursday expressed concern over reports of atrocities on the minorities in Bangladesh and said he would take up the matter with Bangladesh Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia during the SAARC summit beginning on Friday in Kathmandu.

27-Dec-01 (Mayer Dak) 22 Hindu Women Raped, Forced to Walk Naked In Public - Right wing Muslim fundamentalists armed with lethal weapons attacked Hindu residents during the dark of night in Kachipara village of Patuakhali district. Women were raped throughout the night and made to walk nude in the market the next morning. The fanatics also urinated in their mouths when these defenseless women, being thirsty were begging for water.

27-Dec-01 (Times of India) Amnesty discusses jailed journalist with Bangla PM - The secretary general of Amnesty International has met Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia to discuss sending a team here following allegations of human rights violations against women and religious minorities, reports said on Thursday.

26-Dec-01 (Times of India) BSF hands over body of a Bangladeshi infiltrator - Bangladesh rifles (bdr) reviewed border situation in the light of the death of four bangladeshi intruders in uttar dinjapur and murshidabad  districts during the last 72 hours

24-Dec-01 (Mayer Dak) 4 Million Bangladeshi Minorities are Victims of Ethnic Persecution - Since the pre-election stage in mid 2001, at least 4 million or about 20% of the country’s minorities have become victims of torture directly or indirectly. The majority of them are Hindus and the rest are Christians, Buddhist and Tribal Hindus. Among the persecuted, at least one fourth of them are either homeless or still in the fear of being attacked. Hundreds of thousands of minorities are waiting to take shelter in India and other neighboring countries... Till to date about one thousand temples, churches and pagodas have been damaged, thousands of puja pandals have been attacked, and images of gods and goddess' that have been damaged are over a few thousands in number... More than one hundred women including minors have become victims of rape...

23-Dec-01 (Times of India) India intercepted 600 Bangladeshis in 2001 - India's border security guards had intercepted a total of 600 bangladeshi nationals trying to cross into india this year sent them back.

23-Dec-01 (Times of India) BSF mulls lighting up Indo-Bangla border - BSF is examining a proposal for installing flood-lights along the Indo-Bangladesh border in West Bengal for better observation and patrolling during the night to prevent infiltration and check border crime

16-Dec-01 (Times of India / AFP) Vajpayee visit unites Trinamul, BJP leaders - Senior Leaders of WB wanted the Centre to step in to prevent ill-treatment of people coming for shelter in the state from Bangladesh after the elections there.

15-Dec-01 (Times of India / AFP) Bangla journalist alleges police torture - Bangladeshi journalist and anti-muslim fundamentalism campaigner held on suspicion of treason has alleged that police tortured him during detention, newspaper reports said on saturday.shahriar kabir ...

08-Dec-01 (Zee News) Home minister's deputy to visit Hindu refugees from Bangladesh - Concerned over the influx of more than 300,000 Hindu refugees from Bangladesh into India since October, Union Home Minister L K Advani is sending his deputy Vidyasagar Rao in Kolkata later this month to assess the gravity of the situation.

07-Dec-01 (Times of India) Sangh takes up cudgels for Bangla Hindus - The Sangh Parivar leaders on Wednesday led a delegation to the Prime Minister to protest the harrassment of Hindus by the Khalida Zia government in Bangladesh.

07-Dec-01 (Times of India) Protect Hindus, Amnesty to Bangla govt - LONDON: Bangladesh's government must take urgent action to protect the Hindu minority following weeks of grave human rights abuses, Amnesty International said on Wednesday.

06-Dec-01 (Indian Express) Citizens and non-citizens - With the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971, it was expected that the new regime would ensure communal harmony and tackle the social and economic problems in a manner which would eliminate or at least reduce migration. That did not happen.

04-Dec-01 (Rediff.com) Lok Sabha concerned about attacks on Bangladesh Hindus - The Lok Sabha on Tuesday expressed concern on the atrocities committed on Hindus in Bangladesh, with the Union Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani emphasising that the government would not spare any efforts to convey its anguish to Dhaka.

03-Dec-01 (Indian Express) VHP demands homeland for Bangla Hindus - The VHP demanded a homeland for Hindus within Bangladesh because of their recent persecution. VHP acting president Ashok Singhal said, Bangladesh Hindus were forced to flee their homes, and women in most villages were raped. As many as 100,000 people had crossed into India, he said.

03-Dec-01 (Rediff.com) PM should ask Bangladesh to stop minority repression: VHP - The Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Monday asked Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to put pressure on the Bangladesh government to stop repression of the minority Hindu community, besides demanding a 'separate homeland' for them within its boundaries.

30-Nov-01 (Pioneer) Minority cleansing in Bangladesh - Begum Khaleda Zia, Prime Minister of Bangladesh, must be grateful to the war in Afghanistan which continues to hog media attention the world over. Otherwise the large-scale atrocities on the minorities (Hindus, Buddhists and Christians) and the Fascist repression on political opponents and dissenters, continuing in that country since the general elections of October 1 which returned her Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) to power with a massive majority, would have attracted worldwide condemnation.

30-Nov-01 (Times of India) BSF concerned about Indo-Bangla border situation - Situation had become more acute with the exodus of a large number of minority hindu community from bangladesh following attacks by fundamentalist groups after khaleda zia government took over.

30-Nov-01 (Indian Express/PTI) America urges Bangladesh to respect religious freedom - The United States has urged Bangladesh to respect religious rights and human rights and practise tolerance.

29-Nov-01 (Times of India) ABVP takes up cause of Bangla Hindus (TNN) - hi parishad on wednesday expressed serious concern over the increasing atrocities against hindus in Bangladesh and urged the union government to mount international pressure on the Bangladeshi government.

28-Nov-01 (Zee News) Bangla FM admits "small incidents" of Hindu migration to India - Bangladesh Foreign Minister M. Morshed Khan today admitted that some "small incidents" of migration by Hindus to India did take place in some parts of the country.

27-Nov-01 (Times of India) Police alert on Indo-Bangla border, says SP (TNN) - bangladesh has as yet come over to this district, all border police stations have been asked to keep constant vigil, according to kishanganj superintendent of police s k singhal.

26-Nov-01 (Zee News) NDA will ask Zia to stop refugee influx across Bangla border - Bharatiya Janata Party national President K Jana Krishnamurthy on Saturday said the National Democratic Alliance government at the centre would ask the Khaleda Zia government in Bangladesh to stop influx from across the border.

26-Nov-01 (Times of India) Court raps Bangla Govt over attacks on Hindus (AFP) - Bangladesh's High Court has ordered the government to explain why steps should not be taken to protect the country's Hindu religious minority as media Sunday slammed the arrest of a senior ...

25-Nov-01 (Times of India) Court hauls up Dhaka for atrocities on minorities ( IANS)  - Bangladesh high court saturday asked the government to explain why it should not be ordered to take action to protect the country's religious minorities from terrorist attacks and harassment.

25-Nov-01 (Zee News) 250 illegal Bangladeshi migrants held - Police have arrested nearly 250 Bangladeshi migrants in the past three days for illegally crossing the border into West Bengal.

23-Nov-01 (Times of India) Bangla rights activist detained after India visit (AP) - On his return from a visit to india, where he had discussed violence against minority hindus in bangladesh with fellow activists, the police and a rights group said on friday. Shahriar kabir was ...

21-Nov-01 (Times of India) March against Bangla attacks - (TNN, Kolkata) - Bangladesh udvastu sammilani organised a march here on tuesday in protest against the alleged attacks on hindus in bangladesh. the processionists marched through chowringee, a.j.c. bose road to circus.

20-Nov-01 (Zee News) 'India prompted Bangla to include secularism in constitution of Bangladesh' - A senior minister of Bangladesh's BNP-led government has said that secularism was incorporated in the country's constitution in 1972 by the then ruling party Awami League at the prompting of India.

19-Nov-01 (Outlook India) The Damned And The Forgotten - With attention focused on the war westwards, there's none to heed the plight of Hindus fleeing the excesses of BNP rule.

19-Nov-01 (Zee News) Alert along Bangla border as mass intrusion feared - Security forces were put on maximum alert along the Bangladesh border on Monday amid fears of mass infiltration following alleged persecution on religious minorities there, officials said.

18-Nov-01 (Statesman) North 24-Parganas a safe haven for fleeing Bangladeshis - For hundreds of hapless Bangladeshi Hindus fleeing their country, villages just across the border in North 24-Parganas serve as a safe haven. They come here, spend a day and leave for “safer” districts like Burdwan, Birbhum, Bankura and Purulia.

18-Nov-01 (Indian Express) RSS to launch campaign against atrocities on Hindus - The RSS would launch a week-long awareness campaign all over the country from December 1 to protest increasing atrocities against Hindus in neighbouring Bangladesh after Khaleda Zia-led Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) assumed office in October this year.

15-Nov-01 (Times of India) Congress 'no' to refugee status for intruders - West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee president Pranab Mukherjee is against declaring as refugees people who are arriving in the state from Bangladesh for shelter after facing religious and political persecution in the wake of the election victory of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

14-Nov-01 (Times of India) State urged to take up ‘refugee’ issue (PTI) - expressing concern over the violation of rights of the people belonging to the minorty community in bangladesh after the recent election there, the front said that steps should be taken to stop violation ...

14-Nov-01 (Yahoo News / The Hindu) Plight of Hindus  - According to a news report, nearly four million Hindus have been subjected to rape, murder, loot and intimidation by fundamentalists in collaboration with the Bangladesh Government. Nearly four hundred thousand have entered India for safety and security.

13-Nov-01 (Pioneer) Crisis of Hindu Bengalis - The ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party's call for imposition of Jaziya on the Hindu Bengalis (as reported in the Bangla daily, Sangbad) typifies the phrase: "History repeats itself." What was a hypothesis yesterday, however, is a reality today as Hindu Bengalis in Bangladesh are facing the grim prospect of forced conversion, inevitable death or inevitable (and ignominious) migration to India.

12-Nov-01 (Statesman) Refugee crisis a human problem: Anil - Mr Anil Biswas today said the influx from Bangladesh is a “human problem” and the government is looking into it “with utmost seriousness”. The CPI-M state secretary said the government would have to consider all aspects before taking a decision on dealing with the situation. “One has to be careful about rumours triggering panic.” The BJP today said the government was handling the influx problem very “casually”. “The state administration has assured that it is keeping a watch on the situation. That is not enough”, Mr Muzaffar Khan, state unit vice president, said.

11-Nov-01 (Ananda Bazar) BSF Firing Kills Teenage Girl Seeking Safe Haven in India - A teenaged girl was killed in BSF firing as her family was crossing the border, fleeing the minority persecution in Bangladesh. Her 15 year-old brother was also critically wounded and is now the Raiganj Hospital where he is being treated for bullet wounds to the stomach.

10-Nov-01 (Times of India) India lodges protest with Dhaka over Hindu influx (PTI) - India has lodged a strong protest with Dhaka over the influx of Hindu minorities into West Bengal following atrocities on them in Bangladesh, Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj said here on Saturday.

10-Nov-01 (Yahoo News / Telegraph) Mamata in influx crusade - Concerned over the continued “exodus” of Hindus from Bangladesh, Mamata Banerjee drew the attention of both the Centre and the state government to the UN resolution on refugees, which calls for their humane treatment

09-Nov-01 (123India.com / AFP) Bangladesh to investigate reported attacks on Hindu minority - The Bangladeshi government has pledged to investigate alleged atrocities on members of the country's minority Hindu community and their reported exodus to India, official sources said Friday.

08-Nov-01(HinduOnNet) Minority groups in Bangladesh call for strike

08-Nov-01 (Times of India) Straight Answers: Md Touhid Hossain - Md Touhid Hossain, Deputy High Commissioner, Bangladesh, on the minority influx into West Bengal: How are you reacting to the recent attack on minorities in Bangladesh and the subsequent influx?

08-Nov-01 (Hindustan Times / AFP) Hindus fled to India after "atrocities", admits Bangla envoy - "We admit that some Hindu families have crossed over to India in the wake of the atrocities and threats to them. But it is a law and order problem, created by some rowdies during the transition of the governments," said Mohammad Touhid Hossain, Bangladesh's deputy high commissioner in the eastern Indian city of Calcutta.

07-Nov-01 (Indian Express) Bengal yet to provide relief to Hindu refugees - Kolkata: Senior officials in the state Relief Department said today that no relief and rehabilitation operation has been undertaken by the state so far.

07-Nov-01 (Zee News) Hindu minorities crossing over to Bengal in thousands - Thousands of Hindu migrants are crossing the Indo-Bangladesh border near here - risking their lives, leaving everything including their near and dear ones behind - to save themselves from large-scale attacks on minorities in Bangladesh.

06-Nov-01 (Telegraph) LIFE "WORSE THAN DEATH" FOR 13-YR-OLD, MOTHER OF 3 Thakurnagar (North 24-Parganas):  Lakshmi Das is 37. Her eldest daughter, Durga, is 18. Rani Sil, who hid in the paddy fields for three days, is 25. And Sadhana Poddar is all of 13. None of them was, however, too old or too young to escape what each would first deny and then break down and simply describe as "something worse than death".  Lakshmi, Durga, Rani and Sadhana (all names of rape victims have been changed) are four of the 60-odd women and over 100 persons who have taken refuge in villages between Thakurnagar railway station and the Indo-Bangladesh border.

05-Nov-01 (Times of India) Bangla immigrants to be pushed back - Many people have crossed the border in recent weeks after political persecusion following the elections in Bangladesh. Asked about their fate, Bhattacharjee said: “We can’t help it. Those who don’t have papers must be treated as intruders and pushed back.”

04-Nov-01 (Indian Express) WB Cong fears socio-economic crisis from Bangla Hindu migration - Reactions to the growing influx of minorities from Bangladesh following the last month election there, is becoming increasingly evident.

04-Nov-01 (Times of India) 'You either buy peace or convert' - "The situation is frightening. In Bangladesh, where the Hindus are a minority and poor, oppression is maximum," claimed Shyamal Sikdar, adding: "If you pay them, you can buy peace. But if you do not, then conversion is the only way out."

04-Nov-01 (Pioneer) Bangla Hindus on PM's agenda - Islamabad and Dhaka now have something in common. Rising fundamentalist threat at both the centres of power will likely be discussed by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee during his talks with US President George Bush. With a powerful lobby of the US Congressmen expressing concern over "ethnic cleansing" in Bangladesh, Mr Vajpayee during his talks with Bush would take up the cause of one million Bangladeshi Hindus rendered homeless since pro-fundamentalist Government rose to power in Dhaka.

03-Nov-01 (Zee News) Bangladeshi migrants flee to WB - Scores of men and women have left their homes in Bangladesh and bundled up their earthly belongings to sneak into the border districts of Malda, Uttar Dinajpur and Dakshin Dinajpur of West Bengal.

02-Nov-01 (Indian Express / Reuters) Bangladeshi Hindus cross into West Bengal - "We have confirmed that five Hindu families, consisting of 19 people, have come into this district from Bangladesh recently," H. Mohan, magistrate of Dakshin Dinajpur district of West Bengal, told Reuters by phone.

November 2001(Pioneer) Minority muzzled in Bangladesh - An analysis of the census shows that nearly three million Hindus have fled Bangladesh between 1974 and 1991 at the rate of 1,73,375 a year and 475 each day.

29-Oct-01 (Rediff.com) 300 Hindu families flee Bangladesh - At least 300 Hindu families from Bangladesh have taken shelter in Belonia subdivision of south Tripura district since last week, following threats from Muslim fundamentalist organisations, intelligence sources in Agartala said.

28-Oct-01 (Hindustan Times) Fresh Bangladeshi influx alarms Govt - A fresh influx of Bangladeshi nationals into some Indian border states after the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led alliance captured power in Dhaka recently has set alarm bells ringing in the corridors of power here. West Bengal and Tripura have taken the brunt of illegal immigration. A Home Ministry document attributes the recent inflow to ''either political vendetta against Awami League supporters or BNP's targeting of Hindus''.

25-Oct-01 (Zee News) Brajesh Mishra to visit Bangladesh on Friday - National security adviser Brajesh Mishra meets Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia in Dhaka on Friday carrying a personal message of goodwill of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, even as Dhaka summoned the Indian High Commissioner in connection with VHP`s protests in New Delhi.

25-Oct-01 (The Hindu / Reuters) Hindu women raped in Bangladesh - A Bangladeshi women's group today said minority Hindu people in the predominantly Muslim country had been subjected to rape, looting and other abuse since a new government  assumed office this month.

24-Oct-01 (Zee News) Copies of Bangla magazine seized - The Bangladesh authorities have confiscated copies of Bangla magazine 'desh' for carrying articles regarding the country's support to subversive and militant activities in the northeast region of India.

23-Oct-01 (Hindustan Times) BJP asks govt to take up minority issue with Bangla govt - BJP asked Centre to take up with Bangladesh Government the issue of growing attacks against minority Hindus in that country by Islamic fundamentalists.

23-Oct-01 (Indian Express) Dhaka vows action on Hindu-bashing - As Durga Puja got off to a cautious start in Bangladesh on Monday, India decided to take up the matter of Hindus fleeing that country with Dhaka.

23-Oct-01 (Rediff.com / PTI) Hindu families flee Bangladesh - At least four Hindu families from Bangladesh have crossed over to India and 45 more are waiting to do so.

22-Oct-01 (Indian Express) Editorial: Borderline Case: Khaleda should listen well to the tales the refugees tell - If Bangladesh is to project itself as a significant regional power, it would necessarily have to adopt a forward thinking vision, one that breaks free of the hold of the mullah and reap the benefits of modernity.

22-Oct-01 (Indian Express) Bangladesh rights group confirms violence against Hindus - Thousands of minority Hindus have fled their homes to escape attacks blamed on the supporters of Bangladesh's new government, rights groups and news reports said on Sunday. Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's new government, comprising a four-party alliance that includes two Islamic fundamentalist parties, denies the charges.

22-Oct-01 (Telegraph) Bangla exodus after assault on women - Growing violence against the minority community has forced thousands of families to flee their homes in Bangladesh, according to human rights groups and newspaper reports today.

22-Oct-01 (Assam Tribune) Thousands of Hindus fleeing Bangladesh – Thousands of minority Hindus have fled their homes to escape attacks blamed on the supporters of  Bangladesh’s new Government, rights groups and news reports said today.

21-Oct-01 (Telegraph) Bangla exodus after assault on women - Newspapers published photos of young Hindu women who have been molested during attacks on their homes reportedly by supporters of Begum Zia’s new coalition. Denying the charges, Khaleda Zia’s government has said reports of anti-Hindu violence have been “baseless, exaggerated and politically motivated”.

20-Oct-01 (Indian Express) The other border, another problem - Hindu families leaving Bangladesh allege harassment, Dhaka says not true.

16-Oct-01 (Times of India) Thousands protest attacks on Bangla minorities - CHITTAGONG: Several thousand people protested in Bangladesh Tuesday against attacks on members of the minority Hindu community, witnesses said.

16-Oct-01 (Times of India) Bangladesh minorities flee post-poll fury (TNN) - Members of Bangladesh’s minority community are fleeing the country and taking shelter at Belonia and Sabrum in South Tripura amidst reports of renewed attacks.

14-Oct-01 (Indian Express) Bangla inquiry into minority bullying begins - THE Bangladesh government has began investigation into large-scale oppression and harassment of hundreds of minorities that have taken place in the past two weeks across the country.

13-Oct-01 (Indian Express) We’re being targeted, say Bangla’s Hindus - Many NGOs and social groups have expressed fear that the situation, if not controlled immediately, could force an exodus of refugees from Bangladesh into West Bengal.

THE TIMES OF INDIA

11-Oct-01 (Times of India) Spurt in minority influx into state from Bangladesh (TNN) - Since the election in Bangladesh on October 1, there has been an influx of members of the minority communities into West Bengal districts bordering Bangladesh. Most of the influx has been through Hili, Hakimpur and the Benapole border, according to a report sent by Border Security Force officers to Delhi.

11-Oct-01 (Zee News) Khaleda Zia carries with her baggage of fundamentalist parties - Begum Khaleda Zia, who assumed reins of power in Bangladesh for the third time Wednesday evening, is carrying a disposable baggage of fundamentalist parties like Jamaat-e-Islami and has cultivated over the years an unfriendly, if not altogether hostile, image towards India.

03-Oct-01 (Indian Express) Battle of the begums (Indian Express : Editorials & Analysis) - Khaleda’s victory shows her new maturity as a politician. ... there is a large anti-India constituency in Bangladesh willing to be exploited. But this time she also took care to woo minority votes by visiting the famous ...