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Bangladesh: Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami holds massive rally to show strength as elections near
In a powerful show of strength, Bangladesh's largest Islamist political group, Jamaat-e-Islami, mobilised hundreds of thousands of supporters in Dhaka on Saturday to assert its presence ahead of national elections expected next year. The rally comes at a time of political flux in the country following the ousting of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The current interim government, led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus has said that elections are scheduled for April. However, the possibility of an earlier vote in February remains open, following pressure from the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its allies.
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Jamaat-e-Islami, known for supporting Pakistan during the 1971 war for Bangladesh's independence, had earlier announced plans to bring one million demonstrators to the streets for Saturday's gathering.
Hasina, who governed from 2009 until being deposed in a wave of student-led protests last year, fled to India following her removal. During her administration, several senior Jamaat-e-Islami leaders were either executed or imprisoned for war crimes linked to the country's 1971 liberation struggle, during which the Pakistani military launched a brutal crackdown in Dhaka in March of that year.
At the rally, the Islamist party submitted a list of seven demands to the interim administration, including calls for fair and peaceful elections, justice for mass killings, structural reforms, and the adoption of a charter inspired by last year's uprising. The party also demanded that a proportional representation model be adopted for the electoral process.
Many party supporters had camped overnight at the Dhaka University campus before marching to Suhrawardy Udyan, a symbolic site where the Pakistani army surrendered to joint Indian and Bangladeshi forces on December 16, 1971, bringing an end to the war.
Iqbal Hossain, a 40-year-old participant, said, 'We want a new Bangladesh governed by Islamic values, free from corruption, and led by honest individuals. We are willing to give our lives for this mission.'
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Young attendees, many in their 20s and 30s, were also present in large numbers.
'Jamaat-e-Islami stands for equal rights for all. We follow the teachings of the Quran, and that will guide our governance,' said 20-year-old Mohidul Morsalin Sayem. 'If Islamic parties unite, no one can stop us from taking power.'
This was the first time since the 1971 war that Jamaat-e-Islami was allowed to hold a rally at Suhrawardy Udyan, seen by many as a sign that Islamists are gaining momentum amid a fragmented political landscape and the retreat of liberal forces.
Sheikh Hasina, daughter of the country's founding president and a long-standing opponent of Jamaat-e-Islami, has been barred from returning to Bangladesh. Her Awami League party has been banned by the interim regime, and she remains in exile in India as of August 5. Hasina faces charges of crimes against humanity. According to a UN estimate released in February, as many as 1,400 people may have died in the July–August uprising that led to her downfall.
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Jamaat-e-Islami plans to contest all 300 parliamentary seats and is working to build alliances with other Islamist groups in an effort to position itself as a significant political force alongside the BNP and the banned Awami League.
The party also shares ties with a student movement that played a key role in the anti-Hasina protests. Both Jamaat and the student-led National Citizen Party have been outspoken in their criticism of India's role in regional politics.
With inputs from agencies
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India Today
36 minutes ago
- India Today
Major Adil Raja claims threats, family targeted after exposing Pakistan army
In an explosive interview with India Today's Geeta Mohan, former Pakistan Army officer and whistleblower Major (Retd) Adil Raja has accused the Pakistani military establishment, particularly the ISI, of weaponising the UK's libel laws to silence dissent abroad. Raja, now living in exile in London, faces a high-stakes defamation trial starting on 21 July 2025, a case he describes as a 'strategic lawsuit against public participation' (SLAPP) designed to undermine his journalism and intimidate critics of the Pakistani trial pits Raja against serving Pakistani military officer Brigadier Rashid Nasir, who claims defamation after Raja publicly accused him of political and judicial manipulation — allegations Raja insists are supported by evidence and widely shared in Pakistan. Cleared of terrorism charges by UK authorities following a 9-month enquiry in 2023, Raja states this civil lawsuit is the ISI's new tactic in what he calls 'lawfare', the use of legal systems abroad to export former officer recounted shocking reprisals against his family in Pakistan, including his mother's purported house arrest and passport cancellation, and the acid attack on a key witness, Shahzad Akbar, in the UK. Raja warns that a ruling against him could set a dangerous global precedent, emboldening authoritarian regimes to silence exiled journalists through foreign courts. 'This isn't just my fight,' he said, 'it's about press freedom everywhere.' Q: What happens when a man in Pakistan wants to speak truth to power? What happens when a man has to leave that country and live in exile? What happens when he has to leave his services and then follow what he thinks is right for Pakistan? Major Adil Raja is no longer in the army, but he has served in Pakistan and now lives in exile because he's questioned the Pakistani army, and he continues to, now as a journalist in London, question what's happening in Pakistan. And what does he get in return? He gets a defamation case. What is the case all about? Is this muzzling by the Pakistani ISI, and how is the Pakistani administration doing it today? To discuss all this and more, I'm being joined by Adil Raja himself. Thank you so much for doing this, Adil. It is a very tough one — you've had a tough few months, so to say. First, just break it down for us — what is this case that you've been fighting against the administration in London?A: Well, you see, it's not been a tough few months but tough few years, I would say. Because the defamation case started in August of 2022, and it is going to trial next week, starting Monday, the 21st of July, 2025. It is a strategic lawsuit against public participation — it is part of the lawfare launched against me by the Pakistani military establishment and its intelligence arm, the ISI, with whom I was once working, as a third-generation Pakistan Army officer. And this lawfare is making use of the UK's relaxed libel laws, which favour the claimant — and that's why the UK, and London in particular, is called the libel tourism capital of the world. And that's not me or you saying it — that's Geoffrey Robertson, the King's Counsel, in his book Lawfare: How the Rich and the Government Try to Prevent Free Speech. He writes this, and it is a well-established fact that lawfare in the UK is launched by the rich and powerful. If you've got one to three million British pounds to spare, you can silence anyone in the UK — and that is why it's called the libel tourism capital of the the details, you'll have to read the book Lawfare by Geoffrey Robertson — I've just quoted him. But I'll give you a brief background: before this libel case, the Pakistani state — only because I was a whistleblower, exposing crimes against humanity in my country — targeted me. I was committing the cardinal sin: being a former army officer, a third-generation Pakistani army man, exposing the crimes of my institution — the regime change operations, controlling the government, political manipulation, judicial manipulation, and corruption. That is a cardinal of that, they got me arrested here in the UK by the counterterrorism police, saying that—advertisementQ: When were you arrested?advertisementA: I was arrested in 2023 by the UK's counterterrorism police for a few hours, but I was kept on bail for nine months. The Pakistani media reported it — it was the Pakistani state that got me arrested under the counterterrorism laws, saying my journalism was inciting violence in Pakistan. But the UK's counterterrorism police conducted an inquiry for nine months and cleared me of all the charges. They didn't even charge me — they cleared me of all that didn't stop my previous institution, which I served as a third-generation officer, they deciding to court-martial me in Charges — what were the specific charges?A: The counterterrorism charges were that I was inciting violence abroad — they showed a few tweets and a livestream on YouTube. Because of this, they got my channels on YouTube terminated. They said the livestream was about five hours, which I did with Pakistan's leading dissenting journalists — Dr. Moeed Pirzada, Shaheen Sahbai (who's a witness in my case), Colonel Syed Akbar Hussain (another witness in my case), Wajahat S. Khan, Haider Mehdi — we were reporting on the events of May 9th, 2023, which were already public on social they said that was incitement of violence, and reported it to the UK police.Q: But you've been cleared.A: Cleared — after nine months, they could find nothing. They had to end the case with no further action. But they still went ahead and court-martialed me in absentia, sentenced me to 14 years of rigorous imprisonment under the Official Secrets Act.Q: Back to Pakistan — your homeland.A: Yeah, my home, where my mother is, who got abducted by them and is kept hostage in Pakistan, so I don't go and see her. She's practically under house arrest — her passports have been cancelled. She was abducted on her way to the airport once, alongside my uncle, who has passed away — he was a retired colonel. Now she's not allowed to leave. My entire family's passports have been blocked and cancelled — their nationalities too — just because I'm speaking up for the truth and the people of they came up with this SLAPP — strategic lawsuit against public participation — and started serving me notices. This is just one of the files — I have entire stacks of such files. They started this lawfare against me because they've got money to spare, influence — definitely they have influence in the UK. But they haven't been able to get me under counterterrorism, so now they're trying their luck in the courts in the UK, since the UK is the libel tourism capital of the world — as King's Counsel Geoffrey Robertson Coming back to your family, is there any provision in Pakistani laws that family members' passports can be rescinded, revoked, taken away, so that they can be kept in the country, not allowed to leave at all?A: What law are you talking about, Geeta? There's no law in Pakistan — except martial law. Once the army chief decides something, he'll do it. He decided his buddy — my brother-in-law — should torture my sister, send her back home and snatch her son — they did it. I'm sorry for getting emotional — I've never—Q: I understand — I know, I know it must be very difficult.A: But they've done it, nobody can stop them. Might is right; that's the rule of law in Pakistan. Pakistan is an authoritarian state, Amnesty International reports, and Human Rights Watch says partially free. I say it's not free at all. If you can fly in and out, fine, but if you stay shut. You try to speak up, you end up in jail like Imran military rules military doesn't have a public mandate. So they create chaos if Imran Khan, who had the public mandate, tried to build bridges with India, the military created chaos instead. They plan attacks so that chaos keeps people distracted jingoism keeps people distracted from the real issues.Q: How is the UK administration allowing this? How did the Pakistani High Commission take this forward to ensure there's a defamation case against a dissenter living in London? Many advocates of media freedom say this trial could set a very wrong precedent.A: Very pertinent. As far as the UK government is concerned, they cleared me after nine months. They kept me on strict bail, but my excellent legal team and my rights helped they drop the case. So justice did prevail, the UK establishment does believe in fair play, and wants to protect when it comes to lawfare, anyone with millions of pounds can come to the UK and exploit its libel laws. The burden of proof is on the defendant, not the claimant. That's how the ISI is taking me to court here: the ISI's senior officer — Brigadier Rashid Nasir, the Punjab sector commander — came to the UK while serving in 2022, claiming I defamed him by saying he's involved in political manipulation, judicial manipulation, which even kids in Pakistan know.Q: So he has to come to London every hearing?A: Yes — he's in London now, goes to court. But I don't go because the UK police gave a witness statement that I'm under threat, so I appear via remote link.Q: Is this a civil case, Adil, or a Pakistani crackdown on foreign soil?A: It's technically a civil case, but it's a Pakistani crackdown on foreign soil. The National Union of Journalists here passed a motion saying I'm facing a SLAPP. They said this case represents a significant threat to press freedom and journalistic integrity — SLAPPs are designed to silence journalists through costly legal resolved to fully support me, circulate my press release, encourage media coverage, and invite me to share details. They know what's going on. The UK works on case law — if I lose, it'll set a precedent for muzzling dissent globally. That's why many British journalists are shifting to France — because the EU passed anti-SLAPP laws in witnesses — Pakistan's senior journalists like Shaheen Sahbai, Colonel Syed Akbar Hussain, Shahzad Akbar — their families are being threatened. Their social accounts hacked — propaganda campaigns run. The ISI is using all its power to silence this. They just don't want any coverage, because it exposes their soft belly.Q: How confident are you that the ruling will be in your favour? Or are you worried about what the ISI could influence in a London court?A: It's delicate — 50-50. There's no jury — it's all up to the judge. Why would a judge rule the ISI rigs elections? But everything I've said is proven. Still, considering UK-Pakistan relations, they may not go there. The harm claimed is absurd — I spoke the truth in public delicate, the ISI is spending millions, hiring top legal chambers — the same one Keir Starmer worked at. So it's a big machine.Q: Other than Brigadier Rashid Nasir, who do you blame in Pakistan?A: The Army Chief, General Asim Munir, is directly involved. The DG ISI, Lieutenant General Asim Malik, is also directly involved. They know their chances aren't bright, so they keep it low-key and muzzle coverage. The English media in Pakistan is controlled dependent on state advertising, so they only print what the establishment wants.Q: Adil, you've been brave. But are you scared? The threat is real — we've seen leaders lose their lives. Benazir Bhutto is an example. Imran Khan says the same.A: I'm not scared, but yes, I'm careful. There's a thin line between foolishness and bravery. My family is scared that my pensions, assets, bank balances, and property are all gone. I live at a police-protected address, I'm in hiding, can't move of my witnesses, Shahzad Akbar, suffered an acid attack at his home here in the UK. So yes, the threat is real, but I have to fight. I was groomed as a soldier. I took an oath to the people, not the generals. Pakistanis want democracy, their mandate respected, that's what I'm fighting for.Q: How do you see political stability coming? Imran Khan's sons, Reham Khan's new party — what do you make of this?A: Imran Khan's sons aren't interested in politics, only in getting relief for their father. Reham Khan's party I don't take it seriously, maybe it'll survive if the military supports it. The real plan is bigger, creating chaos, attacking India, using war jingoism to justify an emergency and more plan is allegedly by the Army Chief, Asim Munir, putting his brother-in-law as PM, himself or another general as president, a Musharraf-style accountability push to claim they cleaned up Pakistan. That's the plan; whether they succeed depends on whether they can provoke war.Q: Final question, God forbid, if there's an attempt on your life, who would you blame?A: The Pakistani military establishment. The Army Chief Asim Munir. The DG ISI, Asim Malik. Major General Faisal Nasir. Brigadier Rashid Nasir. They are behind the threats, the same people threatening my witnesses. The only reason they haven't got to me is because I'm careful, trained, and protected by British police. But yes, this fight is high stakes. I read Faslon ko Takalluf as a kid. My nation is my life. I'll fight for it. Peace is the only way forward — peace can make South Asia the richest region again, like before colonisation.- Ends


The Print
an hour ago
- The Print
Can Syria's tiny Druze minority survive West Asia's new storms? There's little hope
Little imagination is needed to understand what's driving the violence in Syria. Following the fall of dictator Bashar al-Assad's dystopic regime, more than 1,000 members of his Alevi community were slaughtered in their coastal redoubts by government forces and Islamist militia. In one case, journalist Maggie Michael reported , a young man's heart was cut out of his body. His name was listed among 60 dead that included his cousins and neighbours, and six children. Even as Druze tribesmen poured in to reinforce their clan, in the summer of 1925, a French column led by General Roger Michaud was ambushed before the gates of Sweida and routed. A French officer committed suicide, historian Philip Khoury records . The first shots emerged from the bowels of the great volcanic mountain of Tell Qeni. They were likely aimed with more hope than military focus at the French Nieuport-Delage NiD.29 C.1 fighter plane, which had been surveilling Druze positions on Jabal al-Druze – the great mountain redoubt of the Druze community. The great rebellion had begun, even if the pilots hadn't noticed it. Two days later, the Druze leader Sultan al-Atrash occupied the region's second town, Salkhad, and slaughtered a column of 166 French colonial troops, laying siege to the capital at Sweida. For much of their history, the Druze have fought mainly to be left alone in their mountain redoubts—allying with Israel, or Syria, or whichever power might safeguard their interests. In 2018, more than 200 Druze were killed in concentrated attacks by Islamic State suicide bombers, as retaliation for their cooperation with the regime against the jihadists. Led by Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, Druze forces have been savagely expelling Bedouin tribes from the region, following a kidnapping of a trader on the road to Damascus. There have been arguments over incendiary religious messages spread over social media. The bigger story is this, however: The collapse of the state in Syria has opened the way for genocidal ethnic-religious warfare—and the Druze want to make sure they are not on the losing end. The fighting has been intense. Entire neighbourhoods have been gutted, journalists Santiago Montag and Hussam Hammoud have reported, while Sweida's main hospital was overrun by gunmen who slaughtered its patients. And yet, the fighting is showing no signs of ending. There is a saying that the Druze like telling about themselves. As historian William Miles writes: 'When a fortune comes their way, a Christian would build a huge mansion, a Muslim would go to Mecca on pilgrimage, and a Druze? A Druze would simply buy more weapons.' Lights in the landscape Even though Indians are used to seeing West Asia as one uninterrupted wash of Islam, the reality is more complex: Like all other parts of the world, liminal communities, perched on the edge of the hegemonic faiths, light up the landscape. The Druze do not self-describe as Muslims, though their theology shares elements of Islam. The community believes in Tawhid – the unity of the divine and the human – sees time as unfolding in eternal cycles, and believes that the soul of a Druze who has died immediately reincarnates in the body of another. Loosely linked to the Ismaili offshoot of the Shia sect, the Druze have their holy text, the Rasail al-Hikma, or Epistles of Wisdom, although the Quran is also part of their theological framework. Tight ethnic and religious bonds hold the community together. The demographer Nissim Dana records that, even in relatively liberal Israel, there were just 145 cases of conversion recorded from 1952 to 2009, mainly to enable marriage to non-Druze spouses. The community is reputed to number some 1 million people, overwhelmingly concentrated in Syria, but with pockets in Lebanon and Israel. For generations, the Druze proved willing to take extraordinary risks to protect their fragile autonomy. Late in 1895, for example, Syria's Ottoman government was presented with an opportunity to punish the Druze, after quarrels broke out with their Muslim neighbours. Together with Kurds, Bedouins, and Circassians, Ottoman troops burned down the Druze village of Majdal Shams. Though the Ottoman soldiers outnumbered the Druze two-and-a-half to one, historian Shakeeb Salih writes, they were unable to subdue the uprising. An arrangement involving amnesties and cash compensation was eventually arrived at. The inexorable forces of the market, though, brought about significant changes in the outlook of the Druze by 1925. According to Salih, the merchants and moneylenders of Damascus became frequent visitors to Jabal al-Druze and Hawran, where they financed the cultivation of crops such as gram and cereals. For their part, Druze elites began to winter in Damascus, imbibing its culture and integrating into its political milieu. Following the 1925 revolt, Khoury writes, the Druze case became a template for other nationalist movements breaking out across the Middle East, eventually leading to the independence of Syria and Lebanon. Also read: Afghanistan is starving—and its farmers are fighting to save the poppy The power game Like many post-colonial states, the scholar Joshua Landis writes, independent Syria tried to stamp its authority on the Druze brutally from 1946. The four-year rule of Adib Shishakli, from December 1949 to February 1954, resulted in the crushing of Druze local leadership. 'A new form of Druze communal consciousness took root among Druze civilian politicians and, most importantly, among Druze military officers as a result,' Landis notes. Shishkali was eventually overthrown in a coup d'etat, in which Druze officers played a key role. The Druze used their position not only to seek economic privileges from Damascus, but also to gain recognition for the wide-ranging autonomy they had enjoyed under the French. This battle was not easily won, though. The government hit back, rolling back subsidies, choking the lucrative smuggling routes into Jordan, and most importantly, destroying the profitable hashish trade. Tribal leaders such as Sultan Pasha al-Atrash found their influence diminished, just as a new, Left-leaning generation of Druze emerged. Faced with vicious ethnopolitical propaganda and economic decline, the Druze found other means to act. In 1953, Druze officers Colonel Amin Abu Asaf and Captain Mohammed al-Atrash were plotting a coup. The army, thus, became a stage for the making and unmaking of power, with Alevi, Kurds, Christians, and Druze all competing to protect their interests against the majority. Also read: What's behind Israel's strikes in Syria & who are the 'Druze' that Netanyahu has vowed to protect A grim future? For the Druze, support from Israel—where they constitute a recognised official minority—is now critical. As historian Laila Parsons notes, early Jewish Agency officials operating in Palestine saw the benefits of developing ties to local minorities, and Itzhak Ben Tzvi—later to become Israel's second president—cultivated ties with the Druze. For the most part, the Druze stayed neutral in the Arab revolt of 1936-1939. The defeat of a small Druze detachment fighting the Israeli defence forces near the settlement of Ramat-Yohanan, wrote Parsons, stilled Druze desire to interject themselves in the conflict. In the war of 1947-1948, the Druze emerged better off than their Palestinian Christian and Muslim neighbours. They now had the choice of living as minorities in a Jewish state or as minorities in an Arab state. For most Druze, the choice was simple. For the Druze left in Syria and Lebanon, though, the future likely looks very different. Israeli air power was committed to protect Sweida from Bedouin tribes attacking the Druze. Still, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa is an ally of the United States and is seen as key to the suppression of the Islamic State and al-Qaeda. Israeli support for Druze defiance cannot, therefore, be taken for granted in the future. Even more critically, the Druze have opened themselves up to a long war with the Bedouin tribes and their Islamist supporters within Syria's new regime. Looking into the fires raging in Syria, it's hard not to see only darkness: The ethnoreligious conflicts that the Ba'ath state managed—and occasionally crushed—have returned to the centre stage of political life. The acquisition of power again involves access to guns and weapons, not political legitimacy. The genuinely federal structures that Syria's minorities demanded during their march to independence could offer a way forward. But there's little hope that a society in which jihadists see themselves as victorious will be prepared to concede it. The author is Contributing Editor at ThePrint. His X handle is @praveenswami. Views are personal. (Edited by Zoya Bhatti)


United News of India
2 hours ago
- United News of India
BNP senior leader urges interim govt to hasten its work on reforms, national charter, elections
World Dhaka, July 19 (UNI) The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) General Secretary Fakhrul Mirza Islam Alamgir urging the interim government to speed up its work before the upcoming elections, said that the administration's work must expediate three key things – reforms, a national charter, and elections – warning that any further delay only will only complicate matters. "The sooner we move forward with reforms, a national charter, and elections without delay, the better it will be for the country," he said at a discussion at the Jatiya Press Club today, reports Daily Star. "I've said it many times before and I'm saying it again -- do not delay. The more you delay, the more complicated the situation becomes," he warned. The BNP leader further claimed that the 'anti-democracy' forces who opposed the July Uprising are regrouping to subvert democracy and "destroy the democratic process". Urging the interim administration to resolve all outstanding issues via dialogue, the BNP leader added "It was us who proposed the reforms. The issues within them can be resolved through dialogue. Without unnecessary delay, identify the problems, talk to political parties, and move towards elections -- that is the only way forward." Stressing on the importance of an acceptable framework for elections, Alamgir said "We hope those in charge will present an arrangement acceptable to all parties. Once we reach a consensus, we will take it to the people." Reaffirming BNP's stance, he said, "We have no intention of coming to power through a revolution. We want to take responsibility through elections with people's support and build a welfare-oriented, democratic nation." UNI XC ANV GNK More News Trump mocks BRICS nations, says his 10 pc tariff threat 'hit them very hard' 20 Jul 2025 | 2:15 AM Washington, July 19 (UNI) Doubling down on his 10% tariff threat against all BRICS countries, US President Donald Trump in press briefing yesterday claimed that he 'hit' the intra-governmental organisation 'very hard', adding that he will never allow another any the group's attempts at de-dollarisation, calling USD 'the king.' Mocking the multi-nation bloc's attempts at de-dollarisation, Trump, while talking about his administration's attempts at strengthening the US dollar said 'You have this little group called BRICS, it's fading out fast. But they wanted to take over the dominance of the dollar, and the standard of the dollar. see more.. DRC – Rwanda backed M23 militia sign ceasefire agreement in Doha after months of wanton violence 19 Jul 2025 | 11:46 PM Kinsasha/Kigali, July 19 (UNI) The Democratic Republic of Congo and the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel militia have signed a new ceasefire agreement, bringing a halt to the massive violence that has ravaged the DRC's mineral-rich eastern region for months. see more.. BNP senior leader urges interim govt to hasten its work on reforms, national charter, elections 19 Jul 2025 | 11:44 PM Dhaka, July 19 (UNI) The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) General Secretary Fakhrul Mirza Islam Alamgir urging the interim government to speed up its work before the upcoming elections, said that the administration's work must expediate three key things – reforms, a national charter, and elections – warning that any further delay only will only complicate matters. see more.. BRICS countries have no interest in replacing US dollar, says Russian Deputy FM Sergey Ryabkov 19 Jul 2025 | 10:54 PM Moscow, July 19 (UNI) BRICS countries have no desire to replace the US dollar, but rather trade in national currencies with other member and partner countries in a viable alternative, said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov in an interview, reports state media TASS. see more.. Trump mocks BRICS nations, says his 10 pc tariff threat 'hi them very hard' 19 Jul 2025 | 8:42 PM Washington, July 19 (UNI) Doubling down on his 10% tariff threat against all BRICS countries, US President Donald Trump in press briefing yesterday claimed that he 'hit' the intra-governmental organisation 'very hard', adding that he will never allow another any the group's attempts at de-dollarisation, calling USD 'the king.' Mocking the multi-nation bloc's attempts at de-dollarisation, Trump, while talking about his administration's attempts at strengthening the US dollar said 'You have this little group called BRICS, it's fading out fast. But they wanted to take over the dominance of the dollar, and the standard of the dollar.