&w=3840&q=100)
Bangladeshi actor who played Sheikh Hasina in Mujib biopic arrested
Bangladeshi actor Nusraat Faria, known for portraying former prime minister Sheikh Hasina in the biopic Mujib: The Making of a Nation, was arrested at Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on May 18 while attempting to board a flight to Thailand. She was taken into custody in connection with an attempted murder case stemming from last year's nationwide protests that led to the resignation and exile of Sheikh Hasina.
The 31-year-old actor was detained at the immigration checkpoint, with local media citing officials who confirmed the arrest was made following a court-approved warrant.
Charges linked to 2024 anti-discrimination student movement
Faria is one of 17 actors named in a case filed at Vatara Police Station during the 'Anti-Discrimination Student Movement', which erupted in July 2024 and culminated in Hasina's exit from Bangladesh. The case accuses her of attempted murder, as well as financing counter-efforts aligned with the ruling Awami League and allegedly supporting a violent crackdown on demonstrators.
The Dhaka Tribune reported that the charges involve the alleged attempted murder of a student in Dhaka's Vatara area at the height of the protests.
From media personality to controversial political figure
Nusraat Faria began her career as a radio jockey and television presenter before transitioning into acting and modeling. She made her film debut in 2015 with Aashiqui: True Love, a Bangladesh-India joint production, and gained popularity with subsequent hits like Hero 420 and ' Boss 2: Back to Rule.
However, it was her role as Sheikh Hasina in Mujib: The Making of a Nation that cemented her national fame. The film, released in 2023 and directed by Indian filmmaker Shyam Benegal, was a biographical portrayal of Bangladesh's founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Co-produced by the governments of India and Bangladesh, the movie drew both acclaim and criticism amid political tensions that later saw Hasina ousted from office.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NDTV
18 minutes ago
- NDTV
Indian Students At Harvard Navigate Uncertainties
New York: Indian students at Harvard say they are navigating a 'rollercoaster' of uncertainty and anxiety amid the Trump administration's relentless battle against the university while also dealing with a dearth of job opportunities. 'It's just been a time of not quite knowing what to do, whether we should make our moves back home, or whether we should try and figure something out here,' an Indian student, who graduated last month from the Harvard Kennedy School, said, not wishing to be identified. Indian students at Harvard, speaking to PTI on condition of anonymity, shared their concerns and experiences of the last few months during which the prestigious university has seen relentless attacks by the Trump administration. The administration's actions include a freeze of USD 2.2 billion in grants, revocation of the university's eligibility to enrol international students and suspension of entry of foreign nationals seeking to study or participate in exchange programmes at Harvard. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has said that Harvard's leadership has created an 'unsafe campus environment by permitting anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators to harass and physically assault individuals, including many Jewish students, and otherwise obstruct its once-venerable learning environment." US President Donald Trump, in a proclamation last week, said Harvard had refused recent requests of the DHS for information about foreign students' "known illegal activity," "known dangerous and violent activity," "known threats to other students or university personnel," and other related data. Another Indian student, who graduated from the Harvard Graduate School of Design after completing a two-year course, said students come to American institutions with plans of finishing their studies and then finding jobs to work for a few years in the US. But she described the situation of the past few months as being a 'rollercoaster.' 'With all the uncertainty, I can say that a lot of people who are hiring were generally hesitant of international students, and maybe the Harvard tag helped earlier, but that's not the same right now at this particular moment," she said. The student from Harvard Kennedy School pointed out that she is in a 'desperate job search" at the moment, noting how difficult it is to get a job in the current environment. 'Employers have just stopped entertaining any international students, forget international students from Harvard, because our visa statuses are so volatile that who would want to employ us right now.' She said she doesn't know whether she will be going back to India, staying back or heading to a different country altogether. 'That uncertainty is a lot in a country like America where you're paying' huge amounts of money in rent. She added that she thinks this is a short-term turbulence and things will settle down in the future. 'But while we're caught in the crossfire, I think it's been difficult to plan, and so it's stressful for sure.' The students also pointed out that funding cuts initiated by the Trump administration are impacting jobs in the policy space, climate change, healthcare and public health sectors. The Design School student recalled that just days before graduating last month, students found out that the Trump administration had terminated Harvard's Student and Exchange Visitor Programme (SEVP) certification, which meant the university could no longer enrol foreign students and existing foreign students must transfer or lose their legal status. 'We had just finished our final presentations, we were celebrating over lunch, and we saw this news. It was quite unbelievable. Six months ago, you could never predict that something like this would happen,' she said. She however urged foreign students not to feel discouraged by the current situation. 'This should not discourage people. Because I think what institutions like Harvard also do is that they make you a global citizen. And if not America, people are finding pathways elsewhere,' she said. Several students say they had planned to move back to India eventually but had hoped to work in the US for the initial few years, both to get experience in the American job market and also to earn to pay back the significant student loans they have. Another young student, who graduated from Harvard Kennedy School, said while the current situation has been full of 'unpredictability', at some levels students are building some kind of resistance, immunity to respond to developments in real time because the Trump administration's moves against Harvard have been blocked and stalled by the courts. 'The challenges that we face on a day-to-day basis probably are in terms of job opportunities, how we plan our future and the next steps,' he said. 'I know of some classmates of mine who have been in the final stages of interviews with a few companies, but once they found out that these students were from Harvard, they were like 'that might pose a few issues later on. So we'll move on with another candidate',' the student said. 'I've seen a higher number of people who are going back (to India). They have made up their mind that it's not worth staying and then being in a state of uncertainty, away from family and home, sacrificing a lot of things for a future that remains highly, highly uncertain. So that holds lesser value now for a lot of my peers,' he said. He cited media reports that said the State Department has told US consulates globally to resume processing visa applications for students planning to attend Harvard University. "All this is a signalling effect currently, which is hurting all of us a lot. Because you don't really know what, where you can apply, what you can do, employees are hesitant.' He added that he has also been talking to a lot of students from India who are set to arrive in the US to commence studies at Harvard around September this year. 'Generally, yes, the concern has increased a lot in terms of what kind of opportunities exist, because they would be leaving a lot of things back home. The opportunity cost is higher than ever.' He said incoming students or those planning to come to the US in future to study are hesitant and are considering whether they should apply to universities in Europe and elsewhere given 'the kind of environment which has been created for international students generally in the US', which will have far-reaching consequences. He said that while no one he has spoken to among the incoming students has been denied a visa, 'some are reconsidering. They are unsure since there's fear of losing funding and scholarships they've received this year if they defer or don't join.' According to statistics on the website of Harvard International Office, there are 788 students and scholars from India at all schools under Harvard University for the 2024-25 academic year. The Harvard Global Support Services said on its website that each year, anywhere from 500-800 Indian students and scholars study at Harvard. Harvard hosts a total of about 10,158 students and scholars from around the world across its schools, according to Harvard International Office estimates. The Kennedy School student pointed to the "American Dream' that used to bring students from India and elsewhere to the US. 'I think that has been significantly affected. It's definitely not the same what it used to be, even, I would say five years ago, because a lot of this damage is unrepairable.' But amid all this what he found 'heartening' was the university administration 'stepping up' and putting forward a more resolute and strong show of support for the students. 'The other thing which has been absolutely amazing to see is students showing more support for their international peers.'
The Print
44 minutes ago
- The Print
16 Indians still missing after joining Russian army, families to travel to Moscow for answers
Around 126 Indians joined the Russian Army to fight the war in Ukraine between the end of 2023 and early 2024. According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), 96 of them have returned to India, while 12 were killed on the frontlines. Russian authorities have been unable to ascertain the location of 16 Indians for over a year. In February, the government informed the Lok Sabha that 18 Indians were in Russia, of which 16 are missing. Of the remaining two, Jain T.K from Kerala, who was injured on the frontlines, returned in April. The other Indian has acquired Russian citizenship, said a person familiar with the matter. New Delhi: At least 16 Indians remain missing in Russia for over a year, after being forced to join the military there last year. Some of the family members of those missing are set to travel to Moscow later this month to further inquire about the case. The issue of Indians in the Russian armed forces has been raised at the highest levels, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi meeting Russian President Vladimir V. Putin twice in 2024—at the annual India-Russia Summit in July and on the margins of the BRICS Summit at Kazan in October. Now, four family members of at least 14 of the missing Indians are set to travel to Moscow at the end of June for a month. They will be working with a local foundation and meet with Russian authorities to find out more about the status of the missing Indians. 'Four of us will be travelling to Moscow, along with the power of attorney for 10 of the other families. For the one and a half years, all we have been told is that our family members remain missing,' Jagdeep Kumar, one of the family members set to travel, told ThePrint. His brother Mandeep Kumar from Phillaur in Punjab was promised a visa to Italy before he departed India in December 2023. The family paid Rs 31.40 lakh to an agent for Mandeep's travel to Italy. However, rather than Italy, Mandeep landed up in Moscow and was signed up by the Russian Army. The family last spoke to him on 3 March, 2024. 'He was given 15 days of training to become a sniper in the Russian Army, before being sent to the frontlines. Mandeep has a handicap, which does not allow him to run, but he was sent to the frontlines,' Jagdeep told ThePrint. Also Read: 3 Indians missing after travelling to Iran, embassy 'strongly takes up matter' with Tehran From UP, Punjab to J&K & Maharashtra Families of at least 14 Indians held a protest at New Delhi's Jantar Mantar in the last week of May. Nine of them are from Uttar Pradesh, with the majority from Azamgarh district. Three are from Punjab, while one each is from Jammu and Kashmir and Maharashtra. One of the missing from Punjab, according to a list curated by the families and seen by ThePrint, is Tejpal Singh, from Amritsar. Singh's family also last spoke with him on 3 March last year, before he was taken to Tokmak city, in the Ukrainian province of Zaporizhzhia. Russia has sought to annex Zaporizhzhia, along with the provinces of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Crimea since the current phase of open warfare began a little over three years ago. Mandeep, on the other hand, was sent to Donetsk, after which his family lost all connection with him. The Russian Ministry of Defence confirmed last month that Arvind Kumar from Azamgarh district, one of the missing Indians, signed a contract on 17 January, 2024 to join the military in the Leningrad region. However, the military selection point for Leningrad region denied that other Indians, including Mandeep, signed contracts in the region for military service. New Delhi has pushed Moscow to ensure that no other Indians are allowed to join the Russian armed forces. The number of Indians signing up to the Russian military has since been curbed. There have been no new cases of Indians intimating either the Embassy in Moscow or the MEA of their service in the Russian armed forces. The Russia-Ukraine war has been ongoing since February 2022. In recent weeks, it has intensified, especially after Kyiv was able to destroy Russian strategic bombers through Operation Spiderweb. On Sunday, Russia is reported to have launched nearly 500 loitering munitions and missiles at Western Ukraine, in one of its largest such aerial attacks till date. (Edited by Tony Rai) Also Read: Another Indian recruit in Russian army dies on warfront, some yet to be released
The Hindu
an hour ago
- The Hindu
Two persons, including Nigerian national, held for drug peddling in Chennai
Two men, including a Nigerian national, were arrested by the Ashok Nagar police on Monday (June 9, 2025) for the possession of methamphetamine and peddling drugs. Based on clues from a previous arrest, the Ashok Nagar police, along with the Anti-Narcotics Intelligence Unit (ANIU), nabbed Antony Ogbo Okoro, 32, a Nigerian national, and Darshan alias Dakshinamurthy, 25, at Koyambedu on Sunday (June 8). The police seized 12.42 grams of methamphetamine from them. Earlier, on June 1, the police arrested five men from Ashok Nagar's 6th Avenue, as part of the same network. The officials had also recovered 46.7 grams of cocaine, 6.88 grams of methamphetamine, and five mobile phones from them.
