
Jordan outlaws Muslim Brotherhood, confiscates assets
After members of the group were found to be linked to a sabotage plot, its assets were confiscated, said Jordan's Interior Minister Mazen Fraya, as reported by Reuters. He stated, "It has been decided to ban all activities of the so-called Muslim Brotherhood and to consider any [of its] activity a violation of the provisions of the law'.advertisementHe added that any promoter of the group's ideology will be held accountable by law.Jordanian security forces arrested 16 people linked to the Muslim Brotherhood last week who were trained and financed in Lebanon. They are alleged to have plotted attacks on targets inside the kingdom involving rockets and drones.The ban extends to everything that may be published by the Muslim Brotherhood.The group has released no official comment on the actions by Jordanian authorities.JORDAN WAS ONE OF THE FEW WHERE GROUP OPERATED LEGALLYThe Muslim Brotherhood has operated legally from Jordan for decades and has a wide supporter base spread across major urban centres and scores of offices across the country. It follows the Sunni Islamist ideology and consolidates with the goal of establishing a caliphate under sharia law.advertisementLast September, the Islamic Action Front (IAF), the political arm of the Brotherhood in Jordan, made significant gains in parliamentary elections. It secured 31 out of 138 seats by tapping into anger over Israel's war against Hamas.The group has been outlawed in many Arab countries, who consider it a dangerous 'terrorist group' that must be crushed, as mentioned by Reuters.Egypt, where it originated, has listed it as a terrorist organisation.Even though the Brotherhood claims that it publicly renounced violence decades ago and pursues an Islamist vision using peaceful means, the Arabic countries opposing it want it to be disbanded.Must Watch
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India Today
2 hours ago
- India Today
How Bangladesh is slipping back into Pakistan's grip
Half a century after losing the 1971 war, Pakistan is quietly creeping back into Bangladesh-not with tanks or troops, but through intelligence operatives, radical clerics, diplomatic manoeuvres, and a rising tide of Islamist is not an invasion. It is infiltration. And it is happening in plain sight. A Manufactured UprisingThe protests that shook Bangladesh earlier this year were framed as a grassroots revolt over job quotas — the cry of a generation locked out of opportunity. Years of political repression, economic inequality, and public frustration gave the unrest legitimacy. Yet beneath the surface lay the fingerprints of slogans mirrored radical Islamist narratives. The timing was too precise. The organisation too perfect. Behind it was Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student wing of the banned Jamaat-e-Islami. Behind them — Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), allegedly with discreet Western Fall of Sheikh HasinaFor over a decade, Sheikh Hasina kept Bangladesh stable through terrorism threats, coup attempts, and a war on extremism. She defied Pakistan, challenged Islamists, and resisted China's unchecked influence. In doing so, she earned enemies in Islamabad, Beijing-and, increasingly, President Biden, US–Bangladesh relations soured over allegations of democratic backsliding and human rights abuses. Reports surfaced of US-backed pressure campaigns-funding opposition voices, sanctioning Hasina's allies, and mobilising diplomatic influence. The quota protests proved the tipping point. Over 1,400 deaths later, Hasina was forced Muhammad YunusInto the vacuum stepped Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus-a celebrated figure abroad but far less respected domestically. Under Yunus, Jamaat-e-Islami was quietly rehabilitated. Radical networks once suppressed began operating openly. Groups like Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, and Ansarullah Bangla Team 21 January 2025, Major General Shahid Amir Afsar of the ISI arrived in Dhaka under the guise of medical cooperation. In reality, he met Paresh Barua, leader of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA)-a separatist insurgency targeting India's the Eastern CorridorULFA offers Pakistan a backdoor into India. Coupled with Islamist mobilisation in Bangladesh, Rohingya youth recruitment, and terror logistics via JMB, the ISI is constructing a familiar insurgency blueprint-refined in Afghanistan and Kashmir-but this time aimed squarely at India's eastern role is equally significant. Under Hasina, Beijing's influence over ports, infrastructure, and energy was balanced. Under Yunus, it is growing unchecked. Together, China and Pakistan are forging a corridor of influence from Gwadar to Cox's Bazar, leveraging insurgent groups in Myanmar's Rakhine State to secure strategic trade Shrinking Strategic DepthWith Hasina gone, India's secure eastern flank is eroding. Infiltration from Bangladesh is rising. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) reports increased chatter between ISI handlers and sleeper cells in West Bengal. Assam Police have intercepted multiple JMB-linked operatives in recent United States, now under Donald Trump, shows little inclination to intervene. Trump's transactional foreign policy prioritises deals with Islamabad over Delhi's security concerns, especially if Pakistan can offer leverage in Afghanistan or against China in and Ideological RecolonisationUnder Yunus, Bangladesh's economy is faltering. Garment exports are collapsing as Western buyers withdraw, with Chinese firms moving in to fill the gap. This economic dependency risks turning Bangladesh into a client radical sermons are returning to mosques, Islamist student groups are re-establishing themselves on campuses, and extremist recruitment among Rohingya refugees is accelerating. Analysts warn of an 'East Pakistan 2.0'-not born of military conquest, but of ideological infiltration and economic Clock is TickingPakistan has refused Yunus's demands for 1971 reparations and instead offers deepening cooperation-direct flights, military exchanges, visa-free business travel, and port partnerships. It is a textbook case of soft annexation, and the Bangladeshi leadership appears unwilling or unable to India, the threat is immediate. The longer Dhaka drifts into Islamabad's and Beijing's orbit, the harder it will be to reverse. Border security will be tested. Sleeper cells will awaken. And the possibility of another 2008-style attack-or worse-will was a rejection of Pakistan's religious nationalism in favour of linguistic and cultural identity. If Bangladesh forgets why it fought for its independence, that hard-won freedom could quietly be undone-replaced not by foreign flags, but by foreign control.- Ends


The Hindu
2 hours ago
- The Hindu
Many countries disappointed over plastics treaty draft, which omits production curbs
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The Hindu
3 hours ago
- The Hindu
Netanyahu floats 'allowing' Palestinians out of Gaza as mediators renew truce push
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