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Yunus vows to uphold minority rights in B'desh during constitutional reform
The head of the interim government made the comments during a meeting with US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) Chair Stephen Schneck here, according to a post on his official social media handle.
"We are striving hard to build religious harmony in the country," Yunus said.
On being asked about the activities of the reform commissions and the proposed constitutional changes after last year's uprising that ousted former premier Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League regime, Yunus said that "any constitutional amendments would uphold religious freedom and minority rights in Bangladesh".
"The consensus-building commission is holding dialogue with political parties over the proposed amendments. Minorities will continue to enjoy the same rights as the majority Muslim population," he said.
Yunus noted the role of religion in the country and reiterated the government's commitment to maintaining religious harmony.
"We are committed to safeguarding the religious freedom of every citizen of the country," he said.
Responding to allegations of minority violence, Yunus said the interim government remains committed to transparency, inviting global journalists to visit and see the situation firsthand.
Bangladesh saw a spate of attacks on minorities including on the Hindu community following Hasina's ouster in August last year.
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Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
I-Day Special: How Partition reshaped Delhi
In August 1947, writer and playwright Bhisham Sahni boarded a train from Rawalpindi to Delhi – not to relocate, but to witness history. Jawaharlal Nehru was to speak in Delhi at the stroke of midnight as India became free. Sahni's plan was always to return home to Rawalpindi, where he lived with his parents, wife and their one-year-old daughter, Kalpana. The 1941 census recorded Delhi's population at 917,939. By 1951, after the influx of Hindu and Sikh refugees and the departure of many Muslims, it had nearly doubled to 1.74 million. (Wikimedia Commons/Photo division) 'He stayed in Delhi for a few days, but when he decided to return, he realised that he had missed the final train to Pakistan. Riots had erupted everywhere; communication and rail services had collapsed. Our relatives lived in Delhi, on what is now known as Amrita Shergill Marg; they put charpoys around the house for displaced friends and family and people stayed there briefly, including my father,' recalled Kalpana. And just like that, rather reluctantly, Delhi became Sahni's home. It was an accident shared by millions of others who fled newly-formed Pakistan, often believing the move was temporary. Some, like the grandfather of this author, believed it was only a temporary measure – so all furniture in his home in Dera Ismail Khan was covered with sheets so dust wouldn't settle before they came back from Delhi – a strange city where no one spoke their language. They never returned. A city bursting at seams While Partition shaped the subcontinent, redefining global geopolitics, it also transformed Delhi, the new capital of free India. 'As refugees reached Delhi, the city was bursting at its seams… Delhi was larger than the city. Shahjahanabad was the city, then there was Lutyens' Delhi, and the rest were villages,' said oral historian Aanchal Malhotra, author of Remnants of a Separation. The 1941 census recorded Delhi's population at 917,939. By 1951, after the influx of Hindu and Sikh refugees and the departure of many Muslims, it had nearly doubled to 1.74 million. 'Delhi's villages were dominated by agricultural land-owning families. But after 1947, demography and landscape changed… As my grandparents always said, 'The Punjabis had taken over Delhi!'' said Ekta Chauhan, an assistant professor at Jindal School of Art and Architecture, whose book Sheher Mein Gaon looks at Delhi's urban villages, and also explores how 1947 changed it. Her grandfather, from a now-forgotten village called Dhakka near Kingsway recalled how refugee camps came up there, how Khirkee mosque sheltered riot-hit Hindus and Muslims, and how colonies like Malviya Nagar, Rajendra Nagar, and Lajpat Nagar began to take shape. Camps, mosques, monuments turned homes City chronicler Sohail Hashmi recalls that Delhi's response to the refugee crisis was improvised and desperate. 'The elite got plots as compensation for property lost in Pakistan, but most came with nothing. People lived wherever they could—Humayun's Tomb, Feroz Shah Kotla, Purana Qila, even the arches of Kashmere Gate.' Official orders from the Prime Minister's office in 1947 stated that the 'task of accommodating refugees was to be treated with the gravity of a national emergency.' By 1950, 21 colonies had been built, including Azadpur, Patel Nagar, Shakti Nagar, Geeta Colony, and Sheikh Sarai – most of them U-shaped neighbourhoods with a park in the centre. By the early 1950s, Sahni's father finally accepted Delhi as home, buying land in Patel Nagar. 'My mother cycled from there to her job at All India Radio,' said Kalpana. By the end of the decade, 3,000 acres had been allotted to 300,000 refugees, split between abandoned houses and new one- or two-storey dwellings. The Delhi Development Authority, created in 1957, aimed to provide affordable modern housing for the growing middle class. What also emerged in the late '50s and '60s were neighbourhoods named after places left behind: Multan Dhanda in Paharganj, Mianwali Nagar in the west, Gujranwala Town and Kohat Enclave in the north., while several Sindhi families settled in N-Block, Rajinder Nagar. SK Gulati and Vijay Adlakha, heads of the All-India Mianwali District Association, remember the stories they heard from their families. 'They lost money, land, jewellery, people. In 1966, we were allotted plots in what became Mianwali Nagar – so far away, no roads, no amenities. Only 70 families moved in at first. I was scared there might be snakes!' Over time, it became home. Markets of the displaced Refugees didn't just build homes – they also built markets. Janpath, Lajpat Nagar, and Khan Market all emerged in this period. In his book India After Gandhi, historian Ramachandra Guha describes Connaught Place in 1948-49 , lined with makeshift stalls and pushcarts. 'Had (RT) Russell (who designed the shopping arcade) ever seen what became of his creation, he would perhaps have been 'spinning in his grave like a dervish',' wrote Guha. Malhotra's grandparents met in a refugee camp, married in 1955, and moved to a cramped one-room quarter in Haqeeqat Nagar, shared with a dozen relatives. Her grandmother's job at the relief ministry eventually brought them to Netaji Subhash Nagar, then just a deserted field. 'By then, my grandfather had set up Bahrisons Booksellers in Khan Market and he would cycle to work there,' recalled Malhotra. Sanjiv Mehra, president of the Khan Market Traders Association, recalls his father being allotted a shop there for ₹6,556 in 1950 – two years after his family moved to Delhi from Lahore and then Amritsar. 'Before it became a refugee market, it had army barracks' shops. By the early '60s, it had department stores, tent houses, bookstores, a Chinese-run shoe shop, and Alfina, a Mughlai-Continental restaurant. These shops were allotted to people from Jhang, Peshawar, Dera Ismail Khan among others and the market really picked up when people started living in Defence Colony and Nizamuddin areas,' he reminisced. Nearby, two neighbourhood markets—Meherchand (1960) and Khanna (1954)—were named after relief minister Meher Chand Khanna. Refugee businesses supported each other, Malhotra said. 'Refugees sought out other refugee businesses – there was a shared past. My grandfather, for instance, loved eating at Pindi in Pandara Road, because that too was built by a refugee. It brought him solace,' she said. A transformed culture As business boomed and the city underwent a cultural shift, the changes impacted the agricultural land-owning populace that had not expected such a churn. 'Suddenly my village saw people who didn't look or speak like them. The women were more visible in public; the men didn't depend on farming,' said Chauhan. 'My grandparents told me that the Punjabis brought with them the culture of taking flour and sugar to local bakeries to turn them into biscuits; they popularised the tandoor; they had covers for blankets, which my grandparents found absurd.' There was a marked shift. 'The refugees were all culturally different, they spoke a different language, they were hustlers who set up businesses, and were entrepreneurial,' said Malhotra. Once the refugees realised that permanent houses will take time, makeshift schools and markets sprang up in and around the refugee camps. 'In the early 1940s, Salwan Public School came up in Peshawar and one of the founding members was Meherchand Khanna, who became India's relief and rehabilitation minister. The Salwans too moved to Delhi and restarted the school from a refugee camp. It ran in two shifts – morning for girls, evening for boys,' said Malhotra. Memories that refuse to fade As refugees added to the pot their own flavours, dealt with the trauma and grief of losing home and people, the city evolved – once again. But the scars of the Partition never truly left. Sahni went on to write the Partition epic Tamas, which dealt with the communal fires that had been stoked in the nation, as well as Amritsar Aa Gaya Hai , a short story on the horrors a group of refugees witnessed on their journey. Some, like the author's great-grandmother, spent every spare rupee looking for her younger brother, from 1947 to 1990. He didn't board the train from Pakistan. While others remembered what was once home till their last breath. 'A few years ago, I inquired about my neighbour in Patel Nagar, and found out that he had slipped into dementia and would often walk out of the house looking for camels. It was then that I found out that his family reared camels back in Pakistan,' said Kalpana.
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Choice to marry someone from different faith safeguarded by Constitution: Delhi High Court
New Delhi The choice to marry someone from a different faith is safeguarded under the fundamental right to life and personal liberty, even if it challenges social norms and family expectations, the Delhi High Court has held. (Representative photo) The choice to marry someone from a different faith is safeguarded under the fundamental right to life and personal liberty, even if it challenges social norms and family expectations, the Delhi High Court has held, while directing the Delhi Police to continue protecting an interfaith couple facing threats from their families. A bench of justice Sanjeev Narula made the observation on August 8, while dealing with a plea filed by a 26-year-old Muslim man and a 25-year-old Hindu woman, seeking police protection and accommodation in a safe house. In a petition filed last month, the couple asserted that despite solemnising their marriage after a relationship of over seven years, there was strong opposition from the woman's family. The petition said that despite writing to the deputy commissioner of police for the southeast district on July 23, requesting police protection, the police forcibly separated the woman from her husband and detained her at Nirmal Chhaya Shelter Home on July 24. The plea stated that the woman married the man voluntarily, without any coercion. On July 25, the high court directed the DCP to look into the matter personally and, if the woman affirmed her wish to live with her husband, to ensure appropriate arrangements for the couple's safety. The counsel for the woman's father, on August 8, asserted that his client was deeply troubled by his daughter's decision to marry the man without his consent and that he was concerned for his daughter's welfare. Considering the contentions, the court directed Delhi Police to continue providing them protection and accommodation in a safe house, till they solemnise their marriage under the Special Marriage Act. The bench said that parents' anguish over their daughter choosing her life partner without consultation cannot eclipse the right of an adult to choose a life partner, since Article 21 of the Constitution safeguards an individual's right to marry a person of one's choice. 'The constitutional guarantee under Article 21 enables every adult citizen may shape the course of their own life, free from fear, coercion or unlawful restraint. The choice to marry, especially across lines of faith, may test the resilience of social norms and familial expectations, yet in law, it remains a matter of personal liberty and individual autonomy, immune from any external veto. While the anguish of a parent is understandable, it cannot eclipse the rights of a major to select their life partner,' the court said. It added, 'The court is mindful of the anguish of the girl's father, who opposes the relationship on grounds that he perceives as legitimate and rooted in his concern for his daughter's welfare. However, upon attaining the age of majority, the right to make decisions regarding marriage becomes the individual's personal prerogative. Parental preference, however well-intentioned, cannot legally override that autonomy.' Noting the couple's allegation of being forcibly separated, the court directed the DCP to submit a report on whether any unlawful separation had occurred and, if so, to identify the officer responsible. The direction came after the woman claimed she was taken to a shelter home by the police against her will, while the police maintained that no coercion, unlawful action, or procedural lapse had taken place. The matter will next be heard on September 12. The same bench, in a similar plea filed by another couple, also ruled that a family's disapproval cannot override the right of two consenting adults to choose each other as life partners and live together peacefully. 'The right of two consenting adults to choose each other as life partners and to live together in peace is a facet of their personal liberty, privacy, and dignity protected under Article 21. Family disapproval cannot curtail that autonomy,' the court said in an order on August 5.
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
Pawar defends scrutiny of Ladki Bahin scheme beneficiaries
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Deputy CM Ajit Pawar on Thursday justified the scrutiny of Ladki Bahin scheme beneficiaries, saying some recipients, including men, were found to own even four-wheelers. "We do not intend to disappoint women beneficiaries. But, the scheme needs to be implemented as per rules and regulations. It is meant for genuine beneficiaries whose annual income is less than Rs 2.5 lakh. We are continuously running the scheme despite doubts and criticism from opposition," Pawar told media persons during his tour of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. When asked about the 'vote chori' agitation by Congress, Pawar said opposition blamed EVMs too after facing poll defeat. "We also lost 31 of 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra during the last election. Did we blame EVM or level charges against anybody?" he asked. Referring to technical issues encountered in the new water supply scheme for Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Pawar said the chief minister was expected to hold a joint meeting to find solutions to the issues. Earlier, in his address during the inauguration of the office of Ganesh Mahasangh, an apex body of local Ganesh Mandals, Pawar told local public representatives to ensure proper planning for development works before seeking funds. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Treatment That Might Help You Against Knee Pain Knee pain| search ads Find Now Undo Former state working president of AIMIM Gaffar Quadri joined NCP during Pawar's visit on Thursday. Speaking on the occasion, Pawar said Waqf lands in the state should remain with the Muslim community. "The land that has been associated with Waqf for years should go to the minority community. There are no two thoughts on this. Some outsiders at times try to obtain such lands, which is wrong. There is a need for framing a good law for this and taking certain decisions," he added. Stay updated with the latest local news from your city on Times of India (TOI). Check upcoming bank holidays , public holidays , and current gold rates and silver prices in your area. "Get the latest news updates on Times of India, including reviews of the movie Coolie and War 2 ."
