07082024-TTC-01.qxd 8/7/2024 12:59 AM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 8 NO. 218 | 16 PAGES | ~5.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881 POLITICAL PARTIES, ADMN GEAR UP FOR ASSEMBLY POLL J&K HARRIS PICKS TIM WALZ AS RUNNING MATE IN PREZ POLL WORLD /thetribunechd SENSEX FALLS 0.21%, MURMU RECEIVES FIJI’S NIFTY ENDS BELOW HIGHEST CIVILIAN 24K MARK BUSINESS AWARD BACK PAGE wednesday | 7 august 2024 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com B’desh Parl dissolved, Hasina faces UK refuge hitch Nobel laureate to lead interim govt | Ex-PM Khaleda freed from house arrest Tribune News Service New Delhi, August 6 Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin dissolved Parliament on Tuesday, paving the way for an interim government and fresh elections even as former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina may be in India for a few more days following the UK’s hesitation to provide her refuge. The President also freed from house arrest Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia, a former Prime Minister and Hasina’s archrival. Khaleda (79) is the wife of Lt Gen Ziaur Rehman, the army chief of Bangladesh when Hasina’s father Sheikh Mujibur Rehman was assassinated in 1975. As the army took charge on Monday and the death toll in the violence in which temples were also attacked rose to 440, the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement (ADSM), an outfit that spearheaded the massive protests, said 84year-old Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus was appointed the head of the interim government. Student protesters had threatened more demonstrations if Parliament was not dissolved. People gather in front of an Awami League office that was ransacked by a mob in Dhaka on Tuesday. PTI HINDU HOMES, TEMPLES TARGETED ■ Nearly 300 Hindu homes and businesses van- dalised and 20 Hindu temples damaged since former PM Sheikh Hasina’s ouster on Monday, a community association said ■ The Hindu community constitutes 8 per cent of Bangladesh’s 170 mn population and has historically supported Hasina’s Awami League party, which identifies itself as largely secular A number of Hindu temples, households and businesses were vandalised, women assaulted and at least two Hindu leaders affiliated with the Hasina-headed Awami League were killed in the vio- LEADER’S HOTEL TORCHED; 24 DEAD Dhaka: At least 24 persons were burnt alive by a mob at a starred hotel owned by a leader of Awami League party after PM Sheikh Hasina’s ouster, sources said on Tuesday. The victims, mostly boarders, were burnt alive as the mob set afire Zabir International Hotel owned by district Awami League general secretary Shahin Chakkladar in Joshor district. PTI lence after she fled the country. News agency PTI said the decision to dissolve Parliament was taken following the President’s discussions with the three armed forces chiefs, leaders of different political parties, representatives of civil society and leaders of the ADSM. In a video posted on social media early Tuesday, ADSM’s key coordinator Nahid Islam proposed the Nobel laureate as the head of the interim government. He said they had already spoken with Yunus, and that he had agreed to take the responsibility. “No government other than the one proposed by the students will be accepted. As we have said, no military government or one backed by the military or a government of fascists will be accepted,” said Nahid, flanked by two other coordinators. Currently abroad, Yunus welcomed Hasina’s ouster, describing the development as the “second liberation” of the country. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his antipoverty campaign through the Grameen Bank, a mode replicated across continents. The death toll in the antigovernment protests climbed to 440 today, with 100 more deaths reported after Hasina’s departure. The former PM’s plan to travel to London hit a roadblock over some “uncertainties” and she is likely to stay in India for the next couple of days. Hasina, who landed at the Hindon airbase on Monday in a C-130J military transport aircraft hours after resigning as the Prime Minister, has been shifted to an unspecified continued on page 12 ‘Watching closely’ says Centre , on Rahul’s ‘foreign hand’ query Tribune News Service New Delhi, August 6 India made its first formal remarks on the Bangladesh crisis today as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the situation in the neighbouring nation was still evolving and there was concern regarding the safety and security of minorities and their religious places. The government also convened an all-party meeting and briefed political outfits about the evolving situation in Bangladesh. It said a close watch was being kept on the extremely fluid situation. Jaishankar, in a suo motu statement in both houses of Parliament, said former PM Sheikh Hasina requested for approval at very short notice to come to India “for the moment”. “Our understanding is that after a meeting with leaders of the security establishment, PM Hasina apparently decided to resign. At very short notice, she requested approval to come, for the moment, to India,” he said. Hasina had resigned yes- EAM S Jaishankar addresses an all-party meeting in New Delhi. Union ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and JP Nadda are also seen. ANI terday and was evacuated on a military plane to India. She flew into the Hindon airbase near Delhi. The minister said it was “particularly worrying that minorities, their businesses and temples had come under attack at multiple locations”. He said the Indian borderguarding forces had been instructed to be “exceptionally alert in view of the complex situation”. He said it was expected that the Indian High Commission at Dhaka and consulates at Chittagong, Rajshahi, Khulna and Sylhet were provided the required security protection. At the all-party meeting, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi asked Jaishankar if there was a foreign hand, principally Pakistan, involved in Bangladesh. The government did not rule out a foreign hand, but sufficed to say that the situation was too fluid and the Indian Government had been keeping a very close watch. One opposition source said “there was a mention at the meeting of a Pakistan diplomat who constantly continued on page 12 THE TRIBUNEINTERVIEW: NAYAB SINGH SAINI, HARYANA CHIEF MINISTER ‘Will gainfully employ all former Agniveers’ Geetanjali Gayatri Tribune News Service Chandigarh, August 6 Underlining the BJP’s commitment to the state’s youth, Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini on Tuesday vowed to gainfully employ every single Agniveer on the completion of the stipulated four-year service in the armed forces. In an interview to The Tribune, the CM admitted that the Agniveer scheme adversely impacted the party in the Lok Sabha elections. Saini said the BJP lost five of the 10 seats in Haryana because of ❝ We lost five of the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana because of the Congress’ misleading campaign… Agniveer scheme also had an adverse impact. the Congress’ “misleading” campaign wherein it accused the BJP of doing away with the quota for Dalits. “The foundation of the Congress’ campaign was built on the lie that if PM Modi came to power for a third time, the Constitution and reservation would be a casualty. Haryana’s people are gullible. They believed it. However, this lie-based bubble will burst in the state Assembly polls,” the CM said. Saini emphasised his government’s decision to offer MSP for 24 crops was in line with PM Modi’s “strong steps” taken for farmers’ welfare. “Our double-engine government has taken many measures for them, including a steady rise in the MSP The . Congress had done nothing during its tenure,” he said. Asserting that the BJP will go it alone in the state polls, Saini dismissed reports of any dissenting voice in the BJP . “We will fight this election as a united force,” he added. S+4 plans on hold for now, Haryana tells HC Govt U-turn on LTCG tax, offers 2 options on realty Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Chandigarh, August 6 The Haryana Government today assured a Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court that new building plans under the stilt-plus-four scheme would not be sanctioned till the next date of hearing in the matter. The Bench of Justice Arun Palli and Justice Says scheme with strict measures in works Vikram Aggarwal was also told a committee of experts had now formulated a scheme entailing several strict measures. As the matter came up for resumed hearing, the Bench was requested to examine continued on page 12 New Delhi, August 6 After uproar over removal of indexation benefits on sale of properties, the government on Tuesday proposed amendments to the Finance Bill-2024 with an aim to provide relief to taxpayers who bought houses before July 23, 2024 by giving them an option to choose between two Pay flat 12.5% or 20% with indexation rates for long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax. As per the amendments circulated among MPs tonight, individuals will have the option to either pay 12.5 per cent LTCG tax on sale of property without indexation continued on page 12 When Hasina got Indira’s care, Pranab’s counsel Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service New Delhi, August 6 While she charts the course of her uncertain future, Bangladesh’s beleaguered former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina would be missing two elements as she homes in on an Indian safe house. The first – “motherly affection” late PM Indira Gandhi showered on her and her sister Rehana when the two sought their first political asylum in Delhi after mass executions of their families Former President Pranab Mukherjee with Sheikh Hasina in 2013. in August 1975. The second — late President Pranab Mukherjee’s counsel every time she needed guidance on matters involving Indo-Bangladesh ties. About Indira Gandhi, Hasina wrote warmly in “India’s Indira: A Centennial Tribute”, a book Congress veteran Anand Sharma edited in the centenary year of the late PM, “When we met Indira Gandhi in Delhi, she received us with motherly affections. She even gave shelter to my two aunts who had lost their husbands and sons and who had become disabled after somehow surviving the August 15, 1975 carnage. Mrs Gandhi also continued on page 12 Vinesh Phogat after winning the women’s freestyle 50kg semifinal against Cuba’s Yusneylis Guzman Lopez in Paris on Tuesday. PTI MATCHLESS WINESH Becomes 1st Indian woman wrestler to enter Oly final, secures medal ROHIT MAHAJAN IN PARIS V INESH Phogat, given up as a lost cause by Indian wrestling officaldom not long back, will fight Sarah Hildebrandt of the US for gold on Wednesday. Vinesh beat Cuba’s Yusneylis Guzman Lopez in the 50kg freestyle semifinals with ease to enter the final, becoming the first Indian woman to make it to the final round. Vinesh, her singlet drenched in sweat, her arms akimbo, her breath short, walks by, looking as far from being a superwoman as is possible — but rest assured, she’s a superwoman. Vinesh, with two Olympics nightmares in her memory bank, kept the dream of a gold alive when she entered the final, having beaten Ukraine’s Oksana Livach in the semis. Consider this: Over the last couple of years, Vinesh has led the movement against former MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh over sexual molestation charges; she’s dropped down from 53kg to 50kg in the Olympics after being deposed c m y b Harmanpreet Singh with teammates during the semifinal. AP/PTI HOCKEY HEARTBREAK The Indian hockey team, which had the opportunity to put the icing on the cake on a nearperfect day for India, lost to Germany in the semifinal 2-3. Coming back from 1-2 down, and at 2-2 after quarter 3, India had hope, but the German defence POLE POSITION held fort. India will take on Spain Tokyo Games gold medal for bronze on Thursday. winner Neeraj Chopra storms PARIS 2024 into the men’s javelin throw MEDAL TALLY final with season’s best effort of 89.34m in his first attempt HAUL in the qualification round on Tuesday. His personal best INDIA 00 00 03 03 continues to be 89.94m. in her preferred category by a bright youngster, Antim Panghal; and, most incredible of all, today she beat Yui Susaki in the first round of women’s 50kg wrestling — the biggest shock of the Olympics so far. Susaki was the defending champion and four-time world champion. It’s like Sumit Nagal beating Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon. Vinesh, more aggressive in the quarterfinals, beat Livach to reach the semifinals, her best performance at the Olympics. Vinesh made her magic at the wrestling mat of Champ de Mars arena; not too far away, at State de France, Neeraj Chopra, a good friend of Vinesh’s, hurled the javelin to 89.34 metres with his very first throw — his best of the season, and the best among all competitors today — to enter the final. Chopra, the defending Olympics champion and reigning world champion, stretched his sinews fully with his first throw, a monster one, to easily cross the qualifying mark (84m) for the final. The effort allayed fears about the state of his fitness, for he’s been nursing an adductor injury in the months leading to the Olympics. Today’s 89.34m throw is his second-best continued on page 12