20042025-TT-01.qxd 4/19/2025 PATNAIK BACK AS BJD CHIEF 9TH TIME NATION /thetribunechd 11:10 PM Page 1 123 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 145 NO. 108 | 22 PAGES | ~7.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881  HIMACHAL PRADESH sunday | 20 april 2025 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com Systematic persecution: MEA slams Bangladesh for Hindu leader’s killing Ubeer Naqushbandi Tribune News Service New Delhi, April 19 India on Saturday condemned the killing of a prominent Hindu community member, Bhabesh Chandra Roy, in Bangladesh and urged the neighbouring nation to desist from “inventing excuses or making distinctions” on minority safety in the country. Roy (58), belonging to the Biral area of Dinajpur in Bangladesh, was allegedly abducted from his home and beaten to death on Thursday. The victim served as the vice-president of the Biral unit of the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad. NO PARALLEL WITH BENGAL VIOLENCE ❝ We reject the remarks made by Bangladesh with regard to the West Bengal violence... Must desist from inventing excuses or making distinctions on minority safety. Randhir Jaiswal, MEA Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said Roy’s abduction and brutal killing was a distressing incident. “The killing follows a pattern of systematic persecution of Hindu minorities under the interim government even as the per- petrators of previous such events roam with impunity. We again remind the interim government to live up to its responsibility of protecting all minorities, including Hindus, without inventing excuses or making distinctions.” The incident came to the fore when India on Friday rejected Bangladesh’s remarks calling for “protection against minority Muslim population” in West Bengal and instead urged Dhaka to focus on protecting the rights of its own minorities. The MEA spokesperson had also said, “We reject the remarks made by the Bangladesh side with regard continued on page 8 PUTIN DECLARES EASTER CEASEFIRE DELHI BUILDING COLLAPSE KILLS 11 Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a temporary Easter ceasefire in Ukraine starting Saturday to midnight following Easter Sunday, citing humanitarian reasons. Russia and Ukraine also swapped hundreds of soldiers in the largest exchange since the war broke out. INSIDE Shut Parl if SC has to make laws, says BJP MP Nishikant Dubey NEW DELHI: Eleven persons, including three children and four women, were killed and as many injured after a four-storey building collapsed in northeast Delhi’s Dayalpur area in the wee hours of Saturday. The collapse came as rain, coupled with strong winds, lashed the region on Friday. Police sources said construction work in shops on the ground floor might have been an added factor. REUTERS BACK PAGE Tarn Taran student killed by India-US trade talks from April 23, early Four Haryana juveniles get stray bullet in Canada firing tranche of deal in focus amid tariff tussle 20-yr jail for raping minor Kin seek Centre, Punjab help to get back body Harsimrat Randhawa, was Tribune News Service studying at Mohawk New Delhi, April 19 College. She was standA 21-year-old student ing at a bus stop on her hailing from Tarn way to work when she Taran in Punjab and was killed. According to studying in Canada’s the Hamilton police, Hamilton was killed they received reports of after she was acciden- Harsimrat Randhawa a shooting near Upper tally hit by a stray bullet dur- James and South Bend Road at ing a shooting incident. 7.30 pm on April 17. “When the continued on page 8 The deceased, identified as Ujwal Jalali Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service New Delhi, April 19 Delivery of an early tranche of the India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) will be in focus next week when principal negotiators from both sides converge for talks. Commerce Ministry sources today said Indian and US officials would meet for three days starting April UDDHAV, RAJ HINT AT REUNION BACK PAGE 23 and discuss broad contours of the BTA, focusing on 19-chapter terms of reference which had been finalised. “The Indian team led by Additional Secretary (Commerce) Rajesh Agarwal will be in Washington DC next week for the three-day meeting with the US counterparts. The two sides will also aim to go beyond the agreed continued on page 8 MuskannouncesIndia visitaftertalkswithPM New Delhi, April 19 Tesla owner Elon Musk, the world’s richest person with a strong influence in the US administration, on Saturday announced that he will visit India later this year. This comes a day after PM Narendra Modi and Musk discussed continued on page 8 Today’s issue is of 22 pages, including six-page Spectrum. c m y b Mukesh Tandon Tribune News Service Sonepat, April 19 The fast-track special court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Narender has awarded 20-year rigorous imprisonment to four children in conflict with law for gangraping a 17-year-old girl. The court has also slapped a fine of Rs 56,000 on each convict. Besides, one of the accused in the case, Ankit, is a major. The court has fixed a hearing on April 21 to decide his case. Vijender Singh, Special Public Prosecutor, said the incident was reported to the Kharkhoda police on April 2, 2023. The mother of the victim, in her complaint to the police, said her daughter was a student of Class XII at a government school. Her continued on page 8 Fourth-term BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Saturday said Parliament and state Assemblies should be closed down if the Supreme Court had to make the laws. He accused the SC of arrogating to itself Parliament’s powers by striking down laws passed by the legislature and even giving directions to the President who appoints the top court judges. BACK PAGE K’taka suspends 2 home guards over sacred thread row SHIVAMOGGA: A case has been lodged against officials at Adichunchanagiri PU college, a CET exam centre, in Karnataka for allegedly asking students to remove their ‘janivaras' (sacred thread worn by Brahmins). Two home guards who asked the students to remove the sacred thread have been suspended. — PTI