Shibir-NCP's lie about claiming private event with hall rental as 'Oxford invitation' en.bddigest.com/shibir-ncps-…

#TariqueRahman-led #BNP Govt Follows the #Yunus-led Interim Govt in Capitulating to #Islamist Demands, Backtracks on Appointment of #Music Teachers in Schools. Following in the footsteps of the Muhammad #Yunus-led Interim Government, the BNP Government under Prime Minister #TariqueRahman has chosen to appease Islamist pressure groups rather than promote arts and cultural education, reversing plans to appoint music teachers in government primary schools. On 14 June, #Education Minister ANM Ahsanul Hoque Mlion informed Parliament that the government had decided against appointing music teachers in government primary schools. The statement came in response to a question raised by Jamaat-e-Islami MP Md. Nurul Islam, who represents the Chapainawabganj-3 constituency. The decision marks a continuation of a policy reversal that began under the previous Interim Govt. On 28 August 2025, officials from the Ministry of Education formally proposed the appointment of dedicated assistant teachers for music and physical education in government primary schools. The initiative was intended to strengthen the holistic development of #children by ensuring greater access to #arts, #culture, and physical education within the school system. However, the proposal faced strong opposition from several Islamist political parties and organisations, including Jamaat-e-Islami, Islami Andolon Bangladesh, Khelafat Majlish, Bangladesh Khelafat Andolon, Hefazat-e-Islam, and others.. As a result of this pressure, the Interim Government withdrew the proposal on 2 November 2025, effectively scrapping plans to appoint music and physical education teachers in primary schools. News: bddigest.com/news/53850/ The BNP Govt's latest decision not to revive the initiative suggests a continuation of the same policy approach. Rather than advancing educational reforms aimed at the all-round development of children, BNP has chosen to maintain a position that aligns with #Islamists. Opposition from Islamist organisations to music and cultural activities is not unexpected, given their literal and backward worldviews regarding all forms of artistic and cultural expression. However, BNP has traditionally projected itself as a party committed to liberal democratic values, cultural pluralism, and freedom of religion. This raises an important question: if the party claims to support a modern and inclusive vision of society, why is it unwilling to support educational initiatives that promote the intellectual, physical, and creative development of children through music and physical education? Music and arts education are widely recognised as important components of a well-rounded education system. Alongside physical education, they contribute to creativity, critical thinking, confidence, discipline, and social development. The decision to abandon such initiatives, coupled with related developments such as historic revisionism in new school books, therefore raises broader concerns about the direction of educational policy and the extent to which political considerations are shaping decisions that affect future generations. In a political landscape where the country's principal secular political force, the #AwamiLeague, remains effectively banned and Islamist parties wield increasing influence over public discourse and policymaking, the BNP government's decision is likely to reinforce concerns about the growing accommodation of religious hardliners within mainstream #politics. … #BangladeshCrisis #IslamistResurgence @MujMash @AFP @HannahEP @CordeliaSkyNews @TheEconomist @b_parkyn @ReutersAsia @suhasinih @APNews @JonathanEmont @CharlieCamp6ell @SSabihaAlam @DavidPBMaddox #News @SCMPAsia @State_SCA @GERonSouthAsia @paulocasaca1 @CJBdingo25 @Chellaney @FOREF_EU @UNESCO #Music

Neither the University of Oxford nor the institutional Oxford Union leadership formally invited Hasnat Abdullah and Abu Sadik Kayem.  Fact-checking organizations and investigation reports have clarified that the claims circulating on social media regarding an official institutional invitation are misleading and false. The event, titled "The Student-Led Uprising and the Future of Post-Revolutionary Bangladesh," was organized by the Oxford Bengali Society. The Oxford Bengali Society is a student-run cultural and regional organization. They arranged the panel discussion and were the entities that actually brought the student leaders over to speak. The Oxford Union Venue Setup: The misrepresentation stems entirely from the physical location of the event. Private Room Booking: The student organizers rented out a debating chamber room directly from the Oxford Union Society buildings for this event. Just a RENTAL. Commercial Transaction: The booking records indicate that a standard, automated reservation confirmation was generated upon payment. This means the room usage was a standard venue rental handled in a private student capacity, rather than a selected institutional honor curated by the Oxford Union's main platform committee. Let's distinguish the entities in question: A large portion of the online propagation conflated entirely different organizations: University of Oxford had NO role to play in this. None whatsoever. The university is a completely separate academic institution and has nothing to do with the guest selection or the private bookings of student clubs. Oxford Union Society provided the Venue Only. They are an independent student-led debating club. They did NOT formally select, sponsor, or host these "student leaders" as part of their official term card program. Oxford Bengali Society were the actual Hosts. It is just a student club that rented the space to conduct their independent panel discussion with the Bangladeshi coordinators. While early viral posts and video captions on the student leaders' official digital platforms framed the event as an "official invitation from the historic Oxford Union," comprehensive local fact-checks by platforms like FactWatch confirmed that it was a privately organized student-club seminar that utilized a rented hall.  [1] facebook.com [2] fact-watch.org [3] glive24.com [4] fact-watch.org [5] reddit.com [6] glive24.com

3 months, 650 deaths, 85,000 cases: @bbcbangla report asks why #Bangladesh is failing to bring the #measles outbreak under control. Despite the widespread spread of measles among the #children of Bangladesh, the #BNP government has been unable to bring the situation under control even after three months. The number of cases and deaths continues to rise by the day. So far, at least 652 children have died, while the total number of reported cases has exceeded 85,000. Public health specialists are attributing the high number of infections and fatalities to government mismanagement. According to Dr. Benazir Ahmed, former Chief Scientific Officer of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), the government made a “huge mistake” by failing to declare a nationwide measles outbreak and a national health emergency. He stated: “Government’s mismanagement led to so many deaths. Better management could have lessened the death toll.” The situation in hospitals speaks volumes about the state of management. Parents Abdul Ghani and Salma Begum spent a month moving from one hospital to another in an effort to save their child. Unfortunately, it was not enough. Three weeks ago, their firstborn son, Ibrahim, died. They are now caring for their second son, who has also contracted measles. Visits to Bangladesh Children’s Hospital, Dhaka Medical College Hospital, and Mugda Medical College Hospital revealed scenes of healthcare facilities reaching breaking point. Wards were overcrowded, and desperate parents scrambled to find beds for their sick children. A significant proportion of those who died had travelled to #Dhaka from other districts. Many could not be saved because treatment was not initiated in time, owing to inadequate healthcare resources outside the capital. Dr. Benazir Ahmed argued that if the government had declared the outbreak an epidemic and announced a national health emergency, measures could have been taken to reduce the death toll. These could have included expanding ICU facilities at the upazila and district levels and providing doctors and nurses with specialized training to manage the crisis more effectively. Experts also warn that the rising number of #dengue cases may make it even more difficult for healthcare workers to cope with the measles outbreak in the months ahead. Report: bbc.com/bengali/articles/cly…? While it is now evident that significant failures by the #Yunus-led Interim Govt in procuring #vaccines on time helped trigger the measles outbreak, attention must also turn to the #BNP Govt and the questions surrounding its handling of the crisis that has claimed the lives of hundreds of children. …. #BangladeshCrisis #MeaslesOutbreak @UNICEFBD @WHO @TheLancet @ScienceMagazine @HarvardHealth @CDCGlobal @WHOSEARO @bbchealth @BBCCiN

ICT Prosecutor Bribery Scandal: Fact-Finding Committee Fails to Submit Probe Report After Three Months. A fact-finding committee established to investigate allegations that a former prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) solicited a bribe from the family of a detained #AwamiLeague MP in exchange for facilitating his bail has yet to submit its report, despite the passage of more than three months since the controversy first emerged. News:
 prothomalo.com/bangladesh/np… The allegations first came to light through a joint investigation by @NetraNews and @ProthomAlo. The investigation published transcripts of leaked conversations in which former ICT prosecutor Saimum Reza Talukder, who has since resigned from his position, was allegedly heard speaking with a family member of detained former Awami League MP Fazle Karim Chowdhury. According to the report, Saimum demanded Tk 10 million in exchange for helping secure the former MP's release on bail. The investigation further alleged that at least one investigator involved in the same case may have accepted money from an #Islamist organisation seeking to implicate the former MP in legal proceedings. Report:
 interactive.netra.news/ict-p… The prolonged delay in submitting the fact-finding report has raised additional questions because the committee itself has already acknowledged that the leaked audio recording attributed to Saimum is authentic. News:
 shorturl.at/t9DpW The delay has led some observers to question whether political considerations may be influencing the pace of the investigation. Media reports suggest that Saimum Reza Talukder is associated with the Bangladesh Nationalist IT Forum, a pro-#BNP organisation. Questions have also been raised regarding the independence of the inquiry because the fact-finding committee is headed by Chief Prosecutor Md. Aminul Islam, who has long been associated with pro-BNP lawyers’ organisation. It should be noted that the controversy surrounding Saimum is not the only #corruption-related allegation to emerge from within the ICT prosecution apparatus. Another prosecutor, B. M. Sultan Mahmud, has publicly alleged that the wife of former Sub-Inspector Sheikh Abzalul Haque, an accused in a separate case, visited the office of ICT prosecutor Gazi Monowar Hossain Tamim carrying a large bag. Mahmud alleges that following this visit, Abzalul Haque was transformed from an accused person into a prosecution witness and was subsequently acquitted. He has implied that this sequence of events may have involved an illicit financial arrangement. Mahmud further stated that he and several of his colleagues raised these concerns with then Chief Prosecutor Tajul Islam, but that no action was taken in response to their complaints. Additional concerns have emerged regarding the integrity of potential evidence. According to reports, a hard disk drive containing CCTV footage from outside prosecutor Tamim's office on the day of the alleged visit was reportedly replaced several weeks later, raising questions about possible evidence tampering and obstruction of the investigation. See:
 thedailystar.net/news/news/q… There is also a significant conflict of interest within the fact-finding process itself. Prosecutor Tamim, against whom corruption allegations have been publicly levelled by a fellow member of the prosecution team, is himself a member of the fact-finding committee tasked with investigating the bribery allegations involving former prosecutor Saimum. The inclusion of an individual facing separate corruption allegations on a committee examining related misconduct claims has prompted further scrutiny of the investigation's credibility, transparency, and independence. … #BangladeshCrisis @amnestysasia @IBAHRI @meeganguly @hrw @PearsonElaine @AgnesCallamard @ESandersFCDO @SRjudgeslawyers @justiceinfonet @job71org @icsforum @volker_turk @StateDRL @FCDOHumanRights @Tkbaul @DoughtyStIntl @TheDavidBergman @UNHumanRights