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Reason for allowing it ‘political’
FROM PAGE 1
matter… for political reasons ... let’s see. It is a political decision ... only time will tell.”
Razzak said Jamaat is a political party and the High Court verdict was that its charter was in conflict with Bangladesh’s constitution, which is not acceptable, reported several news outlets.
Despite this, the party has the support of many and in light of this situation, the government has taken steps. “You wait a little, and see what happens,” he told journalists at his office after a meeting with the German envoy.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Hasan Mahmud said, “As Jamaat has not yet been banned and has sought permission for the rally as a political party, they were granted the permission,” UNB quoted him as saying at his ministry.
“Every political party has the right to hold rallies, as long as they are not banned,” he added.
“We encourage the participation of all political parties in the election. The electoral process extends beyond the election day itself. With only six months until the election, it is customary for political parties to hold meetings in order to create a conducive environment.”
He alleged the BNP had instructed Jamaat to issue a statement about resisting the national election. “The statements made during Jamaat’s recent rally reflect the BNP’s stance,” he said.
Asked, Law Minister Anisul Huq first said the home ministry ministry gave the permission and so it would be better able to answer why Jamaat was allowed to stage the rally.
He said the permission for the rally was not in conflict with the government’s position to try Jamaat as a political party for its role in the Liberation War.
The amendment to the relevant laws to try Jamaat as a political party was under process and the final draft of the amendment will be placed before the cabinet soon, he said after a meet-the-press event in Dhaka.
He said plenty of evidence had surfaced against Jamaat during the war crimes trials.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan after a programme in Rajarbagh yesterday said the Awami League’s policy regarding Jamaat has not changed.
He said Jamaat is an unregistered party that occasionally holds events at the north gate of Baitul Mukarram, as well as in some indoor venues.
The DMP commissioner gave verbal permission for an indoor gathering. “That does not mean that we changed our position.”
On Saturday, Jamaat held the rally at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh.
The last time Jamaat was allowed to hold a rally was on February 5, 2013, at Shapla Chattar. It had held the rally to protest the trials of its leaders for crimes against humanity.
Following a writ petition, the HC in a landmark verdict on August 1 that year declared illegal the party’s registration with the Election Commission.
Jamaat appealed to the apex court challenging the HC verdict in 2013.
The EC scrapped Jamaat’s registration in October 2018, making it unable to take part in polls.

China spying from Cuba for years: US
AFP, Washington
China has been operating an intelligence unit in Cuba for years and upgraded it in 2019 in an effort to enhance its presence on the Caribbean island, a White House official said Saturday.
“This is well-documented in the intelligence record,” the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said in confirming China’s intelligence presence.
US media in recent days had reported that Beijing was planning to set up a spy base on the island, which is located just off American shores.
When President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, “we were briefed on a number of sensitive PRC efforts around the world to expand its overseas logistics, basing, and collection infrastructure globally,” the administration official said, using an acronym for the People’s Republic of China.
“This effort included the presence of PRC intelligence collection facilities in Cuba,” the official said. “In fact, the PRC conducted an upgrade of its intelligence collection facilities in Cuba in 2019.”
The Cuban government, which has already denied the presence of a Chinese spy base on its territory, slammed the latest development.
“Slanderous speculation continues, evidently promoted by certain media outlets to cause damage and alarm, without following minimal communication patterns, and without providing data or evidence to support what they spread,” Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio said on Twitter.
The developments come as Chinese leader Xi Jinping has pushed a rapid expansion of the country’s security presence around the world.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is slated to travel to China next weekend, rescheduling a visit that was canceled in February after a tension-filled incident involving a suspected surveillance balloon passing over the United States.
A base in Cuba, which lies 90 miles (150 kilometres) off Florida’s southern tip, would be viewed in Washington as a direct challenge to the continental United States.
China warned the United States Friday against “interfering in Cuba’s internal affairs,” in response to the media reports on a planned base.
When asked about the base at a regular press briefing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said he was “unaware of the situation” before criticizing US policy on Cuba.
“As we all know, spreading rumors and slander is a common tactic of the United States, and wantonly interfering in the internal affairs of other countries is its patent,” said Wang.
The US official said the administration believes that diplomatic efforts “have slowed the PRC down” in developing its activities in Cuba.
“We think the PRC isn’t quite where they had hoped to be,” the official said.
Earlier this year, China sent what the US called a high-altitude surveillance balloon across the United States. It floated from west to east above sensitive military installations before it was shot down by a US fighter jet.