• Police stop protesters from marching towards Indian diplomatic mission.
• New Delhi says it examining Bangladesh’s requests on Hasina’s extradition.
• Protestors demand Hasina, others’ repatriation during sit-in outside mission.
  

Bangladesh police on Thursday stopped protesters from marching towards an Indian diplomatic mission, a day after India’s foreign ministry conveyed its concerns over the “deteriorating” security environment in the country.

Ties between the two countries have been frosty since former prime minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India following a student-led uprising last year.

Dhaka has repeatedly asked for her extradition so that she could stand trial for her alleged crimes, with Delhi responding that it was examining the requests.

On Thursday, dozens of demonstrators began marching towards the assistant Indian high commissioner office in Rajshahi district, which borders India.

Miftahul Jannat, one of the protesters, said the plan was to carry out a sit-in, demanding the “repatriation of all the killers, including Sheikh Hasina”.

The protest was stalled by the police, who said they “listened to their demands and promised to forward them to the authorities”.

“We are not aware of any further plans (for demonstrations) and hope the issue will be resolved peacefully,” Nashid Farhad, a senior officer with the Rajshahi Metropolitan Police, told AFP.

On Wednesday, a group of protesters tried to march towards the Indian High Commission in Dhaka.

India’s foreign ministry on Wednesday summoned Bangladesh’s top diplomat in New Delhi to convey its concerns about the actions of some “extremist elements”.

In a statement, the ministry also said it expected the interim government under Muhammad Yunus to “ensure the safety of missions and posts in Bangladesh in keeping with its diplomatic obligations”.

Hasina, 78, was sentenced to death in absentia by a Bangladesh court last month for crimes against humanity.

The country of 170 million people goes to the polls on February 12, with Hasina’s former ruling party, the Awami League, banned from running.

Days after a terrorist attack at Sydney’s Bondi Beach that left at least 15 people dead, a mosque in Australia’s Brisbane was vandalised, sparking further tensions in the country.

The wall of the mosque, named Masjid Taqwa, at Bald Hills — a northern Brisbane suburb — was sprayed with Islamophobic comments and white supremacist symbols.

In the Bondi attack, a father and son duo, identified as Sajid Akram and Naveed — who originally hailed from India — opened fire during a Jewish event on December 14, in an attack that shook the nation and intensified fears of rising antisemitism and violent extremism.

One of the mosque’s directors, Kambiz Koshan, said he received countless calls from worried community members after the vandalism. “Our message to the community has always been to keep peace,” Koshan said.

“It’s unfortunate that we have people that do such things in it. We do understand people’s frustration but this is not a solution.

“We’re all Australians. We shouldn’t be pointing to a specific community for the fault of someone who doesn’t even know what they’re doing. Our message is peace. It’s always peace,” he said.

Bisma Asif, who represents Sandgate in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, shared the photo of the vile vandalism and strongly condemned the incident.

“Overnight, the local Bald Hills Mosque was vandalised with white supremacist symbols and the subject of death threats,” she wrote on Instagram.

“This, on the back of 15 innocent people losing their lives at the hands of extremists in an anti-Semitic attack on Sunday,” she said, adding: “I’m sick of the constant anti-Semitic, Islamophobic and racist incidents we’ve had in our community.”

“This is not the way forward. This is not how we get through this. Not with more hate. Not with retaliation. Not by tearing each other apart,” Asif said, calling for the community to stand together against divisiveness and for the state government to pass racial vilification laws.

“Everyone in our community deserves to feel safe in their homes, places of worship and at work. Now more than ever, it is important we stand together against divisiveness,” she added.

Meanwhile, Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja, a South East Queensland resident, also condemned the incident.

“Don’t let the haters divide us,” he posted in an Instagram story with an Australian flag emoji.

• Afghans stuck in Pakistan since conservative Merz took office.
• Minister says “in touch with Pakistani authorities on this matter.”
• German govt to take in 535 Afghans who were promised refuge.

The German government said on Thursday it would take in 535 Afghans who had been promised refuge in Germany but have been stuck in limbo in Pakistan.

Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt told the RND media network that Berlin wanted to complete the processing of the cases “in December, as far as possible” to allow them to enter Germany.

The Afghans were accepted under a refugee scheme set up by the previous German government, but have been stuck in Pakistan since conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz took office in May and froze the programme.

Those on the scheme either worked with German armed forces in Afghanistan during the war against the Taliban, or were judged to be at particular risk from the Taliban after its return to power in 2021 — for example, rights activists and journalists, as well as their families.

Pakistan had set a deadline for the end of the year for the Afghans’ cases to be settled, after which they would be deported back to their homeland.

Dobrindt said that “we are in touch with the Pakistani authorities about this,” adding: “It could be that there are a few cases which we will have to work on in the new year.”

Last week, the interior ministry said it had informed 650 people on the programme they would not be admitted, as the new government deemed it was no longer in Germany’s “interest”.

The government has offered those still in Pakistan money to give up their claim of settling in Germany, but as of mid-November, only 62 people had taken up the offer.

Earlier this month, more than 250 organisations in Germany, including Amnesty International, Save the Children and Human Rights Watch, said there were around 1,800 Afghans from the programme in limbo in Pakistan, and urged the government to let them in.