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Bangladeshi protesters attack supporters of ex-premier Hasina and harass journalists

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Bangladeshi protesters attack supporters of ex-premier Hasina and harass journalists
News

News

Bangladeshi protesters attack supporters of ex-premier Hasina and harass journalists

2024-08-15 23:05 Last Updated At:23:10

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Hundreds of student protesters and political activists in Bangladesh, armed with bamboo sticks, iron rods and pipes, on Thursday, assaulted supporters of the ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and prevented them from reaching the previous house of her father and assassinated independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in the capital.

The house in Dhaka’s Dhanmondi area was turned into a museum to showcase narratives and other objects about a military coup on Aug. 15, 1975, when Rahman was assassinated along with most of his family members. The house, now called Bangabandhu Memorial Museum, was torched by the protesters hours after Hasina’s downfall on Aug. 5 following an uprising during which more than three hundred people were killed.

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A sign saying 'This road will be open for all soon!' is posted on a barricade as protesters block the road in front of the former residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, father of the ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, on his death anniversary in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

A sign saying 'This road will be open for all soon!' is posted on a barricade as protesters block the road in front of the former residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, father of the ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, on his death anniversary in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

Protesters block the road in front of the former residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, father of the ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, on his death anniversary in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

Protesters block the road in front of the former residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, father of the ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, on his death anniversary in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

Student protesters rough up a supporter of the ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League party suspecting him of paying respect to her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on his death anniversary outside his residence in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, August 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

Student protesters rough up a supporter of the ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League party suspecting him of paying respect to her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on his death anniversary outside his residence in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, August 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

Protesters carry sticks and Bangladesh flags as they block the road in front of the former residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, father of the ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, on his death anniversary in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

Protesters carry sticks and Bangladesh flags as they block the road in front of the former residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, father of the ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, on his death anniversary in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

A protester carries Bangladesh flag as he and others block the road in front of the former residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, father of the ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, on his death anniversary in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

A protester carries Bangladesh flag as he and others block the road in front of the former residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, father of the ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, on his death anniversary in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

Military and paramilitary personnel stand guard as protesters block the road in front of the former residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, father of the ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, on his death anniversary in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

Military and paramilitary personnel stand guard as protesters block the road in front of the former residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, father of the ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, on his death anniversary in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

Rahman is fondly called Bangabandhu or, a friend of Bengal.

Thursday is the anniversary of Rahman’s death, and Hasina, now self-exiled in India, urged her supporters to commemorate the day by paying respect to Rahman. Previously, Aug. 15 was a public holiday and was observed as a national mourning day by Hasina’s administration. But that has been canceled by an interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus following the ouster of Hasina, who survived in 1975 along with her younger sister because they were visiting Germany in 1975.

On Thursday, the protesters attacked Hasina’s supporters who attempted to get to the site. They manhandled many and checked the visitors’ phones and identity cards while threatening journalists for filming the incidents at the scene, witnesses said.

Another group of protesters on Thursday chanted “Naraye Takbeer, Allahu Akbar” or, “Allah is Great, Shout of Allah is Great” as they marched through streets in the area where the museum site remained blocked with barbed-wire fences.

The protesters, who arrived at Rhaman's house first on Wednesday, attacked a prominent actress, as she along with dozens of Hasina’s supporters reached there to light candles as part of the commemoration.

Overnight, they held a party using loudspeakers and playing songs as they danced outside the museum, which was set on fire during the anti-government demonstrations earlier this month. Videos of the party went viral on social media.

The protesters said they were out to stop the gathering of Hasina’s supporters as they could attempt to create chaos in the name of commemoration.

Sarjis Alam, a key organizer of the student protests, said Thursday that they would continue to demand the trial of Hasina as he led a rally in Dhaka's Shahbagh area.

Asked about the harassment of journalists by the students and other activists outside the museum, he said he would inquire about that but gave no details.

In the past, big gatherings took place on the premises of the museum, seen by many as a source of inspiration.

Hasina had asked supporters earlier this week to “pray for the salvation of all souls by offering floral garlands and praying” outside the museum, in her first public statement since her fall.

With no police in sight, the chaos remained in Bangladesh's capital throughout Thursday.

Sam Jahan, a video journalist for Reuters, protested against the harassment by the protesters, in a Facebook post.

“It is fair enough what you, the political activists, student protesters want to achieve, politically. But when you try to stop my rolling camera, resisting the freedom of the press and when you manhandle my colleagues, I will speak up,” Jahan wrote in the post.

The country's leading English-language Daily Star newspaper reported that their journalists faced trouble at the scene, and they were forced to delete photos and videos.

Mujib Mashal, South Asian bureau chief of The New York Times, in a video post on social media platform X said that it was a “complete mob rule.”

“The victims of yesterday are perpetrators of today; men armed with clubs and pipes (many identified themselves as BNP and Jamaat) thrashing and chasing away anyone they suspect of being Awami League,” he said.

The protesters have been demanding trial of Hasina for the killings during weeks-long violence and cases have already been filed against her and other close party colleagues and top police officials.

More than 300 people were killed in unrest that started in July with protests against a quota system for government jobs that later morphed into a movement against what was considered Hasina’s increasingly autocratic administration. The uprising eventually forced Hasina to leave office and flee to India, ending her 15-year rule.

Yunus took over as the interim leader. Sixteen people, including two student protest leaders and others, drawn mainly from civil society, have been included in the interim Cabinet.

He chose the new Cabinet members after talks between student leaders, civil society representatives and the military.

A sign saying 'This road will be open for all soon!' is posted on a barricade as protesters block the road in front of the former residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, father of the ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, on his death anniversary in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

A sign saying 'This road will be open for all soon!' is posted on a barricade as protesters block the road in front of the former residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, father of the ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, on his death anniversary in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

Protesters block the road in front of the former residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, father of the ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, on his death anniversary in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

Protesters block the road in front of the former residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, father of the ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, on his death anniversary in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

Student protesters rough up a supporter of the ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League party suspecting him of paying respect to her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on his death anniversary outside his residence in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, August 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

Student protesters rough up a supporter of the ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League party suspecting him of paying respect to her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on his death anniversary outside his residence in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, August 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

Protesters carry sticks and Bangladesh flags as they block the road in front of the former residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, father of the ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, on his death anniversary in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

Protesters carry sticks and Bangladesh flags as they block the road in front of the former residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, father of the ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, on his death anniversary in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

A protester carries Bangladesh flag as he and others block the road in front of the former residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, father of the ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, on his death anniversary in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

A protester carries Bangladesh flag as he and others block the road in front of the former residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, father of the ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, on his death anniversary in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

Military and paramilitary personnel stand guard as protesters block the road in front of the former residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, father of the ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, on his death anniversary in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

Military and paramilitary personnel stand guard as protesters block the road in front of the former residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, father of the ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, on his death anniversary in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

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The Gulf of Whatnow? Mapmakers grapple with Trump's geographic renaming plans

2025-01-23 15:31 Last Updated At:15:40

What's in a name change, after all?

The water bordered by the Southern United States, Mexico and Cuba will be critical to shipping lanes and vacationers whether it’s called the Gulf of Mexico, as it has been for four centuries, or the Gulf of America, as President Donald Trump ordered this week. North America’s highest mountain peak will still loom above Alaska whether it’s called Mt. Denali, as ordered by former President Barack Obama in 2015, or changed back to Mt. McKinley as Trump also decreed.

But Trump's territorial assertions, in line with his “America First” worldview, sparked a round of rethinking by mapmakers and teachers, snark on social media and sarcasm by at least one other world leader. And though Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis put the Trumpian “Gulf of America” on an official document and some other gulf-adjacent states were considering doing the same, it was not clear how many others would follow Trump's lead.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum joked that if Trump went ahead with the renaming, her country would rename North America “Mexican America.” On Tuesday, she toned it down: “For us and for the entire world it will continue to be called the Gulf of Mexico.”

Map lines are inherently political. After all, they're representations of the places that are important to human beings — and those priorities can be delicate and contentious, even more so in a globalized world.

There’s no agreed-upon scheme to name boundaries and features across the Earth.

“Denali” is the mountain's preferred name for Alaska Natives, while “McKinley" is a tribute to President William McKinley, designated in the late 19th century by a gold prospector. China sees Taiwan as its own territory, and the countries surrounding what the United States calls the South China Sea have multiple names for the same body of water.

The Persian Gulf has been widely known by that name since the 16th century, although usage of “Gulf” and “Arabian Gulf” is dominant in many countries in the Middle East. The government of Iran — formerly Persia — threatened to sue Google in 2012 over the company’s decision not to label the body of water at all on its maps. Many Arab countries don’t recognize Israel and instead call it Palestine. And in many official releases, Israel calls the occupied West Bank by its biblical name, “Judea and Samaria.”

Americans and Mexicans diverge on what to call another key body of water, the river that forms the border between Texas and the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas. Americans call it the Rio Grande; Mexicans call it the Rio Bravo.

Trump's executive order — titled “Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness” — concludes thusly: “It is in the national interest to promote the extraordinary heritage of our Nation and ensure future generations of American citizens celebrate the legacy of our American heroes. The naming of our national treasures, including breathtaking natural wonders and historic works of art, should honor the contributions of visionary and patriotic Americans in our Nation’s rich past.”

But what to call the gulf with the 3,700-mile coastline?

“It is, I suppose, an internationally recognized sea, but (to be honest), a situation like this has never come up before so I need to confirm the appropriate convention,” said Peter Bellerby, who said he was talking over the issue with the cartographers at his London company, Bellerby & Co. Globemakers. “If, for instance, he wanted to change the Atlantic Ocean to the American Ocean, we would probably just ignore it."

As of Wednesday night, map applications for Google and Apple still called the mountain and the gulf by their old names. Spokespersons for those platforms did not immediately respond to emailed questions.

A spokesperson for National Geographic, one of the most prominent map makers in the U.S., said this week that the company does not comment on individual cases and referred questions to a statement on its web site, which reads in part that it "strives to be apolitical, to consult multiple authoritative sources, and to make independent decisions based on extensive research.” National Geographic also has a policy of including explanatory notes for place names in dispute, citing as an example a body of water between Japan and the Korean peninsula, referred to as the Sea of Japan by the Japanese and the East Sea by Koreans.

In discussion on social media, one thread noted that the Sears Tower in Chicago was renamed the Willis Tower in 2009, though it's still commonly known by its original moniker. Pennsylvania's capital, Harrisburg, renamed its Market Street to Martin Luther King Boulevard and then switched back to Market Street several years later — with loud complaints both times. In 2017, New York's Tappan Zee Bridge was renamed for the late Gov. Mario Cuomo to great controversy. The new name appears on maps, but “no one calls it that,” noted another user.

“Are we going to start teaching this as the name of the body of water?” asked one Reddit poster on Tuesday.

“I guess you can tell students that SOME PEOPLE want to rename this body of water the Gulf of America, but everyone else in the world calls it the Gulf of Mexico,” came one answer. “Cover all your bases — they know the reality-based name, but also the wannabe name as well.”

Wrote another user: “I'll call it the Gulf of America when I'm forced to call the Tappan Zee the Mario Cuomo Bridge, which is to say never.”

FILE - President Donald Trump speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)

FILE - President Donald Trump speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)

FILE - Peter Bellerby, the founder of Bellerby & Co. Globemakers, holds a globe at a studio in London, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)

FILE - Peter Bellerby, the founder of Bellerby & Co. Globemakers, holds a globe at a studio in London, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)

FILE - A boat is seen on the Susitna River near Talkeetna, Alaska, on Sunday, June 13, 2021, with Denali in the background. Denali, the tallest mountain on the North American continent, is located about 60 miles northwest of Talkeetna. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)

FILE - A boat is seen on the Susitna River near Talkeetna, Alaska, on Sunday, June 13, 2021, with Denali in the background. Denali, the tallest mountain on the North American continent, is located about 60 miles northwest of Talkeetna. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)

FILE - The water in the Gulf of Mexico appears bluer than usual off of East Beach, Saturday, June 24, 2023, in Galveston, Texas. (Jill Karnicki/Houston Chronicle via AP, File)

FILE - The water in the Gulf of Mexico appears bluer than usual off of East Beach, Saturday, June 24, 2023, in Galveston, Texas. (Jill Karnicki/Houston Chronicle via AP, File)

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