Supporters of Bangladesh Nationalist Party hold protest march as tensions continue with India

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Thousands of members of youth and student bodies belonging to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Wednesday held a road march procession from Bangladesh’s capital toward its eastern border with India to protest against an attack on a diplomatic mission earlier this month and alleged desecration of Bangladeshi flags in India.

They drove in cars to reach a border point at Akhaura in Brahmanbaria district to register their protest. Before starting for the border area, they rallied briefly in Dhaka where leaders criticized what they called “Indian aggression” against Bangladesh.

The party headed by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia has been protesting against the attack by a mob of Hindus in the northeastern Indian state of Agartala on Dec. 2.

On the way to the border area, the entourage stopped at places where waiting supporters of Zia welcomed them and rallied briefly on Wednesday. Another rally will be held when the team reaches the border point.

Wednesday’s protest came two days after the foreign secretaries of Bangladesh and India held bilateral meetings in Bangladesh’s capital to defuse escalating tensions between the two neighbors.

It was the first high-profile diplomatic visit by an Indian official since the fall of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is in exile in India, in August.

Bangladesh, which is predominantly Muslim, has accused a group of Hindus in India of attacking the Assistant High Commissioner’s office at Agartala and desecrating Bangladeshi flags in Kolkata in West Bengal state.

India said it regretted the attacks and pledged to take action against those responsible. Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Indian High Commissioner and formally registered its protest.

Tensions between the two neighbors also spiked over the recent arrest of a Hindu leader in Bangladesh, currently run by the interim government led by Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus. India stopped issuing visas to Bangladeshis except for emergency medical purposes after Hasina’s ouster, while many Indian nationals taking part in infrastructure projects left Bangladesh because of security threats.

Protests were also held in parts of Hindu-majority India to denounce attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh.

Protests and counter-protests have strained the relations between the two countries.

In Bangladesh, reports of the desecration of the Indian flag, with some burning it and others laying it on the floor for people to step on, strained relations further.

Activists of Bajarang dal, a Hindu rights group, burn an effigy of Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus, during a protest against the alleged attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh, in Ahmedabad, India, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

Activists of Bajarang dal, a Hindu rights group, burn an effigy of Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus and a symbolic flag of Bangladesh, during a protest against the alleged attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh, in Ahmedabad, India, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

Activists of Bajarang dal, a Hindu rights group, burn an effigy of Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus, during a protest against the alleged attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh, in Ahmedabad, India, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

Activists of Bajarang dal, a Hindu rights group, carry a defaced symbolic flag of Bangladesh, during a protest against the alleged attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh, in Ahmedabad, India, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

Activists of Bajarang dal, a Hindu rights group, burn an effigy of Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus and a symbolic flag of Bangladesh, during a protest against the alleged attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh, in Ahmedabad, India, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

Activists of Bajarang dal, a Hindu rights group, step on a symbolic flag of Bangladesh, during a protest against the alleged attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh, in Ahmedabad, India, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

Activists of Bajarang dal, a Hindu rights group, shout slogans during a protest against the alleged attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh, in Ahmedabad, India, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

Activists of Bajarang dal, a Hindu rights group, burn an effigy of Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus and a symbolic flag of Bangladesh, during a protest against the alleged attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh, in Ahmedabad, India, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

Activists of Bajarang dal, a Hindu rights group, burn an effigy of Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus, during a protest against the alleged attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh, in Ahmedabad, India, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

Supporters of Bangladesh's former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and her Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) denouncing attacks in India on a diplomatic mission and alleged desecration of Bangladeshi flags, participate in a protest in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (AP Photo)

NEW YORK (AP) — Woody Allen 's former personal chef claims in a lawsuit that the filmmaker and his wife fired him because of his service in the U.S. Army Reserves and questions about his pay, then “rubbed salt on the wounds” by saying they didn't like his cooking.

Allen and Soon-Yi Previn “simply decided that a military professional who wanted to be paid fairly was not a good fit to work in the Allen home,” private chef Hermie Fajardo said in a civil complaint filed Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan.

Allen and Previn knew Fajardo would need time off for military training exercises when they and their home manager hired him as their full-time chef in June 2024 at an annual salary of $85,000, the complaint said. But he was fired the following month, soon after returning from a training that lasted a day longer than expected, it said.

When Fajardo returned to work, “he was immediately met with instant hostility and obvious resentment by defendants,” according to the lengthy complaint.

At the time, Fajardo had been raising concerns about his pay — first that his employers weren't properly withholding taxes or providing a paystub, then that they shortchanged him by $300, according to the complaint.

Allen, Previn and manager Pamela Steigmeyer are accused in the lawsuit of violating the federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act and New York labor law, as well as causing Fajardo humiliation, stress and a loss of earnings.

Representatives for Allen did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

Fajardo said he was hired after being showered with compliments following a meal of roasted chicken, pasta, chocolate cake and apple pie he prepared for the defendants and two guests. According to the complaint, it was only after Previn fired him and he hired a lawyer that he was told his cooking was not up to par, a claim Fajardo said was untrue.

FILE - Filmmaker Woody Allen, right, and Soon-Yi Previn arrive for an event in Cannes, southern France, May 15, 2010. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)