CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI ■ ■ chennai l saturday l november 08, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 22 l late city EDITION keen to fight elections: Hasina from hideout Gautam Lahiri Independent journalist A fter 15 months of her stay in an undisclosed location in India, exiled former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina has finally spoken her mind in an exclusive e-mail interview. For the first time, she accepts “leadership responsibility” for the killing of citizens during the mass protest against her government from July 15 to August 5, 2024. Here’s the full text of the interview: The Bangladeshi authorities have banned the Awami League from contesting the general elections early next year. Are your party members considering running as independents? The decision to ban the Awami League is deeply undemocratic and a clear violation of Bangladesh’s constitution and of the fundamental rights of the electorate. It short-changes millions of people. Historically, when parties have not participated in previous elections, Bangladeshi voters have simply not voted, rather than transfer their vote press clusive to other parties. So our priority is to continue fighting for the rights of our voters. If the Awami League and its members refuse to contest elections in any form, what do you think the impact will be for Bangladesh? We are not refusing to contest elections. On the contrary we , ardently wish to participate. But we have been banned from doing so by an administration that is itself unelected and which clearly has no respect for democracy . We have to break this cycle of parties either boycotting elections or being banned, because it undermines the legitimacy of the gover nment. Bangladesh badly needs to hold a free, fair and inclusive election, so that the country can begin to heal and move towards reconciliation. You cannot achieve this by banning the Awami League. We are woven into the country’s modern history and independence, and tens of millions support us. A report by the Human Rights Watch estimates that Bar on stray dogs in public areas Send them to designated shelters after sterilisation, vaccination, says three-judge SC bench s u c h i t r a k a lya n m o h a n t y @ New Delhi IN a sweeping directive on Friday the Supreme Court ordered , the removal of stray dogs from educational institutions, hospitals, railway stations, bus stands and other public places, directing that they be relocated to shelters following sterilisation. The court made it clear that stray dogs cannot be released back into the areas from which they are picked up. A special three-judge bench comprising justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta, and N V Anjaria ruled, “Every stray dog shall be forthwith removed from such premises and relocated to a shelter after sterilisa- tion. They shall not be released in the same area,” the bench said. The bench held that the recurrence of dog bite incidents within institutional areas reflected not only administrative apathy but also a “systemic failure” to secure these premises from preventable hazards. The bench then directed authorities to ensure the removal of all cattle and other stray animals from state highways, national highways and expressways, stating that “it is a matter of grave public concern... that accidents caused by cattle on roads have become alarmingly frequent.” The bench cate gorised its order in three Highlights of the Sc order 1 School, colleges to conduct awareness sessions on first-aid in dog bite cases, reporting protocols 2 Dedicated highway patrol teams to report in case of a cattle blocking highway 3 All govt and private hospitals to maintain a stock of anti-rabies vaccines 4 SC says all highways to prominently display helpline numbers at regular intervals parts. The first dealt with compliance, and mandated all states and Union Territories to submit comprehensive affidavits within eight weeks, detailing steps taken to address lapses identified in the amicus curiae’s report. Chief Secretaries will be held accountable for lapses, it said. The second part reaffirmed an earlier Rajasthan High Court fiat on stray cattle, instructing their eviction from from highways. The third part requires all states and UTs to identify government institutions, hospitals, sports complexes, railway stations, and bus terminals in two weeks and fence them. The next hearing is on January 13. When parties don’t participate in polls, Bangladeshi voters have simply not voted, rather than transfer their vote to others around 1,400 people were killed and thousands were injured during the anti-government protests between July 15 and August 5 over a year ago. The report says the vast majority were shot by Bangladesh’s security forces. As the Prime Minister at the time, do you take responsibility for the state-inflicted violence that led to your ouster? I mourn each and every life lost in the tragic violence of last summer’s uprising. As the country’s leader, I ultimately take leadership responsibility but the implication that I ordered or directed the actions of the security forces on the ground is fundamentally incorrect. All actions were taken in good faith and with the sole intention of minimising the loss of life or the further breakdown in law and order. ‘Vande Mataram cuts sowed Partition seeds’ Pa r v e z S u lta n @ New Delhi In a veiled criticism of the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said significant stanzas of the ‘Vande Mataram’ were axed in 1937, which sowed the seeds of Partition. He further asserted that ‘divisive philosophy’ is still a challenge before the country . “The spirit of Vande Mataram illuminated the entire nation during PM Modi releasing a commemorative coin, stamp the freedom struggle. But unfortunately, in 1937, the key verses of of Vande Mataram | PTI Vande Mataram, a part of its soul, were separated. This division of Vande Mataram also sowed the seeds of the nation’s division. Why was this great mantra of nation-building treated with such injustice? ” Modi asked. He was speaking at the inauguration of the year-long commemoration of 150 years of the national song ‘Vande Mataram’ in New Delhi. He also released a commemorative stamp and coin on the occasion. As for the UN’s fatality estimate, we dispute that figure. It is significantly higher than the Ministry of Health’s own calculations and is based on undocumented and closely controlled evidence supplied to the UN Human Rights Commissioner by the interim government. It also appears to contain many members of the security forces and Awami League officials killed in the riots, but that hasn’t been made clear. The government has had over 15 months to arrive at an accurate death count, yet has still not published a definitive list of the dead. Continued on: P15 express read BJP prodded me to unite AIADMK: Sengottaiyan Erode: Expelled AIADMK leader K A Sengottaiyan on Friday said it was the BJP that approached him seeking unity between AIADMK factions, dismissing allegations that he was being used by the saffron party to create divisions. Accusing Edappadi of promoting dynastic politics, he alleged that the AIADMK was being controlled by EPS’s son and sons-in-law | P5 Man shot in leg, arrested in Salem double murder salem: Four days after two women were found dead in a quarry in Salem, police on Friday shot and arrested C Ayyanar (55), who allegedly killed them for jewellery. When police tried to nab him, the accused attacked a SI, prompting police to open fire, injuring him in the leg | P5