SIR Deletions Hit 13% of Voters in 12 States; Cricket is Latest Political Battleground With Bangladesh; CBFC Delays Vijay's Film; India’s Immigration Law Leaves Refugees in Limbo
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January 7, 2026
Siddharth Varadarajan
During their virtual meeting with representatives of the Bangladesh Cricket Board on Tuesday, International Cricket Council officials said they had ‘no assessment indicating any threat’ to Bangladeshi players from playing in India during the T20 World Cup next month, reports Vijay Tagore. The BCB had written to the ICC asking for Bangladesh’s fixtures be moved outside of India in the interests of its players’ “safety and well-being” after the Board of Control for Cricket in India got the Kolkata Knight Riders to let go of Bangladeshi bowler Mustafizur Rahman. This in turn occurred amid calls by right-wing groups in India asking for such a move citing individual acts of violence against Hindus in Bangladesh.
On its part, the BCB issued a statement saying that the ICC “reiterated its commitment to ensuring the full and uninterrupted participation of the Bangladesh team in the tournament” and expressed its ‘willingness to address the BCB’s concerns’. Reports claiming that the ICC had given the BCB an ultimatum are “completely false”, it added. The ICC is headed by Jay Shah, son of Indian home minister Amit Shah.
In Dhaka, the police on Tuesday submitted a chargesheet in connection with the murder of youth leader Osman Hadi. The chargesheet alleges that Hadi’s killing was ‘masterminded’ by Taijul Bappi, a former councillor in the capital city and an organising secretary in the now-banned Awami League’s youth wing the Jubo League. Dhaka metropolitan police official Shafiqul Islam alleged that Bappi ‘instructed’ prime accused Faisal Karim Masud to kill Hadi and arranged for Masud’s escape out of ‘political vengeance’ in light of Hadi’s anti-Awami League speeches. Hadi’s death had triggered anti-India sentiments on Bangladesh’s streets that further rocked the strained relations between the two neighbours. The Daily Star reports.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu exchanged New Year’s greetings over the phone on Wednesday and discussed bilateral relations, “their zero-tolerance approach towards terrorism in all its forms and manifestations” as well as the Gaza ‘peace plan’ conceived by Washington, according to Modi’s office. Netanyahu said he looked forward to
