U.S.-based Bangladesh Human Rights Watch along with members of Awami League party had to call off their first scheduled press briefing in Delhi on July 23rd.
Though the exact reason wasn’t shared, the organisers did say that it was because they were mourning the loss of 32 lives in the air crash that took place on July 21st, when a Chengdu FT-7BGIfighter jet operated by the Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) crashed into the Milestone School campus in the Uttara neighbourhood of Dhaka.
Interestingly, the invites for the presser were shared a day after the crash and after media reached the venue of the press meeting (Press Club of India) they were briefly addressed by Engr. Mohammed Ali Siddiqui Secretary General, Bangladesh Human Rights Watch only to be told that the meeting was adjourned.This would have been the first presser with members of Awami League taking part.
It may be recalled that Awami League has been banned in Bangladesh and was the ruling party until the July revolution in 2024, which led to the then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fleeing Dhaka on August 5th. She came to India and has been living there ever since.
Meanwhile, India has sent a medical team consisting of two specialists and a nursing assistant from Delhi’s Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and Safdarjung Hospital, to assist with the treatment of the burn victims of the Bangladesh plane crash tragedy.
The Indian team held consultations with doctors at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in Dhaka, visited some of the patients and observed their prognosis. The team further deliberated management protocols with the doctors at the Institute and provided critical inputs for treatment methodology