Will Hasina save Bangladesh from anarchy?
The students at Dhaka University and four other universities in the outskirts of Dhaka, Rajshahi and Sylhet since began their protest for reforms of job quota in government jobs since 1st July
By Saleem Samad
Never before in the history of Bangladesh (since 1972), in any student uprising, anti-government movement or people’s revolt so much blood has been spilt in street violence.
The panic-stricken government of Sheikh Hasina, the longest-serving woman prime minister of Bangladesh in the world suddenly imposed shoot-on-sight orders during curfew hours, the blanket blackout of internet and mobilised army to quell the rioters on 18 July evening. Rumours of declaring an Emergency Rule were also heard.
Hasina, who won a fourth consecutive term after January elections that were apparently not free or fair, had previously imposed and then withdrawn the quota.
Educational institutions have been closed indefinitely. Broadband internet has been partially opened after a week. There is no deadline for when mobile internet will be restored. Several messaging apps, including Facebook, WhatsApp, TikTok, YouTube and many international news media remain blocked.
The students at Dhaka University and four other universities in the outskirts of Dhaka, Rajshahi and Sylhet since 1 July began their protest for reforms of job quota in government jobs.
Earlier a judgement of the High Court challenged the government’s decision to cancel all categories of job quota sparked the students to take to the streets.
On 21 July, the Supreme Court, hearing an appeal from the government, ruled to reduce the quota in government jobs, allocating 5 per cent for descendants of independence war veterans and 2 per cent for other categories of third-gender (Hijra) and physically challenged persons.
Possibly the political historian will be able to explain whether anywhere in the world, such a huge price the people had to pay for a higher court verdict.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina squarely blamed the anarchy on the shoulders of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI).
BNP has not only boycotted the January 2024 election but also announced to resist the electioneering. JeI did not have any say, as Bangladesh Supreme Court upheld the High Court’s verdict scraping its legitimacy in participating in any elections.
“Bangladesh has been troubled for a long time due to unfettered security force abuses against anyone who opposes the Sheikh Hasina government, and we are witnessing that same playbook again, this time to attack unarmed student protesters,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
The government instead of mentioning the death tolls, is more concentrated in describing the anarchy, mayhem, vandalism and arson of state properties listed as Key Points Installations (KPIs). Like the two stations of the newly built Metro Rail, the elevated expressway was pride mega project of Hasina.
The Shetu Bhaban, which houses the Bangladesh Bridge Authority, the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) head office, state-run Bangladesh Television (BTV) and several other government buildings also took the full brunt of the severity of the frenzied mob.
Hasina asked the members of the public and law enforcement agencies to hunt for the perpetrators who have destroyed her pride projects. Her call will surely encourage a witch-hunt of alleged suspects to settle individual scores against their rivals.
Nearly a thousand students, journalists, passersby, and bystanders were wounded. Scores of children who were not in the street protest were killed or critically wounded. Harrowing tales of children are appearing on the front page of leading newspapers in Bangladesh.
More than 200 people, including students and innocent, were shot and killed.
According to the independent newspaper Prothom Alo, 5,000 people were arrested and slammed in hundreds of cases of arson, terrorism and attack on law enforcement officers. The majority of the detained persons are innocent.’
Independent media rights researcher and journalist Pullack Ghatack said at least four journalists were shot and killed by police during the clashes.
While 187 journalists in print media, news portals and television were mercilessly assaulted by police, student protesters and rioters. Once the full fact-finding is concluded the number of wounded journalists from all over the country would climb to 300, Ghatack said.
A huge number of casualties was the result of excessive force by law enforcement officers and troops with lethal weapons. The riot police violated the rules of engagement with the agitating public.
Firearms are not an appropriate tool for the policing of assemblies; they must only be used when strictly necessary to confront an imminent threat of death or serious injury, says Amnesty International.
There was a severe absence of crowd control engagement by the police, anti-crime force Rapid Action Battalion, paramilitary Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) and armed paramilitary auxiliary force Ansar Battalion confronted the defiant students and violent protesters.
The situation went out of the hands of the law enforcement officers when the “Helmet Bahini”, a ‘gladiator’ wing recruited from the Chattra (student) League and Juba (youth) League of the ruling Awami League went berserk.
The ‘Helmet Bahini’ wearing motorbike helmets and armed with metal bars, batons, hockey sticks, unauthorised firearms, mostly handguns, shotguns, and crude home-made bombs were mobilised in scores of hotspots in the capital Dhaka, port city Chattogram (former Chittagong) clashed with students and protesters.
Amnesty International claims video and photographic analysis confirm police unlawfully used lethal and less-lethal weapons against protesters.
Amnesty International and its Crisis Evidence Lab have verified videos and photographic evidence of three incidents of unlawful use of lethal and less lethal weapons by law enforcement agencies while policing the protests.
Amnesty International urges the Government of Bangladesh and its agencies to respect the right to protest, end this violent crackdown and immediately lift all communications restrictions.
An independent and impartial investigation into all human rights violations committed by security forces, including the high death toll of protesters, must be urgently conducted.
Amnesty urged that “An independent and impartial investigation into all human rights violations committed by security forces, including the high death toll of protesters must urgently be conducted and all those found responsible must be held fully accountable. Victims of unlawful police use of force, including those who have been injured and family members of those who have been killed, must also receive full reparations from the state.”
Meanwhile, the United Nations Human Rights chief Volker Türk on the student protests called on the Bangladesh government to urgently disclose full details about the crackdown on protests amid growing accounts of horrific violence.
Türk also urged the government to ensure all law enforcement operations abide by international human rights norms and standards, according to a press release published on the UN Human Rights Office of The High Commissioner’s website.
An Awami League intellectual and a popular talkshow star Shubash Singha Roy confidently said this anarchy has proved that Bangladesh needs Sheikh Hasina and has once again proved that she can handle crisis efficiently.
“Now is the time for influential governments to press Sheikh Hasina to stop her forces from brutalising students and other protesters,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
(The author is an award-winning independent journalist based in Bangladesh. A media rights defender with the Reporters Without Borders (@RSF_inter). Recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. He could be reached at saleemsamad@hotmail.com; Twitter (X): @saleemsamad)
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