A massacre of demonstrators in Bangladesh

7/30/2019 A massacre of demonstrators in Bangladesh

1/14

BANGLADESH UPDATE May 2016

A Massacre at Motijeel The 5th May March saw religious protesters

owing into Dhaka from all around the coun-try for 13 points, which addressed ma ers of religious denigra on and protec ons for allthe faith communi es of the country. It fol-lowed last month s largely peaceful LongMarch which saw hundreds of thousands

ock to Dhaka, which we covered in an earli-

er ar cle . This me around , the governmentappeared to have resolved to meet Hefazatwith violence, both during and a er themain day s protest. There are blog -basedaccounts of the protest from witnesses aswell as of the fateful clampdown . In the ab-sence of the condi ons for tradi onal inves -ga ve repor ng we build a picture of what isavailable. One informant, curious to seeevents for himself, late last night reported awar zone with the police ring and ruling

party thugs being handed the wounded tobeat. He re ected that what he saw resem-bled what he had heard about the PakistanArmy launching a crackdown on the AwamiLeague 43 years ago. Perhaps TiananmenSquare and the Ba le of Algiers help us tounderstand how state violence is in icted onsuch a scale and nature. The protesters con-

gregated around the Water Lily monu-ment at the centre of the Mo jeel district.They set up for the night, rm in the convic-

on that they would stay un l their concernswith su ciently addressed. The BangladeshNa onalist Party, which has been on thesidelines of late with much of its leadershipin deten on, announced its support.

Into the darkness At 0230 am the security apparatus brokethe night with its clearing opera on, dispers-ing a sleeping crowd of hundreds of thou-sands with tear gas, gun re and more primi-

ve savagery. It would appear that the po-lice, the disgraced rebranded BangladeshRi es and no shortage of armed AwamiLeague thugs are primarily responsible forthe killings that took place on Sunday and inthe early hours of Monday. The extent of the media blackout is unprecedented inrecent years. Opposi on Diganta and IslamicTV channels were raided by the UK -trainedRapid Ac on Ba alion. Mirroring the chillingaccounts of the much remembered Opera-

on Searchlight from the night of 25thMarch 1971 in which the Pakistan govern-ment lost much of its legi macy, the govern-ment reportedly busied itself with car ngaway the evidence and the bodies. As themorning drew to noon, the events of thenight met recogni on even from elementsof the secular liberal establishment . The BBCwas repor ng only seven dead well into themorning, and mirrored the government lineof extremists and non lethal weapon-ry Sources from nearer to the su eringhave given death tolls of 431 (religiousscholars) , 1700 (Bashekella) and 2500 (aleak from CID). Does the scale of the opera-

on suggest that the Bangladesh govern-ment must have got clearance from its inter-na onal backers? As the situa on becomesclearer, or more blurred, diplomats, news-

paper editors and ac vists who provided themood music and misframing of Hefazat mustask themselves searching ques ons abouttheir own humanity. Local human rightsNGOs who interpret the Bangladeshi situa-

on to the world display selec ve humanitar-ianism by e ec vely ignoring the atrocitythat took place last night.
http://www.khichuri.org/the-long-march-to-another-contested-bangladeshi-narrative/http://www.khichuri.org/the-long-march-to-another-contested-bangladeshi-narrative/http://www.khichuri.org/the-long-march-to-another-contested-bangladeshi-narrative/http://talukdershaheb.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/a-day-in-pictures-photo-blog-of-5may.htmlhttp://talukdershaheb.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/a-day-in-pictures-photo-blog-of-5may.htmlhttp://chairmanbd.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/mass-killing-on-protesters-in-dhaka-at.htmlhttp://chairmanbd.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/mass-killing-on-protesters-in-dhaka-at.htmlhttp://alalodulal.org/2013/05/06/end-of-an-era/http://alalodulal.org/2013/05/06/end-of-an-era/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22423979http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22423979http://www.askbd.org/web/http://www.askbd.org/web/http://www.askbd.org/web/http://www.askbd.org/web/http://www.askbd.org/web/http://www.askbd.org/web/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22423979http://alalodulal.org/2013/05/06/end-of-an-era/http://chairmanbd.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/mass-killing-on-protesters-in-dhaka-at.htmlhttp://talukdershaheb.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/a-day-in-pictures-photo-blog-of-5may.htmlhttp://www.khichuri.org/the-long-march-to-another-contested-bangladeshi-narrative/http://www.khichuri.org/the-long-march-to-another-contested-bangladeshi-narrative/


2/14

Dead body of a Hefajot worker lying down on the street of Dhaka

RAB and Police operated a combined operation on Hefajot. A bullet wounded Hefajotworker lying on the floor.

Dead body of another Hefajot Worker

Police Guarding the dead body of another Hefajot Worker.

RAB and Police operated a combined operation on Hefajot. A bullet wounded Hefajotworker lying on the floor.

Police Guarding the dead body of another Hefajot Worker.


3/14

This transport worker was killed by government holligans


4/14



5/14



6/14



7/14



8/14



9/14



10/14



11/14



12/14



13/14



14/14

BANGLADESH: A massacre ofdemonstrators

6 May, Asian Human Rights Commis-sion : News reports from Bangladeshallege that a series of a acks on de-monstrators have taken place, at

around 3am today, May 6, 2013. Theextent of the injuries and death is di -cult to be ascertained at the mo-ment. The Daily Star, a Bangladeshinewspaper, gave the gure of deaths as5. However, several internet reportshave men oned that the number of deaths could be as high as 2,500 or

more. Pictures of dead bodies have alsobeen distributed over the internet.Major news channels in Bangladeshhave been silenced. Two private televi-sion channels that were showing livepictures of the a acks upon the de-monstrators were immediately closeddown. The authori es have, later in themorning, imposed Sec on 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 ,

(a provision similar to declaring internalemergency) in the city of Dhaka, underwhich more than four persons are notallowed to converge in public places

and the declara on absolutely prohib-its public protest. Worse, the execu veauthori es could use deadly forceagainst civilians under this provision. Allforms of public gatherings, rallies andprotests have been prohibited un l themidnight today, May 6. The Asian Hu-man Rights Commission (AHRC) has

learned that the security forces, includ-ing the Border Guards Bangladesh, theRapid Ac on Ba alion and the Police,started a massive crackdown on thedemonstrators of the Fefazat -E -Islam early morning on Monday. Ac-cording to unveri ed informa on theAHRC has received, a huge number of lives have already been lost. Numerousvic ms have been shot at close range

by the state agencies. It appears thatthe interna onal community sta onedin Dhaka is fully aware of the brutalcrackdown and the wanton extrajudi-cial execu on happening within Dhakaand in the outskirts of the city. Graphicpictures and audiovisual records areavailable through the social media,from unveri ed sources, that reveal thedeadly reality on the ground. It is re-ported that the security forces are us-ing heavy ar llery, which are normally

used in the war fronts. Bangladesh,recently has become extremely violent.The violence surfaced over the issue of objec onable blog -pos ngs concerningProphet Muhammad ( Peace Be UponHim) . It is reported that a large numberof protesters gathered in Dhaka sinceearly morning yesterday, May 5, 2013,under the umbrella of a groupnamed Fefazat -E -Islam demanding pun-ishment of the so called 'atheist blog-gers', who allegedly remained underthe protec on of the state agents, forwri ng blasphemous materials. Fefazat

-E -Islam has been demanding 13 pointsincluding a legisla on on blasphemy,reforma on of the country's 'womenpolicy' and adop on of the name of Allah in the cons tu on. The AHRC does not agree with any of the demands made by the Fefazat -E -Islam . Our concern, however, is for theright of everyone to par cipate in pro-tests. At all mes the sacredness of theright to life must be respected. Theviolence that is going on in Bangladeshmust stop now. The interna onal com-munity has a moral as well as a legal

obliga on to intervene, which couldsave lives and could prevent the situa-

on from deteriora ng further. TheUnited Na ons must take all necessaryac ons, most importantly through theo ce of the Secretary General to bringan immediate end to the bloody im-passe that has befallen upon the coun-try.

Police beating a Hefajot Worker during its midnight action on the peacefulprotesters.
http://www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/security-forces-start-operation/#disqus_threadhttp://www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/security-forces-start-operation/#disqus_threadhttp://www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/security-forces-start-operation/#disqus_threadhttp://bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd/sections_detail.php?id=75&sections_id=20789http://bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd/sections_detail.php?id=75&sections_id=20789http://bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd/pdf_part.php?id=75&vol=4http://bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd/pdf_part.php?id=75&vol=4http://bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd/pdf_part.php?id=75&vol=4http://bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd/sections_detail.php?id=75&sections_id=20789http://www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/security-forces-start-operation/#disqus_threadhttp://www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/security-forces-start-operation/#disqus_thread

A massacre of demonstrators in Bangladesh

Documents

Transcript of A massacre of demonstrators in Bangladesh