Thursday, August 01, 2024

Police clash footage shocks Bangladesh as internet returns

By AFP
July 31, 2024


Footage of clashes between security forces and demonstrators was largely absent from news broadcasts in Bangladesh - Copyright AFP/File Munir UZ ZAMAN

Qadaruddin SHISHIR

When millions of Bangladeshis came back online this week after a nationwide internet shutdown, many were shocked to watch a ferocious police clampdown they had earlier only heard while bunkered in their homes.

At least 206 people were killed last month during some of the worst unrest of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s tenure, sparked by student demonstrations against civil service hiring rules.

Bystanders and several police officers were among the dead but most were protesters killed by police fire, hospitals told AFP, with rights groups and the European Union condemning what they said was an excessive use of force.

Footage of clashes between security forces and crowds was largely absent from news broadcasts and few had a grasp of their extent until the national mobile internet network was switched back on after an 11-day shutdown.

Though the unrest has since calmed, several graphic amateur videos published to social media that show police firing on protesters have inflamed public anger against Hasina’s government.

“How come the police are killing our brothers and sisters like this?” one user wrote, in response to a short clip of a police officer firing at a wounded young man while another tried to drag him safely from the scene.

– ‘I cried countless times’ –


AFP was able to pinpoint the footage to Jatrabari, a bustling neighbourhood in the capital Dhaka, and from there identify three eyewitnesses who corroborated the video.

All spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing retribution if they identified themselves.

The incident occurred on July 20, hours after Hasina’s government announced a nationwide curfew and deployed troops to restore order at the height of the unrest.

One witness said the wounded man in the video, 18-year-old Imam Hossain Taim, had been accosted by police but denied participating in protests before he was shot.

“He fell on the ground and was trying to crawl away. Two other men fled the scene but one guy came back to take his friend away,” the witness added.

Taim was brought to Dhaka Medical College Hospital but died of his injuries later that day, his father Moynal Hossain told AFP.

“He was not even a protester,” Taim’s elder brother Tuhin told AFP. “He was roaming around with friends during a break in the curfew.”

The footage of the attack on Taim was viewed more than half a million times after it was posted to Facebook, and the 60-second clip was widely shared on WhatsApp and other messaging platforms.

AFP also verified another video taken a day earlier in the nearby neighbourhood of Rampura that showed police firing at a man at point-blank range as he clung to an under-construction building. The man had fled into the site, according to eyewitnesses. The clip has been viewed more than two million times on Facebook.

“I cried countless times watching this. I am crying now,” one user wrote in response. “This would not happen in a free country.”

– ‘Forced to open fire’ –


Rights groups have accused Hasina’s government of sidelining opposition parties and ruthlessly stamping out dissent during its 15-year tenure.

Bangladesh ranks 165 out of 180 countries on Reporters Without Borders’ press freedom index, below Russia and just above Saudi Arabia.

Many in Dhaka could hear gunfire and explosions from around the megacity of 20 million people from inside their homes during last month’s unrest.

But television coverage was heavily censored and showed little of the police response to the disorder, instead focusing on arson attacks and vandalism by protesters.

Amnesty International said its review of photographic, video and eyewitness testimony found the “unlawful” use of force by police against protesters on several occasions.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell also condemned the police response to the disorder and called for perpetrators to be brought to justice.

“There must be full accountability for the numerous instances of use of excessive and lethal force by the law enforcement authorities against protesters and others,” he said in a statement.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan last weekend denied that the police response to the unrest was excessive, saying security forces had shown “extreme levels of patience” and only fired when necessary to stop attacks on government buildings.

“When they saw that the properties could not be protected, then police were forced to open fire,” he said.

What's behind India's uneasy silence on Bangladesh riots?

Murali Krishnan in New Delhi
July 30, 2024

The deadly unrest in Bangladesh is an "internal matter" for Dhaka to deal with, according to India. When looking over the border, New Delhi prefers to focus on Bangladesh's role as trade partner and buffer to the east.



'New Delhi still considers Hasina as someone who will prevent Bangladesh from transforming into a stooge of Beijing
 Naveen Sharma/ZUMA/IMAGO

Student groups in Bangladesh have called for fresh street protests after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government failed to meet their demand for releasing detained leaders and apologizing for the recent violence. The government puts the death tally at 150 as of this week, while media speaks of over 200 deaths in the clashes that came to articulate displeasure with Hasina's 16-year rule.

India has been keeping a close eye on the unrest in Bangladesh, which is both a neighboring country and one of New Delhi's closest allies. It is also a temporary home for thousands of Indian students.

But New Delhi was careful not to rock the boat.

"India considers the ongoing situation in the country to be an internal matter of Bangladesh. With the support and cooperation of the Bangladesh government, we were able to arrange for the safe return of our students," the foreign office spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a weekly press briefing.

Around 6,700 Indian students have returned from Bangladesh amid the violent clashes in the country.



"Being a close neighbor with whom we share very warm and friendly ties, we are hopeful that the situation in the country would return to normal soon," Jaiswal added.
Bangladesh key to security, trade, diplomacy

For India, returning to normal means having Hasina firmly in power, partly for security reasons. The two countries share a 4,100-kilometer-long (2,500-mile) porous border, which can be exploited by human traffickers and terrorist groups.

Moreover, Bangladesh shares the border with the Indian states of West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram which are vulnerable to violent insurgencies.


Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, a former India's high commissioner to Bangladesh, told DW that India has invested in the neighboring country to build public support and goodwill.

"Bangladesh's geographical position makes it a stakeholder in the development of the sub-region comprising Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal. This region includes Indian states to the north and east of Bangladesh. These states in the northeast of India were once integrated into the supply chain in undivided India," Chakravarty told DW.

Now, Bangladesh and India are working to boost transport links and "restore what existed in the pre-partition era," he added.

Billions in credit to Dhaka

India recognizes Bangladesh as a vital eastern buffer and provides critical support through its ports and power grid access. New Delhi has so far extended almost $8 billion (€7.39 billion) in lines of credit to Dhaka which is used for development projects, building infrastructure and construction of a pipeline to supply diesel.

Major Indian companies that have invested in the country include Marico, Emami, Dabur, Asian Paints, and Tata Motors. Any escalation of the student protests could directly or indirectly affect these companies.

"The relations between India and Bangladesh are embedded in their shared history, complex socio-economic interdependency, and their geo-political positioning. Any confrontational politics and political instability in the region invite the problems of terrorism, fundamentalism, insurgency, and migration," Sanjay Bhardwaj of Jawaharlal Nehru University's Centre for South Asian Studies told DW.

"The violent protest and political instability will lead a circle of violence and people's migration to India," he said.

Locked between India and China

In recent years, both India and China have expanded their economic stakes in Bangladesh, which is being folded into the two countries' growing geopolitical rivalry.

Despite boasting close ties to Bangladesh, however, some analysts believe that Indian policymakers struggle to understand the anti-Indian sentiment prevalent among parts of the Bangladesh population. Some of it can be explained by New Delhi's support to the ruling Awami League.

"The 'uneasy quiet' is India's silent support for Hasina's government and its policies to deal with the ongoing unrest. Over the past decades, India has invested heavily in the Awami League as a pro-India entity in Bangladesh," Shanthie Mariet D'Souza, the founder of independent research forum Mantraya, told DW.

Regime critics in Bangladesh accuse Hasina of trying to turn Bangladesh into a one-party state and are especially enraged by her crackdown on political opponents and civil society groups.

"The Indian government has shielded her government from American pressure to yield to the opposition's demand to make the polls more democratic and transparent. The present silence is a continuation of the policy," D'Souza added.
India looks at bigger picture

According to D'Souza, India sees Bangladesh as crucial for several strategic reasons — including the development of the northeast, curtailing migration into India, and dealing with Islamist radicalization.

"Despite significant Chinese investments in that country, New Delhi still considers Hasina as someone who will prevent Bangladesh from transforming into a stooge of Beijing. As a result, supporting her becomes New Delhi's only strategic option, even while her policies have often bordered on autocracy," she said.

Seen from that angle, the recent failings of the Hasina government and strengthening of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, as well local Islamist parties, is not good news for India.



Even so, professor Sreeradha Datta from the India-based Jindal School of International Affairs believes that the extreme response of the Hasina government to the student protests cannot be justified.

She criticized the Bangladeshi officials over their attempt to place all blame for the violence on opposition parties and Islamist students. The protests turned violent as a reaction to the government's "non-response and rather derogatory remarks," Datta said.

"The mindless violence and deaths cannot be ignored or excused. The government turned the peaceful protests to the darkest phase in Bangladesh's recent history," she told DW.

Edited by: Darko Janjevic


Murali Krishnan Journalist based in New Delhi, focusing on Indian politics, society and business

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