Greece asks EU for help as wildfires near Athens suburbs

Thousands of residents have been evacuated as large wildfires reached the suburbs of Athens, with some flames leaping as high as 25 metres (80 feet). The Greek government formally called on the EU for assistance on Monday, with France pledging to send 180 firefighters, 55 trucks and a helicopter to help contain the flames.

AFP
Issued on: 12/08/2024 - 

Greek firefighters try to extinguish a wildfire near Penteli, on August 12, 2024.

 © Angelos Tzortzini, AFP

A massive wildfire blazed into Athens’ northeastern suburbs on Monday as hundreds of firefighters battled to contain it, forcing thousands of residents to flee their homes and sparking a Greek government appeal for international help.

In scenes never before seen in the Greek capital, residents wearing masks against the choking smoke were desperately dousing their homes with water hoses in the leafy suburbs of Nea Penteli and Vrilissia in an effort to render them less vulnerable to fire.

“(It’s) the first time ever the fire has come here,” said Melina Kritseli, 40, a civil servant living in a two-storey white house in Patima Halandriou, another Athens suburb that was evacuated.

“I took my children to a friend’s house to be safe,” she told AFP as her husband hosed the ground and grass outside their house.

Television footage showed several cars gutted by fire and the roofs of stately homes burning as water-bombing helicopters roared overhead.

“The situation is dramatic,” Penteli Mayor Natassa Kosmopoulou told news portal newsit.gr.

“A school and homes are on fire, and I can see the fire coming towards the town hall,” she said.

The National Observatory, Greece’s foremost institute monitoring natural hazards, narrowly escaped.

Greece on Monday formally called for EU assistance, a spokesman said.

“The EU civil protection mechanism was activated upon request of the Greek authorities,” EU spokesman Balazs Ujvari said in a statement, adding that Italy, France, the Czech Republic and Romania were sending units to help.

“We stand with Greece as it battles devastating fires,” EU chief Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X.

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said Paris was sending 180 firefighters, 55 trucks and a helicopter to assist their hard-pressed Greek colleagues.

Help from Spain and Turkey is also being “finalized”, the Greek civil protection ministry said.

Strong winds

The wildfire started on Sunday afternoon in the town of Varnavas, some 35 kilometres (22 miles) northeast of Athens.

Aided by strong winds, it grew to a 30-kilometre long frontline of flames, more than 25 metres (80 feet) high in places, according to state TV ERT.

“I heard my animals bleating and dying,” Dimitris Megagiannis, a goat herder near Penteli, told Mega TV station.

Over 700 firefighters with nearly 200 fire engines and over 30 aircraft were trying to contain the fire.

Authorities opened the Olympic stadium in northern Athens and other stadiums to house thousands of people evacuated from the path of the blaze. Three major hospitals have been placed on standby.

One firefighter suffered serious burns, another was hospitalised with breathing trouble and 13 other people were treated for milder respiratory problems, fire brigade spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said.

Several smaller communities and towns, including Marathon, which gave the Olympic long distance race its name, started to evacuate on Sunday.

Smoke drifted through central Athens as thick grey clouds engulfed Mount Pentelikon, which is known for producing the marble used in the Acropolis and other ancient buildings.

“Civil protection forces battled hard throughout the night, but despite superhuman efforts, the fire evolved rapidly,” Vathrakogiannis said.

The wind had rekindled the fire in 40 different locations on Monday, he said.

A children’s hospital and a military medical facility in Penteli were evacuated at dawn, Vathrakogiannis said. Another hospital was evacuated during the day.

The destruction revived memories of the Mati disaster, the coastal area near Marathon where 104 people died in July 2018 in a tragedy later blamed on evacuation delays and errors.

The summer wildfire season in Greece this year has seen dozens of daily blazes after the Mediterranean country recorded its warmest winter and the hottest June and July since reliable data collection began in 1960.

Temperatures around Athens were forecast to peak at 39 degrees Celsius (102 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday, with wind gusts of up to 50 kilometres (31 miles) per hour.
‘Engulfed in flames’

“Forest fire near you. Follow the instructions of the authorities,” said SMS messages sent to people in the Attica region, indicating in which direction to flee.

Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias issued a warning Saturday that half the country faced a high risk of fires due to high temperatures, strong winds and drought conditions.

On Monday he said that the fire had spread even though a water-bombing aircraft reached the area within five minutes.

“We’re working 24-hour shifts, all of us,” said fireman Marinos Peristeropoulos.

“The fire spread very quickly because of the strong wind,” he told AFP near one of the hotspots in Grammatiko.

Greek firefighters enter a field after sawing a fence as they try to extinguish a wildfire near Penteli, 12 August 2024. © Angelos Tzortzini, AFP

Scientists say that human-induced fossil fuel emissions are worsening the length, frequency and intensity of heatwaves across the world.


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Rising temperatures are leading to longer wildfire seasons and increasing the area burnt in the flames, according to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Other parts of Europe are also struggling with high temperatures.

Parts of France rose above 40C on Sunday. In Rome, temperatures were expected to reach 38C Monday and remain around 36C this week.

In the Netherlands, temperatures between 32C and 35C are expected.

(AFP)

Greece evacuates hospitals and homes as wildfires rage near Athens

Greece ordered the evacuation of hospitals and homes near Athens Monday as wildfires spread despite "superhuman" efforts to combat the flames, the fire brigade said.


Issued on: 12/08/2024 - 

Greece has deployed 510 firefighters and 152 vehicles, while 29 aircraft were due to set out Monday at first light. 

© Angelos Tzortzinis, AFP

01:34

 

Video by: FRANCE 24

At least five more communities were told to flee by civil protection authorities, after hundreds of people evacuated Sunday from at least eight villages.

"Civil protection forces battled hard throughout the night, but despite superhuman efforts, the fire evolved rapidly," fire brigade spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said.

"At this moment it has reached Mount Pentelicus and is headed in the direction of Penteli," he added.

Two hospitals in Penteli – one for children and a military facility – were evacuated at dawn according to Vathrakogiannis.

The brigade has deployed 510 firefighters and 152 vehicles, while 29 aircraft were due to set out at first light, he added.

"Forest fire near you. Follow the instructions of the authorities," said SMS messages sent to people in the Attica region, indicating in which direction to flee.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis cut short his holiday and returned to Athens Sunday evening to deal with the crisis.

By Sunday afternoon, firefighters had quickly dealt with 33 out of the 40 blazes that had broken out in the past 24 hours.

But the force was battling seven more in the high Mediterranean summer heat, the fire brigade spokesman said Sunday.

Residents of the historic town of Marathon, 40 kilometres (25 miles) east of Athens, were among those ordered to evacuate Sunday.

"Everything is burning," said Giorgos Tsevas, a resident of Polydendri village.

"I have 200 olive trees there but now they are gone," the 48-year-old said Sunday.

Already Saturday, Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias had warned that half the country was under a high-risk warning for fires due to high temperatures, wind gusts and drought conditions.

"Throughout the night, winds remained strong, creating dangerous situations. Unfortunately their intensity is expected to increase in the coming hours," Vathrakogiannis warned.

The Mediterranean country is exceptionally vulnerable to summer blazes, with this season seeing fires burn daily.

After the warmest winter on record, Greece also experienced its hottest June and July since reliable data collection began in 1960.

Scientists warn that human-induced fossil fuel emissions are worsening the length, frequency and intensity of heatwaves across the world.

The rising temperatures are leading to longer wildfire seasons and increasing the area burnt in the flames, according to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

(AFP)

Raging Athens wildfire the 'worst so far' this year


Issued on: 12/08/2024 

03:11© FRANCE 24

A major forest fire that began Sunday afternoon was raging out of control on the northern fringes of the Greek capital Monday, triggering numerous evacuation orders for Athen's suburbs and outlying areas. "It is the worst fire we have seen so far in Greece this year, with flames going up to 25 metres ... the fire engulfing the region of 35 kilometres in less than 24 hours", FRANCE 24's Nathalia Savaricas said, adding that 685 firefighters along with 190 fire trucks and 32 aircraft are currently deployed to put out the flames.

SPACE

Earth hit by ‘severe’ solar storm


By AFP
August 12, 2024

Photo of the Sun taken by the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager of the European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter probe, distributed by the ESA on July 16, 2020 - Copyright Solar Orbiter/EUI/ESA/NASA/AFP -

The Earth was hit Monday by an intense solar storm that could bring the northern lights to night skies further south than normal, a US agency announced.

Conditions of a level-four geomagnetic storm — on a scale of five — were observed Monday from 1500 GMT, according to a specialized center at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

These conditions may persist for several hours, but were not expected to increase further in intensity, NOAA added in a statement.

“A severe geomagnetic storm includes the potential for aurora to be seen faintly as far south as Alabama and northern California,” NOAA said in a statement, referring to US states.

The new solar storm is caused by coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which are explosions of particles leaving the Sun. When these particles arrive on Earth, they disrupt its magnetic field.

“There are a lot of auroras now… If it lasts until nightfall here, we might be able to see some,” Eric Lagadec, an astrophysicist at the Cote d’Azur Observatory in France, said on X.

On Sunday, NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick published on X a superb photo of the aurora borealis — or Northern Lights — taken from the International Space Station, where he is currently stationed.

But solar or geomagnetic storms can also trigger undesirable effects.

For example, they can degrade high-frequency communications, disrupt satellites, and cause overloads on the electricity grid. Operators of sensitive infrastructure have been notified to put in place measures to limit these effects, NOAA said.

In May, the planet went through the most powerful geomagnetic storms recorded in 20 years. They caused auroras to light up the night sky in the United States, Europe, and Australia, at much lower latitudes than usual.

This type of event has increased recently because the Sun is currently close to its peak activity, as per its 11-year cycle.

RHETORICAL QUESTION

Was the Microsoft Azure outage linked to recent layoffs?

By Dr. Tim Sandle
DIGITAL JOURNAL
August 12, 2024

Microsoft said it would train 250,000 people by 2027 to boost AI knowledge and competence and also increase capacity at its three data centres in Sweden. - Copyright AFP/File OLIVIER CHASSIGNOLE

On July 30, 2024, Microsoft faced a major outage affecting its Azure infrastructure and Microsoft 365 services. This outage significantly disrupted services for users globally, impacting businesses and individual users reliant on Microsoft’s cloud services.

The outage began at approximately 11:45 UTC and was reportedly resolved by 19:43 UTC, lasting almost eight hours.

While there have been other such outages over recent years, a specific report by Business Insider draws a potential causality relationship between two key events.

On June 3, 2024 Business Insider reports that Microsoft was laying off hundreds of employees from its Azure cloud unit. This decision was part of a broader restructuring effort aimed at improving operational efficiency and focusing on core business areas amid a challenging economic environment.

The layoffs affected various roles within the Azure division, reflecting Microsoft’s strategy to streamline operations and reallocate resources to more critical areas within the company.

This was not the first and it turned out not to be the last layoffs announcement by Microsoft in 2024. Currently Microsoft ranks 4th among the U.S. tech giants that laid off the most employees in 2024

Looking into these issues for Digital Journal is Paul Hoffman who undertakescompany stock research at BestBrokers.

Hoffman explains: “The layoffs in Microsoft’s Azure unit and the subsequent major outage may or may not have a causality relationship. However, such events highlight the delicate balance tech companies must maintain between cost-cutting measures, strategic allocation of resources and ensuring existing services’ reliability.”

Hoffman continues, noting the consequences: “While restructuring and layoffs can help companies reduce expenses and focus on strategic priorities, they can also lead to unintended consequences, such as diminished operational capacity and slower response times to technical issues.”

Returning to the official reason for the outage, Hoffman recounts: “Microsoft blamed the outage on a DDoS attack, which flooded the network with junk requests. But then, Microsoft’s own defensive measures amplified the attack, rather than mitigating it.”

This leads Hoffman to return to the matter at hand: “We cannot help but wonder if the outcome of the attack would have been the same if Microsoft hadn’t announced laying off hundreds of Azure staff 2 months prior.”

‘Waiting for death’: desperate plight of Tigray’s war displaced

By AFP
August 11, 2024

Wolde Meressa, 78, lives in a school classroom at an IDP camp in Mekele - Copyright AFP Michele Spatari
Solan Kolli

Wolde Meressa lives cheek by jowl in a cramped classroom with 30 other people in a school that has been converted into a shelter for displaced people in Ethiopia’s war-scarred region of Tigray.

Around him in his makeshift home in Tigray’s capital Mekele is a jumble of pots, clothes and water containers.

“By staying here, we are merely waiting for death,” lamented the 78-year-old Wolde, who lives in the shelter with his wife and several of their children.

He is one of more than a million people driven from their homes during the brutal Tigray conflict whose fate is still in limbo even though the guns fell silent almost two years ago.

The internally displaced people (IDPs) live a life of despair and uncertainty, often cold and hungry, in makeshift camps or converted schools across the region, scene of one of the deadliest wars of the 21st century.

“We are on the verge of death, praying to God to take us back to our homes,” said Wolde.

An estimated 600,000 people were killed during the two-year war between Ethiopian government forces and Tigrayan rebel authorities, and about three million were made homeless.

The UN’s humanitarian response agency, OCHA, says there are still 1.1 million people who have not been able to return home despite the signing of a peace deal in November 2022.



– ‘No choice but to stay’ –



Their situation is becoming more desperate as aid organisations scale back their operations and essential aid is harder to come by, humanitarian workers say.

“I have been in this IDP camp for three years and am now entering my fourth,” Tibe Addise told AFP in a sprawling camp run by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Shire, about 300 kilometres (186 miles) northwest of Mekele.

“Since arriving, I have struggled to care for my children, suffering cold and hunger daily,” the 42-year-old said, a multi-coloured shawl draped over her head and shoulders.

Behind her, lines of washing hung above the dirt paths winding through the tents as people carried sacks of food and children played.

“Many others share my plight, though we have no choice but to stay here.”



– ‘Left in limbo’ –



The IDPs that AFP spoke to were forced from their homes in Western Tigray, a hotly disputed area claimed by both Tigray and the neighbouring Amhara region that remains largely inaccessible to humanitarian agencies.

Rights groups have accused Amhara forces of waging a campaign of ethnic cleansing, war crimes and crimes against humanity in Western Tigray both during the conflict and since the peace deal was signed.

Eritrean troops, Amhara forces and others have yet to fully withdraw from various parts of Tigray, in defiance of the terms of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA).

“According to the peace agreement, we were told that peace had been restored and we would be able to return to our homes,” said Surafel Asmelash, coordinator at the Seba Care IDP camp in Mekele, the largest in Tigray.

“However, we have neither returned nor have the aid agencies been given the opportunity to stay. The people have been left in limbo,” the 42-year-old said.

Tigray hosts the largest number of IDPs in Ethiopia, where a staggering total of 4.5 million people have been forced from their homes by conflict or climate disasters, according to OCHA.

At another school-turned-IDP camp in Adwa, about 90 kilometres east of Shire, Genet Mengesha said she had not received any humanitarian aid for five or six months.

“They register our names, but then tell us we are not on the list. Only a few people are receiving aid,” the 44-year-old said, crouching on the ground as she washed pots in a plastic bowl.

“We are on the brink of despair.”

In Iraq’s summer, residents of Kurdistan’s Arbil ache for water


By AFP
August 11, 2024

Boys cool off with water from a mobile tanker as summer temperatures soar in Iraq's northern autonomous Kurdish region - Copyright AFP Safin HAMID

The taps have run dry, and the wells are almost empty. In the capital of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, 80-year-old Babir hasn’t bathed in weeks and impatiently waits for trucked-in water deliveries.

“There is nothing worse than not having water,” said Babir, who gave only his first name, in his modest house in Arbil’s Darto suburb.

As in several other densely populated areas of Arbil and its suburbs, Babir and his neighbours rely on groundwater as their primary water source.

But for years, they have dreaded summer, when relentless drought, a lack of wells and power outages that bring pumps to a halt leave them cut off the supply of water.

For everything from bathing to watering plants, cooking and washing, they have been forced to depend on trucked-in water.

Usually “we bathe once every fortnight,” said Babir, dressed in traditional Kurdish sarwal trousers.

From the roof of his house, he shouted for a water truck as it drove up into the street, then hurried downstairs to request a refill for his home.

This time, the truck belonged to a local aid group. When such assistance is unavailable, the retiree has to pay from his meagre pension or rely on family for water and other essentials.

Over the years, residents of several districts have taken to the streets many times to demand solutions, but Babir said appeals to officials had fallen on deaf ears. He said he was considering moving “to a place with water.”



– Dried wells –



Iraq is known in Arabic as the Land of the Two Rivers, referring to the once mighty Tigris and Euphrates. But the rivers’ water levels have plummeted and the UN classifies the country as one of the most impacted by some effects of climate change.

Authorities blame the drought as well as dams built upstream in neighbouring Turkey and Iran.

Arbil relies on 1,240 wells dotted across the city alongside the Ifraz water station that draws from the upper Zab River, which has its source in Turkey and joins the Tigris in Iraq.

Its governor, Omed Khoshnaw, told reporters earlier this month that “more than 25 percent of wells have dried up this year,” adding that Arbil should rely less on groundwater.

Amid the crisis, the city’s local authorities say they have allocated 1.5 billion Iraqi dinars ($1.1 million) to help solve it, including by digging new wells and providing power via generators and the electricity grid.

Local official Nabz Abdul Hamid said that power outages have heavily impacted pumps for wells in residential areas.

“We have now provided an uninterrupted electricity supply to most of the wells,” he told AFP, adding that officials were working to fix the broader problem including by improving the Ifraz plant supply.


– ‘Radical solutions’ –


In the Darto district, one person skillfully manoeuvred the aid truck’s hose as a torrent of water gushed into a tank.

A young girl waited to fill plastic bottles while other children joyfully splashed water on their faces, finding relief from the relentless heat.

But when it comes to washing, Surur Mohamad, 49, said that for anything more than basic clothes he goes to a nearby village where they have a steady water supply.

Trucked-in water from aid organisations “is not a solution,” he said, adding that overcrowding has put further pressure on the water system while poor pipe infrastructure has exacerbated the problem.

“The government must find radical solutions as relying solely on wells” is no longer viable, especially considering the drought, he said.

His neighbour, Mahya Najm, said the lack of water had stopped her children and young families from visiting her.

“We cannot wash, cook or even receive guests,” she said.

“We are in dire need of water. This is not a life,” she added.

Do I need it? ‘Underconsumption core’ trends on TikTok

By AFP
August 11, 2024

Underconsumption core trend on TikTok - Copyright AFP Natalie WADE
Natalie WADE, Manon JACOB

Exhausted from a rising cost of living in the United States and non-stop ads, some young adults on TikTok are pushing back.

“When every moment of your life feels like you’re being sold something and the price of said item keeps going up, people will burn out on spending money,” Kara Perez, an influencer and financial educator, told AFP.

Social media has long had room only for picture-perfect homes, lavish closets and an abundance of beauty products. But a new trend is sweeping the other way — urging repurposing, more frugal lifestyles and prioritizing quality over quantity.

Known as “underconsumption core,” it spotlights living sustainably and using what you have, a reversal of the excess and wealth that dominates ad-heavy Instagram and TikTok.

“When you get 300 videos on TikTok about people who have 30 Stanley cups, you want to have as many as you can afford. People want to fit in,” said Perez, who repurposes jars as cups.

– Consumer fatigue –

A video with over 100,000 views from TikTok user loveofearthco critiqued the tendency toward overconsumption often amplified and encouraged on social media: “I spent money I didn’t have on things I didn’t need.”

Another account, nevadahuvenaars, shared what “normal” consumption looks like: used furniture, a modest closet, decor upcycled from glass bottles, meal prep and a downsized skincare collection.

Despite financial hardships felt particularly by Gen Z and millennials, the US economy is thriving, with record corporate profits and high prices on shelves.

In a way, “that feels almost ‘gaslighty’ to consumers” amid a period of economic and geopolitical uncertainty, culture and consumer marketing analyst Tariro Makoni told AFP.

She argued that Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) plans commonly adopted by many young adults’ budgets exacerbate consumption and represent a distortion in access to wealth.

But years of inflation have forced many to the conclusion that they cannot keep up with the spending habits of those on their social media feeds.

A Google Trends analysis shows US searches for “underconsumption” hit a high point this summer, surfacing alongside queries about “overproduction” and the “Great Depression.”

Many young adults have developed a “compulsive behavior to spend down to their last pound on a fashion item,” said UK-based influencer Andrea Cheong who recently shared an “underconsumption core” style video of her mending old clothes.

It is an addiction tied to a pressure “to articulate who we are through possessions,” Cheong noted.

In contrast, “underconsumption core” breaks from traditional core trends promoted by influencers, who often sell an ever changing purchasing blueprint embodying the latest trend and aesthetic, according to Cheong. She and Makoni agreed that the shift also reflects increased calls for authenticity from content creators.

Now, “conserving is cool” said Makoni — “we saw very similar patterns after 2008” during the financial crisis.

Over half of Gen Z adults — age 18 to 27 — polled in a 2024 survey by Bank of America stated the high cost of living as a top barrier to their financial success, adding that many do not make enough money to live the life they want.

– Sustainability concerns –

“The social media trend of ‘underconsumption’ is another way for Gen Z to make the most of their money and be environmentally friendly at the same time,” said Ashley Ross, head of consumer client experience and governance at Bank of America.

While younger generations worry about making sustainable choices, a lack of financial autonomy drives their decisions.

“Let’s be honest, no one’s gonna change their GDP for sustainability. We don’t live in that world … The motivation for people to do these things has always been to save money,” said Cheong.

But she told AFP “underconsumption” trends ultimately provide the most accessible approach to sustainability for those who seek it. The message is simple: “Buy less, buy better.”

Low consumption brick-and-mortar initiatives cast a wider net of profiles and generations.

Anjali Zielinski, 42, joined a “Mending 101” workshop in Georgetown, DC in the hopes of acquiring new skills. She brought her daughter, Mina, seven, along with her.

In addition to providing an outlet to her daughter’s creativity, she hopes the craft will teach her the “value of our possessions and the work that goes into them.”

How Gen Z women and the military transformed Bangladesh

By AFP
August 12, 2024

Nusrat Tabassum (c) is a campus hero in Bangladesh for helping lead a movement that began as a protest against civil service job quotas and ended in revolution - Copyright AFP Indranil MUKHERJEE

Sean GLEESON and Eyamin SAJID

Adored by her classmates and defiant even after police seized her, student Nusrat Tabassum is one of the many women who helped spearhead the movement that toppled autocratic ex-premier Sheikh Hasina.

Sizable protests against Hasina’s 15-year rule were nothing new, but this was the first time that young women took to the streets against her in large numbers.

Soldiers refused to fire on them, a pivotal moment in Hasina’s ouster.

“The people had no way back,” Tabassum, 23, told AFP. “Anger was increasing, and the demand for equality was increasing.”

Tabassum is a campus hero for helping lead a movement that began as a protest against civil service job quotas and ended in revolution.

As she strolled the grounds of the elite Dhaka University, friends and other pupils rose from their seats to offer handshakes, hugs and high-fives.

Two weeks ago she was among six top student leaders snatched by plainclothes police and held in custody for several days, officially for their own safety.

With Hasina’s grip on power slipping, her security forces held the group at gunpoint and made them sign a statement calling off the protests.

“I thought of suicide several times,” Tabassum said. “I could not bear the thought of the people of this country thinking that we had cheated, that we had sold out.”

But Bangladeshis saw through the ruse.

“When we saw people did not misunderstand us, and were still protesting on the street, then I regained my strength and power to continue,” she said.



– ‘Women were deprived’ –



Protests began last month over a court decision to reintroduce loathed quotas for government jobs, seen as a tool for Hasina’s government to stack the bureaucracy with loyalists.

One aspect was a 10 percent reservation for women applicants, but Tabassum said the politicised nature of the scheme meant that “women were deprived more than they benefitted”.

Soon after protests began, Hasina said the quotas had to remain because women were otherwise unable to get those jobs on their own merits.

The irony of her statement, from one of the world’s longest-serving women heads of government, was not lost on its audience.

“Women are more concerned about their rights these days,” said Nahida Bushra, a human sciences graduate student at Dhaka University.

“That’s why women spontaneously joined the protests.”

Muslim-majority Bangladesh has a history of extremist attacks, and one way Hasina sailed through earlier bouts of unrest was by blaming Islamist troublemakers.

She tried again this time, but the sight of young women leading protests undercut her argument.



– ‘We moved forward’ –



Bushra, 23, played a key role mobilising her fellow women classmates to attend rallies.

She sidestepped government efforts to stop her and ignored a concerted online campaign to demonise students.

“There was a storm of rumours and disinformation on social media, but we kept our unity with courage and bravery,” she told AFP.

Telecoms were ordered to block access to Facebook and other platforms used to organise demonstrations, so Bushra and others circumvented the bans through virtual private networks (VPNs).

The government then imposed a complete national shutdown of mobile and broadband internet, so they organised rallies through SMS messages and phone calls.

When police began firing on protesters, they rushed to the front of the crowd in the expectation that officers would be more reluctant to shoot women.

“We moved forward and took the protest forward,” Bushra said.



– ‘Absolute bloodbath’ –



In a final desperate move to remain in power, Hasina’s government ordered soldiers to suppress the protests.

They refused.

“It would have been an absolute bloodbath and the army was unwilling to perpetrate a massacre,” Thomas Kean of the International Crisis Group told AFP.

“To have sided with Hasina at this juncture would have tarnished their image massively.”

Bangladesh’s armed forces are outsized contributors to UN peacekeeping operations, a source of deep institutional pride.

Kean said their complicity in the crackdown would have opened up the military to Western sanctions and international pariahdom, as well as a potential revolt from rank-and-file soldiers.

Despite army chief Waker-Uz-Zaman being a distant relative of Hasina’s, Kean said the general had “little choice but to put institutional interests first”.

As the dust settles from some of the most tempestuous weeks in Bangladesh’s history, Tabassaum said work had just begun.

“My country has not been able to practice what democracy really looks like,” she said.

“New Dawn” in Bangladesh?

Nobel Peace Laureate Muhammad Yunus Sworn In as PM After Student Protests

By Shahidul Alam, Amy Goodman , Nusrat Choudhury 

August 11, 2024

Source: Democracy Now!

We go to Dhaka for an update as Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus is sworn in to lead Bangladesh’s caretaker government just days after the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who resigned and fled the country amid a wave of student-led protests over inequality and corruption. Yunus is known as the “banker to the poor” and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his work developing microloans that helped lift millions out of poverty. Yunus thanked Bangladeshi youth for giving the country a “rebirth” and vowed to work for the public good.

“This is uncharted territory,” says Shahidul Alam, an acclaimed Bangladeshi photojournalist, author and social activist, who has spent decades documenting human rights abuses and political and social movements in the country. Alam was jailed in 2018 for his criticism of the government and spent 107 behind bars, during which time he says he was tortured by the authorities. “This repression has taken such a toll on so many people for so long, the nation is just hugely relieved.”

We also speak with Nusrat Chowdhury, an associate professor of anthropology at Amherst College and author of Paradoxes of the Popular: Crowd Politics in Bangladesh. She says it’s very significant that student leaders are being brought into the new government and says Yunus is a rare public figure in Bangladesh who exists “beyond party politics” and has the chance to unify the country.
Transcript

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus has been sworn in as head of Bangladesh’s caretaker government just days after the ouster of Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina following weeks of student-led protests. Yunus, a longtime critic of Hasina, took the oath during a ceremony at the presidential palace in the capital Dhaka Thursday. Over a dozen other members of Yunus’s Cabinet were also sworn in, including two students who led the mobilizations forcing Hasina’s resignation: Nahid Islam and Asif Mahmud. Adilur Rahman Khan, a prominent Bangladeshi human rights advocate who documented extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances and police brutality and was sentenced to two years in prison by Hasina’s government, will also be an adviser to Yunus’s interim government while Bangladesh prepares for new elections.

Muhammad Yunus is known as the “banker to the poor.” He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his work developing microloans. On Thursday, Yunus spoke after landing in Dhaka and shared a message for Bangladesh’s youth and students.


MUHAMMAD YUNUS: [translated] Using the means of revolution, Bangladesh will create its new dawn of victory. Keeping this vision ahead of us, we have to keep going ahead. I want to express my gratitude and praise the youths who have made this possible. They have protected this country and given it a rebirth. And we wish for this new Bangladesh to progress with speed. We have to protect this freedom — not just protect it, we have to ensure that it reaches every single household; otherwise, the freedom will have no meaning.

AMY GOODMAN: For more, we’re joined by two guests. But we begin in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, with Shahidul Alam, an acclaimed Bangladeshi photojournalist, author and social activist, who has documented human rights abuses, political and social movements.

We welcome you to Democracy Now! In 2018, Bangladeshi police arrested Alam from his home over comments he made during an interview with Al Jazeera critical of the government’s violent response to nationwide student-led protests at the time. Alam was imprisoned for 107 days and reported being tortured by authorities. He was released following a global campaign by humanitarian groups, media and journalists. In 2018, Alam was included in a group of journalists called “the guardians” that Time magazine recognized as the Person of the Year. On the eve of Thursday’s swearing-in, Alam shared a photo of Muhammad Yunus on X from when they met before the Nobel Peace Prize.

Shahidul Alam, welcome to Democracy Now! It’s great to have you with us. Can you talk about the significance of this moment and what brought Bangladesh to this point where Muhammad Yunus, the man you photographed many years ago, is now the head of the caretaker government?

SHAHIDUL ALAM: It’s a phenomenal event. I mean, I’ve been through 1971, our war of liberation. And being in the streets on the 5th with people jubilating was a greater thrill than that time, which is difficult to imagine.

But it is a difficult process. I mean, this is uncharted territory, the fact that the government is suddenly gone. And there was the few days in between when there wasn’t a government. And that potentially, and did, to an extent, lead to local violences. But that’s been curbed, and we look forward to a new dawn ahead. I mean, this repression has taken such a toll on so many people for so long, the nation is just hugely relieved.

AMY GOODMAN: Tell us what happened, what led to the student-led uprising, and why it was the students that took down the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has now fled to India.

SHAHIDUL ALAM: It was a people’s movement, but triggered by the students. And their initial protest was about an unfair policy regarding government job allocations. And that, I feel, could have been handled, could have been handled well. But it was the arrogance of the tyrant that led to it. They wanted to meet the president. He didn’t respond. She, in an interview, sneered at them, calling them Razakars, which is a swear word here, because it talks about — it’s about collaborators of the Pakistani Army, so, essentially, something going against our war of liberation, our freedom movement.

And the students were enraged. Initially, one of the demands was that she apologize. But this prime minister, or the prime minister we had, is not the apologizing type. Instead, she turned her armed goons on them. They killed six people. When they wanted to bury these people, have a funeral, including there was one young man, Abu Sayed, who had been shot at point blank by the police in a video that went viral, they instead turned really aggressive, and the police started killing. And eventually, it just became a killing spree. So, that lit the fuse completely, and then I don’t think there was any going back.

AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about your own experience, Shahidul Alam, being arrested under Sheikh Hasina’s government? What happened back in 2018?

SHAHIDUL ALAM: I wasn’t arrested; I was picked up. Ironically, it was on the very day, the 5th of August, 2018, when they picked me up, that — and six years later, on the 5th of August, she fled. So there’s an irony there.

But yeah, again, it was a student protest. I had been documenting it. On the 4th of August, again, the armed goons, associated with the government, attacked me, attacked my equipment. I was back in the streets on the 5th. That day, I gave an interview to Al Jazeera. That night, sitting here in this flat, I was uploading material when the doorbell rang. I went to answer it, and suddenly these burly people came in. They dragged me away, handcuffed me, blindfolded me, put me in this microbus and took me away. Now, I live in Bangladesh. I know what happens. So what I did was resist and scream as much as I could, so I didn’t go away silently. That is one of the things that does happen in Bangladesh, disappearances, and then people just don’t appear again.

But that night, I was tortured. The following day, they offered me a deal, saying if I agreed to stay quiet, I would be let go and there would be nothing on record. When I turned that down, they got very angry. I was taken to jail — to court. In court, I mentioned that I had been tortured. And the court is required to investigate that. They did not and put me into remand, which is a sort of euphemism in Bangladesh for state-sponsored torture. I was there for six days, then I went to jail. My bail attempts, five bail attempts, were refused. On the sixth, there was just so much pressure from people in Bangladesh and across the globe that they eventually let me go.

But even now, today, six years after the event, the trial has not begun. The charge has not been placed. The law I was picked up under has been repealed. Yet I appear in court every month. I am next due to appear on the 14th of August.

AMY GOODMAN: And have you spoken with Sheikh Hasina since then, the prime minister? And talk about her role in history, her father and Sheikh Hasina herself.

SHAHIDUL ALAM: Well, her father led the movement. He was a principal architect of the movement towards liberation, and he was very revered, initially. And then things went wrong. He began to get autocratic himself. He set up a private militia, called Rakkhi Bahini. He disbanded all political parties and created a single-party state. Except for four newspapers which were pro-government, all other newspapers were banned. And there was huge repression at that time. That was the first of the extrajudicial killings that we’ve had. He was assassinated on the 15th of August, 1975.

And August is meant to be the month of mourning, officially called by the government, because his daughter, until recently, had been the prime minister. But the protesters have turned it around. I mean, July was when I was documenting — or, at least the student protests began six years ago. Again, July was when the quota movement began this time, and they’ve called it the red month. And instead of counting the days of August, they’ve extended July, and it’s now a month of red. So that month of mourning has been turned into a month of revolution.

AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to go to a clip of Muhammad Yunus, who first joined Democracy Now! in 2008, not long after he won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for pioneering a microloan program that helped hundreds of thousands of impoverished Bangladeshis, mainly women. We also spoke to him in 2017 about his book A World of Three Zeros: The New Economics of Zero Poverty, Zero Unemployment, and Zero Net Carbon Emissions. The book came out the same time as an Oxfam report which found the eight richest men in the world own more wealth than half the world’s population, more than three-and-a-half billion people. I asked Muhammad Yunus to talk about zero net carbon emissions and zero poverty.


MUHAMMAD YUNUS: But the system which we have been practicing, the capitalist system — I said capitalist system is not working towards it. It’s a system which, as you mentioned, eight people owning more wealth than the bottom 50% of the people. It’s a system which is like a machine which is sucking up wealth from the bottom and transporting it to the top. So the top is becoming a big mushroom of wealth. And then, 99% of the people is like the stem from the mushroom hanging there. And that stem is becoming thinner and thinner. The portion of the wealth devoted to bottom 99 — or, the 99% — we don’t say “bottom” anymore — becoming smaller and, regrettably, the top becoming bigger and bigger.


So this is a ticking time bomb. Anytime it can explode — politically, socially, economically and so on. We are not paying attention to it. Wealth concentration was going on ever since we introduced capitalist system, but this was not very visible. Today, it’s becoming worse and worse. The speed of wealth concentration has become speedier and speedier. Years back, there was — a couple of years back, it was 32 people who owned half, the wealth of the bottom 50%, and now we have eight. Soon we will have five. Soon we will have two, two people owning the whole entire world’s wealth together. So those are the kind of things threatening.


When concentration of wealth takes place, it’s also the concentration of power. Wealth and power go together. So you control the government, you control the politics, you control the media, you control businesses, everything. So that’s the kind of situation coming. And all the people at the bottom, bottom 10%, 20%, 50%, they will have tremendous anger against the way that’s being done and how to express themselves that will create the destability in the society.

AMY GOODMAN: That’s Muhammad Yunus taking on capitalism on Democracy Now! in 2017, now just sworn in as the interim head of Bangladesh after a student-led uprising. In addition to Shahidul Alam, we’re joined by Nusrat Chowdhury, associate professor of anthropology at Amherst College, author of Paradoxes of the Popular: Crowd Politics in Bangladesh.

Professor, you grew up in Bangladesh. You’re speaking to us, though, from Northampton, Massachusetts. If you can comment on what Muhammad Yunus was saying then, presumably what he believes today, and what that could mean for the future not only of Bangladesh, but, as a world leader, for the world?

NUSRAT CHOWDHURY: Thank you.

I think one of the things that made Yunus come back and take on this position is the fact that the students really wanted him as the head of the interim government. And one of the reasons for that is that most people in Bangladesh are wary and weary of party politics. So, one of the reasons why these particular student protests — and the ones that have been successful in the past — succeeded, albeit at a very steep cost, is because it didn’t start with any particular political party affiliation. The students were very clear from the beginning. They said that if you are a student, you can join us, but don’t come here as a representative of any political party.

And in a place like Bangladesh, it’s difficult to find people who have kind of wide acceptance, who enjoy wide acceptance and recognition from all walks of life — from people of all walks of life. And Muhammad Yunus still enjoys that recognition. He also has — he’s globally recognized. He has international legitimacy. So, he is one of those people.

I am not sure how much his economic vision actually plays a role in this or will play a role in this. Muhammad Yunus, as you know, in his earlier work, had talked about social capitalism. His own position has changed. I’m not an economist. I’m not going to dwell on that. But I think at this point it’s what he represents. Having — enjoying a kind of recognition beyond party politics is what makes him an ideal candidate for the interim government.

AMY GOODMAN: And, Professor Chowdhury, the significance of not only the student-led uprising, but now in Muhammad Yunus’s government, they have included two students?

NUSRAT CHOWDHURY: Yes, that is unprecedented in the history of Bangladesh, although almost all of the successful political movements in independent Bangladesh have been led by students. And, of course, then ordinary citizens joined them. So it’s not surprising that the students led this protest, but their inclusion is unprecedented.

But it also symbolizes the fact that you cannot ignore students as the youth, as young, as, you know, not really having the skills to understand what’s going on politically, because I think it would be a grave mistake right now for anybody, including the military in Bangladesh, to disregard what the students were saying, because they were able to accomplish something that even the veteran political parties haven’t been able to in the last 15 years. They had widespread support from ordinary citizens of Bangladesh. So, I think it’s great that the students are included. It’s also strategic. I don’t think you can actually have any kind of policies right now without consulting with the students, who have shown so much maturity and efficiency in actually bringing this uprising about.

AMY GOODMAN: And being very clear, even as Sheikh Hasina fled to India and the military said they would, you know, caretake the government until there was an election, they said no to the military even temporarily, Professor.

NUSRAT CHOWDHURY: Yes, absolutely. There is very little faith. Again, the military is broadly seen as nonpartisan, despite its internal factions. But there is a history in this part of the world of military coups. So, the students have been very clear from the very beginning that they don’t want an interim government led by the military. And the military right now would make a big mistake if their own political ambitions come in the way. So, yes, they have been very clear about having a civilian-led government.

AMY GOODMAN: So, Shahidul Alam in Dhaka, what’s going to happen next? You’ve got this caretaker government headed by the man who pioneered microloans not only in Bangladesh but around the world, Muhammad Yunus. How long does this caretaker government go on? And will there be a role for someone like Khaleda Zia, who was freed just after the prime minister fled? She was the opposition candidate.

SHAHIDUL ALAM: Well, Khaleda has been freed, but one of the things that the students also talked about was that they did not want dynasty politics. Khaleda Zia is the widow of General Ziaur, who was a former president. Sheikh Hasina is the daughter of Sheikh Mujib, who was the founding president. But these families have gone on, and the parties themselves have not been democratic. I think there is a great cry for some other option right now.

What we have to see first is how this caretaker government manages this situation. This is uncharted waters. Neither professor Yunus nor any of the other people in his Cabinet have dealt with a situation like this. But then, this Cabinet has students. This Cabinet has more women than in any previous cabinet. It has human rights activists. It has Indigenous people, so minorities are also represented. But there are questions. There are questions in terms of the competence of some of the people. There are questions about whether some people are there because they’ve just been yes-men in the past and, you know, nonthreatening. So, those are questions that will exist.

But for me, the hope is that the students have not stopped there. I was walking down the streets today. There has been violence in the streets, because this anger has led to seeking revenge. And the students are managing the streets. The students have gone out in patrols at night to ensure that the robbery and the thuggery does not continue. And the students keep insisting that they want a government which really belongs to the people.

AMY GOODMAN: Finally, Shahidul Alam, on a slightly different issue, we’ve noticed in the streets, as the tens of thousands of students and others protest, that there have been flags of Bangladesh and flags of Palestine. You also have been an outspoken supporter of Palestinian rights. As we move into a segment in the United States on the role that Israel and Palestine will play in this election for the next president of the United States, if you can talk about what’s happening here, there?

SHAHIDUL ALAM: Well, I’ve just put on my keffiyeh, which is what I usually wear. I hadn’t remembered to do it then. But last night at the swearing-in ceremony, I was the only person from civil — well, only nonstudent wearing a keffiyeh. One of the students was also wearing a keffiyeh. And the Palestinian ambassador came and hugged us both.

But, yes, at the time of the protests themselves, I remember a young man atop a tree waving both a Bangladeshi flag and a Palestinian flag. And this is something which is important for a different reason, as well. While Bangladesh officially recognizes, you know, talks about Palestine and its liberation, it has actually been trading with Israel. It’s used Pegasus and other surveillance material. It’s had training with Israel, and it has much more connections in terms of its military and its training than it likes to reveal. And the Bangladeshi public — the Bangladeshi Constitution, in fact, says that it will be with all oppressed people across the globe. So, it’s a natural affinity, but the Bangladeshi people in particular do have a resonance with the Palestinian movement. And I think the students being there will ensure that once we’ve sorted out the internal things, we will be looking after Palestinian issues.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, Shahidul Alam, we want to thank you so much for being with us, Bangladeshi photojournalist and activist. He was detained by the Bangladeshi authorities back in 2018, and he was held for more than a hundred days, leading photojournalist in Bangladesh. And Nusrat Chowdhury, we want to thank you for being with us, professor of anthropology at Amherst College, author of Paradoxes of the Popular: Crowd Politics in Bangladesh

Bangladesh

After Hasina’s resignation, struggle continues

Saturday 10 August 2024, by Badrul Alam


On August 5, at 2:30 pm, Sheikh Hasina resigned from her post as prime minister and fled with some of her Special Security Forces by helicopter to India. She is now in Delhi, and some reports indicate that she wants to go to London for political asylum, but Britain is refusing her entry because of her human rights violations.


Later on the same day, at 4 pm, the Bangladesh Army’s Chief of Army Staff, General Waker-uz-Zaman, declared on national television that the army would take responsibility for maintaining law and order. He added that an interim government would be formed to run the country’s day-to-day affairs, and promised to hold a fair and free election soon. Army leaders met with the president, Mohammed Shahabuddin, that evening and discussed the formation of the interim government. Shahabuddin also called the leaders of different political parties in the parliament, including the main opposition party—the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). They all agreed to form an interim government.

However, the coordinators of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement instead proposed forming an interim government with those who have led the mass movement. They said that they would not accept any other form of government without their consent, especially an army-led one. They underscored their paramount goal, which is removing all discrimination from society. The student coordinators reckoned that there is still a lot of work to do though Hasina has now fallen, and expressed their interest in being part of the interim national government as well. They urged all students and other people to defend the revolution, and be alert to ensure that no other reactionary forces could take advantage of the uprising.

Moreover, they proposed Dr. Muhammad Eunus as the chief of the advisory committee for the interim government. Though Hasina’s regime has long targeted Eunus, his policies are not without controversy. He is well-known for endorsing microcredit for solving social ills, and has a higher standing in the NGO sphere than among marginalized communities. Some leftist organizations and parties have already criticized him as the trump card of US imperialism.

So, despite Hasina’s resignation, the struggle over the power vacuum continues in Bangladesh.
Nevertheless, the movement that started on July 15 amidst the killing of six students at Dhaka University and after the death of Abu Sayed, a 4th-year honors English student at Begum Rokeya University who was shot to death in broad daylight by police in Rangpur, reached an important culmination on August 5.

On her last day, the dictator still had her last bite, with her security forces claiming at least 39 more lives. Ultimately, the dictatorship could not sustain itself amidst the pressure of millions of students and people. In Hasina’s final moments as prime minister, security authorities defied her dictates and refused to shoot any more civilians. They gave her two options: either to cling to power or give up and escape. She chose to flee the country. Hasina used all the tools of repression at her disposal against the people to retain power, but was defeated in the end.

The students’ movement began with the demand for reforming a discriminatory quota system. The increasingly repressive measures taken by Hasina compelled them to expand their demands, including the call for the resignation of multiple Awami League officials and compensation for families of those who were killed or injured in the protests. The students engaged in a diversity of actions, including civil disobedience. Hasina branded the protestors as ’razakar’ (traitors during the independence struggle in 1971 who collaborated with Pakistani war criminals), leading the students to escalate their demands and strategy. They developed nine demands as Hasina resorted to further repression. Later, they focused on one key demand—demanding Hasina’s resignation—which they successfully won.

The autocrat had also announced an all-out curfew across the country on July 18 in order to suppress the student movement. However, the students and masses ignored the curfew and continued to take the streets. Later, the regime escalated even further and declared that soldiers would shoot protestors on sight. However, all the measures they took were boldly broken by the masses of students. They stood on their feet before the bullets of the army and police by offering their lives without hesitation.

Since July 15, more than 339 students have been killed by the police, according to a major daily news outlet. But, according to a private survey, the death toll may be even higher—numbering over thousands. Thousands of students have been injured and tortured: some have lost their eyesight, and others have body parts mutilated.

Ultimately, Hasina’s latest reign lasted around 16 years. Her regime marked widespread human rights violations, corruption, plundering of the state’s wealth, forced disappearance of activists, extra-judicial killings, holding fake elections, etc. She should be tried by international tribunes for her human rights violations and complicity in genocide.

P.S.

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Attached documents

• after-hasina-s-resignation-struggle-continues_a8634.pdf (PDF - 906.8 KiB)
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Bangladesh

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• Badrul Alam

  Badrul Alam is President of the Bangladesh Krishok Federation.

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