Hasina, in a bid to tackle other extremist groups such as the Jamaat E Islam and others however, has maintained “live and let live” policy with the Hefazat-e-Islam (HeI) until recently when it broke onto violence, reports Mahua Venkatesh
South Asia watchers appeared to have arrived at a consensus: A peaceful Bangladesh is a boon for India and the region. After members of Hefazat-e-Islam (HeI) members resorted to violence in Bangladesh last month, Prime Minister of the south Asian nation Sheikh Hasina has cracked down on the outfit while promising to uphold the principles of inclusivity and cultural unity.
Her government has continued with unabated efforts to choke the radical outfit.
In a major development, HeI’s Brahmanbaria District Unit Joint Secretary Mufti Abdur Rahim Qasemi resigned as he sought justice over “the mayhem carried out by the Islamist group’s leader and activists in the district,” during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the south Asian nation, Dhaka Tribune (DT) reported.
Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina
“The loss of life and property of the people cannot be approved by Islam in any way. So, I personally stayed away from all these activities (mayhem) and forced the teachers and students of all the madrasas under my supervision not to take part in those,” he said in a statement.
In the last few days, a total of 15 leaders of HeI have been arrested by the Bangladesh authorities.
Not only have intelligence reports shown that HeI members have been actively involved in the violence in Bangladesh which coincided with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit, a few arrested members of the outfit have also confessed.
The Bangladesh based Daily Star, in an article published in its Bengali section, noted that HeI has been attempting to bring down the Hasina government. The outfit also wants to make Bangladesh much like Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Hasina has been cracking down on radical forces
“In the years since, and against the odds, Bangladesh has prospered. And while Pakistan has remained fixated with India, Bangladesh hasn’t manifested similar obsession vis-�-vis Pakistan, despite having borne unspeakable atrocities,” the Spectator �a British weekly magazine�in a report last month said.
However, the report also said the “Bengali identity, forming the basis of Bangladesh as a separate nation, rooted in millennia of Indic pluralism and religious co-existence, continues to be attacked by the perpetrators and collaborators of the 1971 genocide.”
Bangladesh police
“Weeding out of extremism in the region is absolutely essential for the development of India and the south Asian nations. There have been various radical elements that are working to destabilise development and peace in the region,” Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, visiting fellow at ORF and a former ambassador told India Narrative.
HeI, as a group also controls most of the madrassas in the country.
“The recent crackdown comes as a boon for India, as extremist elements have the potential to create discord with the country, especially in the eastern and northeastern region. At a time when the geopolitical structure of the region is changing fast, it is key that India keeps a close watch on the developments,” another analyst on condition of anonymity said.
India PM Narendra Modi and Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina
Hasina, in a bid to tackle other extremist groups such as the Jamaat E Islam and others however, has maintained “live and let live” policy with the HeI until recently when it broke onto violence.
According to the European Foundation for South Asian Studies (EFSAS), in the early 1990s, the Harkat-ul Jihad al-Islami Bangladesh (HuJI-B) was established with funds from Al-Qaeda. HuJI-B had strong links with the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and at the peak of its operations in 2004, the group claimed that up to 15,000 members had been recruited from Madrassas (Islamic religious schools) in Bangladesh and Pakistan, the EFSAS said.
In the Global Terrorism Index by the Sydney-based Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), the country ranked 33rd out of a total of 163 countries. Though in 2019, Bangladesh was placed 30th and a year earlier grabbed the 25th position, it appears to have stemmed the tide of Islamic terrorism that was threatening the nation of over 161 million in the first decade of the 21st century.
(This content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)
Chinese minister is likely to meet Bangladesh President Md Abdul Hamid and the Bangladesh Army chief during his visit…reports Asian Lite News
Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe will arrive in Dhaka on a brief visit on Tuesday amid the ongoing talks between the two countries over COVID-19 vaccine cooperation.
During his brief visit, the Chinese minister is likely to meet Bangladesh President Md Abdul Hamid and the Bangladesh Army chief.
In December last year, the last-minute postponement of the Chinese Defence Minister’s visit to Bangladesh had raised curiosity about the state of the relations between the two countries.
Meanwhile, Fenghe will later on Tuesday leave for Sri Lanka on a three-day visit, the second high-level visit by a senior Chinese official in recent months.
Wei Fenghe(wikipedia)
General Fenghe will be visiting the island from April 27 to 29, Colombo Page reported.
The Minister is slated to hold bilateral talks with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, and other government officials.
This is the second-highest visit by a Chinese official to the island nation following the visit of Yang Jiechi, Vice Chairman, Chinese Communist Party, in October last year.
There have been concerns about Beijing seeking to increase its footprint in the country through contentious infrastructure projects.
Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court is currently hearing several petitions against a Bill that will give special powers to govern the China-backed port city in Colombo.
Meanwhile, amid the controversy surrounding the China-backed Port City in Colombo, Sri Lanka Minister of Justice Ali Sabry has said the government owns 100 per cent of the land and the project has been initiated to bring investment in the special financial zone.
Mahinda Rajapaksa
Addressing a media briefing, Minister Sabry said the total area of the investment zone is 269 hectares and 91 hectares for public facilities and cannot be given to the project company, The Colombo Page reported. Out of the remaining land of the financial zone, 116 hectares or 43 per cent will be given to the project company which initiated the project in 2013 and spent USD 1.4 billion to develop the Port City.
“But all 100 per cent of the land is owned by the government. It is completely false to say that land was given to someone else,” Sabry said.
This comes as the opposition has alleged that a bill to set up a Commission to govern a Colombo Port City has given it too much discretion, denied equal opportunity to Sri Lankans who did not have black money stashed abroad.
Bangladesh has been waiting for two million doses of Covishield as they had paid in advance for the two million doses…reports Asian Lite News
Bangladesh has temporarily suspended the Covishield vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute of India, Pune, media reported.
This was after growing uncertainty over the vaccine supply given the worsening situation in India after hit by the second Covid-19 wave.
According to reports, Directorate General of Bangladesh’s Health Services, General ABM Khurshed, issued a circular on April 25, stating that it will enable those who have already received the first dose to complete the procedure.
Bangladesh has been waiting for two million doses of Covishield. The Bangladeshi officials had earlier said that they had paid in advance for the two million doses, reported The Hindu.
Meanwhile, the country has decided to extend its ongoing lockdown for another week to contain the spread of coronavirus.
Covidshield
“The decision was taken in line with suggestions by public health experts and considering the global COVID-19 situation,” said the State Minister for Public Administration Farhad Hossain.
Shops and malls will remain open from 10 am to 8 pm, the Dhaka Tribune reported, quoting public official Hossain.
Indo-Bangla border closure
However, the final decision will be taken at another meeting on Tuesday, officials further said.
Officials from different ministries including health, home, foreign, public administration, and civil aviation were present at the inter-ministerial to discuss the COVID-19 situation.
Bangladesh had also decided to close its border with India for the next 14 days following a sharp rise in the country’s COVID-19 cases and deaths.
A ban on entry from India has been imposed in line with the instructions of the prime minister’s office, Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal told Dhaka Tribune on Sunday.
On Thursday, a proposal to shut down borders with India was rejected at an inter-ministerial meeting.
Mushtuq Husain, former Chief Scientific Officer of the Institute of Epidemiology and Disease Control, had earlier suggested imposing institutional quarantine requirements on arrivals from India.
India -Bangladesh border
He also said, “If the border cannot be closed completely, then those who come from India should be kept in a 14-day institutional quarantine. There is no alternative.”
He noted that most of incoming travellers from India are citizens of Bangladesh and they cannot be stopped by shutting down the border.
“But they must get their samples tested 72 hours in advance (of travelling). They must carry a coronavirus-negative certificate and quarantine upon arrival. If possible, everyone should be kept in institutional quarantine. If that is not possible, we must ensure that they quarantine at home.”
Mushtuq, however, played down concerns over the coronavirus variant that is running rampant across India and said that it has not yet been proven to be more harmful than other strains.
Top militant Mamunul trained in Pakistan Bangladesh Police
Mamunul the top militant leader of Hefazat-e-Islam, which is accused of orchestrating the recent violence in the country, had stayed in Pakistan for 40 days and returned to the country…reports Asian Lite News
Arrested Bangladeshi militant leader Mamunul Haq, who made all kinds of plans to oust the pro-liberation government led by Sheikh Hasina, has affiliation with a militant group in Pakistan where he had travelled in 2005 for training, police said on Sunday.
The top militant leader of Hefazat-e-Islam, which is accused of orchestrating the recent violence in the country, had stayed in Pakistan for 40 days and returned to the country with militant and extremist ideology, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Dhaka Metropolitan Police, Tejgaon Division, Harun-ur-Rashid told IANS.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, another senior police official told IANS that Mamunul directed the madrasa students for attack on police and government officials and also bombings, arson and massacre countrywide, which were directed by Pakistan’s ISI, which also provided training.
‘Wanted to turn B’desh into Taliban state’
Funded by Islamic forces, militant outfits Hefazat-e-Islam and Jamaat-e-Islami wanted to turn Bangladesh into a Taliban state like Afghanistan if they came to power, top Hefazat leaders, including Mamunul Haque who was arrested recently, have confessed to the police.
A top detective official said that Hefajat leaders had formed an organisation called ‘Rabetatul Waizin Bangladesh’ with leaders from across the country.
They used to control ‘Waz Mahfils’ (spreading militancy in the name of preaching Islam) by forcing organisers from Pakistan to invite their militant leaders as speakers in them.
Mahbub Alam, Joint Commissioner of the Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), confirmed to IANS on Saturday evening that the leaders of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami were also involved in the arson in Dhaka in 2013 and the violent protests during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Bangladesh last march.
A group of Hefazat leaders are involved in propagating extremism and the police are trying to identify them by scrutinising video footages. The search and arrest operations will continue until all the accused involved in the arson are arrested, Mahbub Alam said.
Mamunul Haque(Wikipedia)
Fourteen top-ranked Hefazat leaders, along with several leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan and BNP have been arrested since April 4.
The police are investigating at least 65 cases filed in connection with the mayhem carried out by the Hefazat supporters in 2013 and in March this year.
Most of the arrested leaders have confessed that they thought that by using madrasa students as shields to vandalise and set government properties on fire, Hefazat was the only effective platform to oust the Awami League from power in Bangladesh, the police said after interrogating the arrested militant leaders.
These militant outfits had hatched conspiracies to topple the government in 2013 and again in March this year, the police said.
The interrogate the arrested persons, three teams have been formed involving the investigating officers who have knowledge of Quran and Hadith, Mahbub Alam said, as he ruled out any possibility of torturing the Hefazat leaders.
HIB: The rise of new extremist entity in Bangladesh(ians)
About Hefazat’s joint secretary general Mamunul Haque, the DB official said that Haque has told the investigating officers that his first marriage was conducted according to the Islamic rule and the country’s law.
Alam also said that Haque did not have any marriage registration certificate of his two other wives, saying those were “contract marriages”.
As per the contract, they will be treated as wives but will not get social recognition.
The fire broke out at the chemical storage on the first floor of the Haji Musa Mansion…reports Sumi Khan
Two persons, including a security guard, were killed and at least 17 including three firefighters were injured in a fire at a six storied building in Dhaka, that was housing a chemical warehouse located in density populated Armanitola area. The incident took place at around 3 a.m. on Friday when the devotees were having food for fasting on Muslim holy month Ramadan.
The fire broke out at the chemical storage on the first floor of the Haji Musa Mansion, Brig Gen Md Sazzad Hussain, Director General of Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence told IANS.
Seventeen units of fire service and civil defence managed to control the inferno after a hard struggle of three hours.
The six-storey building at Armanitola, next to the Babubazar Bridge in old Dhaka, has a chemical storage and a few shops on the ground floor, while tenants were living in upper floors.
Earlier, on June 3, 2010, 124 people died in a fire at an illegally operated chemical warehouse in Nimtali, Old Dhaka. Besides, on the night of February 20, 2019, at least six people died in a terrible fire from a series of chemical factories in the resident area of Churihatta of Chawkbazar. Then after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina directly asked to shift the chemical industries from the residential are of old Dhaka, which is denied, and created this calamity.
The dead body of the security guard was recovered from the building and a woman, who was severely burned, died on the way to hospital confirmed the fire service official. Other residents of the building rescued with crane cutting the Iron made porch- grill of the building, he said.
A comment published by European Foundation for South Asian Studies says that violent protests organised by the Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh (HIB) during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’ recent visit to Bangladesh may herald the dawn of a potent new extremist entity. A special comment by Dr Sakariya Kareem
The recent visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to neighbouring Bangladesh was a huge success. Five agreements relating to trade, disaster management, information technology and sports were signed during the visit, foundation stones for infrastructure development at a nuclear power plant in Bangladesh were laid, and a new train service between India and Bangladesh was launched.
The visit began with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina personally greeting Modi upon his arrival at Dhaka airport on 26 March, and telling an audience in a parade square in Dhaka that Bangladesh’s relations with India had reached a new high such that “If we move forward hand in hand, the development of our people is inevitable”. But there were some organisations want to spoil the friendship between India and Bangladesh. One among them was the Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh (HIB), a radical Islamic organisation.
They decided on the eve of Modi’s visit to launch a countrywide protest campaign. The English translation of the group’s name roughly corresponds to “safeguarding Islam in Bangladesh”. Formed in 2010, the HIB operates unregulated Qawmi Madrassas (religious schools) across Bangladesh.
The group first caught the public eye when in 2013 it effectively seized Dhaka with more than half a million activists, most drawn from the Qawmi Madrassas. It insisted that the Sheikh Hasina government meet a set of 13 demands, including the enactment of an anti-blasphemy law with provision for the death penalty, the cancellation of the national women’s development policy, the enforcement of Islamic religious garb such as the hijab, a ban on constructing sculptures in public places and on men and women mixing in public, and the declaration of Ahmadis as non-Muslims.
The targets of the HIB included free thinkers, liberal forces and advocates of inclusive values and culture. The government cracked down on the HIB in May 2013, and normalcy returned to the streets of the capital after several HIB leaders were either killed or arrested by the security forces.
Modi meets Hasina(ians)
The European Foundation for South Asian Studies (EFSAS) released a commentary on March 19 in the run-up to Modi’s visit to Bangladesh. It had visualized a successful visit in tune with the warm and welcoming atmosphere that by most accounts awaited him in Dhaka. The visit, indeed, did turn out to be a success. An important aspect which that Commentary was remiss in glossing over, however, was the potential impact that organisations and individuals with an extremist bent of mind could have had in shaping the imagery around the visit. Perhaps the near absence of reporting of extremist incidents in the Bangladeshi media in recent months had lulled us into believing that Sheikh Hasina, through her concerted and laudable efforts in that direction, had finally managed to tame the devil of extremism that had plagued the country for the most part of its 50-year existence.
An editorial in the Bangladeshi English language broadsheet The Daily Star had pointed out as recently as on 8 March that “there has been no palpable activity by the religious extremist groups since the brutal Holey Artisan killings in July 2016”.
Some other observations made in The Daily Star editorial were noteworthy. It commented that “One hears very often from a few inveterate optimists that Bangladesh has seen the end of religious extremism. We have been continually cautioning against entertaining any euphoria that absence of demonstrative activity on their part is not an indication of the demise of the religious extremists altogether…
“That they have not been able to launch any major attack since 2016 speaks of the success of our security agencies, particularly the Anti-Terrorism Task Force… And it is the political issues that these groups would exploit primarily, gaining of political power being their ultimate objective without which their religious objective would remain unfulfilled. A political void or a turmoil is what they wait for to pounce”. As it turned out, in the midst of the prevalent enthusiasm on both sides that bilateral relations between the two neighbours would continue to grow, Modi on 27 March concluded his two-day official visit amid violent protests engineered by a Bangladeshi extremist group that is looking to announce its change of direction and focus to the country.”
HIB: The rise of new extremist entity in Bangladesh(ians)
After the crackdown in May 2013, the Sheikh Hasina government entered into serious behind-the-scene negotiations with the HIB leadership that yielded a fragile peace between the two sides. The government developed a close relationship with some HIB leaders, most notably with the outfit’s then chief Shah Ahmad Shafi.
A few factors, especially the fact that at that stage the HIB was not a political party with an explicit political agenda to take over power, had facilitated the establishment of such a relationship. The HIB’s strength lay in its institutional architecture as a networked organization of thousands of Madrassas spread all over the country. The social acceptability of the HIB was bolstered by the fact that the Madrassas offered free boarding to hundreds of orphans, catered to the social need for Islamic rituals and services, and received a significant part of zakat, charity payments that form a pillar of the Islamic faith. This too had encouraged the government to associate with the HIB.
The death of Shafi in September last year, however, tilted the balance of power within the HIB towards the more extremist anti-government faction within it. Shafi’s successor as Amir, Junayed Babunagari, was educated for 4-year in his 20s in Pakistan, first at the Jamia Uloom-ul-Islamia and then at the Jamia Darul Uloom Karachi.
A hardliner in his views, Babunagari did not waste time in overturning the more moderate vision of HIB espoused by his predecessor and in adopting a more political posture. This transformation had been brought out by The Daily Star’s senior correspondent Rashidul Hasan in an article published on 9 December 2020 in which he averred that the HIB was turning into a political party for all practical purposes. He wrote, “Hefajat-e-Islam is now more than a political party with the strategic disclaimer of having no political agenda”.
Another aspect highlighted by Rashidul Hasan pertained to the linkages that the revamped HIB under Babunagari had forged. Hasan contended that “About one-third of its (HIB) leaders of the new committee who seized control come from political parties who are part of a 20-party alliance led by BNP (Bangladesh Nationalist Party)”.
Modi meets Hasina(ians)
BNP leader Khaleda Zia has been closely aligned with the banned fundamentalist Islamist party the Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), and the two parties have earlier combined to form the government in Dhaka. Presently politically marginalized, the BNP sees the ambitious fresh leadership of the HIB as a potent weapon in its incessant attempts to topple Sheikh Hasina.
Some Bangladeshi experts believe that the HIB today has become a front for the JeI, which calls for Shariat rule in Bangladesh. Over the last few years the outlawed JeI, which has also been marginalized in Bangladeshi society and reduced to tatters by Sheikh Hasina’s fervently anti-extremist policy, has been trying to resurrect itself by infiltrating the HIB.
The JeI is known to maintain strong links with the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and the suggestion that the Pakistani intelligence agency is the driving force behind the efforts to bring the JeI and the HIB closer to each other has also been made by responsible sections of the media.
The violence that the HIB triggered in Bangladesh on 26 March, even as Modi landed in the country, and which continued for several days thereafter, need to be viewed against this backdrop. The violence began in Dhaka, where dozens were injured in clashes between HIB members ostensibly protesting Modi’s visit, and the police, which was forced to use rubber bullets and tear gas against the disruptive protesters. It spread to several other districts, and in Chittagong five HIB members were killed when the police opened fire on a group that had attacked a police station.
As the violence escalated and attacks on government property, police stations and trains by HIB activists intensified, another 6 people were killed on 27 March and 2 more the following day. At least 26 police personnel were also injured in the clashes. Javed Rahim, a journalist in Brahmanbaria town where the last two deaths occurred, described the scene to Reuters by phone, “Brahmanbaria is burning. Various government offices were set on fire indiscriminately. Even the press club was attacked and many injured, including the press club president. We are in extreme fear and feeling really helpless”.
Significantly, HIB activists also attacked and vandalized temples of the minority Hindu community. Also a Hindu, and one who unabashedly espouses the Hindu cause, Modi visited two Hindu temples during his visit.
The Bangladesh government appears to have taken the HIB provocation with the degree of seriousness that it deserves. The initial reaction by Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan was firm, and he sounded as though he meant business. Calling for the protests to be halted, he warned, “Our security forces are observing this with patience. We think if this is not stopped, we’ll take necessary actions”.
Sheikh Hasina did not mince words either in her address to parliament on April 4.
Describing Islam as a religion of peace, she averred that terms such as extremism and terrorism were linked to Islam due to the misdeeds of some people. She denounced the HIB for carrying out destruction in the name of Islam, and called out the BNP and the JeI for giving the HIB patronage. Terming the HIB-led mayhem at a time when the nation was celebrating the golden jubilee of its independence as deplorable, she asserted, “Did Hefazat do it alone? The BNP-Jamaat alliance is behind it”.
Recalling that the BNP and the JeI had issued separate messages on 27 and 28 March supporting the HIB, Hasina said this proved their part in the conspiracy against the State. She accused the two parties of being bereft of any ideology as they supported the violent protests led by the HIB against Modi’s visit, but at the same time welcomed Modi when he reached Bangladesh to attend the country’s golden jubilee celebrations. Hasina assured the parliament that those responsible for the violence would be brought to justice.
“I can only say that legal action will be taken against those responsible for such misdeeds”, she said. Reports suggest that the Bangladesh government has decided to re-activate over 80 terrorism-related cases against the HIB and its members.
The Indian government in its comments on Modi’s visit to Bangladesh noted that it had facilitated “significant decisions” to reinforce the legacy of 1971 and to deepen India-Bangladesh bilateral cooperation. On the violence by the HIB, it said, “As far as the violence is concerned, we have always been against fundamentalism and extremism. We are confident that the Bangladesh government will address the challenge”.
While timing them to coincide with Modi’s visit may have served the desired purpose of assuring maximum airtime for the HIB, the real purpose of the protests, which Sheikh Hasina seems to have recognized and is gearing up to confront, was to announce spectacularly the arrival of the HIB under its fresh leadership as the new political force that seeks to “safeguard” Islam in Bangladesh.
General Naravane’s visit comes in the midst of Swarnim Vijay Varsh celebrations which mark 50 years of the liberation of Bangladesh…reports Asian Lite News
Continuing with the excellent tradition of strong bilateral and defence ties between India and Bangladesh, Indian Army Chief General M.M. Naravane is on a five-day visit to Bangladesh. He left for Bangladesh on Thursday morning.
General Naravane’s visit comes in the midst of Swarnim Vijay Varsh celebrations which mark 50 years of the liberation of Bangladesh, made possible by the historic leadership of the Bongobondhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and heroics of the Mukti Bahini who fought shoulder to shoulder with the Indian Armed Forces.
The Army Chief will pay tributes to the martyrs of the Liberation War by laying a wreath at the Shikha Anirban on Thursday.
This will be followed by one to one meetings with the three Service Chiefs of the Bangladesh’s Armed Forces. General Naravane will also visit the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Museum in Dhanmondi, where he will pay tributes to Bangladesh’s founding father.
He will interact with Bangladesh’s Minister of Foreign Affairs on April 11 at Bangladesh Army’s Multipurpose Complex in Dhaka where he will attend a seminar on UN Peace Support Operations and deliver a keynote address on ‘Changing Nature of Global Conflicts: Role of UN Peacekeepers’.
General M.M. Naravane is also scheduled to interact with the Force Commanders of the United Nations Missions in Mali, South Sudan and Central African Republic and the Deputy Chief Operations Officer of the Royal Bhutanese Army on April 12.
He will also attend the closing ceremony of Exercise Shantir Ogrosena, a multilateral UN-mandated counter terrorism exercise comprising the Armed Forces of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka along with observers from the US, the UK, Turkey and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia among others.
He will also witness the innovations of the Bangladeshi Armed Forces personnel during the Hardware Display.
The Chief of the Army Staff will interact with the members of Bangladesh Institute of Peace Support and Training Operations (BIPSOT) during the last leg of his visit.
This visit will further deepen the bilateral relationships between the two Armies and act as a catalyst for closer coordination and cooperation between the two countries on a host of strategic issues.
The protest turned violent within hours as several thousand stick-wielding demonstrators took to the streets vandalising a number of public offices and setting them on fire, he said…reports Asian Lite News.
At least one person was killed and several others were wounded after a protest against Covid-19 restrictions turned violent in Bangladesh, police said on Tuesday.
The demonstration in the south-western town of Saltha ensued Monday evening after rumours spread that a man was beaten by officials who were monitoring compliance with the coronavirus lockdown, local police chief Mohammad Alimuzzaman told dpa news agency.
The protest turned violent within hours as several thousand stick-wielding demonstrators took to the streets vandalising a number of public offices and setting them on fire, he said.
Police fired bullets and tear gas to disperse the demonstrators who broke into a local police station at one point, an incident that left one protester dead, Alimuzzaman said.
“The bullets were fired in self-defence,” the officer said, adding several other people incluing policemen were wounded during the clashes.
Additional police were deployed in the area as a precaution, he said.
Bangladesh on Monday began a seven-day lockdown to slow the spread of Covid-19 with many in the capital Dhaka defying the shutdown orders.
Small traders staged demonstrations in the centre of the capital on the first day of the lockdown, calling on the government to allow them to keep their businesses open as long as they followed health guidelines.
The government ordered the people to generally stay indoors and shut down means of transport and shopping malls.
Factories were allowed to operate provided the owners ensure proper health measures.
20 injured in blast
At least 20 people were injured in a blast at the residence of a Bangladesh municipality Mayor.
The incident took place at about 9 p.m. on Tuesday night when Haji Abdus Salam, the Mayor of Mirkadim municipality in Munshiganj district, was attending a meeting with councillors and other officials in the second floor of the building.
The injured people included four councillors and the Mayor’s wife. Salam however, remained safe.
Twelve of the injured were immediately taken to the Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in Dhaka, while one person is undergoing treatment at Munshiganj General Hospital.
Meanwhile, physicians of the Dhaka hospital told the media that one of the patients has been taken to Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with 60 per cent burn injuries.
Abu Bakar Siddique, officer-in-charge of Munshiganj Sadar Police Station, said the reason behind the blast could not be ascertained immediately.
The international community is now aware about Turkey and its notorious army’s role in the Armenian genocide. But, how can they ignore the killing of 300,000 unarmed civilians during the liberation war in Bangladesh. Do we have right to seek justice and heal our buried wounds? .…. A special report Farzana Mahmood (Barrister-at-Law), Advocate, Supreme Court of Bangladesh, Human rights activist and Researcher
The brutal killings of 30,00,000 unarmed and innocent civilians during the 1971 liberation war by the Pakistani army and their local collaborators in Bangladesh with the intention of exterminating the Bengalis as well as the religious minorities, specifically the Hindus, falls within the ambit of crimes of genocide under the Genocide Convention of 1949.
With the aim to change the race of the Bengalis, rape was carried out in a systematic way against 2,00,000 women of Bangladesh by the Pakistani army1. The widespread atrocities, degrading, and inhuman treatment and rape committed by the Pakistani forces can be identified as crimes against humanity. Though the Hamoodur Rahman Commission Report of Pakistan concealed data about the immensity of the atrocities, it admitted that approximately 26,000 innocent Bengalis had been killed by the Pakistani army.
After the victory of Bangladesh when Pakistani army surrendered nearly 93,000 Pakistani civilians and army officers were taken to Indian custody as Prisoners of War (POWs) while more than 1,20,000 Bengalis were trapped in West Pakistan. The United Nations Security Council passed a resolution on December 21, 1971 asking the countries involved in War to observe the Geneva Convention and not to attach any conditions to the repatriation of the POWs.
Immediately after his return in Bangladesh from the Pakistani jail, the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman initiated the formal process of war crimes trial. While Bangabandhu lead Awami League Government had identified 195 Pakistan army personnel as Pakistani POWs for trail, Pakistan Government seized 203 Bengalis in Pakistan as hostage. In April 1973, Pakistan issued a statement saying, “Pakistani Government rejects the right of the authorities in Dhaka to try any among the prisoners of war on criminal charges, because the alleged criminal acts were committed in a part of Pakistan by citizens of Pakistan. But Pakistan expresses its readiness to constitute a judicial tribunal of such character and composition as will inspire international confidence to try the persons charged with offenses”.
The Hamoodur Rahman Commission report recommended to take effective action to punish those POWs in Pakistan who were responsible for committing the alleged atrocities in East Pakistan. While Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto announced that if Bangladesh carries out the trial, Pakistan would also hold similar tribunals against the Bangladeshi army officers who were serving in West Pakistan. In an interview on May 27, 1973, Bhutto also said: “Public opinion will demand trials of Bangladeshis here. We know that the Bengalis passed on information during the war. There will be specific charges. How many will be tried, I cannot say.” In such a tense situation, the concern over the lives of the Bengalis trapped in Pakistan and regional peace became serious issues, which were under clear threat.
Moreover, Bangladesh needed global recognition as an independent state and access to the United Nations. Pakistan continued its lobby not to let that happen and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto insisted that Pakistan would accept Bangladesh as a separate state if the Pakistani POWs were released. Bangabandhu was determined to try the Pakistani POWs for the atrocities and genocide committed against the Bengalis, but in this endeavour he did not get support from any corner. As a party to the Geneva Convention India was obliged to promptly start the repatriation of the Pakistanis and could not lawfully transfer the hostage Pakistani POWs to Bangladesh’s custody.
The Simla Agreement signed between India and Pakistan in July 1972 allowed the simultaneous release of most of the Bengalis and Pakistanis held in Pakistan and India respectively. Pakistan and India agreed that the issue of 195 Pakistani POWs would be settled between Bangladesh and Pakistan. Eventually, Bangladesh accepted Pakistan’s proposal to withdrew the demand for trying the Pakistani POWs in Dhaka- fearing for the life of the Bengalis trapped in Pakistan, regional peace and to gain the much-needed international recognition and access to the United Nations. The listed POWs were repatriated to Pakistan after an Agreement was signed between India-Pakistan-Bangladesh in Delhi, in April 1974. The 195 Pakistani POWs though repatriated were not freed from criminal charges. Also, Bangladesh expected that Pakistan would hold the trials of the Pakistani POWs as promised by the Pakistan Government, but this never happened.
After 38 years of Independence in 2009 the Awami League Government established a tribunal named International Crimes Tribunals, Bangladesh under the International Crimes Tribunals Act (ICT), 1973 to try and punish both the local and principal Pakistani perpetrators who committed crimes against humanity and genocide against the Bengalis. The trail of the local perpetrators started in 2012, few notorious war criminals have been punished and the trials of the rest of the offenders are continuing. On many occasions the Awami League Government has expressed sincere desire to try and punish those 195 Pakistani POWs as principal perpetrators of the 1971 genocide.
This desire became a concern for the Pakistani Government and they have referred the 1974 trilateral Agreement to negate the claims of Bangladesh on the trail issue of the Pakistani POWs. The Bangladesh Government contends that the clemency mentioned in the trilateral Agreement never implied that the masterminds and principal perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide would continue to enjoy impunity. This assertion is implicit in the policies taken by the Awami League Government during the early years of independence. Bangladesh Collaborators (Special Tribunals) Order, 1972 and ICT Act 1973 were promulgated to try and punish the perpetrators of 1971 war. The 1972 Constitution of Bangladesh contained provision that barred from holding office by anyone convicted by the collaborators tribunal, which was later deleted from the Constitution by Major Ziaur Rahman.
Moreover, the Constitution also banned those religious political parties whose leaders were involved in the war crimes and genocide. In November 1973, the Awami League Government with the hope to unify the country and maintain internal peace granted a general amnesty for the war criminals except those accused of murder, arson, rape and genocide. Even until the end of 1975, a large number of Bangladeshi war criminals were captivated in different jails of Bangladesh for trials, who were released after the brutal murder of Bangabandhu.
The ICT Act 1973 was enacted with the aim to detain, prosecute and punish the perpetrators of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and other related crimes punishable under international laws. Section 3 of the ICT Act unambiguously states that any tribunal established under this Act shall have power to try and punish any person accused of war crimes committed in the territory of Bangladesh regardless of their nationality. Bangabandhu declared the independence of Bangladesh in the early morning of 26th March, 1971 and the Pakistani army started committing genocide and war crimes since 25th March midnight which continued till 15th of December, 1971. Therefore, the war crimes were committed in the territory of independent Bangladesh and Bangladesh has every right to try the Pakistani POWs. Under the Act the tribunal has jurisdiction to try a group of individuals, or member of armed, defence, or auxiliary forces, irrespective of his nationality, who has committed genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes or other related crimes under international law in the territory of Bangladesh. The provisions of the ICT Act clearly mandate the trial of the 195 Pakistani POWs, for committing war crimes and genocide, and the Pakistani political leaders and policy makers who ordered them to commit such crimes.
It is worth mentioning that for the validity of the 1974 trilateral Agreement it must be ratified by the parties concerned. Article 145A of the Constitution of Bangladesh requires that all international treaties to be submitted to the president who will place them before the Parliament for ratification. Till today, Bangladesh has not ratified the trilateral Agreement of 1974, hence the Agreement is not legally binding on Bangladesh and there is no obstacle to try the 195 Pakistani POWs.
The customary international laws also provide ample opportunity for Bangladesh to try the Pakistani POWs. The Hague Convention 1907, Genocide Convention 1948, Geneva Conventions 1949 and their protocols 1977, defines genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity and makes them punishable offence. Article 4 of the Genocide Convention 1948 articulates that persons committing genocide shall be punished whether they are constitutionally recognizable rulers, public officials or individuals.
The report of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 2009 titled “International Law and United Nations Policy on Amnesty” clearly stipulated that under various sources of international law and United Nations international policy, amnesties are not permissible if they prevent prosecution of individuals who may be criminally responsible for war crimes and genocide. Under the Geneva Convention, state parties have right to try and punish the war criminals for genocide and crime against humanity and amnesties that prevent the prosecution of such offences are inconsistent with the state’s obligations. Countries which have signed and ratified the Geneva Convention and the Protocols are obliged to find out war criminals and try them. As per customary international laws, atrocities or acts of criminal violence amount to the breach of a peremptory norm of international laws. Article 53 and 64 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, 1969 stipulate that treaties in conflict with the peremptory norms of international law (either existing or emerging) are void and terminated. Article 71 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, releases the parties to a treaty void under Articles 53 and 64 from any obligation to perform the treaty.
Memorial of clay of refugees of the Bangladesh genocide.(WIKIPEDIA)
The 1974 tripartite Agreement was an executive act and it can not create any bar to prosecute member of auxiliary force or an individual or member of a group for committing war crimes, since by giving immunity to the offenders of genocide and war crimes the Agreement is in breach of customary international laws. Therefore, the 1974 trilateral Agreement can not set aside the norms of the customary international laws by prohibiting the trail of genocide and war time atrocities committed in Bangladesh. The 1974 Agreement is void to the extent it is inconsistent with the peremptory norms of general international law. Hence, under the 1974 Agreement Bangladesh is not bound to perform the obligations pertaining the prohibition of trials of the Pakistani war criminals. Bangladesh can procced with the trial of the Pakistani POWs anytime because criminal trials are not barred by any time limitation. If Nazis could be tried after 70 years of committing war crimes then a similar trial of the war criminals of Pakistani army and politicians can be started as well.
In one occasion while talking about the liberation war of Bangladesh Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto himself admitted the atrocities of the Pakistani army by saying- “The world saw what they were doing. They witnessed their cruelty’’. The gravity and extent of the war crimes committed by the Pakistani army in 1971 against the innocent people left a deep scar in the hearts and psyche of the millions of Bengalis. The pain that my mother has been bearing since 1971 after the brutal killing of my grandfather by the Pakistani army is an example among thousands of such wounded hearts. Through the trials of the notorious local war criminals the buried wounds of millions of hearts have healed to a great extent. But the impunity of the Pakistani POWs and unapologistic behaviour of the Pakistani authorities remind us that until the last offender of 1971 war crimes is tried and punished the wounds and trauma of the Bengalis would remain open for further damage. The buried wounds of the victims of war crimes and their families can be healed with pride if we can secure justice for the 1971 genocide and war crimes.
In March 2017, the Law Minister Anisul Haq stated that Bangladesh will approach the International Court of Justice to try the 195 Pakistani POWs. This commitment of the Government generates hope for us. This year we when are observing the golden jubilee of Bangladesh’s independence, it is imperative that we seek justice and compensation for the genocide and crime against humanity committed by the Pakistani forces to make our freedom meaningful. It is high time for us to build a national consensus for initiating the trial process of the Pakistani POWs. Ensuring trial, compensation and apology for the heinous war crimes committed by the Pakistani forces would secure our pride and self-esteem.
(Farzana Mahmood (Barrister-at-Law) is an advocate at Supreme Court of Bangladesh and a prominent human rights activist)
The strike by Hefazat-e-Islam is underway in Dhaka, Norshingdi, Narayanganj, Brahmanbaria, Chittagong, Sylhet, Rajshahi and other districts….reports Asian Lite News
Hefazat militants on Sunday set fire to the central public library in Bangladesh’s Brahmanbaria district, the birthplace of legendary Indian sarod player and multi-instrumentalist Allauddin Khan, during a dawn-to-dusk nationwide strike.
The strike by Hefazat-e-Islam is underway in Dhaka, Norshingdi, Narayanganj, Brahmanbaria, Chittagong, Sylhet, Rajshahi and other districts.
No long-route buses were plying on the roads, but movement of rickshaws and auto-rickshaws was normal.
Narayanganj Madaninagar madrasa students put up a barricade on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway by burning tires, disrupting the capital city’s road communications with Chittagong and Sylhet.
In Sylhet, Jamaat-e-Islam activists behind the banner of Hefazat-e-Islam brought out processions in different parts of the city including the Court point after morning prayers.
The militants set two stationary buses of state owned Bangladesh Road Transport and Corporation (BRTC) on fire at Rajshahi Truck Terminal in the city’s Amchattar area on Sunday.
Saiful Islam Khan, officer-in-charge of Shah Makhdum Police Station, said police are investigating the incident.
The fire fighters rushed to the spot and extinguished the blaze. No casualties have been reported so far.
Hefazat-e-Islam leaders announced the day-long nationwide strike at a press briefing at Purana Paltan in the capital on Friday night.
A clash involving Hefazat supporters and police left four people dead and at least 50 others injured at Hathazari in Chittagong on Friday.
In Dhaka, at least 50 people, including several journalists, were injured in a clash between radical force supporters and police in the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque area on Friday afternoon.
Clashes erupted when police barred people from bringing out a procession after the noon prayers on Friday protesting against the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
