International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearance: The Bangladesh Chapter

August 30 is the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearance. The crime of enforced disappearance may be considered a way to create terror in society, when victims are picked up and never seen again; and where victim families are left in a maelstrom of fear, uncertainty and, in many cases economic crises. The international community has condemned this form of human rights violation through resolution 65/209 ; where the UN General Assembly expressed its deep concern regarding the increase in enforced or involuntary disappearances in various regions of the world, including arrest, detention and abduction, when these are part of or amount to enforced disappearances. Through this resolution the Assembly also adopted the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. [1]

The Government of Bangladesh has ratified the Convention against Torture, but has yet to accede to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. In Bangladesh today, the human rights violation of enforced disappearances is on an alarming rise. In fact, when a person is arrested or picked up by people claiming to be from a law enforcement agency, the common fear is that he may be tortured – or disappear. According to statistics from the human rights organisation, Odhikar, between January 2009 and 28 August 2014, 148 persons have disappeared. According to witnesses and family members, they were picked up by persons either claiming to be law enforcers or wearing uniforms. [1] Most of them never returned. Many such disappearances have also resulted in extrajudicial killings, or to put it in a reverse order, almost all extrajudicial killings somehow resulted from enforced such involuntary disappearances. While the government keeps trying to wash its hands of the matter, such incidents keep taking place, in a similar fashion — people going missing, families and neighbours claiming that people in uniforms or plain clothes, in white vans, have picked them up, law enforcement personnel denying their involvement and refusing to record cases, some later being found dead with marks of injury and few found alive, shaken and distraught. [2]

According to Ain o Shalish Kendro (ASK) statistics, whereabouts of about 219 people, including Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s organising secretary Ilias Ali and his fellow party man Chowdhury Alam, have remained shrouded in mystery for years. Families of the victims and witnesses blamed RAB for picking up 83 people while detective branch for 38, ‘law enforcers’ for 55 and plainclothes men for 20 others reported between January 2007 and August 2014, according to the ASK report. The report also said that at least 70 leaders and activists of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Jamaat-e-Islami fell victim to enforced disappearance while 37 others were activists of ruling Awami League. No case was filed after the ‘incident’ of Ilias Ali along with his driver on the night of April 17 in the capital’s Banani, rather a general diary was recorded and it was still under investigation.

On April 27, an armed group identifying themselves as ‘law enforcers’ had picked up seven people, including Narayanganj panel mayor Nazrul Islam and senior lawyer Chandan Kumar Sarker from Dhaka-Narayanganj link road. Their bodies were found floating in Shitalakhya river after a few days. Families of the victims have accused RAB of the killings in exchange for money. Following an order from the High Court, the police arrested the then RAB-11 chief Tareque Sayeed Mohammad, also son-in-law of cabinet member Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya, the then special company commander, Arif Hossain, and the then crime prevention company commander, Masud Rana, on May 17 and May 18. So far eight RAB personnel have been arrested in this connection. The RAB men confessed to committing the crimes before judicial magistrates in Narayanganj under Section 164 of Code of Criminal Procedure. [3]

And of course few will forget the abduction and disappearance of labor rights leaders Aminul Islam on the 4th of April 2012 by security forces, only to be found dead 2 days later beside the road in Ashulia, Savar in Dhaka, his body bearing signs of gruesome torture at the hands of security forces. [10]

Abduction of students by State forces:

On February 5, 2012 approximately at 1.00 a.m. Al Mukaddas (22), 4th year student of the Department of Al Fiqah and Mohammad Waliullah (23), a Masters candidate of Dawah and Islamic Studies Department of Islamic University, were allegedly arrested and disappeared by some persons who identified themselves as RAB-4 and DB Police members from Savar. 

Both were members of the Islamic student organization Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir and were allegedly detained by members of the RAB and the Detective Branch (DB) of the Bangladesh Police on 4 February. They have not been heard from since and their whereabouts are unknown. The RAB has denied detaining the two men in a statement to a Bangladeshi newspaper. However, reports from several sources and a pattern of disappearances thought to have been conducted by RAB in recent months cast doubt on RAB’s denial. [4][5][6][8]

Mohammad Zakir Hossain, an internee student of Dental at Dhaka Institute of Medical Technology disappeared on 2nd May 2013 from Mohammadpur area of Dhaka city.  It is highly suspected that he was abducted by security forces RAB and DB that night after he went out from house no. 19/6 Tkkapara, 2nd Floor, flat no. 4/e, Mohammadpur on 2nd April night at 8.00 PM heading to Dental College Institute in order to collect some important papers since he was never seen again. He was the acting President of Adabar thana of Dhaka City West unit of Bangladesh Islami Chatra Shibir.[5] 

On April 5, 2013 at around 2:25am, members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) -5 arrested Mohammad Anwarul Islam (28) the son of Mohammad Israil and Mosammat Nurjahan Begumof Angariapara village in Chapainawabganj from house number 175 of Bil-Shimla Moholla under Rajpara Police Station in Rajshahi district. Later, when family members contacted the RAB-5 office, RAB notified that Anwarul  had never been arrested by them. An allegation of enforced disappearance was brought against the members of RAB by Anwarul’s family members.

Upon inquiry, it was found that Anwarul was a last year Master’s student of Mathematics department of Rajshahi College. Moreover, he was the Office Secretary of the Islami Chattra Shibir of Rajshahi district. Anwar was known as Masum in the area. He resided at his maternal uncle, Mr. Fazlur Rahman’s house in Bil-Shimla Moholla for his studies, since it was more convenient.[7]

Tazammul Ali, a student of the department of Islamic Studies of Rajshahi University (RU), was abducted by security forces on June 24, 2013 along with another student of Jahangirnagar University Azizul Islam. As per witness testimony, at about 11.30 pm on June 23, 2013, Tazammul and Azizul started their journey by a bus of Hanif Enterprise along with Ismail Hossain who came to Dhaka for his physical treatment. Next day, finishing their primary tasks, they went to call on a teacher of People’s University (Former student of RU). At about 5.15 pm, after the meeting with the teacher, they were waiting for bus in front of People’s University when, 8-10 members of Detective Branch (DB) of police abducted Azizul and Tazammul while Ismail Ismail Hossain was able to run away as he was away from them. No information on the two students has been uncovered to date. Witnesses said, “The security personnel arrested and picked up them on a white micro bus”. However, Police, RAB and other security forces have explicitly denied the fact of abduction of those two students.[5]

The Abduction of Shukhoranjan Bali:

Shukhoranjan Bali was initially a state (prosecution) witness against Islamic cleric and senior Jamaat leader Allama Delwar Hossain Sayedee at the International Crimes Tribunal, but became a cause of serious embarrassment for the government when he decided to change his previous statement implicating Sayedee in the murder of his brother in 1971. Instead he agreed to give evidence in favour of Sayedee claiming that the Prosecution coerced him to give false testimony against Sayedee. On 5th November last year, as he was on his way to the tribunal to testify accompanied by Sayedee’s defense lawyers, he was allegedly abducted by law enforcement officers in plain clothes and taken away in a police van. With a biased, state censored media, the Government made sure that the Bali incident did not make much noise.

The twist to the otherwise well concealed incident dramatically came about recently when a local newspaper published a report claiming that Bali is locked up in a Kolkata prison serving a sentence of 105 days for illegally crossing borders to India.[9]

Taking all the above into question, it is imperative that we all unite in understanding and realizing the fact that enforced disappearances have become a huge problem in the country today. Moreover, taking the fact that this phenomenon has spiked unnaturally during the tenure of the present government (since 2009) should act a warning to the world about the safety of human rights at the hands of this government. The first step in any solution is the acknowledging of the fact that we have a serious problem. Unfortunately, the government and the security forces still deny any wrongdoing and alarmingly insist on anointing these regular disappearances as “isolated incidents”. The government has done little, if any, to alleviate the fears of common citizens, utterly failing in providing them a better situation of law and order, which only seems to be becoming worse day by day.   

References:

1. “Out of Sight but not Out of Mind” by Saira Rahman Khan [http://1dgy051vgyxh41o8cj16kk7s19f2.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Statement_Out-of-Sight_30-August-14.pdf]

2. “Time to end enforced disappearances”, New Age Editorial [http://newagebd.net/43330/time-to-end-enforced-disappearances/]

3. The List grows longer, New Age by Muktadir Rashid [http://newagebd.net/43141/the-list-grows-longer/]

4. Urgent Appeal for Action for disappeared students Waliullah and Al-Mukaddas: Amnesty USA [http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa04712.pdf]

5. Abduction and Enforced Disappearances of 8 Shibir activists: Shibir website report [http://www.shibir.org/english/news/category/21/807]

6. Bangladesh: Enforced disappearance of Messrs. Al Mukaddas and Mohammad Waliullah, OMCT [http://www.omct.org/urgent-campaigns/urgent-interventions/bangladesh/2012/05/d21920/]

7. “Arrest and enforced disappearance of Mohammad Anwarul Islam by Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) members”, Odhikar Report [http://odhikar.org/arrest-and-enforced-disappearance-of-mohammad-anwarul-islam-by-rapid-action-battalion-rab-members/]

8. “Two persons were disappeared after being arrested at Savar allegedly by RAB and DB Police”, Odhikar Report [http://odhikar.org/two-persons-were-disappeared-after-being-arrested-at-savar-allegedly-by-rab-and-db-police/]

9. “Victim of the State: The Disappearance and Reappearance of Shukhoranjan Bali” by Nabil ahsan, The Platform [http://www.the-platform.org.uk/2013/05/29/victim-of-the-state-the-disappearance-and-reappearance-of-shukhoranjan-bali/]

10. “Fighting for Bangladesh Labor, and Ending Up in Pauper’s Grave”, The New York Times [http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/10/world/asia/killing-of-bangladesh-labor-leader-spotlights-grievances-of-workers.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1]

Posters on the occasion of International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearance in Bangladesh:

We demand justice for Afzal Hossain, Shibir leader from Rajshahi

After illegally arresting Rajshahi University Shibir leader Afzal Hossain, police have tortured him using hammers, iron rods and sticks, breaking his arms and legs in the process. Officials of Shibir revealed such shocking allegations against the police at a press briefing on the 26th of May, 2014. They strongly protested the incident perpetrated by the security forces.

The briefing said that police had arrested two Shibir activists, Afzal Hossain and Shahiduzzaman without any reason whatsoever on Saturday, the 24th of May, 2014. Afzal Hossain, sports secretary of Shibir at Rajshahi University was going on his motorcycle at Talaimari area beside the university at 9:30 pm when he was apprehended by security forces. However, police initially denied their arrest. In the meantime, Motihar thana police tortured Afzal using hammers, iron rods and sticks, breaking his arms and legs in the process. Despite the barbaric nature of the above, the police further claimed back then that he had been arrested from a ‘gunfight’ , and had taken Afzal at the dead of the night to a quiet area and shot his leg to prove their claim of a ‘cop catches terrorist during gunfight’ story.

Picture: Afzal Hossain beside the grave of Sharizzaman Nomani, killed by BCL goons at Rajshahi

Despite the vehement falsification, the news version produced by police has been circulating in the some news media for quite some time. There is a great need to examine and condemn the barbaric nature of the police which they have displayed in arresting opposition activists, especially Shibir activists. It will be wise to remember that just a few days ago, Jessore City Shibir president Jahidul Islam Mondol was similarly unwarrantedly detained by police and later shot in the leg in the dead of the night of 13th May 2014, the very day after his father Abul Khayer travelled to Jessore Press Club and pleaded with the police to not make his son a victim of 'crossfire'. Today, he has been rendered crippled. He was among six Shibir activists shot by police with firearms within 22 days in Jessore. The question remains, what was his fault?

Picture: Jahidul Islam Mondol, Jessore City Shibir President

What is the fault of Afzal Hossain? That he was an activist of Shibir? That he protested the injustices in the society by raising his voice? Who will take blame for such incidents of imaginary gunfights and fairytales of crossfire being regularly spun by the security forces with the full blessings of the government of Sheikh Hasina Wajed, self proclaimed daughter of peace, against her rivals and opposition activists?

Its time for the world to speak up. International rights groups like the Human Rights Watch have demanded an end to the injustice in the name of justice. Raise your voice. Condemn this barbarity. 

Government behind it all - Killing and abductions continue unabated in Bangladesh

On the 19th of April, at a seminar organized at Spectra Convention Center in Dhaka on shaping and implementing community policies to combat climate change, Information minister Hasanul Haq Inu came up with another great piece of information. He claimed that “to combat climate change, we first and foremost need to equip and enhance our abilities to control and combat terrorism.”

Ridiculous as the above statement may sound, Inu has been minister for quite some time now, and it is his second term in the cabinet of Sheikh Hasina. Hasanul Haq Inu, leader of one faction of the little known communist political outfit Jatiyo Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) is known for his vocal condemnations of terrorism in Bangladesh, a phenomenon which he repeatedly expounds as being a result of religious extremism championed by Islamic radicals, who according to him are everywhere to be seen in Bangladesh and are being maintained and financed by the Jamaat-e-Islami, the largest Islam based political party in Bangladesh. He is also known for his voluminous accusatory tirades against BNP and Khaleda Zia, the opposition political force to the Awami League and the 14 party Grand Alliance, of which he is party.

People like Inu (despite being politically insignificant, Inu remains an important switch for controlling the media and information flow in Bangladesh) serve a great cause, one of diverting the masses from the real problems at hand, especially the current huge problem of deteriorating law and order in Bangladesh.

The fact that Inu and other politicians of the ruling political force, the Awami League, are relatively silent on the deteriorating law and order situation in the country, speaks volumes about their hypocrisy. Put into the equation that most of the incidents of abduction and killings occurring are a result of internal feuds within the numerous factions within the Awami League, and the fact that government institutions such as the police and other security forces are been used in these incidents, and the picture becomes crystal clear. Let us investigate some recent incidents that make the picture all clear.

Jubo League leader arranged JMB kingpin's escape in Mymensingh:

An upazila-level Jubo League leader arranged safe passage for death row Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) leader Rakib Hasan Russell after he was snatched along with two other key leaders of the banned militant outfit in Mymensingh in February. Ataur Rahman Kamal, joint secretary of Bhaluka upazila unit of Jubo League, formed a six-member team to pick up Rakib from Trishal and drop him at Fulbaria in Mymensingh, said an arrestee, Kamal Hossain alias Sabuj, 38, also claimed to be involved with "Awami League politics" while talking to reporters. He was one of the eight people nabbed in different parts of the country on April 29, 2014, in connection with the sensational snatching of the JMB men.

Narayangonj seven murder:

On April 27th, 2013, Awami League supported ward-2 councillor and Narayangonj panel mayor Nazrul Islam, his four aides, and senior local lawyer Chandan Kumar Sarkar and his car’s driver were abducted in Narayanganj. The bodies of the seven were retrieved from the Shitalakhyya River at Bandar Upazila several days later.

The slain councillor’s family accused Nur Hossain, locally known to be Nazrul's rival, of being the mastermind, who paid the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) to carry out the killings. The son of a powerful Awami League lawmaker and cabinet post holder, brokered the deal with RAB men to kill Nazrul Islam, claimed Nazrul's father-in-law Shahidul Islam on May 6, 2014.

The MP's son acted on behalf of Narayanganj ward-4 Councillor Nur Hossain, the prime accused in the sensational abduction and murder case. Shahidul said a double agent had disclosed to him the plot to kill Nazrul for Tk 6 crore. The money was paid to the killers about a week before the abduction of Nazrul and his four aides on April 27 and their subsequent killing.

Despite an initial outrage from the RAB to the above information, police on May 17 arrested ex-RAB officers Lt Col (retd) Tareque Sayeed Mohammad and Major (retd) Arif Hossain  and on May 18 arrested another suspect, ex-Rab officer Lt Commander (retd) SM Masud Rana, at Dhaka Cantonment under Section 54 of the CrPC, not in the murder case. After much dilly dallying, the police accused them of involvement in the Narayanganj septuple murder case 5 days later.

In the mean time, the police have not been able to arrest any of the other six accused in the murder case. The exposure of the corrupt administrative and political apparatus in Bangladesh continues to unfold as direct involvement of current Narayangonj MP Shamim Osman have surfaced in aiding and abetting the fleeing of prime suspect Nur Hossain to India. (see leaked phone call between Shamim Osman and Nur Hossain) 

Phulgazi upazila Chairman shot, hacked and burnt to death:

Ekramil Haque, 45, Phulgazi upazila chairman and President of the Fulgazi upazila unit Awami League, was killed by shooting and hacking before burning the car he was in at Phulgazi in Feni on 20th May, 2013, Tuesday morning (Warning: Graphic picture in inset)

Picture: Charred remains of Chairman Ekramul Haque 

Three others, including a journalist, who were accompanying Ekramul Haque in the microbus on his way to the upazila council office from his house, were also injured as the group of about 50 people first exploded crude bombs and shot at the vehicle.

As the car stopped, the group dragged and chased away the three and hacked Ekramul and burnt the car with him lying inside about 11:00am. The police later recovered the charred body.

While his family say they have been forced to name local BNP leaders in the murder case all fingers remain pointed at his rivals within the party. Police investigation has opened the Pandora’s Box in this regard, as arrestees have confessed that all the men participating in the attack were loyal to Feni-2 MP Nizam uddin Hazari, with whom Ekramul had fallen out over control of the lucrative drug trade and other forms of illegal trade in the border area of Phulgazi. Digging deeper into the incident, it was found that Ekramul had hastened the need for his elimination by trying to ally with Joynal Hazari, a well known Awami League godfather in the region, who was in turn already at loggerheads with present cabinet minister Obaidul Quader and his man in the area, Nizam uddin Hazari MP.

Information from various sources reveals that Obaidul Quader has an income of about 50 crore per month from Feni, Phulgazi being an important point of control in this regard. Not only had Ekramul alienated the duo of Obaidul Quader and Nizam Hazari by refusing to pay them a share, he had also enraged the duo by publishing news containing sensitive information in the local newspapers against them. Corrupt journalists, armed with such information, on approaching Nizam Hazari MP, became silent after he agreed to pay them handsome amounts of money in return. As for Ekramul, the MP along with Obaidul Quader decided to finish him for once and all. The subsequent barbequing of Ekramul Haque was the result, and news has it that 2 crore taka was paid for carrying out the job. Just a day before the incident, i.e. on the 19th of May, 2013, the Hazarika Protidin, a news outlet owned by Joynal Hazari (allied with Ekramul Haque) ran news of the probability of the murder of the opponents of Nizam Hazari, i.e. Ekramul.

Picture: News of Hazarika Protidin with claims that opponents of Nizam MP to be killed 

That is what exactly happened.

Widespread reaction and anger:

Despite all this, the inspector general of police, Hassan Mahmood Khandker on Friday the 23rd of May, 2013, claimed that crime prevention campaign was at a satisfactory level. His comments drew sharp criticism from human rights defenders.

Rights activists said that the IGP had made the claims to ‘save his job and skin’ and his claims were far from realities. Such comments were tantamount to giving indulgence to criminals, they said adding that the police had failed to ensure safety of citizens.

The incidents have been condemned by all major parties, including BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh. Sadly, homegrown opposition figures maintained by the government like Rowshon Ershad and Hasanul Haque Inu have largely remained silent and have even defended the actions of the government and its security forces.  

Picture: Jamaat condemnation and call for nationwide protests

Condemnations of the recent incidents have not been limited to Bangladesh, as international human rights organizations like Human Rights Watch have voiced their anger and shock at the events and the widespread impunity involved and demanded immediate action action.

The Awami League has befittingly remained silent. 

Jamaat supported UP member extra-judicially killed by government forces in Jhenaidah

Four days after being abducted by men claiming to be members of Kothchandpur Detective Branch (DB) of Police, the dead bullet ridden body of a Jamaat-e-Islami supported Union Parishad member was discovered by police at Mamunshia village under Sadar upazila of Jhenaidah district on Monday morning.

The deceased was identified as Hafez Abul Kalam, 40, Union Parishad member of 8 no. ward Elangi union under Kotchandpur upazila of Jhenaidah district and resident of the area. 

Gopalpur Police in charge Shibupod Prasad said that his men recovered the body from a field of Bakultala area of the Mamunshia village after being informed by locals at around 6 am. He confirmed that the dead body of the UP member had been shot and there were signs where bullets had entered through his chest and neck.

Kotchandpur district OC Fazlur Rahman said that there were 9 political cases lodged against the deceased including attack on police, weapons confiscation and setting fire to Awami League offices.

"Crossfire" for 4 lakh taka ? 

Abul Kalam’s family however, had a different story to tell. They informed the media that Abul Kalam had been initially abducted and later killed by state security forces themselves. Abul Kalam’s body was found within 72 hours of being arrested by the police. As per the personal statement of his wife Hasina Begum, her husband was taken away by Kotchandpur police led by S.I. Mizan at 11 am on Friday the 18th of April.

Hasina Begum said, “Since my husband was at home bare-chested, I wanted to give him a shirt as he was being taken away, but the police refused. At the time of the arrest, S.I. Mizan was wearing a white Bangla New Year fotuwa (short sleeved light garment). After being arrested, he was first taken to Gurpara police camp and tortured. When people began to gather hearing the screams of the tortured man, police promptly lathi-charged and dispersed the gathering. They then carried him away to an unknown location in a white microbus (Dhaka Metro-Gha-11-2231). That was the last I heard of my husband.”      

When a relative of the family of the abducted person communicated with S.I. Mizan, he demanded 4,00,000 taka at one point for ensuring that Abul Kalam would be brought up to court and not killed in a “crossfire” incident. Due to the fact that it was the weekend Friday-Saturday holiday, the banks were closed and the family was unable to gather the money demanded by the police officer. They managed to raise around 70,000 – 75,000 taka from their fellow villagers, but sadly, this was not enough to appease the police officer who had threatened to kill Abul Kalam. Affirmatively, he returned four days later, a dead body.             

Picture: Face of the Shaheed at his Namaaz-e-janaza.

Local Jamaat called for a dawn to dusk shutdown on Tuesday in Kotchandpur and Maheshpur upazilas of the district protesting the extrajudicial killing of UP member Hafez Abul Kalam and demanding justice for the deceased. His namaaz-e-janaza was attended by hundreds of people at his native village.

Picture: Hundreds of people at the namaaz e janaza of Abul Kalam

We strongly protest the continued trend of disappearances and  extrajudicial killings taking place with the blessings of the illegal regime in Bangladesh and ask for human rights organisations both nationwide and worldwide along with common citizens to raise their voices against the widespread abuse of human rights happening right now in the country. 

About a Shibir martyr in Rajshahi and a Refutance of Yellow Media Reports

Rashedul Haque was like any other young man in Rajshahi. He was full of life, energetic, brilliant, active in sports and passionate in his love for his country. What set him apart from many other youth was the unique blend of all these qualities within the framework his strong faith; strong unshakeable faith in the Almighty that stood the test of time and oppression. He was shot by police today at a procession at Kajla adjacent to Rajshahi University (RU) on Saturday afternoon.

Witnesses said activists of RU unit Shibir were going to Talaimari in the city in a procession to participate in a rally of Matihar thana unit of the BNP-led 18-party alliance. As the procession reached Kajla gate, RAB members intercepted it, opening fire immediately in order to disperse the procession. Being resisted, the Shibir men pelted the elite force members with brickbats. 

As RAB continued to fire live rounds on the Shibir activists, Rashedul Haque Rantu fell, victim to the onslaught. Severely injured and bleeding from multiple bullet wounds to the chest, Rashedul died while receiving treatment at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital. 

Rashedul Haque Rantu was son of Aminul Islam Tuku and Rafi Begum. He was a 2nd year degree student of Islamiyya College. His was an associate of Bangladesh Islami Chatra Shibir and was a unit President as well as Finance Secretary of his thana at Dashmari Division of Rajshahi University. This is a video of Rashed at the hospital.

Another Shibir activist and Rajshahi University Research Secretary, Arif Rahman, was sent to Dhaka after his condition deteriorated in the aftermath of being bullet ridden. Doctors have reported of receiving at least 20 activists with injuries such bullet wounds. Chaotic scenes were described by distraught activists where one broke down while describing how his fellow activist received a bullet which entered through his femur, breaking the thigh bone and got lodged into the other thigh, causing immense bleeding.

Yellow journalism regarding incident:

Prothom Alo, a beacon of perceived ‘exemplary’ journalism in Bangladesh, was representative in its yellow nature regarding the coverage of the incident as it attempted to distort facts and present falsehood in a manner that left many a reader shocked. This was the screenshot of the initial news that Prothom Alo reported on the incident with a shocking picture of a 40 something man running around brandishing an AK-47 at everyone around him. The caption was, ”রাজশাহী নগরের কাজলায় শিবিরের সশস্ত্র মিছিল। এরা এই অস্ত্র কোথায় পেল? ওদের কাছে এমন কত অস্ত্র আছে? ছবি: শহীদুল ইসলাম” which translated into English reads, “Armed procession by Shibir at Kajla in Rajshahi City. From where did they get these weapons? How many more weapons of this kind do they have? Photo by Shahidul Islam”.

The news was taken down in a flash as an authentic video was released by Basherkella within a short time of the report. The contents of the shocking video not only blew away the baseless allegations of Prothom Alo, it also gave rise to a number of questions. The video showed a couple of men along with RAB shooting at protesters in Kajla at Rajshahi. The same man who was brandishing the AK-47 in the Prothom Alo picture was seen along with his mates working along with the police. The group working along with the armed RAB squad appeared to be civilians brandishing weaponry in an expert and aggressive fashion. The weaponry used by the unidentified men include a couple of AK-47’s and a shotgun. Let us look at the raw footage of the incident.

As to the question about what could the identity of such mysterious men be is anybody’s guess. Unless we have official answers, the guesses could range from local gangsters to ruling party League men to extrajudicial secret forces provided by the Indian intelligence agencies. For now, the best answer the security forces could garner was that they fired rubber bullets in ‘self defence’. This is a compilation of the yellow nature of the Prothom Alo report in conjunction with the incident.

The questions revolving around the incident are endless, but what remains is the fact that security forces have clearly violated all norms in attempting to carry out another massacre in the name of relatively peaceful crowd dispersion. The fact that the Hasina administration has neared its end gives weight to fears that the atrocities committed now may never see the light of justice. The question remains. Was the right to peacefully demonstrate in a democratic country the sole fault of Rashedul Haque Rantu for which he deserved to be brutally murdered in broad daylight?  

We demand justice for the murder of meritorious student Rashedul Haque Rantu at the hands of this oppressive regime.