Awami League prime force behind recent violence in Bangladesh: The media speaks

Recent turmoil in Bangladesh has been a work of the Awami League, the ruling party of Bangladesh. At one end it is killing civilians and executing opposition leaders, both judicially and extrajudicially, at the other end it is setting fire to buses, temples and institutions of minorities, homes of opposition and even their own people in order to create anarchy and justify the brutal crackdown by its own state forces. Awami League with its destructive policies is trying to push the country towards a civil war or the need for foreign mediation/ invasion to take place. It is trying to force the opposition to resort to violence by hitting them again and again and again. The media is censored, and the ones who are allowed to run are the ones who parrot the line of this government.

The media has been working by:

1. Not covering the deaths of the protesters

2. Only selective coverage of the victims of bus vandalism and attacks by miscreants, the blame of which is put on to the opposition, without any evidence whatsoever. 

3. Burn victims are shown maximum coverage, yet the claims of government hand behind such attacks is not questioned, for fear of government retribution and silencing.

4. Propaganda and publishing of false information is highly encouraged and is even given airtime by the government and ruling party officials.

5. And a myriad of other observations. Keep your eyes open and your hearts true.

Few people realize the reason behind the fact that arson and vandalism attackers are almost never caught. After seeing these examples, you will understand why. Tis the work of the Awami League, that is why.

    

Ruling party man held for torching Hindu residences:

(15th December)

One leader of Jubo League, the youth wing of ruling Awami League party, has been handed over to police by locals while he was escaping after setting fire on several Hindu residences at Debhata in Satkhira. Detained Jubo League leader Abdul Gaffar said, he torched the Hindu houses as per his local Awami League leader's order. He mentioned three more names of his assistants to police. 

Locals said, 15-20 miscreants with faces covered with masks torched the resident of Suneet Sarkar at about 11pm on Saturday at Parulia village in Debahata upazila, causing two of the houses to burn completely. Seeing this, local people started screaming and eventually the miscreant tried to run away. During this time inhabitants managed to nab a masked miscreant from the scene of the incident, who claimed to be a Juboleague leader. The people then tied him to a tree throughout the night. Abdul Gaffar, the Juboleague leader, is son of Elbahar Gazi of the same area. He was subsequently arrested on Sunday at 9 am by police.

Debhata police confirmed the incident and said that local people had detained Abdul Gaffar and handed over him to police. After due measures, the miscreant was tried in a mobile court where he was sentenced to 1 year imprisonment. Asaduzzaman Mukul, Jamaat Ameer of Debhata upazila condemned the incident and said, Awami League in reality wanted to pin the blame on Jamaat after they themselves set fire to the Hindu residents.

RTNN: http://www.english.rtnn.net//newsdetail/detail/1/4/56410

Daily Manabzamin: http://mzamin.com/details.php?mzamin=MzE1Mw%3D%3D&s=MQ%3D%3D

Jugantor: http://www.jugantor.com/current-news/2013/12/16/50331

Three ruling party men arrested for attack on judges home:

(15th December, 2013)

Three leaders and activists of Bangladesh Chattra League (BCL), the student wing of the ruling party Awami League, were arrested with three petrol bombs while they were about to attack on the house of Justice Jahangir Hossain, judge of International Crimes Tribunal (ICT-1), at Kabilpur village in Senbagh upazila of Noakhali district.

Senbagh police led by SI Shahjahan arrested the three BCL men on Saturday at around 11pm night. The detained are - Ward No-5 Mahidipur unit BCL president Jahid Hossain Babu (22), son of Abdul Motaleb, Rasel Babu (20), son of Dulal Hossain and Omar Faruk (19), son of Shariat Ullah of Azimpur village.

 On last Thursday (12 December) night, Justice Jahangir Hossain's house came under attack despite police presence. Senbagh police Officer-in-Charge (OC) said, when SI Shahjahan went to the village of the Justice, locals caught them and handed them over to the police.

The detained were shown arrested in petrol bomb attacks on judge's home.

RTNN : http://www.english.rtnn.net//newsdetail/detail/1/4/56418

6 Awami League members burnt by their own petrol bomb:

(10th December, 2013)

Six Awami League cadres were burnt when they tried to throw petrol bomb to a shop owned by a Jamaat leader. The incident took place at Hapania village of Alamdanga upazilla in Chuadanga district at 8:30pm on Monday.

The injured are identified as Khokon, son of Ismail Mandal, Atiullah, son of Golam Mostofa, Intabul Hoque, son of Mohammad Ali, Minarul, son of Khoaj Ali, Hasibul son of Iajuddin Mandal and Abdul Gafur, son of Idu Mandal.

According to locals some miscreants attacked the shop of Beltu Mandal, a local Jamaat leader, at around 8:30pm. At that time 10/12 people were sitting at the shop taking tea. Miscreants threw petrol bomb targeting them. During that time they got burnt themselves.The injured were admitted to Chuadanga Sadr Hospital.

Alamdanga police officer-in-charge Rafiqul Islam said it is true that a Jamaat leader's shop were torched. But he denied of anyone being injured. The incident created tremendous sensation in the area.

RTNN: http://www.english.rtnn.net/newsdetail/detail/1/4/56351#.Uq4wNuLD_1U

Juboleague cadre held at attempt to vandalize military convoy from Shibir procession

(December 2, 2013)

Juboleague cadre Jahangir was held for attempting to vandalize a Military convoy at Feni. Police have held Jahangir (30), member of the Juboleague, the youth wing of the Awami League, who threw bricks at an Army convoy, from Feni on the 2nd of December. According to news reports, League cadre Jahangir stealthily joined a blockade procession of Bangladesh Islami Chatro Shibir and threw bricks at the convoy with a view to make implicate Shibir. However, when he cast bricks at the Army convoy, he was caught by the blockade supporters in that procession. Subsequently, he was handed over to police. It is to be noted that Jahangir is an active worker of Juboleague’s Pachgachiya union branch in Feni.

Daily Sangram: http://www.dailysangram.com/news_details.php?news_id=133651

            

Debunking the Daily Star yellow journalism: Awami League behind communal attacks at Pabna

A furor was created a few days ago when major media outlets, including the Daily Star, published reports of attacks on the Hindu minority at Pabna at Bonogram bazaar in Santhia upazila, about 40 kilometres from Pabna sadar. The Daily Star reported that the attacks originated from postings on a facebook page where people inflamed by malignly worded attacks on Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) were reported to claim that local resident Rajib Saha had maligned Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in the page.

Understandably so, the page in question was found to be in existence for the sole purpose of the denigration of the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) and spreading hate speech against Islam and Islamic teachings. However, the twist by the Daily Star was equally tantalizing to behold, as it added its personal spin on to the incident at hand.

.Another yellow doctored report:

The report, without any preamble, injected the following into its vividly detailed report. As per the report, “Yesterday’s incident also followed the trend of recent Jamaat- Shibir-BNP attacks on the Hindu minorities across the country. Locals of Bonogram said some known faces of Jamaat, Shibir and BNP led the attacks throughout the day.”

But who were these “known faces of Jamaat, Shibir and BNP”? As always, that was where the report inserted speculation as it stopped elaborating any further into such serious allegations. The mission of the daily Star was accomplished. It had successfully made Jamaat and Shibir the culprits behind the attacks. It had played the religious intolerance card, baring its own sinister political motives of defaming the said parties. The leftists had their fodder for more Jamaat bashing sessions, despite the fact that it was just baseless speculation. But who cares? Despite the fact that journalism has been forced down the drain, the Daily Star, a media outlet which likes to drum on everywhere about its “impeccable reputation”. Let us move on. 

Thinly disguised desperado attempt to separate Awami League and terrorism:

Another report soon followed suit in the same newspaper a couple of days later, this time a contradictory one, entitled “Some attackers seen with Tuku”.

As per the second report, “Some of the alleged culprits of Saturday’s attack on Hindu community in Pabna were yesterday seen with State Minister for Home Shamsul Hoque Tuku and two lawmakers in the affected Bonogram village. Interestingly, during the visit, the state minister claimed that his party men had tried to save the Hindu families. Mithu and Rubel, who according to villagers were among the attackers, were prominently seen welcoming the ministers and taking part in a rally organised by the local administration protesting Saturday’s violence. The Daily Star took photos of Mithu and Rubel, both aged between 20 and 25 years. Seeing the photos, the victim families and locals vehemently said that both had taken part in the vandalism and looting. Mithu was seen around the ministers all the time and chanting slogans with others. Asked, locals said Mithu and Rubel of nearby Miapur village are known as local thugs. But the villagers could not confirm their political identity.

“Another youth named Ani, who also had been with the attackers, was also seen in the programme,” said a trader of Bonogram bazar. Hailing from Gouripur, Ani is also known in the area as a mugger and extortionist. He is involved in an underground party along with his uncle, alleged locals.”

So why the double standard? In the earlier report, the Daily Star did not shy away from blatantly claiming that the attacks were led by “known faces of the Jamaat, Shibir and the BNP”. But in the second report, despite the presence of pictographic evidence collected by the Daily Star itself, the meek claim is that the attackers, although very close to the Awami League stalwarts, maysomehow not be related to the Awami League. Intentional or not, this sure is shoddy journalism at its peak.

Pabna communal attacks politically motivated:

So what happens now? We need to know what truly happened that day to understand the reality behind this awful incident. On the 5th of November, eminent leaders of the opposition in Sathia arranged a press conference to give their take on the incident. Their accounts turned out to be equivalent to letting multiple cats out of the bag.

According to the written statement at the conference, ruling party cadres under Khetupara Union Chatroleague Convener Jakir Hossain started distributing printed leaflets of what was claimed to be a facebook status ridiculing and denigrating Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) and the Quran at Bonogram Bazar. They claimed that it was written by Rajib Saha.

Behind the scenes of the incident, it was revealed that earlier, Chatra league cadres had demanded extortion money amounting to 2 lakh taka from Rajib Saha’s father, Babul Saha. On being unable to extort the sum, the Chatra League cadres had resorted to using the communal card through incitement of religious hatred against the local Hindus so that they could loot minority properties and carry out an attack on Babul Saha at the same time, all the while keeping their true intentions hidden. A detailed version of the press conference covered by Amardesh can be read here.

Organisers of the press conference said that the incident was being used by the government authorities and the ruling party in order to put the blame on to the opposition. They reiterated the need for the authorities to carry out proper investigations, using video evidence if necessary. It was time to stand beside the victims, not play with the sentiments of the people for political gain.    

It would be in the best interests of the nation as well to attend to the complexities doctored on by biased media such as the Daily Star. Reports such as these bring into question the actual intentions of the Daily Star and will make readers wonder whether the Daily Star had had doctored previous reports with its mysterious hidden intentions in context. Objectively speaking, Bangladesh as a nation would be highly better off without such yellow journalism. Stop yellow journalism NOW.