[🇧🇩] In Bangladesh, A Violent 'Student Revolution' is on بنگلہ دیش میں انقلاب

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Netra Opinion

Bangladesh's new rebel heroes

Student protesters in Bangladesh's public imagination often assume heroic roles that can mobilise political transformation.

Nazia Hussein
July 29th 2024

Illustration: Netra News​

Students in Bangladesh started protesting for public jobs to be allocated based on merit — as opposed to quotas, especially those reserved for descendants of war veterans — first in 2008, and then again in 2013 and 2018. The quota system was dismantled in 2018 but reinstated by a High Court judgement in June 2024, instigating the current wave of protests.

Student uprisings have played a key role in Bangladesh's history, with figures such as Rafique, Salam, Barkat, Jabbar, and Shafiur celebrated as rebel heroes, who died facing police fire on 21st February 1952 while demanding recognition of Bangla as an official language of the then-Pakistan.

In the current quota reform protests, images of students such as Abu Sayed, who stood fearless with arms outstretched before being shot by the police, are going viral on social media. These images illuminate rebellion against oppressive power as a form of radical politics instigating social change.

By studying the recent student protests in Bangladesh as a powerful instrument of South Asia's political imagination, we can understand how the dynamics between power and rebellion create new heroes and influence social transformation.

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The act of rebellion goes beyond refusing to stay silent in the face of rights violations; rebels take a stand above all else, proclaiming it preferable to the status quo, even to life itself. The cause for rebellion then becomes a 'supreme good,' a refusal to compromise, a zero-sum game: it's all or nothing.

Thus, Abu Sayed's figure looms large in public consciousness as a rebel who sacrifices his life to the cause of 'good'. As a last resort, he accepts death itself rather than being denied the rights that represent true freedom for many students like himself — believing it is 'better to die on one's feet than to live on one's knees.' (Camus, 1951).

Student protesters hold powerful cultural and social positions in Bangladesh and can assume a heroic role that has the potential to mobilise political transformation. Versions of Abu Sayed's image, standing with arms outstretched when he was shot, are going viral on social media and news outlets. These include a sketch of his heroic stand by Kausik Sarker, an image of him in front of Bangladesh's flag denoting his sacrifice for the country, and the same image accompanied by lines from Bangladesh's national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam's poem "The Rebel."

Much like the image of Martin Luther King delivering the "I Have a Dream" speech or the raised fist for the Black Lives Matter movement, Abu Sayed's image has come to symbolise an empowered rebel standing against authority. He symbolically represents the marginalised class within a capitalist power structure run by upper-class elites.

Female students, too, have taken a central role in the movement.

The images of young women in Bangladesh's protests have shifted from photographs of a blood-drenched, beaten, and injured young woman to crowds of female students marching and chanting slogans.

Schoolgirls were seen chanting for quota reform, and some women use innovative tactics like mixing chilli powder with water to spray on those who attack them during protests.

These scenes are reminiscent of the protests of Iranian women against the Islamic Revolution and the recent Citizenship Law protests in India, where women were at the frontlines fighting for Muslims in India.

But these protests are less an iconography of female empowerment and more a shameful reminder of the failure of those perceived as more powerful than these young women, demonstrating that they are capable of fighting for their rights despite the violence against them.

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With rebellion, awareness is born.

The heroic iconography of Abu Sayed and the image of Tonnii Akhter, a young woman drenched in blood, has proved influential in mobilising young people's political power in Bangladesh. These images reaffirm that being a rebel is a precondition for survival or living a life worth living for these young people.

They are so powerful that even the diaspora jumped into action. Bangladeshi communities abroad have been carrying out peaceful demonstrations, discussions, teach-ins, and petitions in solidarity with Bangladeshi students in various parts of the world.

It is the student rebels' anger that has the power to start a tsunami against injustice, and when the water rages, the landscape must change.

Dr. Nazia Hussein is a senior lecturer at the School of Sociology, Politics, and International Studies at the University of Bristol, UK.

 

[Bilal9]

Netra Opinion

The anti-dictatorship movement should be carried forward in the diaspora as well

A united diaspora can also be a powerful tool against Bangladesh's dictatorship.

Shammi Haque
July 29th 2024

Embellishment: Netra News​

Not being able to communicate with family for just a few days, we expatriates were worried. But at least 209 families in Bangladesh will never see their loved ones again. Many families may still not know where their loved one's body lies — if even buried at all.

The protesting innocent boys are being shot one by one. Their bodies lay frozen on the ground. A friend is still trying to pull him aside. But the shooting does not stop. This scene is familiar to us: maybe seen in a movie or Netflix series. But we don't want to believe that this scenario will materialize — on the streets of Dhaka, 53 years after independence. I have been hoping for a fact checker to come and say that these videos are fake. Let any reliable media say these are rumours. But as I write this article, 209 people have been killed, thousands injured. There is a massive arrest.

Sitting in the city of Berlin, Germany, I am watching this. Summer is here now. Temperature 26 degrees Celsius; The sun is shining. Everyone waits for this time all year. Something is happening all around. Some time ago a friend called and asked when and where to meet at Pride. And just seven thousand kilometers from Berlin, where I was born, where I grew up, the death toll is increasing. People are losing their lives while exercising their fundamental rights of democracy, in peaceful agitation, in just demands for quota reform.

But this joy of Berlin, this freedom why I regret?

According to the Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Foreign Employment, there are about 8 million Bangladeshi expatriates living around the world. Do we all feel that way? Maybe not everyone. Living in a democratic country, getting social security, getting active support from the administration against any wrongdoing or crime. Isn't this privilege oppressing us right now? But be it oppression and be it responsibility — we diaspora can use our privilege right now to stand by this movement.

Remember September 2022? In Iran, a young woman named Zina Mahsa Amini was arrested for not wearing hijab properly. His death later sparked nationwide protests. A coup was born in Iran. As a result, the Internet is often shut down in the country. Nevertheless, the Iranian diaspora carried the movement forward. The government is under international pressure.

Internet blackouts are a major tool of authoritarian governments in the modern era. Internet shutdown will happen again in Bangladesh. But if even 20 lakhs out of 80 lakh expatriates can unite and support this movement today, it will be a powerful tool against the tyranny of Bangladesh.

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At this time I am reminded of the days of Shahbagh. We really believed that Bangladesh would change. But our dreams slowly faded away. Whenever the young generation protested in the last 12 years, the Awami League first tried to use it for their own interests. If not, the movement was suppressed. And as a shield, the government has repeatedly peddled the old rhetoric: There is no democratic or secular alternative to the Awami League. But today's quota movement has created a leak in that slope. This movement is no longer limited to quotas; Now the protestors demand a democratic Bangladesh.

This generation is politically aware; They have never seen any government other than this one. They are tired, frustrated and lost comrades. This generation cannot be suppressed by old tricks. Their demands are clear: true democracy and fairness. Bringing down the army, shutting down the internet, filing lawsuits against thousands of people will no longer work.

When I was a child, I was thrilled to see Sheikh Hasina on TV, and still am. But there is a difference between these shivers; It was respect then, now fear. What happened to her family, her return from exile, her political struggles—and she's a woman. The longest-serving person in power in Bangladesh's history is a woman — as a feminist, that should have been a point of pride for me. But this is a shame. Because tyranny does not require a specific gender.

Are we going to see the brutal consequences of this power?

I personally have a different relationship with the word power. Growing up with a single mother without a father in a lower middle class family, I can understand firsthand the struggle of a life of powerlessness and helplessness.

So from childhood I had a tendency to observe the powerful. Famous German journalist Bettina Gauss wrote, "Je weniger Macht jemand hat, desto mehr weiß sie oder er über die Mächtigen." The less power he has, the more he knows about the powerful. The middle class and low income people of Bangladesh know the most about the powerful. Elites don't matter in a corrupt country. Therefore, the number of children of upper class families in this movement may be less.

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In Bangladesh, expatriates are already organizing and working, regardless of party affiliation, amid the internet blackout. Efforts are underway to organize the movement abroad and inform the international media.

In the eyes of the international media, Bangladesh does not carry any special importance. Nothing Bangladesh-related matters to them except ready-made clothes and climate change. But in spite of this, news about this movement of Bangladesh is being published seriously in newspapers of different languages from New York Times to European countries.

The print edition of Tagesspiegel, a leading German daily, headlined, "Deadly silence in Bangladesh." The New York Times wrote, "The repression of an inflexible leader has led to disaster in Bangladesh." Newspapers which have never written about Bangladesh, also have the title Bangladesh movement.

Berlin's independence is suffering itself greatly these days. That's why sometimes feel selfish? Yes, I think — so maybe try to do something from abroad. But trying to do something to comfort your own mind? To be better yourself? If so, at this point the diaspora's efforts could become a powerful part of the rebellion. ●

Shammi Haque is a Bangladeshi journalist working in German media.

 

[Bilal9]

News footage of student demonstrations around Bangladesh from last couple of days, which show no signs of abatement. Police in one case beat up journalists covering the news. Heart-wrenching visuals of parents mourning the death of innocent bystander students shot to death by mysterious assailants. If this continues, it may be argued that the regime has to take definite responsibility to find and punish perpetrators and assailants.



News outline and analysis in Bengali by Environmental and apolitical analyst Rizwana Hasan in Jamuna TV

 

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Apolitical Law Professor Asif Nazrul states his horror on the student oppression tactics and children killed by stray bullets.

 

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A Dhaka university professor got very animated and passionate about the student abductions and killings. She stated that her shame would only be mitigated if she received a bullet and became a martyr (Shaheed).

 

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Students (especially women) are now generally fearless about their demand. It is a new generation, and the powers that be are completely oblivious to their demands of justice in Bangladesh. Sorry Bengali only.

 

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Chief of Police Detective Branch Harun has been now transferred because of student abduction fiasco. Even Supreme Court Judges called his activities as "mashkara" (joke).

 

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The following VLOG was published in Aajtak Bangla from Kolkata. They were critical about this Police Chief from Bangladesh (happens to be Hindu) who was openly rooting for a political party and against BNP/Jamaat while sitting in his Police Administrator's chair. Such political patronage while sitting in a higher level administrative BCS post is unprecedented. This would not be possible in any other country, even in the subcontinent.

 

[Saif]

Teachers, students demand justice for those killed

Teachers from five public universities staged demonstrations on their campuses today, demanding justice for those killed during the quota reform protests

www.thedailystar.net

Teachers, students demand justice for those killed
They march at 5 public universities, 12 students held for 'their own safety' in Barishal

Teachers march at Khulna University. Photo: Habibur Rahman/Star

Teachers from five public universities staged demonstrations on their campuses today, demanding justice for those killed during the quota reform protests.

They organised human chains, rallies, and silent marches to protest the ongoing harassment of both teachers and students nationwide.

Students also held programmes under the "Remembering Our Heroes" initiative called by the anti-discrimination student movement.

At Rajshahi University, teachers intervened to prevent law enforcers from detaining students during a protest.

At Barishal University, police detained 12 students during a demonstration.

In Dhaka, the Bangladesh University Teachers' Network held a rally near Raju Sculpture, demanding immediate release of arrested students and withdrawal of law enforcers from campuses.

They also called for the reopening of educational institutions.

Prof Kamrul Hasan Mamun of DU Physics department said, "People have now woken up. They will not stop until justice is served for each killing and wrongdoing. We have to ensure justice."

Prof Tanzimuddin Khan of DU International Relations department said, "The recent student protests have brought people from all walks of life to the streets."

Prof Samina Lutfa of DU Sociology department, added, "We do not want any forces (law enforcers) at the Dhaka University campus. It is our campus. The forces must be withdrawn immediately."

The teachers then marched to the Central Shaheed Minar to observe a minute of silence for the victims.

Besides, over 100 faculty members from Independent University, Bangladesh, expressed solidarity with the protests.

At Rajshahi University, the "University Teachers Network" held a silent procession and rally at the Shaheed Intellectual Memorial at 11:00am to protest the killings, arrests, torture, and harassment of students.

As the procession ended, plainclothes law enforcers with batons suddenly grabbed some students and moved them towards a police van. Teachers and other students intervened, resulting in the students' release.

The same officers assaulted two journalists who were recording the incident. They tried to detain the journalists too.

Mohammad Hemayatul Islam, additional police commissioner (crime and operation) of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police, said they primarily detained a student to talk about why he misbehaved with one of their members.

"We've not arrested anyone," he claimed.

At Jahangirnagar University, a protest march honoured those who died in the quota reform protests.

Twelve teachers from Daffodil International University joined the programme in solidarity.

In Khulna University, teachers held a human chain and silent march in solidarity with students.

STUDENTS' DEMO

In Barishal, police picked up 12 students for "their own security" during the "Remembering Our Heroes" programme.

Abdur Rahman Mukur, officer-in-charge of Bandar Police Station, said, "We have taken 12 students into our custody for security purposes. The next step will be taken according to the instructions of the higher authorities. They were neither arrested nor detained."

In Sylhet, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology students were barred from holding their programme. They later demonstrated by blocking the Sylhet-Sunamganj Highway. Five students were temporarily detained during this time.

Similar protests were held in Mymensingh and Habiganj, supported by people from various professions.​

 

[Saif]

No parent should have to bury a child

Says father of 20-year-old Maruf who died of bullet wounds

www.thedailystar.net

No parent should have to bury a child
Says father of 20-year-old Maruf who died of bullet wounds

Maruf Hossain
Twenty-year-old Maruf Hossain of Kushtia's Khoksa upazila dreamed of changing his family's future with the IT skills he possessed.

Being the eldest of two children, he felt it was his responsibility to start taking care of his family as soon as possible. With that goal, Maruf, an eighth-semester Diploma student, was going ahead with his studies in Computer Science and Technology at Kushtia Polytechnic Institute.

However, all his aspirations were dashed by single a bullet, as he was shot dead during a clash between protesters and police and BGB centring the quota reform protests in the capital's Banasree area on July 19.

His friends took him to nearby Advance Hospital.

"He was like my brother. And now he is gone. I couldn't do anything to save him," said his friend Touhidul Nobby, who brought his body to the hospital.

"We came to Dhaka together from Kushtia for three months, as we started working as interns at an IT-based company as part of our final semester," said Touhidul, Maruf's classmate and colleague.

"We didn't even join the protests. Only 19 days had passed since we came to Dhaka, so we didn't know much about anything around here. We just got out of our house in Banasree to see what was going on. Then we saw a vehicle of BGB approaching towards us and bullets were being fired, so we rushed into an alley as everything got so chaotic there," said Touhidul.

"Maruf and I got separated. So, when he got shot, I couldn't even see it or know it immediately. After some time, when I was looking for him, I saw his body lying on the road. I quickly got a rickshaw and rushed him to the hospital, but the doctor said he was already gone," he added.

The duty doctor at the emergency department of Advance Hospital said a bullet entered through Maruf's back and pierced through his stomach.

Later, Maruf's uncle came to the hospital and took his body back to Kushtia.

"Maruf was a freelancer. He wanted to make a career in web development. He was already earning money so that he didn't burden his family," Touhidul told this newspaper.

Maruf wanted to get done with the internship soon and get back home soon so that he could finish his diploma and start his career, he added.

Instead, his lifeless body went back home, wrapped in a white shroud.

Later, when this correspondent reached out to Maruf's father, Shoriful Islam, he was in no state to talk.

"I don't know what's there to say. I buried my son with my own hands. So, nothing matters to me anymore," said, Shoriful, who runs a shop in the Khoksa area.

"Life has stopped for us. I don't feel like going to my shop. We are trying to accept that Maruf is no more and he will never be back. All we can do is keep praying for him," he added.​

 

[Saif]

Column by Mahfuz Anam: Mindless killing changed everything

Blinded by unquestioned power, the government is refusing to accept the new reality.

www.thedailystar.net

Column by Mahfuz Anam: Mindless killing changed everything
Blinded by unquestioned power, the government is refusing to accept the new reality

It must be investigated as to what led to such a large-scale killing in the hands of law enforcers. PHOTO: PALASH KHAN

The prime minister and several ministers keep on asking: since the quota reform has already been implemented, why are the students still demonstrating? The repetition of this question only proves how blind to facts and disconnected with the people the government and Awami League leaders are. They are denying or seem to be oblivious to the fact that over 200 killed—the government itself admits to 150—and thousands injured by the indiscriminate firing by the police and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) has totally changed the situation. In one eye hospital in Dhaka, during the violence, nearly 400 people who sustained eye injuries were treated, 300 of whom had to be admitted, and 250 had to undergo eye surgery. The majority of them had pellet (a particular type of ammunition used by police during the recent violence) wounds in one or both eyes. Imagine what the total figure could be like. We have no count yet of how many will have to amputate one or both arms or legs due to gunshots, and how many more will have to be operated upon. How many will really return to normal life? Everything points to mindless violence that cannot be termed as police action to quell unrest that emanates from usual demonstrations in our part of the world. The evidence is of a mindset of "shoot at sight," as announced by an AL leader.

Today's issue is seeking justice. Justice for the massacre of students and other citizens, the unleashing of a killing machine that the police and BGB turned out to be, the large-scale arrests, the "block raids," the house-to-house search, the false cases, and the insults of terming the demonstrators in general to be agents of destruction and anti-Bangladesh forces.

The all-encompassing issue that has alienated the students and enraged the people is the atmosphere of fear under which all students, youth, politically involved citizens, and people in general are having to live. (A father called this author and said, "I have a school-going son. I become tense with every sound of a car stopping near my house at night".)

The killings definitely stand as the most brutal retaliation by a government on any civic movement in the post-liberation Bangladesh history—and may be that of the subcontinent. We shudder at the thought of how a civilian government could allow its law enforcers to attack its own people with such brutality. The killing was not just an event, but one that took place over several days. Wasn't there any reflection, any afterthought and reassessment at the end of the first, second or third day that such heartless and continuous killing of one's own people must stop?

What brought the party that led us during the Liberation War to this? Over 15 years of unaccountable power, greed, cronyism, wealth accumulation, abuse of authority, and the attitude that they are above the law.

Of all the deaths, the most heart-rending is perhaps the story of Riya Gope, a six-year-old in Nayamati, Narayanganj, who was playing on the rooftop of their four-storey building. On July 19 afternoon, when police started firing on the demonstrators on the street near her house, her father Dipak Kumar Gope rushed to the roof to get her; he was carrying his daughter back to their flat when a bullet struck the child's head. She died at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) on July 25. How could a bullet hit someone on the roof of a four-storey building unless the police took an aim to do so? Was Riya a threat? The explanation will most likely be that it was an accident. But can that be acceptable when she was in her father's arms on the roof of a four-storey building?

Use of helicopters to fire sound grenades and tear gas shells is a new element we saw in crowd-handling by the law enforcers this time around. However, there are disturbing accounts from the public, reporters and especially photographers that rifle shots were fired from these helicopters upon demonstrating crowds. On July 18 and 19, around mid-morning, helicopters hovered over Mayor Hanif Flyover, Shanir Akhra, Kajla and Signboard areas, sometimes sweeping down as they flew and fired on the crowd gathered below. These helicopters were clearly marked with the insignia of our law enforcers.

The case of Sumaiya Akter in Narayanganj adds credibility to this claim. She was 20 years old and the mother of a healthy two-month-old daughter. Hearing the sound of the helicopter and that of the clashes going on outside, following her mother, Sumaiya ventured out to the veranda of her sixth floor apartment to see what was going on. She got hit by a live bullet and died soon after. Where could the bullet come from? Given the height and the location of the apartment, the most likely possibility is that the shot came from a helicopter, as claimed by her family. This gives substance to claims by many others that they saw gunshots coming from helicopters.

How can a protesting crowd be fired upon from the air by their own government? Firing from helicopters is known to occur only when operating in an "enemy" territory or a location captured by armed terrorists. How can our own BGB or Rab or police fire upon our own people in such a manner?

We demand a credible and thorough investigation on the use of helicopters and their firing on demonstrators. While the judicial investigation to probe all deaths should continue, a separate and fast-track probe must be conducted to reveal the truth on this specific matter.

It must also be investigated as to what led to such a large-scale killing in the hands of law enforcers. Who made the threat assessment, and how? At what stage were they allowed to open fire on demonstrators, and who gave the orders to shoot? The rifles used were all modern and sophisticated. BGB used weapons meant to protect our borders. How could they be allowed to tackle student demonstrators with the same weapons? The investigation should also consider whether or not excessive force and disproportionate firepower were used against the demonstrators, none of whom have so far been seen to carry firearms. They were all carrying sticks and iron rods.

It is our considered view that the government and the ruling party continue to live in their own bubble and underestimate the depth of the people's grievances that has resulted from the killings of students and the public. We also feel that peace will not return to the campuses and the streets until justice is done and convincingly seen to be done. Force can be used to "calm" the situation, but it will be temporary. The lengthier the period of uncertainty, the more grievous will be its impact on our economy and the country's international acceptability.

Those who are used to using power to get their way are usually not aware of its limits. We have used Ansar, police, Rab, BGB and even the army, and an extreme measure like curfew. What has been the result? Yes, brutality, death, arrests and harassment can be further ratcheted up. But all that will generate more resentment, deeper hatred, and critical desperation. Such use of force may, at best, show a superficial show of calm, but will never solve our real problem of "power corrupting and absolute power corrupting absolutely" (adopting Lord Acton's time-honoured observation).

We urge the government to no longer hide behind convenient narratives that stand totally contradicted by facts. We further urge them to examine the brutality with which the demonstrators have been treated and the death and injuries that ordinary students and the people have had to suffer, and respond to the call for justice. We also urge them to stop befooling themselves as facts are in people's hands due to modern technology. Yes, there could be a lot of false news and videos in the digital sphere. But there are many credible ones too. Wisdom should compel the government not to brush them aside, which it will do only at its own peril.

Mahfuz Anam is the editor and publisher of The Daily Star.​

 

[Saif]

Legal manoeuvring cannot hide ugly truths

Free all detained students, protesters without delay

www.thedailystar.net

Legal manoeuvring cannot hide ugly truths
Free all detained students, protesters without delay

VISUAL: STAR

The manner in which the government has dealt with the whole issue of the six coordinators of quota reform protests has legal malpractice written all over it. The six were finally released on Thursday afternoon, after nearly a week since being picked up between last Friday and Sunday. All through this period, top law and police officers defended it by using words that seemed carefully scripted. Even on Thursday, the law minister claimed that the six were kept in custody for their own safety, and that it was they who had sought protection. But no one is buying it anymore. Legal experts say the safety claim, putting the onus on the students, is but a cover for what was actually an abduction, which is illegal and unconstitutional. Citing the Appellate Division's guidelines, they said any detainee must be produced before court within 24 hours, which was not done in this case.

We have seen a similar legal manoeuvring in the case of the teenager detained in connection with the death of student protester Abu Sayed. The 16-year-old, Alfi Shahriar Mahim, was apparently not even present at the site of the killing. But police still arrested him for murder, leading to him being held in Rangpur jail for 13 days. The manner in which police handled the whole issue—from bringing false charges against a minor to inflating his age in case documents to preparing a First Information Report (FIR) that totally contradicted with independently verified footages of police repeatedly shooting Abu Sayed, despite the victim posing no threat—is unacceptable on multiple fronts. It indicates that law enforcers may go to any lengths to cover their tracks and absolve themselves of any responsibility for the killings that occurred since July 16.

Shahriar Mahim has now been released on bail. But his trouble is not over, as he hasn't been cleared of the charges against him. Elsewhere, two of the freed six—who reportedly went on a two-day hunger strike leading to their release—have busted the myth of police hospitality and protection, confirming that state officials were lying through their teeth all along. Soon their Facebook accounts have disappeared. Is anyone surprised at this stage?

But what does their plight tell us about the reliability of law enforcement officials in charge of investigations? What does it say about the nearly 11,000 people arrested or the 673 cases filed across the country over the last 14 days? These mass arrests and the tenuous legal justifications provided for them make a mockery of our justice system. They also show that, despite recent government claims about being open to a fair and thorough investigation into the killings of so many people in quota-related clashes, the authorities are still unwilling to pursue accountability where it is most needed: its own security forces.

This has to stop. Legal manoeuvring can no longer hide ugly truths or delude citizens. While we want accountability for the destruction and damage caused to public infrastructure, we believe the investigative focus should singularly be on establishing accountability for those tragic deaths at the moment. And the higher authorities must prove their sincerity by immediately stopping the pointless mass arrests, releasing all victims of legal harassment, especially students and political activists, and aid rather than obstruct in the process of investigating the role of security forces during the violent events of July 16-21.​