[🇧🇩] Those who have laid down their lives to free Bangladesh

[Saif]

708 in the draft list of martyrs of mass uprising

The health ministry has published a draft list of martyrs of the people-student mass uprising that ousted the Awami League government

en.prothomalo.com

708 in the draft list of martyrs of mass uprising
Special Correspondent
Dhaka
Published: 24 Sep 2024, 21: 25

The health ministry has published a draft list of martyrs of the people-student mass uprising that ousted the Awami League government. The draft list was published on the websites of the Health Services Division and Directorate General of Health Services Tuesday evening. There are names of 708 people on the list.

The health ministry disclosed the publication of the list in a public notification today. It said the draft list will be available on the websites of the Health Services division (www.hsd.gov.bd) and DGHS (www.dghs.gov.bd).

The list will be open to the public for corrections and additions till 6 October. The ministry has urged the families of the martyrs or their representatives to verify the relevant data on the list to complete the process.

The ministry also has requested the people who have any suggestion or any new information to add to the list to contact the hospitals concerned where the victim received treatment or any nearby government hospital.

The ministry has cited a few steps for making corrections. First, the family members of the martyrs or their representatives will have to register by submitting copies of their national ID cards, birth certificate or mobile number.

After registration, the person will have to download and print the data given on the list and fill up the blank options. After that the person will have to go to the nearby government hospitals where the person in charge will submit the form of newly added information and update those online. After that the person-in-charge of this at the hospital will check the website to verify whether the information was added properly or not.

Martyrs’ families to get Tk 500,000 each, those of injured Tk 100,000

However, the ministry has requested the family members to contact the deputy commissioner (DC) or upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) concerned or the upazila health and family planning officer with proper evidence in case of any name missing from the list.​

 

[Saif]

Killings during uprising: Bangladesh can file complaint with ICC

ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim AA Khan has said Bangladesh can file a complaint at the International Criminal Court against those who committed a massacre during the July-August uprising.

www.thedailystar.net

Killings during uprising: Bangladesh can file complaint with ICC
Chief prosecutor of Hague-based court tells Yunus

Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus presents ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim AA Khan with a book titled “Art of Triumph” at the UN Headquarters in New York on Thursday. Photo: PID

ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim AA Khan has said Bangladesh can file a complaint at the International Criminal Court against those who committed a massacre during the July-August uprising.

He said this in response to a query from Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus regarding the process of filing a case at the ICC against the perpetrators of the massacre on charges of committing crimes against humanity.

The ICC chief prosecutor called on Yunus on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday.

The student-led mass uprising led to the ouster of Shiekh Hasina on August 5. Atrocities carried out by the law enforcers and activists of Hasina-led Awami League and its associate bodies left at least 700 people dead and more than 20,000 injured.

During the meeting, Karim apprised the chief adviser of the latest developments on the investigation, launched by the ICC in 2019, into the Rohingya crisis in Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Karim said he would visit Bangladesh by the end of this year. He also praised Yunus's three-point proposal to give a new momentum to resolve the Rohingya crisis.

The chief adviser put forward the proposals at a meeting at the UN Headquarters on Wednesday. The proposals included an urgent conference hosted by the UN chief to review the overall situation and suggest way outs, an energised joint response plan for the Rohingya humanitarian crisis and serious international efforts to support justice and accountability to address the genocidal crimes committed in Rakhine in 2017.

"The three points are perfect," Karim said.

EUROPEAN COMMISSION CHIEF MEETS YUNUS

European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen has assured Chief Adviser Yunus that Bangladesh can count on Europe's support in its reform drive, reports UNB.

"We also remain your partner for steady growth and infrastructure development under Global Gateway," she said during a meeting with Yunus on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday.

"Let's make the best out of our €400 million Bangladesh Renewable Energy Facility," said the European Commission president.

Yunus also held meetings with the chiefs of the UN refugee agency and the International Labour Organisation at a New York hotel on the same day.

The high commissioner of the UN refugee agency, Filippo Grandi, discussed the Rohingya crisis with the chief adviser.

He called for a new approach to the crisis, saying that the international communities should do more to end the miseries of more than one million Rohingya in Bangladesh.

Grandi said the assumption of Professor Yunus as the new leader of Bangladesh has increased global interest in the Rohingya crisis. He hoped there will be more funding for the Rohingya humanitarian responses.

"The 700 million dollars from the World Bank is a good starting point," he said, adding that the UN stands ready to support more for the education of the Rohingya children.

Yunus stressed the need for finding a quick solution to the crisis and doing more for the future of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya children growing up in the camps in Bangladesh.

"We have to resolve this before it is too late. We have to find a solution," the chief adviser said.

Gilbert Houngbo, the director general of the International Labour Organisation, offered the UN labour agency's support for the interim government's move to implement ILO conventions in Bangladesh.

"We are at your disposal," he said, adding the ILO would respond to the chief adviser's call if and when he needed it.

Yunus said labour reforms are a top priority of his government as it sees the issue as a key to turning Bangladesh into a world class manufacturing hub.​

 

[Saif]

Rabbi’s martyrdom yet to get recognition

In the early hours of August 5, two young women were frantically searching for their 17-year-old brother, Ismail Hossen Rabbi, who had gone missing after leaving home the previous day to join the Anti-Discrimination student movement, breaking the lock on their tin-roofed house.

www.thedailystar.net

Rabbi’s martyrdom yet to get recognition
Sisters struggle to get official acknowledgement for their 17-year-old brother

In the early hours of August 5, two young women were frantically searching for their 17-year-old brother, Ismail Hossen Rabbi, who had gone missing after leaving home the previous day to join the Anti-Discrimination student movement, breaking the lock on their tin-roofed house.

After hours of desperate searching, an Ansar member at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital morgue showed them several photographs. Among them, they found Rabbi -- lying lifeless on a stretcher, a single gunshot wound visible on his forehead, part of his brain exposed.

"Seeing the photo of my brother, my whole universe turned upside down," said Mim Akter, one of Rabbi's sisters.

The sisters requested the morgue authorities to release their brother's body but were told they first needed to prove their relationship.

When they asked how to do so, the authorities instructed them to bring police officers from the Jhigatola police box, who had reportedly left Rabbi at DMCH.

"However, when we sent our maternal uncles to the Jhigatola police box, they were chased away," Mim said.

"We begged the morgue authorities, explaining that the police wouldn't come, but they didn't listen," Mim added. "We were terrified they would disappear his body, just as we had heard happened to other students."

Later that afternoon, when protesting students arrived to retrieve the bodies of others, the sisters asked for their help. With the students' assistance, they managed to recover Rabbi's body from the morgue and, after pleading repeatedly, secured a death certificate from Ward 7.

However, the certificate only listed his name and date of death, without mentioning the cause, even though his forehead visibly bore a bullet wound.

Mim and her sister Mitu then hurriedly carried the body away, fearing the police might stop them.

"All my life, I thought my brother would carry our coffin one day. Never in my worst nightmare did I imagine that we would be carrying his," Mim said. "There are even videos of us, with the help of students, carrying my brother's body from the hospital," she added.

Despite possessing ample evidence -- including photographs of Rabbi's body, videos of their struggle to retrieve him, and a death certificate -- the sisters remain unable to secure their brother's martyr status.

Rabbi's name is absent from the martyr list, leaving them uncertain where to seek recognition for his sacrifice.

Furthermore, their attempts to file a case in court have been thwarted due to the lack of a postmortem report, a critical document they were never given.

After Rabby's burial in Madaripur, his sisters and student movement coordinators met with the DMCH director, who denied their request for a death certificate listing the cause of death, instructing them to get one from the local government instead.

"After getting the certificate from our Panchkhola Union Parishad chairman, we returned to submit it to the hospital authorities. However, the director said that he had been directed by the newly appointed health adviser to take more time, and the certificate would be provided eventually," said Mitu Akter, Rabby's sister.

"More than a month has passed, and that time has still not come. My brother still hasn't received official recognition as a martyr," she added.

In the meantime, the family spoke with several coordinators about where to go for the enlistment process, but they simply pointed to one another, and no one seemed to know the exact place to get this done.

"Is this our responsibility? If the government requires verification, they should direct us to a specific location. Many families of martyrs like us are in the same situation; they also don't know where to turn. Many bodies have disappeared or been burned to ashes. How will they be enlisted? This independence was earned at the cost of their lives -- do their lives hold no value? Will they receive no recognition?" asked Mim.

According to Mim, Rabby was a second-semester student at Shariatpur Polytechnic Institute.

Rabby's father, Md Miraz Talukder, a van driver by profession, lives hand to mouth. His mother, Asma Begum, teaches Arabic to students, while Mim manages daily expenses through private tutoring and sent money to Rabby to cover his living costs at the mess.

"When I found out he had joined the protest in Shariatpur, we brought him back to Sayedabad, where we live. He had even been hit by a rubber bullet on July 19 at Shahbagh," said Mim.

"By the end of July, when many students were losing their lives and social media was flooded with images and videos of injured or dead students and civilians, he refused to stay home, despite our pleas."

"On August 4, while we were at tuition, he somehow managed to unlock the door and leave. After that, I couldn't reach him by phone.

"In our last conversation on August 3, he said, 'You're worrying about me? What about Mugdha Bhai or Abu Sayed Bhai? They're already martyrs. If I die, I'll be one too.' He did become a martyr, but hasn't received that recognition yet."

On September 25, the sisters managed to meet with Information Adviser Md Nahid Islam alongside the family members of another victim -- Miraj Hossain.

The adviser assured all martyrs and injured individuals will be included in the official list.​

 

[Saif]

1,581 killed in mass uprising: students

The health affairs sub-committee of the Student Movement against Discrimination at a press conference on Saturday said that they prepared a list of 1,581 people who were martyred in the...

www.newagebd.net

1,581 killed in mass uprising: students
DU Correspondent 28 September, 2024, 23:53

The health affairs sub-committee of the Student Movement against Discrimination at a press conference on Saturday said that they prepared a list of 1,581 people who were martyred in the July revolution.

The press conference was held at the TSC auditorium of Dhaka University, only seven days after the same committee revealed 1,423 deaths in the massacre.

Convener of the National Citizen Committee Muhammad Nasiruddin Patwari at the press conference said that they had listed a total of 1,581 martyrs.

‘It’s not the final list. Finalisation of the list is still ongoing. We will provide the final list after some days. We will publish the martyrs’ list according to international rules so that the families of martyrs don’t get into any trouble,’ he said.

Farhad Alam Bhuiyan, a member of the citizen committee, Tariqul Islam, member secretary of the subcommittee and convener Nahida Bushra, among others, were present at the conference.

Forhad Alam Bhuiyan said that As-Sunnah Foundation, Human Rights Support Society, Red July and other organisations assisted in the preparation of the primary list. The local people in different areas also helped them gather authentic information.

Tariqul Islam said that the preliminary list of deaths was forwarded to the committee headed by the deputy commissioners, which would submit the final list to the Ministry of Health after verifying the information.

The health ministry, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and different non-governmental organisations, meanwhile, are coming up with different death figures.

On September 24, the directorate general of health services published a list of 708 victims which was updated to 717 deaths on Thursday.

Health adviser to the interim government Nurjahan Begum after visiting central police hospital in the capital’s Rajarbagh on August 29 said that more than 1,000 people were killed, and over 400 were blinded during the student-led mass uprising.

Earlier, on August 21, non-governmental organisation Human Rights Support Society published a report putting the figure of deaths at 819 based on information collected through interviews with the victims’ families and from hospitals, witnesses and national dailies.

According to a primary report of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights published on August 16, as many as 650 people were killed during the student-led mass uprising between July 16 and August 11.

Of these, nearly 400 deaths were reported from 16 July to 4 August, while around 250 people were reportedly killed following the new wave of protests between 5 and 6 August.

The UN office report also found that the security forces, including police and Border Guard Bangladesh, used unlawful lethal force and deliberately targeted unarmed people.​

 

[Saif]

'We want justice before we die'

The government has failed to address its top priorities within the first two months of taking office, alleged family members of the martyrs of the July uprising.

www.thedailystar.net

'We want justice before we die'
Say families of victims at Nagorik Committee event

The government has failed to address its top priorities within the first two months of taking office, alleged family members of the martyrs of the July uprising.

They voiced frustration over the delay in starting the trial of those responsible for the massacre, completing the list of martyrs, and beginning the rehabilitation of the martyrs' families.

Speaking at a rally in front of the National Museum yesterday, Md Idris, father of Maruf Hossain, who was killed in clashes with police on July 19 in Rampura, questioned how the government would hold the perpetrators accountable, given that many top Awami League leaders have reportedly fled the country.

"If the leaders have run away, how will you [the government] bring them to justice?" he asked.

It breaks my heart that I cannot hear the word 'baba' [father] from my son anymore. But hundreds of students now call me baba.— Saiful Islam Father of martyred Mominul Islam.

The rally, organised by the Jatiya Nagorik Committee, called for justice for the July massacre, rehabilitation for the martyrs' families, proper treatment for the injured, improvements in law enforcement, and measures to address price hike.

Idris recounted how, on July 26, detectives visited his house and interrogated him about his son's involvement with Jamaat-Shibir. He said the officers attempted to take him away but left after a lengthy argument with his family.

Saiful Islam weeps as he speaks about his son Mominul Islam, who was killed on July 19 during the quota reform movement, at the gathering held by the citizen’s committee in front of the National Museum in the capital’s Shahbagh yesterday. Mominul’s photos were held aloft next to Saiful as he spoke. Story on Page 3. PHOTO: PALASH KHAN

"If August 5 had not happened, I might have also ended up in Aynaghar [a notorious detention centre]," he said.

Denied support from the police, Idris lodged a case with the International Crimes Tribunal. He expressed frustration over the lack of progress and demanded to know when justice would be served.

Saiful Islam, father of Mominul Islam, who was martyred on July 19 in Mirpur, shared similar concerns. "We want justice before we die. All those responsible for the massacre should be punished," he said.

"It breaks my heart that I cannot hear the word 'baba' [father] from my son anymore. But hundreds of students now call me baba," he added.

Family members of other martyrs, including Raihan Hossain's brother, echoed these sentiments.

"Two months have passed, and the government has not even started the procedures for justice," he said.

Nasiruddin Patwary, convener of the committee, criticised the government for its lack of progress in rehabilitating the martyrs' families and treating the injured.

"Many of the injured are still suffering in hospitals. The government must ensure proper treatment," he urged.

He said the revolution had been driven by the financial desperation of the marginalised, yet their economic situation remains unchanged.

"Egg prices have skyrocketed, and market syndicates are still active. The government must act immediately to curb this," he said.

Patwary also warned political parties not to exploit the martyrs for their own agenda. "Understand the pulse of the people, especially the youth and students," he added.

Akhter Hossain, the committee's member secretary, emphasised that the government must bring to justice all those responsible for the massacre, including those who gave the orders and those who carried out the violence.

He said the previous government had been subservient to India, but the current administration, born of revolution, should show courage in handling these challenges.

The rally, conducted by Nagorik Committee member Ariful Islam Adeeb, was attended by the families of martyrs Shahriar Hassan Alvi, Khalid Saifullah, Nahidul Islam, Mosharraf Hossain, and Matiur Rahman.

Other speakers included Pritam Das, Sanjida Islam Tuli, Abdul Ahad, and Moshiur Rahman.​