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

[Saif]

57 bodies still unclaimed, unidentified

At least 57 bodies, buried or kept in mortuaries at the time of the student-led mass uprising, remained still unclaimed or unidentified as of Saturday.

www.newagebd.net

57 bodies still unclaimed, unidentified
Nasir Uz Zaman 18 August, 2024, 00:42

At least 57 bodies, buried or kept in mortuaries at the time of the student-led mass uprising, remained still unclaimed or unidentified as of Saturday.

Anjuman Mufidul Islam, a burial service for unclaimed or unidentified bodies, from July 22 to August 12 buried 48 bodies of which one was identified later by family and one was of a Palestinian citizen who died in China.

The rest 11 unidentified or unclaimed bodies remained in the morgues of Dhaka Medical College Hospital and Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College in the capital.

An Anjuman Mufidul Islam official on Saturday told New Age that they buried all the 48 bodies in the Rayerbazar graveyard.

Anjuman Mufidul received 11 bodies on July 22—nine from the Dhaka Medical College Hospital forensic morgue and two from Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College; one from the Sir Salimullah Medical College Hospital forensic morgue on July 23; eight from the Dhaka Medical College Hospital forensic morgue and one from the hospital’s emergency morgue on July 24; three from the Shaheed Taj Uddin Ahmad Medical College morgue in Gazipur on July 25; seven from Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College on July 27; 11 from the Dhaka Medical College Hospital forensic morgue on July 28; one from the Palestine embassy in Bangladesh on July 29; three from the Sir Salimullah Medical College Hospital forensic morgue on July 31; one from Kurmitola General Hospital and one from Sir Salimullah Medical College Hospital on August 12, said the official.

Organisation deputy director for service Motiar Rahman said that they buried 83 bodies from July 1 till Saturday.

‘We do not know the exact number of bodies related with the movement,’ said Motiar.

He, however, mentioned that most of the unidentified and unclaimed bodies received from July 22 could be related with the student movement leading to a mass uprising that forced former prime minister Sheikh Hasina to resign and flee to India.

‘We did not receive a single body without following legal procedures and documents,’ said Motiar.

Anjuman has preserved all the necessary documents, including photographs of the deceased and mortuary receipts, he added.

‘Relatives of the deceased can come to Anjuman to identify a body from the photographs,’ he said.

Dhaka Medical College Hospital mortuary assistant Babul said that seven unidentified bodies of men aged between 25 and 32 were still in the morgue as of Saturday afternoon.

Earlier on Thursday, Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College issued a letter to the media, stating that it had four unclaimed bodies, brought to the hospital between August 4

and 6, of individuals who died during the protests and unrest.

The hospital sent a public request to claim the bodies by August 18.

Among the bodies, one was completely burnt.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in a report on Friday said that 650 people were killed in between 16 July and 11 August over the student protest in Bangladesh.​

 

[Saif]

Govt must set up commission to establish protest death toll

A PRELIMINARY report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights released on August 16 says that about 650 people were killed during the...

www.newagebd.net

Govt must set up commission to establish protest death toll
18 August, 2024, 00:00

A PRELIMINARY report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights released on August 16 says that about 650 people were killed during the student protests in July 16–August 11, noting that security forces such as the police and border guards used ‘unlawful lethal force’ and ‘deliberately targeted unarmed people.’ The deceased include protesters, bystanders, journalists covering the events and a number of personnel of security forces. The UN agency says that nearly 400 of the death were reported from incidents that took place in July 16–August 4 and about 250 people were killed in a new wave of protests in August 5–6. And, thousands of protesters and bystanders have been injured. The UN Human Rights Office further says that the unlawful use of lethal arms and deliberate firing into unarmed protesters also left at least four journalists and 32 children dead. Local media reported the death of close to 400 people during the protests until August 5 and about a hundred after the day. The government of the Awami League, toppled on August 5, however, came up with the figure of 150 on July 29. The Directorate General of Health Services has found 407 people dead, based on public hospital records, in July 15–August 15.

The public health services agency, which says that 18,575 people were wounded in the unrest and 4,554 of them were admitted to public hospitals with injuries, could not collect information from private hospitals. The figures would, therefore, obviously be higher. The numbers that have come up vary to a great extent. The UN agency also says that the reported death toll that it came up with is likely an underestimate as information collection was hindered by restrictions on movement because of a curfew — which was ordered on July 20 and continued until a day after the overthrow of the Awami League government — and the internet shutdown. The number of people who died during and after the protests and around the overthrow of the Awami League government would very well be higher if the health services agency could collect information from private hospitals and when the UN agency published its final report. In such a situation, this is imperative that the interim government should set up a commission and work out ways to establish the number of people who died during attacks by the armed Awami League people and law enforcement personnel on the student protests and on protesters and people during the mayhem born out of the protests. The task will be difficult with the passage of time. And, this is important not only to establish the number of people who sacrificed their lives but also to effectively hold to account the people who attacked and fired into the protests that left such a huge number of people dead.​

 

[Saif]

66 children, teenagers among killed

Prothom Alo figures show some 624 were killed in a month from 16 July to 16 August. Of them, 354 were killed between 16 July to 4 August

en.prothomalo.com

66 children, teenagers among killed

56 shot dead
9 burnt to death
1 died from splinter wounds
39 killed from 16 July-4 August
27 killed from 5-11 August

Naznin AkhterDhaka
Published: 17 Aug 2024, 16: 49

Protesters engaged in clashes with police in Dhaka and elsewhere in the country centering quota reforms movement File photo

Prothom Alo figures show some 624 were killed in a month from 16 July to 16 August. Of them, 354 were killed between 16 July to 4 August. Besides, at least 270 persons died from 5-16 August from injuries they sustained during the violence centering the mass demonstration of students and people.

There is a four-year-old preschooler among the slain children. His name is Abdul Ahad. He was shot dead even before starting school. Ahad was standing on the balcony of their house when he was shot at around 1:30 pm on 19 July.

However, according to a report published by the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), at least 650 Bangladeshi lost their lives in clashes that erupted across the country centering the protest from 16 July to 11 August. The report titled ‘Preliminary Analysis of Recent Protests and Unrest in Bangladesh’ was published yesterday, Friday.

The people of the country were repelled with the killing of children and adolescents resulting in a mass outrage against the government. In determination to topple the government, the protesting students and people declared the month of July won’t end until the government resigns. It was termed the ‘July massacre’. They started counting the first days of August as extended days of July. In compliance to that they say they achieved victory through resignation of the former prime minister on ‘36 July’ (5 August).

People were distressed seeing the smiling photo of Farhan Faiyaz, 17 or Golam Nafiz,17, hanging on the foot of a rickshaw or the killing of hawker Hossen Mia, 10 or milkman Mobarak Ali, 10, who had taken the responsibility of their families in their childhood.

A photo of six-year-old Rhea Gope, who was shot dead, with a bandage on her head, is now graffitied on walls across the capital. There have been countless stories on the incident of Riya being shot while playing on the roof of the house.

32 students among the slain children-teens

As per the Children Act 2013, anybody below the age of 18 is to be considered a child. The ages of the children and teenagers who were killed varies from 3-17 years. Of them, 32 were students. Some 20 of them was subjected to child labour by their profession. Some of them worked in shops, some in garment factories and some as hawkers to earn for their families. Professions of 13 of these children could not be confirmed.

Apart from that, there is a four-year-old preschooler among the slain children. His name is Abdul Ahad. He was shot dead even before starting school. Ahad was standing on the balcony of their house when he was shot at around 1:30 pm on 19 July. He was declared dead by the on-duty physician at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

The National Human Rights Commission wrote to the home ministry to investigate each case of child killing and submit the report after the interim government was sworn in.

Human rights activist Nur Khan says a special tribunal should be formed for trial of child killings in recent turmoil. He told Prothom Alo the Awami League government tried to contain the mass enrage with sheer brutality. They even opened fire from choppers towards the unarmed demonstrators to spread fear to retain power. It’s quite obligatory now to investigate each incident of killing children and teenagers.

‘What was their fault?’

The law enforcements have been accused of opening fire arbitrarily on 18, 19, 20 and 21 July. However, the police claimed that people were killed in indiscriminate fire of miscreants.

On 4 August, the leaders and activists of the Awami League, Jubo League, Swechchhasebak League and Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) carried out heinous attacks on the protestors. Many of them were carrying firearms and crude weapons. Some three teenagers were killed in the attack. All three were students.

In addition to the deceased, a number of children and adolescents were injured. Many of them were shot. Still there was no respite from them as police arrested the children despite them carrying bullet wounds. However, the police had to release them on bail in face of massive criticism from different quarters.

Sheikh Hasina resigned from the post of prime minister and fled the country on 5 August. The Awami League and activists went into hiding following that. The newly formed interim government had decided to hold the trial of the cases over the mass killing from 16 July to 5 August at the International Crime Tribunal. Already complaints have been lodged and investigations are underway. The question nevertheless will continue to taunt the families of deceased that will the lost children ever return.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, Mobinur Rahman, uncle of Samirur Rahman, who was shot dead, said, “What was the fault of that 11-year-old boy? How could he not be safe even inside his own house?

*This report appeared on the print and online versions of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten in English by Ashish Basu​

 

[Saif]

‘No one can fling down a living person this way’

The incident took place near the Pakija Model Mosque centering the movement for quota reform in government jobs on 18 July

en.prothomalo.com

‘No one can fling down a living person this way’
Mansura Hossain
Updated: 15 Aug 2024, 14: 02

Police throw body of Yeamin with utter disrespect Screengrab of videos

The person was flung down to the ground from an armoured vehicle of the police. He lay inert near the wheels of the armoured vehicle. Afterwards, a member of police got down from the vehicle and dragged him with one hand to one side, leaving him on the road. Later, several policemen pulled him aside and threw on the other side of the road divider.

The incident took place near the Pakiza Model Mosque centering the movement for quota reform in government jobs on 18 July.

The person who was thrown on the road is Shaik Ashhabul Yeamin. He is a fourth year student at the computer science and engineering department of Mirpur Military Institute of Science and Technology (MIST). He would stay at Osmani Hall of MIST. His house is at Bank Town residential area in Savar. His family and friends would call him Yeamin.

Prothom Alo talked to Yeamin's father Md Mohiuddin at his residence in Bank Town residential area in Savar on Tuesday.

He said, "No one can fling down a living person in this way. I don't seek justice from anyone. I have not filed any GD. Postmortem of the body of my son was not conducted. I only sought justice from almighty Allah. Pray so that we can have patience."

The video of Yeamin flung down in this way spread on Facebook. Mohiuddin saw the video two days after of the incident. However, the video is not available on Facebook but many downloaded the video.

Shaik Ashhabul Yeamin Collected

Mohiuddin said many people posted various statements about Yeamin after his death. He wants everyone to know the real information about his son.

Yeamin was born on 12 December 2001. He passed SSC and HSC from Cantonment School and College in Savar. He preserved all certificates including HSC, SSC and Bangladesh Chemistry Olympiad-Math Olympiad and other documents. Fathre Mohiuddin was emotionally showing all the certificates. Yeamin's mother Nasrin Sultana is a housewife. Sister Shaik Ashhabul Jannat studies at Sher-e-Bangla Agriculture University.

Mother and sister were reluctant to talk about Yeamin.

Yeamin was buried at Bank Town residential area in Savar. Mother Nasrin Sultana has planted a tulsi tree and flower plants there. A banner with a portrait of Yeamin was hung at the local Shaheed Minar. Others including leaders of political parties are paying tributes with flowers. Watching the video of my son being brutally killed is painful, says Mohiuddun.

Mohiuddin has taken voluntary retirement from a private bank. He said the death of a child means grief till death.

Shaik Ashhabul Yeamin with his parents and sister Collected

Yeamin's father alleged after his son was brutally killed by police, a probe was made into their political affiliation.

He said, "I don't want anyone to make my son a pawn for a political party. My son was politically conscious. I am also politically conscious. However, I am not involved in any politics. My son got chance in BUET and Rangpur Medical. But he didn't get into admission. He studied at Cantonment School and College in Savar. Later, he got admitted to MIST. There is no scope to do politics in these two institutions."

What happened that day
Mohiuddin said the family members and many others watched the video on Facebook. But they don’t know in detail what actually happened that day. They heard in bits and pieces about the incidents from Yeamin’s friends.

Yeamin came home from his MIST hall on 17 July morning. He had a heated argument with the hall authorities over their directives to close the dormitory. His father came to know about the incident from his write-up after his death.

Mohiuddin prays for the departed soul of his son at his grave Prothom Alo

Mohiuddin was going out on 18 July morning. Around 10:30 am, Yeamin came to him and asked if he knew anyone at any hospital in the Mirpur area where he could admit his friends.

Mohiddin told his son that he did not know anyone in any hospital in Mirpur. But the injured could be taken to a hospital at Technical intersection. His son was angry with him. Those were the last sentences the father and son exchanged.

Mohiuddin watches his son's transcripts Prothom Alo

The Savar area was in turmoil on 18 July due to the movement. Yeamin left the home saying he was going to see his friends. Later, everyone in the house started calling him but he did not answer the phone.

Around 3:00 pm, a person phoned them and asked them to go to Enam Medical College. “I thought maybe my son was injured. Along with my wife, I reached the hospital.

A person there asked us to go to the OT when we told our son’s name. We were asked to go to the ground floor from the OT. A female physician hugged Yeamin’s mother there. Even at that moment we did not think our son had died,” Mohiuddin recounted to Prothom Alo.

Yamin Chattar

That physician led them in front of a locked room where several students were gathering. When she unlocked the door, we saw Yeamin lying on a stretcher.

“They informed us that our son passed away even before reaching the hospital,” he added.

‘Yeamin was courageous’
Mohiuddin informed Prothom Alo that the autopsy of Yeamin’s body was not done due to a family decision. He said they wanted to take the body home quickly as students were chanting outside; some people of the hospital were afraid of handing over the body as he died in police firing, some even obstructed us to take the body. The students were thinking of bringing out a procession with Yeamin’s body. At that time, we brought the body home by ambulance quickly with the help of one of our son’s friends.

Graffiti in memory of Yeamin Collected

Mohiuddin said they wanted to bury him in the village home in Kushtia but a relative from there phoned him to say that the local police station told them that the burial is not possible without any order. The country’s situation also did not support us to go to Kushtia from Dhaka. We were told from Savar police station that an autopsy report is required to bury him in Savar. Later, we discussed the matter with a police officer friend who said there won’t be any problem if we bury him at the family graveyard. That is why we buried our son in the graveyard of this colony.

Local people pay respect to Yeamin Collected

Yeamin was meritorious and was involved with debate competitions. He was the vice-president of the debating club at MIST. He would watch ‘Tom and Jerry’ at his leisure periods, said his father.

Mohiuddin said he thought about opening a foundation in the name of his father but now he wants to name the foundation after his son. Any donation to the foundation will be used for the families of the persons who died or people who sustained injuries in the student movement.

When this correspondent was preparing to leave, Mohiuddin showed him a photograph of the body of Yeamin and said, “He was shot at point blank range. Look at the marks of the bullet at the left side of his chest. Then he was flung down from the APC.”

(Samsuzzaman from Savar helped in preparing this report)​

 

[Saif]

Victims of autocrats: From Hamza to Abu Sayed

The comparable patterns in the behaviour of Bashar al-Assad and Sheikh Hasina are staggering.

www.thedailystar.net

Victims of autocrats: From Hamza to Abu Sayed

Visual: Star

During one of my visits to Bangladesh about 10 years ago, I used the Upakul Express to go to Dhaka from Brahmanbaria. Upon boarding the train, I found myself in the midst of a political discussion that primarily focused on Sheikh Hasina's rule in Bangladesh. The conversation was dominated by a man who identified himself as a rural Awami League leader from Akhaura. He seemed to have been gifted with self-confidence, energy, and enthusiasm. With anecdotes and remarkable linguistic dexterity, he captivated the audience. I quietly joined the enthralled listeners.

The Sheikh Hasina government's oppression of political opponents and gross human rights violations, including enforced disappearances, had already panned out by that time, portending ominous signs for the people of Bangladesh. The man from Akhaura proudly declared that his netri (leader) Hasina would rule the country for the rest of her life—at any cost. He added that if needed, she would kill hundreds of thousands of people. Then he threw a couple of rhetorical questions to the bewildered audience: didn't you see how many people Syria's Bashar killed to remain in power? Could anybody depose him?

The Syrian tragedy was unfolding around that time. In 2011, a popular uprising erupted against Bashar al-Assad's oppressive rule. When the man on the train was boasting of his netri's brawn, about 150,000 Syrians had already been killed at the hands of Bashar al-Assad's security forces. The bloody crackdown continued, and the number of casualties eventually climbed to over half a million. Bashar al-Assad, who inherited power from his father in 2000, is still ruling Syria. The brutal strategy has worked for him.

The mention of Syria's Bashar al-Assad and his bloody suppression of the Syrians curdled my blood. I was gripped by horror and ghastly fear.

In Britain in 2001, I was talking to the celebrated British-Syrian writer and translator Adil Salahi. As we are both English literature graduates, we found a natural affinity between us. At one point, I asked him, "When did you last visit Syria?"

"About 20 years ago," he replied.

He gave me a prolonged gaze apparently to communicate that I was supposed to know what happened in his country in 1982. I got his message and didn't discuss the topic further. I thought it would be naïve to ask him why he had not visited his country of origin for decades.

In 1982, at the orders of Bashar al-Assad's father, Hafez al-Assad, Syrian security forces levelled the city of Hama and killed tens of thousands of Syrians. According to a report in The Guardian on August 1, 2011, in a three-week seize and bombardment, Syrian security forces razed Hama and combed the rubble to kill surviving rebels. Hafez al-Assad's cruelty kept him in power until his death in 2000.

When the 2011 Arab Spring turned into a success story in Tunisia and Egypt and dethroned their unelected and autocratic presidents, people in Syria saw a ray of hope. On February 16, 2011, about 15 or 16 school-going boys aged 10-14 years sought to show solidarity with the Arab Spring. On a wall of al-Banin High School in the southwestern Syrian city of Daraa, they spray-painted graffiti in Arabic, "Ajaaka al-daur ya Duktur" ("Your turn has come, O Doctor"). It was obviously a reference to, and a message for, Bashar al-Assad, who is a British-trained ophthalmologist. Predictably, the boys were detained and tortured. After Friday prayers on March 18, 2011, people in Daraa took to the streets demanding their release. Thus started the Great Friday protests, which routinely faced crackdown from the Syrian security forces. April 22, 2011 was the deadliest: security forces opened fire and killed at least 75 protesters in Syria on that day.

On April 29, 2011, 13-year-old Hamza al-Khateeb accompanied his father to a peaceful protest demonstration in Daraa, which came under attack from security forces. In the midst of a melodrama of shooting and bloodshed, Hamza got separated from his father and was detained along with other protesters. His dead body was returned to his family members after nearly a month.

According to an Al Jazeera report on May 31, 2011, Hamza's corpse bore scars of torture, including "lacerations, bruises and burns to his feet, elbows, face and knees, consistent with the use of electric shock devices and of being whipped with cable." His body was disfigured, and it was apparent that bullets pierced through his arms. There was "a deep, dark burn mark" on his chest, and his "neck was broken and his penis cut off."

Hamza's parents were shown only the face of the dead body. But his father Ali al-Khateeb pulled the blanket off Hamza's body, saw the mutilated body of his son and fainted. The secret police visited Hamza's parents and threatened them against speaking out or filing a lawsuit against the security forces.

On May 31, 2011, Bashar al-Assad "invited" Hamza's family members to Damascus. He offered them condolences and promised them investigation and justice. The state media regarded Hamza as a martyr and blamed the opposition for his death. Hamza's family members were quoted as saying that they were "overwhelmed" by the "kindness and concern" of the president.

Long story short, a two-and-a-half-minute clip of Hamza's grotesque dead body went viral on social media in Syria and beyond and became a symbol of a widespread uprising. Social media users declared "We are all Hamza al-Khateeb" in a show of solidarity with the movement. Families around Syria felt that Hamza was their own son, and protesters chanted, "With our blood and our souls we will defend you Hamza." Bashar al-Assad stepped up his violent campaign of repression and killed hundreds of thousands, and the rest is now history.

Let's turn our eyes to Bangladesh's resistance icon Abu Sayed, who was killed by security forces in the turbulent weeks leading to Sheikh Hasina's fall. An English literature student of Begum Rokeya University in Rangpur, Abu Sayed joined the July 2024 quota reform movement to protest against discrimination in government job recruitment. The movement gathered renewed momentum after, during a press briefing on July 14, the now deposed and runaway Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina used the term "Razakar" (traitor) to justify the controversial quota system.

The government launched a violent crackdown and the police opened fire on unarmed student protesters around the country. On July 16, Abu Sayed sought to defy police brutality. Fifteen metres away from the heavily-armed police personnel on a street near his university, he stood firm with arms wide open. Perhaps the unarmed Sayed put trust in the police of his country and couldn't fathom the depth of savagery that the security forces were encouraged to exercise. The police violated that trust and shot him once. He remained unruffled, calm and serene. They fired more bullets. Worn out, Sayed walked to the pavement and collapsed on the ground. He was brought to the hospital dead.

Point-blank shots of security forces killed at least half a dozen young people around the country on that day. Video clips containing gruesome images of the killings of Abu Sayed and other young people spread on social media. Security forces continued killing, and hundreds of protesters laid down their lives for a moral cause in the spirit of something larger than themselves. The youth of Bangladesh defied death, and Hasina fell and fled on August 5, 2024.

In a blatant attempt to protect the police and in stark contrast to reality, sub-inspector Bibhuti Bhushan Roy of the police camp of Begum Rokeya University wrote the First Information Report (FIR) on Abu Sayed's death, which stated, "The protesters fired weapons and threw chunks of bricks from different directions, and at one stage, a student was seen falling to the ground."

On August 11, 2024, Abu Sayed's family members shared that they were forced to meet Sheikh Hasina on July 28, 2024. Government officials brought them to Dhaka and put them in a hotel next to the police lines before transporting them to Gono Bhaban for a scheduled meeting with her. Hasina gave them two minutes of her time, just enough to get some photos taken, promising investigation and justice.

One photo featured in the media showed Sheikh Hasina hugging Abu Sayed's mother and shedding, what I believe, were crocodile tears. When Hasina was still in power, presumably to please her, one media outlet reported, "Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has given her consent as Sayed's family members expressed their eagerness to meet her"—an example of media sycophancy par excellence.

That was not the only occasion when Hasina met family members of victims (presumably killed by her security forces) at her official residence. BNP leader Ilias Ali is one of the early victims of enforced disappearances. On May 2, 2012, Hasina met his wife Tahsina Rushdir at Gono Bhaban and assured her of investigation and justice. Saleha Begum, mother of another victim named SM Moazzem Hossain Tapu, met "Sheikh Hasina three times, the home minister 35 times, the inspector general of police five times and the Rapid Action Battalion director general three times so far to trace her son." Justice was never served.

The comparable patterns in the behaviour of Bashar al-Assad and Sheikh Hasina are staggering and tempt us to believe that one autocrat followed the playbook of the other. Both put the blame of the killing of their victims on their opponents. Both forced the bereaved family members of their victims to meet them, as they contrived to manufacture and show sympathy to them in public. Both presented themselves as kind and compassionate to the family members of their victims and promised them investigation and justice. Both ordered the use of force to crush protesters and perpetuate their rule. However, eventually, it has worked for one so far, but didn't work for the other.

On a final note, had Sheikh Hasina had her way and used the security forces to her full satisfaction to realise her wishes, perhaps we would have a different Bangladesh now.

Md Mahmudul Hasan, PhD, is professor at the Department of English Language and Literature in the International Islamic University Malaysia.​