Seven dead, thousands arrested as Hasina regime continues crusade by opponents of repression
Two senior leaders of Bangladesh’s main opposition party have been arrested in a violent crackdown on warring ruling parties in which at least seven others were shot dead and thousands arrested.
Within weeks, Sheikh Hasina’s government launched a crusade of repression against the nationalist opposition Bangladesh Party (BNP), which held rallies calling for his resignation.
The BNP accused Hasina’s ruling Awami League of corruption, human rights abuses and crippling fuel price increases. The BNP held an anti-government protest rally in the capital, Dhaka, which is expected to be attended by thousands of supporters.
The BNP alleges that its leaders are being framed in false instances to prevent the protest from continuing. police. Dhaka Metropolitan Police spokesman Faruq Ahmed said the leaders were arrested on suspicion of inciting violence against police.
BNP leader AKM Wahiduzzaman said: “The government arrested the two main leaders to keep them away from our rally in Dhaka in a plot to sabotage tomorrow’s program. However, we will ignore our plan and hold our planned rally in Dhaka. tomorrow. “
This followed an incident on Wednesday in which one user was killed and more than 60 injured after police fired live ammunition, rubber bullets and tear gas at a BNP protest held outdoors at the party’s offices in Dhaka. More than 400 BNP members and supporters were arrested. the demonstration.
The BNP demands Hasina’s resignation and the holding of new elections for an impartial interim government. However, Hasina refused and announced this week that the next general election would be held in January 2024.
Wahiduzzaman said seven other people had been shot dead and at least 6,000 BNP supporters had been arrested by the government in recent weeks as the ruling party tried to engage a wave of opposition amid growing discontent with the economy and allegations of corruption and abuse.
Yamini Mishra, Amnesty International’s regional director for South Asia, said in weeks that there has been “an alarming escalation of repression through the authorities. “
Mishra said police firing live ammunition at protesters “show that the Bangladeshi government has very little respect for the sanctity of human life and sends a chilling message that those who dare to exercise their human rights will suffer disastrous consequences. “
Bangladesh’s 2014 and 2018 general elections were marred by allegations of electoral fraud and attacks on the political opposition, the Awami League denies. In recent months, the UN, the United States and other countries have suggested to the Bangladeshi government to hold free, fair and inclusive elections, yet the crackdown on the BNP has continued unabated.
Since it came into force in 2009, Hasina’s government has been accused of serious human rights violations and the destruction of press freedom, including journalists and artists arbitrarily detained for criticizing the regime. In December 2021, the United States imposed sanctions on the Security Forces’ Special Unit Department, the Rapid Action Battalion, which has credibly implicated in extrajudicial executions, torture, and enforced disappearances.
Several leaders of the Dhaka-based BNP refused to speak to the Guardian about retaliation and arrests ahead of Saturday’s protest.
Khalid Mahmoud Chowdhury, minister and leader of the Awami League, said the allegations of repression were “not entirely true. “Chowdhury said police fired on protesters after the crowd incited violence.
“BNP cadres threaten to destabilize the country by creating chaos and exercising violence,” he said. “Therefore, unlike those undisciplined activists, the security forces are taking legally justified measures. They disobey the rule of law and threaten prosecution.
Chowdhury denied all accusations that the election was rigged or stifled press freedom. “People voted overwhelmingly for our party,” he said.
Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman of the Hong Kong-based Asian Legal Resource Centre said Hasina had created a “deepening constitutional, political, socio-economic and governance crisis in Bangladesh”.
He accused her of disenfranchising Bangladeshis and that after two allegedly rigged elections, the other Bangladeshi people rose up in protest. leave because of the brutal abuse of the state apparatus opposed to others. The only option left in Bangladesh is for Sheikh Hasina to step down without stopping or facing a popular uprising.