Executive Summery
On 6 May 2013 at
2.40 in the morning, the government in Bangladesh has cracked down on protests leaving a huge number of unarmed religious people dead and thousands others injured.
More than 10,000
forces drawn from police, the elite Rapid Action Battalion
and paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh jointly launched a drive in the darkness of midnight on 6 May to clear demonstrators from a major thoroughfare in Dhaka. Electricity
was cut and media access was restricted from the scene during the joint operation.
In Narayanganj and Chittagong, 20 demonstrators were shot dead by police on 6
May. 16 demonstrators were killed
on the previous day by police in several attacks carried out to disperse
the Dhaka Siege program.
Bangladesh is now passing a great crisis in her political arena. Democracy
and
good governance have been severely questioned over the current regime. Human rights have been infringed to an
unprecedented extent. The Bangladesh government headed by Awami League has been exposing its deadly autocratic attitude and unethical stand both in national as well as international arenas since
it has acceded to power in 2009. It has always shown ultra-rated hostility towards people‟s demands
and their democratic demos and protests.
Most recently, Hefajat-e-Islam,
a non-political religious outfit
set out to ensure punishment of the anti-religious bloggers for their blasphemous campaigns, staged its scheduled “Dhaka Siege
& Sit-in” program on last 5th May 2013 urging the government to meet its 13-point demand
announced earlier. Since the break of dawn on that day, a sum total of about 3 to 4 million Hefajat men, as a whole, blocked the entrances to Dhaka city and they took, as per the
governmental consent, to the streets round the “Shapla Square” at Motijheel in Dhaka at around
3:00 pm. But as
soon as Hefajat-e-Islam
began
its gathering and
sit-in
therein,
armed cops
and RAB personnel started to shoot at the participants indiscriminately. Soon, the hub of Dhaka city
turned into a battlefield and
Hefajat
men were turning into „corpses‟ one after
another.
Hundreds of thousands
of Hefazat activists gathered
at Shapla Chattar of Motijhil, Dhaka.
They declared to continue their sit-in indefinitely. However, on 6th May at 3:00 am at midnight,
the locale was blacked out by switching streetlights off, two TV channels on stream (namely,
Diganta TV and Islamic TV) were cut off and made go off the air as they dare to air true news about governmental injustice, and all the journos were forcibly
made
leave the locale by
the government
official
dudes and pro-party thugs.
Then,
all
on a sudden, an
integrated
band
of cops,
BGB and RAB personnel began to open fire wantonly at the sit-in participants to take over the
reins of the locale whereby over 5 hundred people died, thousands of people got injured and shot
and about 2 thousand more
went traceless.
Timeline of Incidents - 5th & 6th May, 2013
Genocide in Dhaka by Security Forces
of Bangladesh
Time
|
Place of
Occurrence
|
Incident
|
6:00 am,
5th May 2013
|
Jatrabari
Gabtali
Babubazar
Abdullahpur
|
Huge Gathering and Road Blockade started
|
9:00 am
|
Jatrabari
Gabtali
Babubazar
Abdullahpur
|
Peaceful Meetings and
Protest goes on
|
11:00 am
|
Motijheel
|
DMP gave permission for Meeting at Motijheel
|
Jatrabari
|
People started March towards
Motijheel
|
|
11:30 am
|
Paltan
|
Sporadic clash
began
between
Police and Hefazat activists
|
12:00 pm
|
Gulistan
|
A Hefazat activist slaughtered by Awami League thugs at
Bangabandhu Avenue
|
12:30 pm
|
Paltan
|
Attack of police on Hefazat activists began
|
1:00 pm
|
Kakrail
|
Attack of police on Hefazat activists
began
|
1:30 pm
|
Jatrabari
Gabtali
Babubazar
Abdullahpur
|
People started their March towards Motijheel
|
2:00 pm
|
Paltan
Kakrail
|
Clashes between Police and Hefazat activists became extremely
violent. Police opened fire; One civilian died and many others injured.
|
2:30 pm
|
Motijheel
|
Hefazat started
their meeting before scheduled time
|
4:00 - 8:00
pm
|
Paltan
Kakrail
|
Severe clashes broke out between Police and Hefazat activists.
Police opened fire; about 16 Hefazat activists died and many others
were severely injured.
Hospitals
were overloaded.
|
8:00 pm
|
Motijheel
|
Declaration of Overnight Stay came from the Stage. Electricity
cut throughout the
area by authorities.
|
8:30 pm
|
Paltan
Baitul Mukaram
|
Police fired Tear cells inside the Mosque while the I‟sha prayer
was on. Some miscreants set fire to the Islamic Bookstores and
Jewelry Market of Baitul Mukaram Complex.
|
9:00 - 12:00
am
|
Paltan
|
Sporadic
clashes continued
between Police and
Hefazat
activists. Police continued indiscriminate fire and charging
Sound Grenades.
|
Kakrail
|
||
12:00 - 2:00 am,
|
Motijheel
|
Police ordered evacuation of all Media personnel from the
|
6th May 2013
|
spot. Heavy
armored RAB
and
Police
force
and
about
30
Platoons of BGB were deployed
near the Program spot;
|
|
2:30 am
|
Motijheel
|
Police started a huge
crackdown with continuous Brush
fire
upon the sleeping protesters.
About
thousands
of
Sound
Grenades were charged upon
them as well.
|
3:00 am
|
Motijheel
|
Police started to
take
control of the
spot as hundreds
and
thousands of protesters were gunned down and
chased away. Witness confirmed death of more than 400 protesters, while
about ten thousands were
severely
injured.
|
3:30 am
|
Arambagh
|
Police intercepted into the head office of Digata Television and
seized broadcasting instruments and sealed the Office. BTRC
then forcefully shut down the DTV channel along with Islamic
Television.
|
4:00 am
|
Motijheel
|
Teams of Police and BGB started to move away the dead
bodies and Dhaka City Corporation cleaners started cleaning the
whole area
to
remove all blood
marks.
|
5:00 am
|
Motijheel
|
Many wounded
Hefazat activists were surrounded by Police
and Ruling Party thugs in several mosques including Baitul
Mukaram. The
Fazr prayer was even
disrupted.
|
6:00 am
|
Motijheel
|
Police started to search and arrest anyone suspected as Hefazat
activist from the spot.
|
7:00 am
|
Malibagh
|
Fresh clash started
between Police
and
scattered Hefazat
activists
|
8:00 am
|
Narayanganj
|
Police started searching and arresting into local Madrasas
|
9:00 am
|
Narayanganj
|
Police started indiscriminate firing upon Madrasa students at
Madani Nagar
and
a
new clash began. Another phase
of
violence began in Kachpur.
|
10:00 am
|
Narayanganj
|
Reports coming in of few more causality of Hefazat activists.
At least
15 confirmed dead
with many
other severely
wounded.
|
11:00 am
|
Jatrabari
Chittagong
|
Clash broke out all over
Bangladesh; At least 6 reported
killed in Chittagong Road, Jatrabari and 5 others at Kachpur. 3
Members of
Security Forces
are also killed.
|
DhakaSiege Program
Hefajat-e-Islam, an organization of Islamic clerics and students, called the Dhaka
siege
programme from its April 6 grand rally at the city‟s Shapla Chattar demanding that
its 13-point demand be met by April 30. Hefajat‟s 13-point demand includes passing a law in parliament with a
provision for the punishment
for blashemy and smear campaigns against Muslims, putting
an
end to the infiltration of all alien culture including adultery, amending anti-religious portions
of the National Women Development Policy and restoring
the
religious provisions in the
Constitution.
The Dhaka siege programme
of Hefajat-e-Islam Bangladesh began after Fajar prayers
early on 5th May 2013. Activists of that Organisation blocked road at six Points of Dhaka- From AbdullahPur to Tongi Bridge, Gabtali Mazar Road to Aminbazar bridge, Babu Bazar bridge, Demra Bridge, Kanchpur Bridge and postagala Bridge shortly Before Dawn. They Also took position in the chittagong road at Jatrabari and in Singboard Area - entry Points of the Capital. Police also kept some points blocked since morning
to prevent entry of the Hefajat activists
into Dhaka city.
An
unarmed
|
Hefazat demonstrator being shot by
police
on
6 May
|
midnight.
|
The demonstrators
were
seen
standing
with
banners,
different
types
of
flags
including
the national flag, while some were reciting
verses from the Holy Quran.
Minister Ashrafs Declaration of Suppression
Awami League
General
Secretary and
Minister of
the
Local
Government and
Rural
Development Syed
Ashraful Islam declared
total suppression of the program called by Hefazat on 5th May in a briefing
at Dhaka. "This time we allowed
you to come to Dhaka,
next time you
will not be able to come (Dhaka) or even come out of your homes.
Your anarchy
will not be
tolerated," spokesperson Syed Ashraful
Islam warned at a press
briefing amid Hifazat's rally in the Motijheel
business district.
Image: Dead body of a Protester taken way by Hefazat activists. (Daily
Amardesh)
Dead
body of a Hefazat activist
killed by police, was brought near the stage.
'everything necessary' to maintain law and order.
Ashraf asked the Hifazat activists
to wrap up their rally
by evening and leave Dhaka and threatened
actions if they did not. At the briefing,
Ashraf advised against
considering the ruling
party 'weak'. "The Awami League alone is enough to teach you a lesson," he said.
Ashraf termed
the Hifazat the successor of infamous 'al-Badr' and 'Razakars', the forces that had sided with the Pakistani troops. He said the people
of Bangladesh will not tolerate mayhem in the name of religion and reiterated the government was ready to take any measures necessary.
Indiscriminate Police Fire
In Paltan area of the capital, police started indiscriminate shooting at the peaceful gathering of thousands of Hefazat activists. At least thirteen Hefazat activists were killed and 200 others injured in assaults on Hefajat men by Awami League activists and police in the city's Bangabandhu Avenue and other areas on Sunday. At least eight hefazat activists have died at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital. At least five other dead bodies were seen near at the Shapla Square.
Thousands of rounds of bullets were fired from police vehicle
at unarmed people.
Panic gripped the city dwellers as violence escalated amid the Hefajat grand rally being
staged at the city's Shapla Chattar following its April 6 massive showdown at the same
venue. After the police rampage,
vehicles almost disappeared from the
city's bustling streets. Many were seen walking back home on foot.
Image: A death activist left in the street
One of the deceased was identified as Siddiqur Rahman Siddique, 28, helper
of
a bus of 'Hanif Paribahan'. The
others, including a Hefajat man, could
not be identified yet. Helper Siddique,
injured in the firing,
was rushed to Dhaka Medical
College Hospital (DMCH)
where
doctors declared him dead. The two others
also succumbed to their injuries
at the DMCH. The injured
were admitted to different
hospitals and private clinics.
An injured demonstrator
being taken for treatment.
|
Another triangular clash involving police, the hefajat workers and the ruling party men broke out at the same place at 3pm and later it spilled over into Purana Paltan, Gulistan,
Bijoynagar, Kakrail and Press Club
areas.
Blood
was pouring over
the
asphalt paved street. It could not be learnt immediately how many were injured or dead. But
at live
telecast many bodies were seen
lying on
the road motionless. Fountains
of blood was gushed at many places. Initially Hefazot
claimed 30 to 40 were killed.
Witnesses said miscreants set fire
to a police box at
Shantinagar around 6:20 pm while another
at Mouchak at
about 6:25 pm. At
least
30
vehicles
parked
in
front of the Bangladesh House Building Finance Corporation were set alight
by the miscreants
around
5pm. A police Pajero jeep was set
afire
at Mouchak around 6:25 pm while a bus and a bulldozer
at Malibagh crossing around 6:20
pm. A gas pipeline near the Bangabandhu
National stadium was
set afire around 4:45pm.
At about 5:30pm, 15 people,
including 10 cops, were injured in
a clash between
police
and the
Hefajat workers
near
Nayabazar
in the city. Meanwhile, seven people, including a
Rab
member, were hurt in separate clashes
between law enforcers and workers of Hefajat-e-Islam in the city earlier
on Sunday.
Bodies of Hefazat activists at the morgue of Dhaka Medical College.
A Hefazal worker left dead
in the street.
In another incident, two police bikes were torched near the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque as
the Hefajat men in a procession were marching towards the Shapla Chattar in the capital at about
12:30pm. Witnesses said hundreds of activists of the organization were marching towards the
Shapla Chattar to attend a rally
there. When they were passing by the National Mosque, police
obstructed them. Being obstructed, the Hefajat activists threw brick chips targeting police, resulting in a clash between them. The law enforces fired several teargas shells and fired several rubber bullets to disperse them. A chase and counter-chase took place that left some people
injured.
Deadly Awami
Attack
|
Awami League members also took part in the
assault on Hefazat demonstrators. Witnesses said
the clash between the Awami League and Hefajat men broke out in Baitul Mukarram area around
1:30pm when they brought separate processions
in the area. Awami League members mercilessly beat
several demonstrator
with sticks and shot bullets
at them.
Midnight Massacre
Peaceful sit-in of Hefazat going on while electricity is cut
by the govt.
On Sunday evening, Hefajat-e-Islam
Bangladesh
ameer Allama
Shah Ahmed Shafi
said their 'peaceful' Shapla Chattar sit-in will continue until their
13-point demand
is
met. 4 After
the
declaration of overnight stay came from the Hefazat stage at 8 pm,
electricity cut throughout the area by authorities.
Police ordered evacuation
of all Media personnel from the spot.
Heavy
armored RAB and Police force
and
about 30 Platoons of BGB were
deployed near the Program spot. Police
fired
Tear cells inside
the
Mosque while
the I‟sha prayer was on. Some miscreants set fire to the Islamic Bookstores and Jewelry Market
of Baitul Mukaram Complex. Sporadic
clashes continued between Police and Hefazat activists.
Police continued
indiscriminate fire and charging
Sound Grenades.
|
Bullet wound body of a demonstrator left in the scene after
the crack down.
From 9 pm, the security forces started surrounding the gathering of unarmed assembly of hundreds
of thousands
people
in Motijhil. No
one could enter
of exit from the
assembly anymore. Ten platoons of Border Guard members were deployed in the area.5
Hefazat activists‟ attempt to resistance
by
placing blocks road divider and tree branches proved futile in the face
of heavily armed
security forces.
After 2 pm in the morning, Police started a
huge
crackdown with continuous brush fire
upon the sleeping protesters. Thousands of sound grenades were charged upon them as well. Some 600
members of RAB and BGB were deployed at Paltan at around 11:30pm. On and on the number of
armed force
members increased to initiate the joint operation on the sleeping activists of Hefazat. It was 2:30 in the morning. Dhaka was rattled by the sound of indiscriminate gunshot and grenade explosions. One-way
war started with whistles as Joint Law enforcers BGB, RAB and Police attacked and
cornered
the unarmed
Hefazot activists. Mothijeel, Dainik Bangla,
Fakirapool
and Ittefaq
intersection
turned into a killing
ground within minutes.
Dead bodies of demonstrators left in the scene after the midnight
crack down.
BGB and Rab personnel
removed Hefajat-e-Islam activists from the city's Shapla
Chattar area. Police and Rab sources
said they started
the drive at about 2.20 am and drove out the Hefajat men from Shapla Chattar
area by 3 am, firing rubber bullets
and sound grenades.
They said some
10,000 law-enforcers took part in the drive that first started from Notredame Collage
point then
Ittefaq Intersection. The entire area was rocked by gunshots
and sound grenades.
Police action
on the unarmed people. A dead body
lying on the street.
Amid the massive drive, unarmed Hefajat men
retreated fast and ran into various lanes and alleys
in the area although they had first tried to resist the law-enforcers showering them with brick
chips. It was
not still certain how
many Hefajat men were injured in the predawn
drive.
Many dead bodies and injured were seen all over the street and adjacent buildings after the joint operation
of armed forces. Motijheel was littered with stained blood,
papers, sandals and
some bags after the operation drove the sleeping band of Hifazat supporters away. Fire was burning in a
few places. Five vehicles
were also burning at the scene.
Bodies of two
Hefazat activists killed by
armed forces in
the
crackdown.
The scene at Motijhil after the shooting spree of govt. forces is over.
|
Law enforcers took less than 15 minutes to take control
of Shapla Chattar after conducting
a simultaneous drive from the Notre Dame College and Dainik Bangla intersection at around 3am. No leader of Hefazat was seen on the rally
stage
after then. Police began positioning themselves
on the street stretching from Paltan to Dainik Bangla
intersection since 8:30pm
on Sunday.10
Govt. Shuts Down Two Television channels
Media access to the scene of the midnight joint operation
was
restricted. To
prevent telecasting
footage of mass murder
by the joint
armed
forces, two TV channel were shut down by the
govt. within one
hour of the operation. The
joint force consisting of BGB, Police and RAB have shut
down
Diganta Television (DTV) and Islamic Television. Earlier in the day (May
5), DTV had telecast live demonstration
of Hefajot e
Islami from Matijhil
Dhaka.
The law enforcement agency
of the government has taken away valuable machine parts of
transmission. It is not possible to restart
transmission of DTV. Bangladesh government force
has also
shut
down Islamic
TV
at 4:45
local time.13 A senior Jamaat leader Mir Quasem
Ali is the Chairman of the Diganta Media Corporation
which owns and operates The Daily
Naya Diganta newspaper and
Diganta TV.
A Hefazat activist killd
by the armed forces.
Bullet wound bodies of demonstrators
left in the scene after the crackdown.
The government made the move without citing any reason, an official of the private Diganta
station said. Its Chief
News Editor Ziaul Kabir Sumon told bdnews24.com that a
Bangladesh
Telecommunication and Regulatory Authority team led by Director Colonel Sazzad Hossain came at around 4:20am on Monday. They said they were temporarily suspending the broadcast saying it was a government
order, according to
him.
Dead activists left under
the police vehicle.
No-one from BTRC could be reached immediately for comment. "We asked them for papers. They told us you will get paper. Now cooperate with us. Then they stopped transmission at
4:24am," Sumon
added. “We were running news when
they
stopped transmission.”
Islamic TV also went off air „temporarily‟, its Director Shams Eskander told bdnews24.com.
"We have stopped all transmission from 2.30am on Monday," Eskander said. He said the law
enforcers had come to their office at around 2am and asked them to close down before locking
up the telecast centre. The official accused the law keepers of vandalism in the office and said they
had
not been served any
formal notice to close down transmission. BNP Chairperson
Khaleda Zia‟s younger brother, late Sayeed
Eskander,
was the founding
Chairman of the
station.
Narayanganj
Clash
At least 15 people were killed and 100 others injured in a clash between the activists of Hefajat- e-Islam Bangladesh and police at Shimrail intersection on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway in the
city early on 6th May. 15 All the
|
immediately.
Dead people in Narayanganj
clash.
The attack was conducted by a joint
force
of police, Rapid
Action
Battalion and Border
Guard Bangladesh (BGB)
when
Hefazat
activists
tried to
block the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway
at Shimrail
intersection
around
5:30am, after being
driven away
by law enforcers from Shapla Chattar in Motijheel area of Dhaka city. A chase and counter-
chase followed.
Police lobbed
several rounds
of teargas shells and fired shots to quell the violence, leaving 15 of the Hefazat activists dead and
100 others injured. Police and Rab members also entered Madaninagar Madrasa in Kanchpur
area and fired gunshots on its premises. The
bodies of the deceased were taken to Narayanganj
General
Hospital.
Violation of Hof Human Rights
The scale and indiscriminate manner of the killing of unarmed demonstrators by armed forces is
comparable only to genocide, the ultimate denial of right to life. According to the Convention on
the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, genocide include acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: killing members of the group.17 Hundreds of people were killed by police in just one day which amounts to the crime
of genocide.
Article 32 of our Constitution guaranteed the right of life. The Universal Declaration of Human
Rights 1948 incorporated a provision that says: Everyone has the right to life, liberty and
security of person.18 It‟s pertinent to point out here that, the constitution of Bangladesh pledges19 to respect the International
Laws
and moreover Bangladesh has
signed
that
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. So,
our Govt. cannot ignore its liability to protect the
citizens
from the police and ruling party thugs.
This incidents mass murder by police indicate the serious scenario of falling „rule of law‟ in
Bangladesh. The Republic is bound
to ensure the
democratic rights and safety of life and property of every citizen.
Furthermore,
it has
responsibility to
ensure citizens‟ fundamental rights
guaranteed by the Constitution. But, by killing, torturing and injuring the participants of
demonstrations, Govt. has
grossly violated
human right of life.
Article 35 of
the Constitution of People‟s Republic
of Bangladesh says that, “No person
shall be subjected to torture
or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishment or treatment.”20 But Police have violated this right by reckless
shooting at unarmed Hefazat activists.
Recommendations
· The govt. must stop mass killing. The trigger happy approach of indiscriminate shooting must be stopped. The demonstrators should not be target of violent attacks due to exercise democratic right
to
express demands.
· Police must arrest the members of the ruling party who are involved with violent attacks on
the hefazat activists.
· The administration should stop using the police force as a weapon for killing and oppressing
the general people. The government must ensure that the police perform its duty within the
limits set by law.
· The civil society and media must raise the issue of continued mass killings, illegal attacks
and torture by
police to various forums.
Human rights
organisation
must
address
the
incidents of denial
of right to life and right
to justice of Jamaat and Shibir.
· International community must consider while making any decision about their relation with Bangladesh the issues of human rights violation and mass killing. The issue of unjustified
violence by police must be addressed seriously. Donor agencies should ensure that no person is
killed tortured due
to his particiapation in demonstrations.
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