Protests persist after thousands of students arrested

Sporadic protests in Bangladesh calling for the release of thousands of detained students as well as the resignation of several ministers, police officials and vice-chancellors, among other demands, continued this week (in late July and early August).

The students were detained after a heavy crackdown on widespread jobs quota reform protests last month, during which 147 people died, according to official figures, and many were injured.

In response to the protests which started in July the government closed all schools and universities, shut down internet services, which were only partially restored after 10 days, and imposed a curfew with a shoot-on-sight-order.

Law enforcers carried out targeted raids almost every night over the past 10 days, cordoning off whole streets and areas in cities, in ‘block raids’ aimed at locking down areas to prevent people from escaping while homes were searched for protesters.

Local residents who witnessed the raids said law enforcers were usually looking for students, taking them away if they found them.

Rights group Amnesty International said in a 30 July open letter to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina: “The mass arrest and arbitrary detention of student protesters has further perpetuated a climate of fear” in the country.

Allegations of torture

“Many coordinators and activists of the student movement have been taken from their homes and arrested or illegally detained and subjected to physical and mental torture,” said Syeda Rizwana Hasan, chief executive of the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association at a 1 August press conference under the banner of the Aggrieved Citizen’s Society, a group of eminent citizens, including teachers and lawyers.

“Many of those already detained have been [subjected to] inhumane torture in remand or mysterious detention,” she said.

Hasan alleged law enforcers were “indiscriminately arresting” students and intimidating parents, young people and the public.

“Every night they are conducting block raids and picking up students and young people who took part in the movement. They do not need proof; they just pick up anyone they are suspecting,” a coordinator of the protest, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisal from the government, told University World News.

Joint forces conducted the block raids in different areas of the capital Dhaka, as well as in other parts of the country.

According to police sources in Dhaka, as of 1 August at least 10,800 people had been arrested. They include student leaders and activists of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-Shibir, the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami political party, which was banned this week under a government notification.

The government has blamed the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami for the unrest, claiming they “infiltrated” the student movement.

More than 675 police cases in relation to the protests have been filed in Dhaka and 51 districts in Bangladesh since 18 July.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) had filed 229 cases with 50 police stations as of 28 July.

An analysis by local media of documents related to 178 cases filed since 17 July showed the number of accused in these cases to be 213,834 but only 1,310 were named in the available documents. It is not known how many people were accused in the remaining 51 cases.

“I have instructed the prosecutors, after reviewing the case forwarding, to take steps [to ensure] that those who are not involved in the incidents [violence], who are HSC examinees, and who are minors, can get bail”, Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Anisul Huq said on 1 August, referring to the Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSC) exam taken by school leavers for university entrance.

First official announcement of death toll

On 28 July Minister of Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal confirmed that 147 people had been killed — the first official confirmation of deaths as a result of the deadly clashes which first erupted on 15 July between police and student protesters demanding an end to a quota that reserved 30% of government jobs for relatives of veterans who fought in the 1971 war of independence.

Speaking to reporters in Dhaka, the minister said the deceased included students, police, activists, and people of various professions, adding that further investigation was underway to determine the total death toll.

Independent estimates put the number at more than 200. But many deaths remain unregistered and unofficial figures put the death toll at between 300 and 400.

Such a large number of casualties in such a short period during what was intended as a peaceful movement is unprecedented since Bangladesh came into existence in 1971.

In the wake of the deadly unrest, the Bangladesh Supreme Court ordered the government to scale back the job quotas. The 30% quota for veterans’ descendants was cut to 5%, and the quota for ethnic minorities, transgender people and disabled people was limited to 2%.

Scenes from a block raid

Witnesses told media that several vehicles carrying law enforcers usually arrived in an area at around 7-8 pm, cordoning off the area and taking up positions on all the roads so no one could escape.

Using loudhailers, law enforcers instructed locals to return home and stay indoors. Reinforcements began to arrive an hour or so later and internet broadband services and street lights were switched off. In some cases, witnesses have reported low-flying helicopters using search lights.

Police have maintained that during the raids, law enforcers have detained only those found to have taken part in the July violence or had “communication with miscreants”.

However, local witnesses said law enforcers checked to establish if there were students in the house, and if found, checked their mobile phones, which is an invasion of privacy.

Biplob Kumar Sarkar, DMP Joint Commissioner (Operation), said Dhaka police planned to ensure those who committed violence could not leave Dhaka.

“The miscreants went into hiding. We have been conducting block raids. Besides, police drives are underway day and night in Dhaka. Wherever they flee, we will arrest the responsible ones,” Sarkar told media.

Key organisers detained and released

Key student protesters have been targeted by police. On 26 July, law enforcers picked up Nahid Islam, Asif Mahmud and Abu Baker Majumder – all students at Dhaka University and key organisers of the quota reform protests — from a hospital in the capital where Islam and Mahmud were undergoing treatment. Majumdar was picked up while bringing food for Mahmud.

The following evening, the DMP Detective Branch picked up two other organisers: Dhaka University student Sarjis Alam and Hasnat Abdullah. On 28 July law enforcers picked up Nusrat Tabassum from her relative's home in the capital’s Mirpur area.

The six coordinators have been held at the Detective Branch office, with detectives claiming the students were kept in custody “for their own security”.

This is the second time in just a week that Islam, Mahmud and Majumdar have been detained.

Islam was picked up in the early hours of 20 July allegedly by law enforcers from a house in the capital’s Sabujbagh area. He alleged that he was tortured physically until he lost consciousness. When he regained consciousness, he found himself under a bridge in Purbachal on the city outskirts.

Mahmud and Majumdar were both picked up on 19 July. Without saying who held them, the two wrote on Facebook that they were blindfolded and left in Hatirjheel and Dhanmondi areas on 24 July. Mahmud alleged he was given an injection that made him senseless for days.

The six organisers of the reform protest announced the withdrawal of protest programmes while they were in custody, apparently at the Detective Branch (DB) office.

In an announcement via a video recording distributed to media from the DB office, Islam was seen reading a statement minutes after a photo posted by DB officials on Facebook showed the students having food with detectives, apparently at the DB office.

Other protesters, including Abdul Kader, a coordinator of the reform protests, told University World News: “After the mass killings and mass arrests in the last few days, the government has now created a new drama.

The government has shown extreme audacity towards the demands of the student community by picking up the coordinators of the anti-discrimination student movement and holding them hostage at the DB office and issuing scripted statements at gunpoint.”

The six coordinators were released on 1 August after they went on a 32-hour hunger strike, according to protesters.

More protests

Despite the government’s announcement it was scaling back the quotas, protesters continued to hold demonstrations across the country, including in Dhaka and Chattogram (Chittagong) on 29 July. In many areas, protesters were dispersed by law enforcers and at least another 80 people were detained.

Ruling party representatives obstructed demonstrations in some places, according to reports.

Students from various universities and colleges held demonstrations to protest the “detention of six coordinators of the quota reform protest by the DMP’s Detective Branch and forcing them to issue a statement on ending protests”.

They also reiterated earlier demands, which included an apology from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and the resignations of Minister of Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal; Minister of Road Transport and Bridges Obaidul Quader; Minister of Education Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury; Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Anisul Huq; Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Mohammad Ali Arafat; and Minister of State for Post, Telecommunications and Information Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak, for their roles in the curfews, arrests, and internet shutdowns during the second half of July.

Other demands included the dismissal of high ranking police officers in several districts, including Dhaka, where students were killed by law enforcers; the resignation of the vice-chancellors and proctors of every university — including Dhaka University, Jagannath, Jahangirnagar University, Rajshahi University and University of Chittagong — where peaceful protesters were attacked by law enforcers; the immediate reopening of all educational institutions and halls; the lifting of the curfew; and removal of the police, Rapid Action Battalion elite force, Border Guard Bangladesh, and SWAT and army personnel deployed across the country.

Rejection of government mourning period

This week students staged demonstrations, with red cloths covering parts of their faces, calling for an end to harassment, detention and torture of students.

Teachers of various universities also joined the 30 July protests. They demanded a thorough investigation into the indiscriminate killings during the July unrest.

Rejecting a government-announced nationwide mourning period in memory of those killed in the recent unrest, on social media platforms, students, teachers, guardians and people of different ages and walks of life changed their profile pictures to solid red, in solidarity with the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement's programme.

Police again foiled a 31 July protesters’ March for Justice, using teargas and stun grenades and baton charges in different districts. At least 100 were injured and 83 detained.

The same day, teachers of Dhaka University, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Jahangirnagar University, Rajshahi University, North South University, University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh and others held separate programmes demanding the release of students arrested during the protests.

They also called for the withdrawal of cases filed against them, an end to oppression, and a peaceful environment for education.

“All the killings that took place during the quota reform protests were state-sponsored and carried out by the forces of the state and its associates,” said Professor Salimullah Khan of the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh.

He said an international probe was necessary for a “credible investigation into the killings”.

He added that the question of whether all will have the right to compete for government jobs was a political one. But instead of moving towards a political solution, the government first wanted to ignore it and later resorted to repression.