Dhaka: Four dead in youth protests, but violence spreads beyond politics
At least four people were killed during a demonstration by the youth student party that led to the ouster of former Prime Minister Hasina. The incident comes amid growing sectarian violence that has claimed more than 140 lives in the past ten months. Religious minorities and human rights defenders complain about a climate of terror and call for quick elections to overcome the weaknesses of the current caretaker government.
Dhaka (AsiaNews) – At least four people were killed yesterday in the southern city of Gopalganj during a demonstration by the National Citizen Party (NCP), a party formed by students who forced former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign and flee to India last year.
According to local media, the attack involved journalists, law enforcement, and party members. The Prothom Alo newspaper reported at least nine injuries, while authorities have imposed a curfew.
On Facebook, the Awami League, former Prime Minister Hasina's party, announced that one of its members was shot and killed by soldiers.
"Preventing young citizens from peacefully holding a rally to commemorate the one-year anniversary of their revolutionary movement is a shameful violation of their fundamental rights," said on X Muhammad Yunus, blaming the Awami League’s student group for Wednesday's violence.
Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, took office as chief adviser (provisional head of government) after Hasina's ouster following calls by university students.
This is not, however, an isolated case of violence. In the last ten months, incidents of rough justice have resulted in 140 deaths.
This escalation has intensified in the wake of the controversial January 2024 elections, when Sheikh Hasina was re-elected in a vote boycotted by the opposition, already harshly repressed by the government.
The current situation is raising concern among minority religious communities, including Christians, and human rights defenders.
The latest episode of violence occurred on 9 July, when Lal Chand, a 39-year-old scrap metal dealer, was brutally killed outside Mitford Hospital in Dhaka.
After he was lured on a pretext, surveillance footage shows a group pounding him with bricks and stones until his skull and body were crushed.
The investigation linked the attackers to the Jubo Dal, the youth wing of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which later expelled the perpetrators. A few days later, a former Jubo Dal leader was shot dead in an alleged act of revenge.
Over a hundred Awami League leaders and activists have also been killed in the past year, while opposition groups accuse the government of forced abductions, disappearances, and extrajudicial killings.
This crisis is closely linked to problems in the justice system. Frustration has spread among ordinary Bangladeshis because of criminals evading conviction and murderers easily obtaining bail.
“These incidents are a direct result of failed governance,” said Rebecca Gomes, a Catholic lawyer and vice president of the Bangladesh Christian Lawyers Association (BCLA). “People are consumed by revenge because they see no other way.”
Many also criticise the silence of prominent civil society figures, including Yunus himself, who is accused of not doing enough to lead a process of reconciliation.
“The government must crack down on mob violence and restore police authority. With an interim administration in place, swift elections are crucial to reinstating stable, experienced leadership,” Gomes added.
Meanwhile, the violence has transcended the political sphere. The targets of sectarian violence now include people targeted for religious reasons or even personal habits. On 28 February, two young women were attacked in Dhaka for smoking a cigarette.
Last month, a Catholic teacher was brutally beaten after being falsely accused of insulting the Prophet Muhammad. Extremists publicly humiliated him, "garlanded" him with shoes, and kicked and punched him. The police intervened, but instead of protecting him, they arrested him.
“I’m terrified to walk outside now. People criticise my clothes, spit at me for wearing a shirt. I have to flee just to avoid being attacked,” said a Catholic woman who works for an NGO, speaking anonymously.
For Syeda Rizwana Hasan, an adviser to the interim administration, “the government does not tolerate summary justice in any form.”
Speaking on 12 July, at a public event in Savar, on the outskirts of Dhaka, she said that, “Every time an incident like this occurs, the perpetrators are arrested. No one has escaped justice.”
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