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| 2013 Bangladesh violence | |
|---|---|
| Location | Bangladesh |
| Date | 28 February 2013 - 17 May 2013 |
| Injured | 800+ [1] |
| ||
|---|---|---|
First Premiership (1996–2001) Opposition Leader (2001–2009) Second Premiership (2009–2024)
Elections Ministries National Projects Others  | ||
2013 Bangladesh violence refers to the political instability, increase in crime and widespread attacks of minorities and opposition activists.
The year 2013 was one of the deadliest since Bangladesh's independence four decades earlier. Local sources reported that over 500 people were killed in political violence. [2] Human Rights Watch noted that many people were killed and thousands were injured amid the political crisis surrounding upcoming elections and the conduct of war crimes trials. [3] These acts of violence were perpetrated by Bangladesh police forces, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), and opposition parties. Human Rights Watch documented numerous serious violent acts by opposition party members and supporters. Additionally, Bangladesh's security forces, led by the ruling party, were involved in numerous extrajudicial killings. [4] [5]
On 5 February 2013, protests erupted in Shahbagh, Dhaka, Bangladesh, in response to a International Crimes Tribunal's life imprisonment sentence for Abdul Quader Molla, a Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami leader convicted of war crimes during the 1971 Liberation War. Many Bangladeshis deemed the sentence too lenient, sparking mass demonstrations led by bloggers and online activists. [6] Shahbagh Square became the heart of this movement, known as the Ganajagaran Mancha (Mass Awakening Platform), with participants from all walks of life demanding the death penalty and greater accountability for war criminals. The movement reignited national unity and highlighted issues of justice and human rights in Bangladesh. [7] [8]
On 28 February 2013, Thursday, the ICT, found Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delwar Hossain Sayeedi guilty of 8 out of 20 charges leveled against him including murder, rape and torture during the 1971 war of independence [9] [10] [11]
On Sunday and Monday, 3 and 4 March, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami enforced a 48-hour hartal. [9] Protests led by Jamaate Islami activists and Sayeedi supporters were carried out during these strikes. [9] Bangladesh Nationalist Party supported the strike and called for another daylong strike on 5 March. [12] Police shot dead 31 protestors during the initial clashes. [13] According to Human Rights Watch, members of the Border Guards Bangladesh, and the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) shot live ammunition and rubber bullets into unarmed crowds, which included children, conducted sweeping arrests and used other forms of excessive force during and after protests. [10] One eyewitness recalling the death of his 17-year-old family member described how he was shot after walking back from afternoon prayers: [10]
I saw [him] on the ground with blood coming from his head. I tried to drag his body to the side. It was the first time I had seen a dead body so I was in shock. They were still shooting, so I ran down the road. … When the RAB officers stopped shooting they dragged [him] like a carcass and flung him into the car.
During the clashes a total of 80 individuals were shot dead by police. [9] Police says that it did all these killings in "self defense." [13]
Police sued 98,000 people for committing violence and imposed Section 144 in several districts. [14]
After the verdict of Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, attacks on Hindu community occurred in several districts of Bangladesh including Noakhali, Lakshmipur, Chittagong, Comilla, Brahmanbaria, Cox's Bazar, Bagerhat, Gaibandha, Rangpur, Dinajpur, Lalmonirhat, Barisal, Bhola, Barguna, Satkhira, Chapainawabganj, Natore, Sylhet, Manikganj, Munshiganj. [15] [16] [17] Several temples were vandalized. 2 Hindus died due to injuries in the violence. [18] [19] In a BBC News report, Anbarasan Ethirajan wrote that "the recent violence is mainly blamed on the opposition Jamaat-e-Islami party, whose leaders are facing war crimes at the tribunal. But the party - which opposed Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan - denies the charges." [20] Amnesty International expressed concern on the anti-Hindu attacks and urged the government of Bangladesh to provide them with better protection. [21] [22] Abbas Faiz, Bangladesh Researcher of Amnesty International has said that, since the obvious risks the Hindu minority face in Bangladesh, these attacks were predictable. [23] [24] [25]
On 5 May, mass protests took place at Shapla Square in the Motijheel area of capital Dhaka. The protests were organized by the Islamist pressure group, Hefazat-e Islam, who were demanding the enactment of a blasphemy law. [26] [27] The government responded to the protests by cracking down on the protesters using a combined force drawn from the police, Rapid Action Battalion and paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh to drive the protesters out of Shapla Square. [28] [29] [30] [31]
Following the events at Motijheel, protests in other parts of the country also broke out, during which 27 people died, [32] [33] [34] although different sources report casualty numbers ranging from 20 to 61. [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] The opposition party BNP initially claimed thousands of Hefazat activists were killed during the operation, but this was disputed by the government. [38] [39] Human Rights Watch and other human rights organizations put the total death toll at above 50, [38] but rights groups have termed the events as a massacre. [10] [40] Initial attempts to dispute the chain of events were thwarted due to the government closure of two television channels, Diganta Television and Islamic TV, which were live telecasting the operation. [41]
From 2013, attacks number of secularist writers, bloggers, and publishers and members of religious minorities such as Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, and Shias were killed or seriously injured in attacks that are believed to have been perpetrated by Islamist extremists. [42] [43] These attacks have been largely blamed by extremist groups such as Ansarullah Bangla Team and Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
A joint operation by Border Guards Bangladesh, Rapid Action Battalion and Bangladesh police took place in different places of Satkhira district to hunt down the activists of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami. They began on 16 December 2013 and continued after the 2014 Bangladesh election. [40] There are allegations that various formations of the Indian military participated in the crackdown, an allegation that Bangladesh government denies. [35] [44]
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has strongly condemned the action of law enforcement forces. [45] The chairperson of BNP, Khaleda Zia, has termed the spate of deaths across the country as "genocide" and accused the government of oppressing the opposition parties. [46] The BNP Acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir blamed the government for the ongoing hate attacks on the minorities (i.e. Hindu community) across Bangladesh. [16] On the other hand, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni condemned reports of Jamaat-e-Islami activists attacking minority Hindus and their temples in different parts of the country. [47] She said, "It is unfortunate and deplorable. The (Bangladesh) government will not tolerate any attempt to destabilize the country, or allow any breach of communal harmony."
Several international organizations have expressed their concern over the recent violence in Bangladesh as an aftermath of the verdict. Human Rights Watch urged restraint on all sides. [48]
Recognizing the right of the people to protest, the United Nations deputy spokesman Eduardo del Buey said, "The Secretary-General [of the U.N.] recognizes the right of people to protest, and it's the responsibility of both the authorities and the people protesting to assure this is done in a very peaceful manner." [45]
The United Kingdom has expressed sadness over the violence and the number of senseless and unnecessary deaths that have taken place across Bangladesh during the past few days. [49] The British High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Robert Gibson, said, "I deplore the cruel and unwarranted attacks on places of worship and private property." He added, "This great achievement risks being undermined by the callous and unacceptable actions of a few. While every citizen has the right to mount a peaceful protest, intimidation and imposition of strikes disrupts the lives of all citizens and hampers the operation of legitimate business. This is sending a negative signal to the international community and those wishing to invest in Bangladesh." [49] [50] Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird also expressed Canada's concern for Bangladesh. [51] The United States has also expressed their concern over the attacks on homes, temples and shops owned by Hindu community in Bangladesh and called government to ensure safety of its citizens. [52]
Ghulam Azam was a Bangladeshi politician. He was the former leader of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, the oldest and the largest Islamic political party in Bangladesh.
Delwar Hossain Sayeedi was a Bangladeshi Islamist leader, politician, public speaker, and convicted war criminal, who served as a Member of Parliament representing the Pirojpur-1 constituency from 1996 to 2006.
The Islami Oikya Jote is a political party in Bangladesh and allied with the former Four Party Alliance.
Bangladesh Islami Chhatrashibir is a Islamist student organization based in Bangladesh. It was established on 6 February 1977. The organisation is generally understood to be the student wing of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and several of the leaders of the student organisation have gone on to become notable leaders within Jamaat.
Motiur Rahman Nizami was a politician, former Minister of Bangladesh, Islamic scholar, writer and the former leader of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami. He is noted for leading Al-Badr during the Bangladesh Liberation War. On 29 October 2014, he was convicted of masterminding the Demra massacre by the International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh. Nizami was the Member of Parliament for the Pabna-1 constituency from 1991 to 1996 and again from 2001 to 2006. He also served as the Bangladeshi Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Industry.
Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed was a Bangladeshi politician who served as a Member of Parliament and as the Minister of Social Welfare from 2001 to 2007. He was executed in 2015 for war crimes committed during the 1971 Liberation war of Bangladesh.
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, previously known as Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, is the largest Islamist political party in Bangladesh.
General elections were held in Bangladesh on 5 January 2014, in accordance with the constitutional requirement that elections must take place within the 90-day period before the expiration of the term of the Jatiya Sangshad on 24 January 2014.
The International Crimes Tribunal (Bangladesh) (ICT of Bangladesh) is a domestic war crimes tribunal in Bangladesh set up in 2009 to investigate and prosecute suspects for the genocide committed in 1971 by the Pakistan Army and their local collaborators Razakars, Al-Badr and Al-Shams during the Bangladesh Liberation War. During the 2008 general election, the Awami League (AL) pledged to try war criminals. The government set up the tribunal after the Awami League won the general election in December 2008 with a more than two-thirds majority in parliament.
Malaun is a derogatory religious slur for Bengali Hindus and Hindus in general, most commonly used by Bengali Muslims in Bangladesh. The word is derived from the Arabic "ملعون", meaning "accursed" or "deprived of God's Mercy".
2012 Chirirbandar violence refers to the attack on the minority Hindu community by Islamic extremists in Chirirbandar Upazila of Dinajpur District in the Division of Rangpur, Bangladesh on 4 August 2012.
Abdul Quader Mollah was a Bangladeshi Islamist leader, writer, and politician of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, who was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to death by the International Crimes Tribunal, Bangladesh (ICT) set up by the government of Bangladesh and hanged. The United Nations raised objections to the trial's fairness, while the general public in Bangladesh widely supported the execution.
On 5 February 2013, protests ignited in Shahbagh, Bangladesh, fueled by the call for the execution of the convicted war criminal Abdul Quader Mollah. Previously sentenced to life imprisonment, Mollah was convicted on five of six counts of war crimes by the International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh. Mollah supported the West Pakistan during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War and played a crucial role in the murder of numerous Bengali nationalists and intellectuals. The demonstrations also sought the government's ban on the radical right-wing and conservative-Islamist group, Jamaat-e-Islami from participating in politics, including elections, and a boycott of institutions supporting or affiliated with the group.
On 28 February 2013, the International Crimes Tribunal sentenced Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, the vice-president of the Jamaat-e-Islami to death for war crimes committed during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. Following the sentence, activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir attacked Hindus in different parts of the country. Hindu properties were looted, Hindu houses were burnt into ashes and Hindu temples were desecrated and set on fire. While the government has held the Jamaat-e-Islami responsible for the attacks on minorities, the Jamaat-e-Islami leadership has denied any involvement. Minority leaders have protested the attacks and appealed for justice. The Supreme Court of Bangladesh has directed law enforcement to start suo motu investigation into the attacks. The US Ambassador to Bangladesh expressed concern about attacks by Jamaat on the Bengali Hindu community.
2013 (MMXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2013th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 13th year of the 3rd millennium and the 21st century, and the 4th year of the 2010s decade.
Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh is a far-right conservative-islamic advocacy group consisted mostly of hard-line religious teachers and students. The group is mainly based on qawmi madrasas in Bangladesh. In 2013, they submitted a 13-point charter to the Government of Bangladesh, which included the demand for the enactment of a blasphemy law. Although it started as a fundamentlist group, later it began to drift towards Moderate Islam with Awami League administration recognizing Qawmi Madrasah degrees and forming a anti radical Islamism unity.
The Siege of Dhaka also known as Shapla Square protests, Operation Shapla or Operation Flash Out by security forces refers to the protests, and subsequent shootings, of 5 and 6 May 2013 at Shapla Square located in the Motijheel district, the main financial area of Dhaka, Bangladesh. The protests were organized by the Islamist advocacy group, Hefazat-e Islam, who were demanding the enactment of a blasphemy law. The government responded to the protests by cracking down on the protesters using a combined force drawn from the police, Rapid Action Battalion and paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh to drive the protesters out of Shapla Square.
The movement demanding trial of war criminals is a protest movement in Bangladesh, from 1972 to present demanding trial of the perpetrators of 1971 Bangladesh genocide during the Bangladesh Liberation War from Pakistan.
On 5 January 2014, the 10th general elections were held in Bangladesh. The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its ally Jamaat-e-Islami had already boycotted the elections. The buildup to the elections were marred by successive strikes and violence by the opposition parties. Victims claimed after the polls, workers and supporters of the opposition parties began attacking the minority Bengali Hindus. Accusing of looting, vandalising and setting the Hindu houses on fire in several districts across the country. Seven persons belonging to the Jamaat-e-Islami and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party were arrested in connection with the attacks. The National Human Rights Commission held the government responsible for the attacks on Hindus after the election. In India, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party condemned the attacks on minorities.
Attacks by Islamist extremists in Bangladesh took place during a period of turbulence in Bangladesh between 2013 and 2016 when a number of secularist and atheist writers, bloggers, and publishers in Bangladesh; foreigners; homosexuals; and religious minorities such as Hindus, Buddhists, Christians and Ahmadis who were seen as having offended Islam and Muhammad were attacked in retaliation, with many killed by Muslim extremists. By 2 July 2016, a total of 48 people, including 20 foreign nationals, had been killed in such attacks. These attacks were largely blamed on extremist groups such as Ansarullah Bangla Team and Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. The Bangladeshi government was criticized for its response to the attacks, which included charging and jailing some of the secularist bloggers for allegedly defaming some religious groups; or hurting the religious sentiments of different religious groups; or urging the bloggers to flee overseas. This strategy was seen by some as pandering to hard line elements within Bangladesh's Muslim majority population. About 89% of the population in Bangladesh is Sunni Muslim. The government's eventual crackdown in June 2016 was also criticized for its heavy-handedness, as more than 11,000 people were arrested in a little more than a week.
