Video footage appeared on social media showing Bangladesh Army soldiers blindfolding a teenager and torturing him in front of the public.
Blindfolder teenager is Hridoy Pal, a school student from Bangladesh’s Faridpur district. Allegedly using religious sentiments, unruly terrorists are telling the army, ‘Hit him, hit him on tow’. The army is also beating the teenager, as they say, blindfolded and beating on the feet. And the terrorists are cheering.
The Bangladesh army crackdown led to violence across the country as student protesters fought back against the riot police, often armed only with crude weapons, and university campuses became war zones. Witnesses accused police of firing live ammunition at protesters and have been blamed for a large number of deaths. Unofficial figures have put the death toll at more than 1000, while thousands are thought to have been injured.
About 10,000 people have so far been arrested, mostly members and the top leadership of the BNP, along with several student organisers, as Hasina’s government is accused of trying to shift the blame for the violence and fatalities away from state agencies.
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has resigned after weeks of deadly anti-government protests, ending her more than two decades of dominance of the country’s politics.
Ms Hasina, 76, fled the country, reportedly landing in India.
Jubilant crowds took to the streets to celebrate the news, with some storming the prime ministerial palace, reportedly looting and vandalising parts of her former residence.
Hours after Ms Hasina’s resignation, President Mohammed Shahabuddin ordered the release of jailed former prime minister Khaleda Zia and all students detained during recent protests against a quota system for government jobs.
The army took over power after Hasina left the country, and nothing changed as the army began its torture to grab power in every civil sector in Bangladesh.
The military’s actions are being closely watched, given that Bangladesh has experienced 29 actual or attempted coups in its half-century history. While the army is now trying to facilitate the formation of an interim government, there are concerns that the military itself could take power.
This risk is amplified because the underlying divisions in the country’s security forces became evident during the struggle over Hasina’s future. The military supported her (including newly appointed army chief Waker-Uz-Zaman, whose wife is Hasina’s cousin). In contrast, several former military officers (including one a former army chief) backed the anti-government movement. The decision by security forces to refrain from using force to quell demonstrations on Monday arguably led to the collapse of the government.
But an army-backed new government must also look further ahead and address the country’s myriad structural challenges. It must prioritise security for its citizens and protect the country’s economic development, but both require a period of stability within its splintered politics.
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