Latest news with #BangladeshHumanRightsWatch
The Hindu
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Bangladesh rights group demands 'independent investigation' into the air force jet crash that killed many in Dhaka
The crash of a military aircraft in Dhaka that killed a large number of students and teachers should be properly investigated and the interim government should publish the names of the victims who perished in this incident, said a human rights outfit that is highlighting the unfolding state of affairs in Bangladesh under the interim government. At a media event held in New Delhi on Wednesday (July 23, 2025) Mohammed Ali Siddiqui, secretary general of Bangladesh Human Rights Watch said the investigation into the incident should be 'above politics' and expressed solidarity with the affected people in the recent violent clashes in Gopalganj, the site of the memorial for the founder of Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The event organised at the Press Club of India, was held even as Chief Adviser Prof Mohammed Yunus assured the affected families of relief and compensation. Earlier on Tuesday, a protest regarding the deadly crash turned into a clash between the protestors and the law and order authorities in Dhaka leaving several individuals injured. Mr Siddiqui said the interim government has 'failed to respond to the legitimate grievances of the grieving public' and said, 'On what should have been an ordinary day, the training jet of Bangladesh Air Force crashed onto the school grounds, resulting in the deaths and injuries of many innocent children, dedicated teachers and caring guardians, and the young pilot leaving the nation devastated.' The Bangladesh Human Rights Watch had organised the event mentioning that former ministers who were part of the deposed Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government would participate in the event. Mr Siddiqui however said that in view of the tragic crash of the Bangladesh Air Force's Chinese-made F-7 aircraft in Dhaka, the leaders of the Bangladesh Awami League decided to stay away from the event while confirming that some of the top leaders of the Awami League are at present in New Delhi. He further told the reporters at the event that the Awami League which was banned by the interim government led by Prof. Mohammed Yunus will hold events in India in the near future. His team distributed several booklets including a pamphlet documenting the personal details of 110 Members of Parliament of the Awami League and its coalition partners who were sent to prison after the interim government took charge. Beginning with the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government on 5 August 2024, the law and order situation in Bangladesh has been marked by frequent clashes between groups, attacks on vulnerable communities and a perceived rise in extremist forces. India has been protesting the attacks on minority religious communities and urged Bangladesh last week to hold an 'inclusive' election. India on Tuesday joined China and Japan in assuring assistance to the victims of the deadly fighter jet crash in Dhaka. The Ministry of External Affairs had said, 'A team of burn-specialist doctors and nurses with necessary medical support are scheduled to visit Dhaka shortly to treat the victims.'
Hindustan Times
6 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Delhi: Awami League leaders' news conference on ‘Bangladesh genocide' put off
New Delhi: A news conference by Awami League leaders and former ministers to speak about 'genocide in Bangladesh' was put off at the last moment on Wednesday, with the organisers saying the event had been adjourned out of respect for the victims of a deadly plane crash in Dhaka this week. Former Bangladesh premier Sheikh Hasina. (File Photo / AP) The event in New Delhi was organised by the Bangladesh Human Rights Watch (BHRW), whose US-based secretary general, Muhammad Ali Siddiqui, is known to be close to the Awami League and former Bangladesh premier Sheikh Hasina. Siddiqui has organised several events in the US in support of the Awami League and Hasina, whose government collapsed last August following weeks of protests led by students. The organisers had said that 'dignitaries and ministers' of the Awami League would address the news conference on 'military atrocities in Gopalganj and genocide in Bangladesh'. This was a reference to the death of four people during violence that erupted at a rally on July 16 by the student-led National Citizen Party in Gopalganj town, the hometown of Bangladesh's founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. When journalists gathered for the event, Siddiqui read out a statement that said the event was being adjourned out of respect for the victims of the plane crash at an educational institution in Dhaka on Monday. More than 35 people, mostly children, were killed and some 170 others injured when a military training aircraft crashed into the institution. 'In light of this grave tragedy and out of respect for the victims and their grieving families, we have made the difficult decision to adjourn the press conference,' Siddiqui said, adding a fresh date for the event will be announced in 'due course'. He also sought an 'independent investigation' into the air crash and repeated the Awami League's accusations against the caretaker administration led by Muhammad Yunus. Several former ministers of the Awami League, including Hasan Mahmud, Obaidul Quader, Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury Nowfel, have visited New Delhi over the past few days, and some of them were expected to take part in the news conference, people familiar with the matter said. The Bangladeshi side had informally conveyed its concerns about the event to the external affairs ministry, especially the impact it would have in the neighbouring country ahead of the first anniversary of the ouster of the Hasina government on August 5, the people said on condition of anonymity. 'It was pointed out that there are efforts underway to engage with the Indian side to normalise relations. Besides, the Indian side has said that it does not support any party in Bangladesh and such an event could have had an effect on that stance,' one of the people said. There was no official word on the development from the Indian side. India-Bangladesh ties have been at a low since the interim government led by Yunus assumed office. The Indian side has criticised the caretaker administration's handling of the repression of Bangladesh's minorities, especially Hindus, and New Delhi has imposed several import restrictions that have hit the flow of Bangladeshi goods through Indian land and sea ports.
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First Post
20-07-2025
- Politics
- First Post
How Yunus' assault on shared Bengali heritage betrays his own nation
The Gopalganj violence, the failure to conduct autopsies, and the move to demolish Satyajit Ray's ancestral home are not mere missteps but a profound betrayal of the Bangladeshi people's trust and their shared history with India read more It is absolutely essential that the Yunus-led interim government take immediate steps to restore Bangladesh's democratic character while safeguarding the rich Bengali heritage that defines the nation and its deep ties with India. Image: AP The bloodbath in Gopalganj on July 16, 2025, is a gut-wrenching testament to the catastrophic failure of Muhammad Yunus's interim government, a regime that has plunged Bangladesh into a vortex of violence and cultural betrayal. This wasn't just a clash; it was a massacre, with at least five confirmed dead—though Bangladesh Human Rights Watch (BHRW) suggests a staggering 21 fatalities, a number the government refuses to verify. The Nationalist Citizens' Party (NCP), widely seen as Yunus's puppet, sparked the chaos by confronting Awami League supporters in Gopalganj, the symbolic heartland of Sheikh Hasina and the birthplace of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The state's response was not justice but repression: a suffocating curfew, over 160 arrests, and a chilling refusal to conduct autopsies on the victims, as confirmed by Jibitesh Biswas, superintendent of Gopalganj General Hospital. No death certificates were issued, and Dhaka Range DIG Rezaul Karim Mallick's vague promise of 'legal procedures' is a hollow insult to the grieving. As someone who holds Bangladesh's storied resilience close, I'm enraged by this desecration of Gopalganj, a place that embodies the nation's fight for freedom, now stained by a government that seems to revel in tearing it apart. This isn't an isolated tragedy but a symptom of a broader collapse under Yunus's watch since August 2024. The interim government has presided over a relentless wave of violence—murders, mob lynchings, rapes, and attacks on minorities—that has left Bangladesh's social fabric in tatters. The brutal killing of Lal Chand Sohag in Dhaka and the gang rape in Cumilla are not anomalies but glaring evidence of a nation spiralling into lawlessness. Yunus, with breathtaking arrogance, claims crime statistics show 'stabilisation', a lie so blatant it mocks the fear gripping ordinary citizens. The move to demolish the ancestral home of Harikishore Ray Chowdhury, Satyajit Ray's forebear, in Mymensingh—once the Mymensingh Shishu Academy—is a deliberate act of cultural vandalism. India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) requested for its preservation, offering to fund its transformation into a museum celebrating the shared Bengali heritage of both the nations. West Bengal's Mamata Banerjee echoed this plea, but Yunus's regime responded by saying that the said house has no connection to Satyajit Ray whatsoever, hell-bent on erasing a piece of history that binds India and Bangladesh. Belayat Hossain Mamun, general secretary of the Federation of Film Societies of Bangladesh, warns this is a trial run for further destruction, potentially targeting Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury's birthplace in Moshua, Kishoreganj. The contrast with Sheikh Hasina's government, which restored the Kishoreganj site, is stark—Yunus seems intent on obliterating the very soul of Bengal. Sheikh Hasina's blistering statement cuts through the fog of this crisis with razor-sharp clarity. She brands Yunus a 'murderer-fascist', accusing him of orchestrating a conspiracy to dismantle Bangladesh's identity through his NCP proxies. Her words are not mere passion but a righteous cry against a regime that has desecrated sacred symbols: Bangabandhu's residence, the Liberation War Museum, the national flag, the anthem, and the Constitution. She points to the NCP's 'March to Gopalganj' as a calculated assault on Bangabandhu's mausoleum in Tungipara, a site she rightly calls the heart of Bengali identity. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Hasina's assertion that 'Bangabandhu and Bangladesh are one and inseparable' resonates deeply, as does her praise for the people of Gopalganj, who, despite facing tear gas and bullets, stood as guardians of their heritage. The state's response—indiscriminate gunfire on civilians—surpasses, as she puts it, 'medieval barbarity'. The refusal to conduct autopsies or inquests, as admitted by hospital and police officials, reeks of a cover-up, a desperate bid to bury the truth of this bloodshed. Hasina's call for resistance is a rallying cry for a nation under siege by its own government. The international community is sounding the alarm, and rightly so. BHRW, in a scathing letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, accuses the Bangladesh Army of complicity in the Gopalganj crackdown, a charge echoed by a UK-based human rights group. BHRW's claim of 21 deaths underscores the scale of this tragedy, far beyond the government's sanitised narrative. The NCP, derisively (and accurately) called 'the king's party', stands accused of unleashing a reign of terror—vandalising and burning Hindu temples, statues of national heroes, businesses, and public properties. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD This isn't just violence; it's a systematic campaign to erase Bangladesh's pluralistic identity. BHRW's demand for an independent UN investigation and the deployment of human rights observers is a damning verdict on Yunus's inability to govern. The silence from his administration, refusing to acknowledge the true death toll or address these accusations, only deepens the perception of a regime complicit in chaos. The world is watching, and Yunus's failure to act is a betrayal of the Bangladeshi people and their global allies. What stings most is the betrayal of the shared heritage between India and Bangladesh. Since Bangladesh's birth in 1971, India has been the unwavering friend of its people, standing shoulder-to-shoulder through the Liberation War and beyond, championing the dreams of a free, vibrant nation. The MEA's offer to rebuild Satyajit Ray's ancestral home was a gesture of brotherhood, a plea to preserve a legacy that transcends borders. Yunus's rejection of this olive branch is not just an insult to India but a slap in the face to the Bangladeshi people, who cherish their cultural roots. The destruction of such sites, coupled with the violence in Gopalganj, signals a regime that cares nothing for the shared history that has long united our nations. It's a gut-punch to those of us who see Bengali culture—its art, its heroes, its spirit—as a bridge between two peoples. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD It is absolutely essential that the Yunus-led interim government take immediate steps to restore Bangladesh's democratic character while safeguarding the rich Bengali heritage that defines the nation and its deep ties with India. The Gopalganj violence, the failure to conduct autopsies, and the move towards demolition of Satyajit Ray's ancestral home are not mere missteps but a profound betrayal of the Bangladeshi people's trust and their shared history with India, a steadfast ally since 1971. The interim regime must heed the international outcry from groups like Bangladesh Human Rights Watch and honour India's plea to preserve cultural landmarks, such as transforming the Mymensingh site into a museum, as a symbol of unity. By prioritising transparent investigations into the Gopalganj deaths, curbing the NCP's violent excesses, and protecting sites like Bangabandhu's mausoleum and Upendrakishore's Kishoreganj home, the Yunus government can begin to rebuild public faith. Only through genuine democratic reforms and a commitment to preserving the pluralistic, cultural soul of Bangladesh can this government redeem itself and honour the aspirations of a people yearning for justice, stability, and preservation of their very identity. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The writer takes special interest in history, culture and geopolitics. The views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost's views.
