Latest news with #HabiburRahman
South China Morning Post
03-08-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
A year on, Bangladesh's revolutionaries question gains: ‘is this what we fought for?'
A year after the autocrat Sheikh Hasina was toppled, Habibur Rahman still carries the physical scars of Bangladesh 's revolution – he walks with a limp and says the birdshot lodged in his skull sometimes pulses like a warning. Advertisement But it is his right eye – sightless, unmoving and faintly crimson – that tells the real story of those bloody, chaotic days. On July 18, 2024 , riot police opened fire on demonstrators in Dhaka's Jatrabari neighbourhood, on Hasina's orders. Students had taken to the streets after several unarmed classmates were killed protesting against a rigged public service job quota system. Habibur, then 24, was near the front line and never saw police open fire with shotguns. The pellets tore through his face, neck and shoulder. Now he will never again see from his eye. Habibur Rahman was permanently blinded in his right eye by birdshot fired by Bangladeshi security forces. Photo: Sazzad Hossain Habibur – who also goes by Habib – still keeps the blood-soaked shirt he wore that day folded in a drawer he rarely opens, a painful, hidden memory of the moment student protests erupted into a national revolt that ultimately ousted a dictator.
The Print
20-06-2025
- Politics
- The Print
Don't just blame Yunus for Tagore house destruction. Bangladesh radicalism goes way back
According to Bangladesh media reports, the chaos began with a misunderstanding on 8 June. A dispute over parking fee led to an altercation between an on-duty employee and a visitor at Kachharibari, now the Rabindra Memorial Museum (okay?). 'Custodian of the archaeology department, Habibur Rahman, was accused of assaulting and detaining a visitor named Shahnewaz. As the investigation was ongoing, a human chain was formed on 10 June by locals supporting Shahnewaz, demanding punishment for Habibur Rahman and other responsible staff,' Prothom Alo English reported. On 10 June, a mob vandalised Kachharibari, Tagore's ancestral home and favourite writing spot in Bangladesh's Sirajganj district. As India registers its strong protest, the question to ask is this: Is the current Muhammad Yunus administration the only one to be blamed for the naked rise of radical hatred? Bangladesh is tearing out pages of history to rewrite its origin story. It is pulling down old structures to make way for a radical new world – not metaphorically, but in reality. After toppling statues of its founding figure Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, removing his portraits from all government offices and foreign embassies, and replacing his face on currency notes, Bangladesh is now turning on Rabindranath Tagore. The Nobel laureate, who wrote the country's national anthem 'Amar Sonar Bangla', is being sacrificed as an inconvenient truth in Bangladesh's age of rage. As the protest turned tense, some people entered the site with the intention of attacking employees. Several staff members were injured in the process, the report stated. Bangladesh's cultural affairs ministry issued a statement in this regard, saying that no artefact or structure associated with Rabindranath Tagore was damaged during the incident. The attack had no political or communal motives, the ministry stressed in its statement, adding that security on the site has since been reinforced. Bangladeshi social media influencers, however, put out images depicting extensive damage to a bedroom and library at Kachharibari. Although it is hard to verify the veracity of these viral images, Bangladeshi political journalist Sahidul Hasan Khokon told me that a mob did break into Kachharibari, destroying everything in its path. 'The Yunus administration has become deft at underplaying attacks and skirting responsibility,' Khokon said. When Hindus were attacked in the country after the fall of Sheikh Hasina's government, Khokon added, the interim government first denied them and then said that they were 'not communal but political'. 'This time, the interim government has concocted a story to blame the attack on Tagore's legacy on a parking ticket argument. It would have been comical if the event wasn't so tragic.' India responded firmly: 'We strongly condemn the vandalisation of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore's ancestral home by a mob in Bangladesh on June 8th 2025. The violent act is a disgrace to his inclusive philosophy,' MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking his intervention for 'a strong international protest', which she said, 'would at least deter in future any attack on monuments of cultural legacies'. Bangladesh's hate tale, though, has its genesis in Sheikh Hasina's Hefazat story. Also read: Yunus is struggling to remain relevant in Bangladesh Hasina's radical deal Muhammad Yunus has been complicit in giving a free rein to the radical elements within Bangladesh since Sheikh Hasina's exit. And this complicity is not limited to the rising influence of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh. As journalist Snigdhendu Bhattacharya wrote in his article for The Diplomat: 'Among other incidents that a section of Bangladesh's civil society members consider warning signs are the public rallies and poster campaign by the banned terror group, Hizb ut Tahir and the release of Mufti Jashimuddin Rahmani, chief of the Ansarullah Bangla Team, an Al-Qaeda-inspired militant outfit renamed as Ansar al Islam.' But it was Sheikh Hasina's nod to the Hefazat-e-Islam – a Deobandi Islamist advocacy group consisting mostly of religious teachers and students in Bangladesh – that led to the spread of radicalism across Bangladesh. According to Robayet Ahmed, a former Bangladeshi politician and NGO worker, Hefazat was formed with the assistance of Sheikh Hasina's arch-rival and the first female Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Khaleda Zia, who is currently the chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. Hefazat had risen as a counter to Ganajagaran Mancha, a big-tent coalition of students and activists that demanded the death penalty for war criminals of 1971 and a progressive, secular Bangladesh. While Ganajagaran Mancha activists fought for a secular Bangladesh, Hefazat countered them with hard Islam, often accusing Mancha activists of spreading atheism in Bangladeshi society. 'Initially, Sheikh Hasina took a tough stance against Hefazat-e-Islam but later established amicable relations in exchange for financial and other incentives, following the advice of her then-military secretary, who even publicly participated in Hefazat's gatherings. At their recommendation, the curriculum was increasingly Islamised, and numerous madrasas were established, allowing Hefazat to grow under government patronage,' Ahmed wrote. Rezwana Karim Snigdha, associate professor at the Department of Anthropology in Jahangirnagar University in Bangladesh, told me over a phone call that Hasina betrayed her mandate for a secular, progressive Bangladesh by cutting a deal with Hefazat. 'She negotiated with the radical Hefazat, and pushed the country back into the hands of the very fundamentalists she had vowed to fight against.' According to Snigdha, Hefazat – consisting mainly of Sunni clerics heading a network of 19,199 Quami madrasas and their students – tore apart bit by bit not just the secular fabric of Bangladesh but also independent voices like hers. 'Before 2008, there were not so many madrasas in Dhaka. It was a modern, cosmopolitan city. Now, every lane has a madrasa, and all credit goes to Hasina.' Snigdha, a well-known gender rights activist in Bangladesh, is not surprised at what is happening in her country today. 'Independent voices like mine are being stifled, what women should and should not wear in public is being determined, and attacks on secular and historical institutions are becoming commonplace.' The Yunus administration could have, perhaps, stopped the fire of hate from engulfing Tagore's house. But it was lit long before the chief adviser assumed office. Deep Halder is an author and a contributing editor at ThePrint. He tweets @deepscribble. Views are personal. (Edited by Zoya Bhatti)
Economic Times
12-06-2025
- Economic Times
Mob vandalises Rabindranath Tagore's ancestral mansion in Bangladesh, raises hateful slogans, watch viral video
Scuffle over parking fee triggers violence — amitmalviya (@amitmalviya) Mob vandalises auditorium, director assaulted Probe panel formed, visitor access suspended Live Events Historical significance of Kachharibari (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel A mob vandalised Rabindranath Tagore 's ancestral mansion in Bangladesh's Sirajganj district after a dispute over parking fees led to local unrest. The Department of Archaeology has suspended visitor entry and formed a three-member committee to investigate the incident, according to and June 8, a visitor arrived at the Rabindra Kachharibari, also known as Rabindra Memorial Museum, in Sirajganj with his family. A dispute broke out between the visitor and a staff member at the entrance over the parking fee for a motorcycle, as quoted by PTI, citing situation escalated when the visitor was allegedly locked inside an office room and physically assaulted. The incident sparked local anger, leading to a protest in the form of a human chain on June the protest, a mob stormed the museum premises and vandalised the auditorium of the Kachharibari. The attackers also reportedly assaulted a director of the response, the Department of Archaeology has set up a three-member committee to investigate the matter, as reported by BSS news agency. The committee has been asked to submit its report within five working Habibur Rahman, Custodian of the Kacharibari, told journalists, 'The authority has temporarily suspended the access of the visitors into the Kacharibari due to unavoidable circumstances.'Located in Shahzadpur in the Rajshahi division, the Kachharibari served as the Tagore family's revenue office and residence. Rabindranath Tagore, the Nobel laureate, wrote many of his notable literary works at this site.
Arab News
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Bangladesh court begins first trial of Hasina-era officials
DHAKA: Bangladesh began the first trial on Sunday at a special court prosecuting former senior figures connected to the ousted government of Sheikh Hasina, the chief prosecutor said. The court in the capital Dhaka accepted a formal charge against eight police officials in connection to the killing of six protesters on August 5 last year, the day Hasina fled the country as the protesters stormed her palace. The eight men are charged with crimes against humanity. Four are in custody and four are being tried in absentia. 'The formal trial has begun,' Tajul Islam, chief prosecutor of Bangladesh's domestic International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), told reporters. 'The prosecution believes that this prosecution will be able to prove the crimes done by the accused,' he said. It is the first formal charge in any case related to the killings during last year's student-led uprising, which ended Hasina's iron-fisted rule of 15 years. Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024 when Hasina's government launched a brutal campaign to silence the protesters, according to the United Nations. The list of those facing trial includes Dhaka's former police commissioner, Habibur Rahman, who is among those being tried in absentia. Hasina also fled by helicopter to India, her old ally. She remains in self-imposed exile, defying Dhaka's extradition request to face charges of crimes against humanity. The launch of the trials of senior figures from Hasina's government is a key demand of several of the political parties now jostling for power as the South Asian nation awaits elections that the interim government has vowed will take place before June 2026. Islam said the eight men were accused of 'different responsibilities,' including the most senior for 'superior command responsibility, some for direct orders.. (and) some for participation.' He said he was confident of a successful prosecution. 'We have submitted as much evidence as required to prove crimes against humanity, both at a national and an international standard,' he said. Among that evidence, he said, was video footage of the violence, as well as voice recordings of Hasina in 'conversations with different people where she ordered the killing of the protesters using force and lethal weapons.' The ICT was set up by Hasina in 2009 to investigate crimes committed by the Pakistani army during Bangladesh's war for independence in 1971. It sentenced numerous prominent political opponents to death over the following years and became widely seen as a means for Hasina to eliminate rivals.
