Latest news with #SheikhHasina
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Posts falsely link old images to July 2025 Bangladesh protest
Clashes involving supporters of ousted Bangladeshi premier Sheikh Hasina and security forces in July 2025 killed at least five people, but photos and videos shared in social media posts about the violence are old. The visuals predate the latest unrest by years, while a circulating video from June shows the arrest of a man who tried to steal a cow. "Dressed in police uniforms, they are shooting ordinary people indiscriminately after shutting down the internet in Gopalganj," reads a Bengali-language Facebook post shared on July 16, 2025. The attached photo shows armed policemen standing in a street. The post was shared after clashes erupted in Hasina's hometown of Gopalganj on July 16 when members of her Awami League party tried to foil a rally by the National Citizens Party (NCP), made up of many students who spearheaded the uprising that toppled her government last year (archived link). Human rights activists said security forces had fired indiscriminately during the unrest, killing at least five people. A separate Facebook post on July 17 featured a photo collage of men holding firearms, with a caption that suggested it showed members of the Awami League in Gopalganj. A separate video of police loading a man onto a police van surfaced on YouTube with the caption "Gopalganj" on July 17. Hasina's son, Sajeeb Wazed, had also shared the clip alongside claims it showed police handling a protester that was killed in a "shooting", though his post has since been taken down (archived link). Other posts on Instagram and YouTube also linked the visuals to the unrest in Gopalganj. But reverse image searches showed the photos and video are old and unrelated to the clashes. The photo of the armed police was published by local online outlet News Bangla in September 2022 in a report about a policeman who shot an activist during a rally by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) to celebrate the organisation's founding (archived link). "On September 1, during a clash with BNP leaders and activists in Narayanganj, Intelligence Bureau Sub-Inspector Mahfuzur Rahman Kanak picked up another policeman's rifle and shot him," the caption of the photo says. The report says Kanak was removed from the intelligence force and transferred to the district police. The photo of a man holding a firearm shared in the collage was published by Jago News in a report about pro-government groups using weapons against student protesters pushing for a reform of the quota system for public sector jobs in the southeastern port city of Chittagong on July 16, 2024 (archived link). Those demonstrations eventually led to the wider anti-government uprising that year (archived link). The men seen in the other three images used in the collage match those seen in a photo published by The Daily Star on July 17, 2024 about the same protest (archived link). AFP found a higher resolution version of the video of a man being loaded onto a van in a Facebook post on June 4, 2025 (archived link). "A robber was caught at Bhadughar Bus Stand cattle market and beaten up before handed over to the police," its caption says. The Bhadughar Bus Stand is located in the eastern town of Brahmanbaria Upazila, about 170 kilometres (105 miles) from Gopalganj. Mozaffar Hossain, an officer in-charge at the local Brahmanbaria Sadar Model Police Station told AFP on July 24 the video was filmed at the Bhadughar Bus Stand cattle market on June 4. "The public caught the man red-handed when he attempted to steal a cow. He was handed over to us after being beaten by the people. Later we produced him before court," he said.
Times of Oman
2 days ago
- Politics
- Times of Oman
Unknown group tries to seize Bangladesh Awami League headquarters ahead of uprising anniversary
Dhaka: An unidentified group under the banner of the "International Institute on Fascism and Genocide" is trying to seize the headquarters of the Bangladesh Awami League located in the heart of the capital, Dhaka. Every room in the building is being cleaned, but no one can say whose orders it is being done under. Those responsible for supervising the work say the cleanup work will be completed before the anniversary of the fall of Sheikh Hasina in the student-led uprising on August 5. Shkhawat Hossain, who is in charge of supervising the cleaning work, told reporters, "This is an establishment from the era of the fascist Sheikh Hasina. We don't want more fascists to be born here. That's why we are taking it under control. No one's permission is needed for this work". A banner reading "International Institute on Fascism and Genocide" hangs at the Awami League headquarters located at 23, Bangabandhu Avenue in Dhaka. 10-12 workers clean the building every day. Some say the 10-story building will be used as a rest house for those leading the movement against Sheikh Hasina. The Bangladesh Awami League is a major political party in Bangladesh. Founded in 1949, it is the oldest existing party in the country. It played a vital role in the country's struggle for independence. The interim government has banned the activities of the Awami League led by Sheikh Hasina. After the fall of Sheikh Hasina, protesters burned down many of the party's offices, including the Awami League headquarters. Protesters are removing monuments of Sheikh Hasina and her father, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, one by one. Earlier, Protesters also demolished Sheikh Mujib's 32, Dhanmondi house, which is being used as a Bangabandhu museum. Sheikh Hasina was ousted in a Student-led uprising in August last year. After her fall, an interim government was formed under the leadership of Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Laureate.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘Shoot them': Sheikh Hasina ordered firing on Bangladesh protesters in 2024
Former prime minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, 'issued an open order' to 'use lethal weapons' on students protesting against her government's policies last year and shoot 'wherever they find them', her secret phone call recordings, accessed by Al Jazeera, have revealed. Hasina, who ruled Bangladesh for 15 years, resigned from office and fled to India on August 5 after weeks of bloody protests and brutal action by government forces killed nearly 1,400 people and wounded more than 20,000, according to the country's International Criminal Tribunal (ICT). The Al Jazeera Investigative Unit (I-Unit) had the recordings analysed by audio forensic experts to check for AI manipulation, and the callers were identified by voice matching. In one call, recorded on July 18 by the National Telecommunications Monitoring Centre (NTMC), Hasina told an ally that she had ordered her security forces to use lethal force. 'My instructions have already been given. I've issued an open order completely. Now they will use lethal weapons, shoot wherever they find them,' she said.. 'That has been instructed. I have stopped them so far … I was thinking about the students' safety.' Later in the call with Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, the mayor of Dhaka South and a relative of Hasina, the former PM talks about using helicopters to control demonstrations. 'Wherever they notice any gathering, it's from above – now it's being done from above – it has already started in several places. It has begun. Some [protesters] have moved.' At the time, Bangladeshi security forces had denied firing on protesters from the air, but Shabir Sharif, an accident and emergency doctor at the Popular Medical College Hospital in Dhaka, told the I-Unit that shots were fired from a helicopter 'targeting our hospital entrance'. He added that doctors attended to student protesters with unusual bullet wounds. 'The bullets entered either the shoulder or the chest, and they all remained inside the body. We were receiving more of these types of patients at that time,' he said. 'When we looked at the X-rays, we were surprised because there were huge bullets.' Al Jazeera has not been able to verify what type of bullets were used. Dr Shabir Sharif [Al Jazeera] The calls may be presented by prosecutors as evidence before the ICT, which has charged Hasina, her ministers and security officials with crimes against humanity. Hasina and two other officials were indicted on July 10, and the trial is scheduled to begin in August. Hasina's surveillance network, the NTMC, recorded these conversations. The NTMC has previously been accused of spying on not just opposition figures but even Hasina's political allies. Tajul Islam, chief prosecutor for the ICT, said the former prime minister knew she was being recorded. 'In some cases, the other side [would say we] … 'should not discuss this over telephone'. And the reply was from the prime minister, 'Yes, I know, I know, I know, I know, it is being recorded, no problem.'' 'She has dug a very deep ditch for others. Now she's in the ditch,' Islam said. Student protests started peacefully in June 2024 after the high court reintroduced an unpopular quota system that reserved state jobs for the families of veterans who fought in Bangladesh's war of independence in 1971. Many students felt the system favoured supporters of the ruling Awami League party, which had led the freedom movement, and that many jobs in the civil service were not awarded on merit. On July 16, student protester Abu Sayed was shot dead by police in the northern city of Rangpur. His death was a turning point in the July uprising, leading to a national outcry and intensifying the protests. In one secret phone recording of Hasina's ally and economics adviser, Salman F Rahman, he is heard trying to get hold of Sayed's postmortem report. During the call, Rahman quizzes inspector general of police, Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, wanting to know what had happened to the report. 'Why is it taking so long to get the postmortem report? Who's playing hide and seek? Rangpur Medical?' he asked, referring to Rangpur Medical College and Hospital, which was carrying out the autopsy on Sayed. Rangpur Medical College Hospital's Dr Rajibul Islam told Al Jazeera that police forced him to change Sayed's postmortem report five times to remove any reference to multiple bullet wounds. 'They wanted to write a report stating that Abu Sayed Bhai died due to injuries from stone-throwing … [whereas] he died from police bullets.' Twelve days after Sayed's death, his family were flown to Dhaka for a televised event with the prime minister. In all, about 40 families were gathered – all of them had relatives killed in the protests. 'Hasina forced us to come to Ganabhaban,' said Sayed's father, Maqbul Hossain, referring to the PM's residence. 'They forced us to come; otherwise, they might have tortured us in another way.' As the cameras recorded the event, Hasina handed out money to each family. She told Sayed's sister, Sumi Khatun: 'We will deliver justice to your family.' Khatun replied to the PM: 'It was shown in the video that the police shot him. What is there to investigate here? Coming here was a mistake.' In a statement to Al Jazeera, an Awami League spokesperson said Hasina had never used the phrase 'lethal weapons', and did not specifically authorise the security forces to use lethal force. 'This [Hasina's phone] recording is either cherry-picked, doctored or both.' The statement added that government efforts to investigate Abu Sayed's death were 'genuine'.
Al Jazeera
6 days ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
‘Shoot them': Sheikh Hasina ordered firing on Bangladesh protesters in 2024
Former prime minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, 'issued an open order' to 'use lethal weapons' on students protesting against her government's policies last year and shoot 'wherever they find them', her secret phone call recordings, accessed by Al Jazeera, have revealed. Hasina, who ruled Bangladesh for 15 years, resigned from office and fled to India on August 5 after weeks of bloody protests and brutal action by government forces killed nearly 1,400 people and wounded more than 20,000, according to the country's International Criminal Tribunal (ICT). The Al Jazeera Investigative Unit (I-Unit) had the recordings analysed by audio forensic experts to check for AI manipulation, and the callers were identified by voice matching. In one call, recorded on July 18 by the National Telecommunications Monitoring Centre (NTMC), Hasina told an ally that she had ordered her security forces to use lethal force. 'My instructions have already been given. I've issued an open order completely. Now they will use lethal weapons, shoot wherever they find them,' she said.. 'That has been instructed. I have stopped them so far … I was thinking about the students' safety.' Later in the call with Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, the mayor of Dhaka South and a relative of Hasina, the former PM talks about using helicopters to control demonstrations. 'Wherever they notice any gathering, it's from above – now it's being done from above – it has already started in several places. It has begun. Some [protesters] have moved.' At the time, Bangladeshi security forces had denied firing on protesters from the air, but Shabir Sharif, an accident and emergency doctor at the Popular Medical College Hospital in Dhaka, told the I-Unit that shots were fired from a helicopter 'targeting our hospital entrance'. He added that doctors attended to student protesters with unusual bullet wounds. 'The bullets entered either the shoulder or the chest, and they all remained inside the body. We were receiving more of these types of patients at that time,' he said. 'When we looked at the X-rays, we were surprised because there were huge bullets.' Al Jazeera has not been able to verify what type of bullets were used. The calls may be presented by prosecutors as evidence before the ICT, which has charged Hasina, her ministers and security officials with crimes against humanity. Hasina and two other officials were indicted on July 10, and the trial is scheduled to begin in August. Hasina's surveillance network, the NTMC, recorded these conversations. The NTMC has previously been accused of spying on not just opposition figures but even Hasina's political allies. Tajul Islam, chief prosecutor for the ICT, said the former prime minister knew she was being recorded. 'In some cases, the other side [would say we] … 'should not discuss this over telephone'. And the reply was from the prime minister, 'Yes, I know, I know, I know, I know, it is being recorded, no problem.'' 'She has dug a very deep ditch for others. Now she's in the ditch,' Islam said. Student protests started peacefully in June 2024 after the high court reintroduced an unpopular quota system that reserved state jobs for the families of veterans who fought in Bangladesh's war of independence in 1971. Many students felt the system favoured supporters of the ruling Awami League party, which had led the freedom movement, and that many jobs in the civil service were not awarded on merit. On July 16, student protester Abu Sayed was shot dead by police in the northern city of Rangpur. His death was a turning point in the July uprising, leading to a national outcry and intensifying the protests. In one secret phone recording of Hasina's ally and economics adviser, Salman F Rahman, he is heard trying to get hold of Sayed's postmortem report. During the call, Rahman quizzes inspector general of police, Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, wanting to know what had happened to the report. 'Why is it taking so long to get the postmortem report? Who's playing hide and seek? Rangpur Medical?' he asked, referring to Rangpur Medical College and Hospital, which was carrying out the autopsy on Sayed. Rangpur Medical College Hospital's Dr Rajibul Islam told Al Jazeera that police forced him to change Sayed's postmortem report five times to remove any reference to multiple bullet wounds. 'They wanted to write a report stating that Abu Sayed Bhai died due to injuries from stone-throwing … [whereas] he died from police bullets.' Twelve days after Sayed's death, his family were flown to Dhaka for a televised event with the prime minister. In all, about 40 families were gathered – all of them had relatives killed in the protests. 'Hasina forced us to come to Ganabhaban,' said Sayed's father, Maqbul Hossain, referring to the PM's residence. 'They forced us to come; otherwise, they might have tortured us in another way.' As the cameras recorded the event, Hasina handed out money to each family. She told Sayed's sister, Sumi Khatun: 'We will deliver justice to your family.' Khatun replied to the PM: 'It was shown in the video that the police shot him. What is there to investigate here? Coming here was a mistake.' In a statement to Al Jazeera, an Awami League spokesperson said Hasina had never used the phrase 'lethal weapons', and did not specifically authorise the security forces to use lethal force. 'This [Hasina's phone] recording is either cherry-picked, doctored or both.' The statement added that government efforts to investigate Abu Sayed's death were 'genuine'.
Al Jazeera
7 days ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
HASINA – 36 DAYS IN JULY
Al Jazeera's I-Unit has obtained covertly recorded phone calls that reveal how the former prime minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, ordered the use of lethal force to crack down on student protesters during the July Uprising in 2024. The investigative programme, 'HASINA – 36 DAYS IN JULY, takes viewers inside the former prime minister's inner circle during the final days of her rule. During the three bloody weeks of demonstrations fifteen hundred people were killed, over twenty-five thousand were injured, and more than three million rounds of ammunition were fired by Sheikh Hasina's security forces. The calls made by Sheikh Hasina were recorded by her own spy agency, a ruthless network that helped her rule Bangladesh with an iron grip. The Al Jazeera investigation exposes how the spies who used to protect her recorded evidence of a regime now charged with committing 'systemic atrocities.' In one recording on 18 July 2024, Sheikh Hasina tells the former mayor of Dhaka South, Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh: 'my instructions have already been given. I've issued an open order completely. Now they will use lethal weapons, shoot wherever they find them .....That has been instructed, I have stopped them so far….I was thinking about the students' safety.' Recordings also reveals her use of helicopters to suppress the protests from the air:'….wherever they notice any gathering it's from above—now it's being done from above—it has already started in several places. It has begun. Some have moved.' In the film, a doctor validates the claims that many protestors were killed and wounded by gunfire from helicopters. The programme further reveals how the Awami League government used threats and bribes to cover up the police killing of student Abu Sayed; his death provoked national outrage. Secret calls reveal how Sheikh Hasina's most powerful ally, Salman F Rahman, tried to obtain Sayed's post-mortem report. We reveal how it was changed five times to erase any mention of guns, and how his family, fearing for their lives, were made to meet Sheikh Hasina on state television. The programme further reveals how the Awami League government resorted to threats and bribes in an attempt to conceal the police killing of student Abu Sayed, whose death provoked national outrage. Secret recordings show that Sheikh Hasina's most influential ally, Salman F Rahman, sought to obtain Sayed's post-mortem report, how it was altered five times to remove any reference to the use of firearms in his death, and how Sayed's family were compelled to meet Sheikh Hasina on state television out of fear for their safety. Leaked confidential documents accessed by Al Jazeera's Investigative Unit exposes the dirty tricks used by Hasina's government to shut down the internet and stop the bloody images of the violence from reaching the world. In a statement to Al Jazeera, an Awami League spokesperson said Sheikh Hasina has never used the phrase, 'lethal weapons', and did not specifically authorise or direct the security forces to use lethal force. It disputes the authenticity of the 18 July 2024 recording. It also said it was sorry if the family of Abu Sayed felt intimidated but the former government's resolve to investigate potential misconduct, including by security forces, was genuine. It stated that Sheikh Hasina believed the internet was shut down by damage caused by protestors. 'HASINA – 36 DAYS IN JULY' will be aired on Al Jazeera English on 24 July 2025 at 12:00 GMT, and will also be available on YouTube at the following link.
