DHAKA: The incidents of students activism escalated over the weekend and there were confrontations which led to the loss of 70 lives in Bangladesh. They threaten this after a very deadly crackdown in July that took the lives of over 200 people after which the country is in a very bad state.
On Sunday , the violence escalated further as security forces fired at protesters killing at least 70 people. As a result of this, the government put a curfew and restricted the use of internet with a view of containing the escalating anti government demonstrations.
The continuation of student demonstrations and the plan by the ruling party to mobilise its followers for counter-measures have aggravated an already volatile nation of over 170 million persons. Although, specifics about the death toll from the Sunday violence is yet to be determined, some local newspaper and protest coordinators have approximated the number of deaths to be ranging between 70 and 93. Riyadh’s police headquarters acknowledged the death of at least 13 policemen in the catastrophe.
The latest violence put the death toll in crackdown by security forces headed by Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh’s increasingly authoritarian leader, last month. During a meeting with key security chiefs on Sunday, Ms. Hasana described the protest coordinators as ‘’terrorists” and encouraged the citizens to deal with the organizers decisively, Bangladesh state news agency reported.
Protests erupted in different parts of the nation at the weekend in what demonstrated citizens’ frustrations with the police force regarded by many as a tool of oppression in the Hasina administration. The eye is now on the military that ruled this South Asian nation for nearly a quarter of the time since independence in 1971 and emerged as a key player in the crisis that is aggravating.
“If the crackdown comes on the internet, if we are detained or disappeared or killed and if there is none of us left to make the declaration, then all those separate individuals should come on to the streets and observe absolute peaceful non-cooperation until the government is forced to fall in response to their single demand.” This was stated by Nahid Islam, one of the leaders of the movement.
Major General (R) Iqbal Karim Bhuiyan, sharing the sentiments of the detained former officers said that he deeply concerned over the new riots. “We are shocked and grief by the killing, torture, disappearances and mass arrests happened in Bangladesh last three weeks,” he said. ”Our armed forces should not aid those who have contributed to creation of the existing scenario.”
