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Laws of Passion: the Shahbag Protests of Bangladesh
Posted by: Mahin Khan
Tags: Awami,bangladesh,Jamaat,justice,Law,socialism Posted date:
February 11, 2013 |
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While claiming resonances with Tahrir Square and the Arab Spring, the vindictive protest gathering begun in Dhaka’s Shahbag crossing is far from a movement for a just and noble cause
Thousands have gathered across Bangladesh in protest across several cities. Images of the freedom movements of the Middle East are evoked, but this is no freedom movement. The protesters have gathered to speak out against the second verdict handed down by the Bangladesh International War Crimes Tribunal (ICT). Abdul Quader Molla, a senior leader of the opposition party, Jamaat-i-Islami, was found guilty by the ICT of crimes against humanity and sentenced to life imprisonment. To the protestors, who began their movement in the Shahbag crossing of the capital Dhaka, this is not enough. They want Molla and the other accused hanged.
Molla denies having committed the crimes and repeated his denial upon receiving the sentence. His party has strongly condemned the verdict as politically motivated while his lawyers have pledged to appeal to the high court. Among the concerns raised by the defence are that the prosecution only presented 12 witnesses, many of whom were ‘hearsay’ witnesses and beneficiaries of the ruling Awami League led regime that has championed this tribunal. More tellingly, the defence themselves were permitted to only present six witnesses, half those permitted the prosecution, in this high profile and much belated war crimes case. Ultimately, the lawyers observed that the trial dealt with deeply emotional issues and the judges had permitted their emotions to cloud their judgement.
The concerns are glaring. Nonetheless, the government’s junior Law Minister, Qamrul Islam, has expressed dissatisfaction at the ‘leniency’ of the verdict. Islam has, incredibly, confirmed the government is now preparing to make changes to the ICT Act to allow the prosecution to appeal the verdict of life imprisonment and seek the higher sentence of execution. Under current laws the prosecution can only appeal acquittals. The Law Commission of Bangladesh has already presented draft amendments to the Bangladesh Law Ministry.
There has been much international criticism for the ICT, and not without reason. The most recent, and most high profile, includes a statement issued by the United in which Christof Heyns, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, “expressed alarm” at the fair trial and due process concerns raised, stating “Capital punishment may be imposed only following proceedings that give all possible safeguards to ensure a fair trial and due process, at least equal to those stipulated in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Bangladesh is a State party.”
Not long before the UN statement, Human Rights Watch, in its latest of a series of press releases expressing concerns over the ICT and as part of its World Report 2013, condemned the current running of the tribunal. The report commented on “glaring violations of fair trial standards” in the trials of the ICT, observing that “serious flaws in the law and rules of procedure governing these trials have gone unaddressed, despite proposals from the US government and many international experts.”
These are not the only reputable – and clearly impartial – international bodies to have expressed concerns. Apprehensions have been vocalised by members of the House of Lords in Britain, Lord Avebury and Lord Carlile. The US Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes, Stephen J Rapp has also spoken out, as has the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales and the International. Critique for the current process has also come from the International Bar Association, as well as Suzannah Linton, a respected legal academic. Previous statements of concern issued by Human Rights Watch, particularly regarding an abducted defence witness, the need for retrials following a whistleblower leak that exposed improper coordination between judges, prosecution and government, and on the trials’ flawed legal framework, can be viewed here, here and here.
Perhaps the most interesting international report on the ICT, however, came from The Economist. In an analysis, the British based news magazine revealed it had been given a cache of leaked material that exposed ‘a disturbing pattern’ of collusion between the presiding judge of the tribunal, Nizamul Haque Nasim, an international lawyer based in Brussels, Ziauddin Ahmed, and the prosecution team. Furthermore, it became clear from the leaks that the government was applying serious pressure on the ICT to come up with quick verdicts.
For their part, the opposition party, Jamaat-i-Islami, and its youth wing, Chatra Shibir, have been protesting the partial and political nature of the ICT, under which all their senior most leaders stand accused. They have, however, been specific in asserting that they will stand by any new court that is established on fair grounds and following due process. These protests, while large and countrywide, have not enjoyed the same widespread and rose-tinted coverage by the pro-regime media as Shahbag has. Instead, this opposition has been sharply and consistently condemned as a ‘conspiracy’ to undermine the tribunal, with complete disregard for the opposition party’s expressed acceptance of a tribunal that respects due process and fulfils international standards. Meanwhile, the police, in coalition with the ruling regime’s youth, the Bangladesh Chatra League, have administered a brutal crackdown on opposition rallies, leaving many dead and arresting hundreds. Recent protests resulted in four deaths of Jamaat and Shibir members, including a boy of class 10.
The protests in Shahbag and elsewhere in the country, are an interesting addition to the mix. These protestors, unlike the opposition, have faced no police violence; indeed the police have been helping them along by diverting traffic (meanwhile, police have prevented another opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, from holding a prescheduled rally on Saturday). This is perhaps unsurprising, given the protesters of Shahbag are repeating the very demands members of the ruling regime have been making throughout the ICT process. While Shahbag may claim to be apolitical, it is evident their concordance with the nation’s ruling politicians is doing much to assist the cause. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina herself has openly expressed solidarity with the protest and committed herself to fulfilling the protestors’ demands, stating in parliament “Every word of their oath is justified. We will do whatever necessary to implement their oath. It is our commitment” and even whimsically commenting “My soul is also with them, I wish I could join them at Shahbagh.”
It has also proven almost impossible to reason with the protestors, many of whom aggressively denounce any critique of their movement as “pro-Pakistani”, “pro-war criminal”, “unpatriotic” and accuse critics of being “razakars” (“collaborators” – a derogatory term for those deemed to have assisted the Pakistan army in 1971), “neo-razakars” or “children of war criminals” among any number of other tasteless epithets. That blindly angry individuals of this kind are likely to descend upon this article too is quite expected.
The protest has gathered people of varying ages with a common cause. Photos are appearing of protestors wearing “we want razakars hanged” bandannas across their forehead, while Shahbag slogans are being broadcast across the media: “We have only one demand, hang the Razakars”, “Hanging, we want hanging!”, “Make batons, beat Shibir”, “Throw shoes at the face of Razakars”, “catch Shibir and slaughter them”. Meanwhile, there have been placards proclaiming “I want to murder Quader Molla and spend two months in prison”. Even young children have been photographed with “we want the razakars hanged” painted in blood red across their torso.
The terms of this protest are truly disturbing in their open advocacy of violence and capital punishment, particularly in their inclusion of children in this violent and vindictive approach. While Bangladesh was freed as a nation in 1971, it is clear that it is yet to be freed from the aggressive hate of the dominant liberation narrative. Much as the Bengali media may try to claim it, this rally is no Tahrir Square, where the noble cause of protest was freedom from oppressive dictatorship and the establishment of democracy. This rally is one of hate and revenge. As one astute blogger notes, this is not Shahbag Square, this is Shahbag More with more people than usual. Some protestors have even created the slogan, “we’ve got the razakars, what about their children?” Little is left to be said.
The Shahbag protestors have also been calling for the banning of Jamaat-i-Islami, taking pledges to boycott many of Jamaat’s institutions, including hospitals and banks. That a democratic party – the only one to be internally democratic in structure in a nation of dynastic political parties – should be banned in the name of secular democracy is an incredible claim. As a registered political party that observes due political processes, there is little claim to ban the party if democracy is to be respected. The democratic way to oppose would be to use the ballot – if you don’t like them, don’t vote for them. Yet this fact appears to elude the self-proclaimed secular democrats of this protest, and a more autocratic law of governance seems to paradoxically reign.
Aristotle states in his Politics that “the law is reason unaffected by desire” (in a more popular variant: “the law is reason free from passion”). The Shahbag protest only confirms that Bangladesh is singularly ill-suited to hold a tribunal over the terrible war crimes of 1971. As the glaringly controversial and compromised tribunal continues to conduct problematic trials, the people on the ground of Shahbag are evidently more interested in revenge fed by deep vitriolic passions than true justice conducted by a rational and balanced court of law. For this reason, among the great many others, it is imperative that the Bangladesh ICT be transferred abroad, to be conducted under the jurisdiction of the United Nations, where heated passions of either party in this conflict cannot compromise a court in which lives – both those murdered in 1971 and those behind bars today – are in the balance.
Thousands have gathered across Bangladesh in protest across several cities. Images of the freedom movements of the Middle East are evoked, but this is no freedom movement. The protesters have gathered to speak out against the second verdict handed down by the Bangladesh International War Crimes Tribunal (ICT). Abdul Quader Molla, a senior leader of the opposition party, Jamaat-i-Islami, was found guilty by the ICT of crimes against humanity and sentenced to life imprisonment. To the protestors, who began their movement in the Shahbag crossing of the capital Dhaka, this is not enough. They want Molla and the other accused hanged.
Molla denies having committed the crimes and repeated his denial upon receiving the sentence. His party has strongly condemned the verdict as politically motivated while his lawyers have pledged to appeal to the high court. Among the concerns raised by the defence are that the prosecution only presented 12 witnesses, many of whom were ‘hearsay’ witnesses and beneficiaries of the ruling Awami League led regime that has championed this tribunal. More tellingly, the defence themselves were permitted to only present six witnesses, half those permitted the prosecution, in this high profile and much belated war crimes case. Ultimately, the lawyers observed that the trial dealt with deeply emotional issues and the judges had permitted their emotions to cloud their judgement.
The concerns are glaring. Nonetheless, the government’s junior Law Minister, Qamrul Islam, has expressed dissatisfaction at the ‘leniency’ of the verdict. Islam has, incredibly, confirmed the government is now preparing to make changes to the ICT Act to allow the prosecution to appeal the verdict of life imprisonment and seek the higher sentence of execution. Under current laws the prosecution can only appeal acquittals. The Law Commission of Bangladesh has already presented draft amendments to the Bangladesh Law Ministry.
There has been much international criticism for the ICT, and not without reason. The most recent, and most high profile, includes a statement issued by the United in which Christof Heyns, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, “expressed alarm” at the fair trial and due process concerns raised, stating “Capital punishment may be imposed only following proceedings that give all possible safeguards to ensure a fair trial and due process, at least equal to those stipulated in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Bangladesh is a State party.”
Not long before the UN statement, Human Rights Watch, in its latest of a series of press releases expressing concerns over the ICT and as part of its World Report 2013, condemned the current running of the tribunal. The report commented on “glaring violations of fair trial standards” in the trials of the ICT, observing that “serious flaws in the law and rules of procedure governing these trials have gone unaddressed, despite proposals from the US government and many international experts.”
These are not the only reputable – and clearly impartial – international bodies to have expressed concerns. Apprehensions have been vocalised by members of the House of Lords in Britain, Lord Avebury and Lord Carlile. The US Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes, Stephen J Rapp has also spoken out, as has the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales and the International. Critique for the current process has also come from the International Bar Association, as well as Suzannah Linton, a respected legal academic. Previous statements of concern issued by Human Rights Watch, particularly regarding an abducted defence witness, the need for retrials following a whistleblower leak that exposed improper coordination between judges, prosecution and government, and on the trials’ flawed legal framework, can be viewed here, here and here.
Perhaps the most interesting international report on the ICT, however, came from The Economist. In an analysis, the British based news magazine revealed it had been given a cache of leaked material that exposed ‘a disturbing pattern’ of collusion between the presiding judge of the tribunal, Nizamul Haque Nasim, an international lawyer based in Brussels, Ziauddin Ahmed, and the prosecution team. Furthermore, it became clear from the leaks that the government was applying serious pressure on the ICT to come up with quick verdicts.
For their part, the opposition party, Jamaat-i-Islami, and its youth wing, Chatra Shibir, have been protesting the partial and political nature of the ICT, under which all their senior most leaders stand accused. They have, however, been specific in asserting that they will stand by any new court that is established on fair grounds and following due process. These protests, while large and countrywide, have not enjoyed the same widespread and rose-tinted coverage by the pro-regime media as Shahbag has. Instead, this opposition has been sharply and consistently condemned as a ‘conspiracy’ to undermine the tribunal, with complete disregard for the opposition party’s expressed acceptance of a tribunal that respects due process and fulfils international standards. Meanwhile, the police, in coalition with the ruling regime’s youth, the Bangladesh Chatra League, have administered a brutal crackdown on opposition rallies, leaving many dead and arresting hundreds. Recent protests resulted in four deaths of Jamaat and Shibir members, including a boy of class 10.
The protests in Shahbag and elsewhere in the country, are an interesting addition to the mix. These protestors, unlike the opposition, have faced no police violence; indeed the police have been helping them along by diverting traffic (meanwhile, police have prevented another opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, from holding a prescheduled rally on Saturday). This is perhaps unsurprising, given the protesters of Shahbag are repeating the very demands members of the ruling regime have been making throughout the ICT process. While Shahbag may claim to be apolitical, it is evident their concordance with the nation’s ruling politicians is doing much to assist the cause. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina herself has openly expressed solidarity with the protest and committed herself to fulfilling the protestors’ demands, stating in parliament “Every word of their oath is justified. We will do whatever necessary to implement their oath. It is our commitment” and even whimsically commenting “My soul is also with them, I wish I could join them at Shahbagh.”
It has also proven almost impossible to reason with the protestors, many of whom aggressively denounce any critique of their movement as “pro-Pakistani”, “pro-war criminal”, “unpatriotic” and accuse critics of being “razakars” (“collaborators” – a derogatory term for those deemed to have assisted the Pakistan army in 1971), “neo-razakars” or “children of war criminals” among any number of other tasteless epithets. That blindly angry individuals of this kind are likely to descend upon this article too is quite expected.
The protest has gathered people of varying ages with a common cause. Photos are appearing of protestors wearing “we want razakars hanged” bandannas across their forehead, while Shahbag slogans are being broadcast across the media: “We have only one demand, hang the Razakars”, “Hanging, we want hanging!”, “Make batons, beat Shibir”, “Throw shoes at the face of Razakars”, “catch Shibir and slaughter them”. Meanwhile, there have been placards proclaiming “I want to murder Quader Molla and spend two months in prison”. Even young children have been photographed with “we want the razakars hanged” painted in blood red across their torso.
The terms of this protest are truly disturbing in their open advocacy of violence and capital punishment, particularly in their inclusion of children in this violent and vindictive approach. While Bangladesh was freed as a nation in 1971, it is clear that it is yet to be freed from the aggressive hate of the dominant liberation narrative. Much as the Bengali media may try to claim it, this rally is no Tahrir Square, where the noble cause of protest was freedom from oppressive dictatorship and the establishment of democracy. This rally is one of hate and revenge. As one astute blogger notes, this is not Shahbag Square, this is Shahbag More with more people than usual. Some protestors have even created the slogan, “we’ve got the razakars, what about their children?” Little is left to be said.
The Shahbag protestors have also been calling for the banning of Jamaat-i-Islami, taking pledges to boycott many of Jamaat’s institutions, including hospitals and banks. That a democratic party – the only one to be internally democratic in structure in a nation of dynastic political parties – should be banned in the name of secular democracy is an incredible claim. As a registered political party that observes due political processes, there is little claim to ban the party if democracy is to be respected. The democratic way to oppose would be to use the ballot – if you don’t like them, don’t vote for them. Yet this fact appears to elude the self-proclaimed secular democrats of this protest, and a more autocratic law of governance seems to paradoxically reign.
Aristotle states in his Politics that “the law is reason unaffected by desire” (in a more popular variant: “the law is reason free from passion”). The Shahbag protest only confirms that Bangladesh is singularly ill-suited to hold a tribunal over the terrible war crimes of 1971. As the glaringly controversial and compromised tribunal continues to conduct problematic trials, the people on the ground of Shahbag are evidently more interested in revenge fed by deep vitriolic passions than true justice conducted by a rational and balanced court of law. For this reason, among the great many others, it is imperative that the Bangladesh ICT be transferred abroad, to be conducted under the jurisdiction of the United Nations, where heated passions of either party in this conflict cannot compromise a court in which lives – both those murdered in 1971 and those behind bars today – are in the balance.
Image from: http://i.huffpost.com/gen/943759/thumbs/o-BANGLADESH-570.jpg?6
About the author
Mahin Khan
Mahin Khan is a Bengali resident in Britain and an avid follower of British and Bangladeshi politics.
Mahin Khan is a Bengali resident in Britain and an avid follower of British and Bangladeshi politics.
10 Comments
BD rocks
This is entirely a non-political protest.
Dear Author, you may have a lack of knowledge, but MILLIONS of people are gathering in the Shahbag Movement everyday, not “Thousands”.
The following are the Demands from Shahbag: –
Demand capital punishment for all war criminals.
Ban religion based politics.
Boycott all Jamaat institutions.
Millions of people took the following oath at Shahbag: –
“We swear an oath that the leadership of mass people from the Gonojagaran Mancha will continue the movement from Teknaf to Tetulia until capital punishment is handed down on those Razakar and Al-Badr members who committed crimes against humanity like mass killing and rape in 1971. We take the oath that we will remain vocal both on the streets and online until politics of war criminal Jamaat-Shibir is not banned and nationality of their members not cancelled. We further take the oath that we will continue demonstration demanding trial under a special tribunal of those Razakars and Al-Badr activists who were convicted and under trial but freed after 1975. We swear that we will boycott the war criminals’ business entities — Islami Bank, Ibn Sina, Focus, Retina and different other coaching centres. We know through these they collect money to continue with anti-liberation activities. We will also boycott the academic and cultural organisations through which they are spreading anti-liberation sentiments among the children. In brief, we will work for banning all the business, social and cultural organisations belonging to Razakars and Al-Badr activists. We swear that we will continue with our demand of stringent punishment to Jamaat and Shibir, who have committed crimes of sedition by threatening a civil war, after making their immediate arrest by recognising them through video footages and newspaper pictures. We swear that we will boycott war criminals’ mass media like Diganta Television, Daily Naya Diganta, Amar Desh, The Daily Sangram, Sonar Bangla Blog. We will not subscribe to newspapers of war criminals at any office or house. At the same time, we will request the pro-liberation mass media to boycott war criminals and their accomplices.”
Ridwan Rafi Hossain
This article is strongly biased and the writer has no idea what is going on in shahbagh. hear from the journalists those have visited Shahbag and analyzed the movement with strong references.
Mir Asgar
This article has been crafted to uphold the propaganda traditionally supported by the fundamentalist political party Jamaat-i-Islami and their student wing Chatra Shibir. A quick read makes me figure out several flaws in addition to presenting one-sided evidence to question the ICT’s accountability.
The author mentions the protest by Chatra Shibir ‘large’ and ‘countrywide’. But he, for some reason, fails to describe how Shibir activists relied on spreading fear among commoners by creating commotion, burning public transports, police trucks etc. In spite of being a very small fraction of total population, their strategy is quite useful to falsely portray their activity as ‘large’ and ‘countrywide’. Whether the author simply omitted this side of the news or it’s just a lack of knowledge from his part – I don’t know. But the editorial board should have been much careful in making a cross-check of the facts before publishing the article.
The author also spent an entire paragraph crying over the issue of little children demanding capital punishment of the war criminals. Well, here comes the question of being passionate about your country, being aware of your history. Our mothers tell us the true story of how her sister was captured by the razakars at the age of 22 during 1971. Then she was sent to Pakistan Army’s concentration camp where she was initially raped every night by the ranked officials. After a month or two when some other unfortunate new Bengali woman was taken to the camp, she was sent to a lower level where non-commissioned members of the army raped her along with the other girls about twenty times a night until she became unconscious. If she got lucky, she escaped death before December 16, 1971 when we won the 9-month long war. This fills our heart with so much hatred for those betrayers that we start demanding highest punishment for those animals since childhood, no one has to teach us in doing this, it is that spontaneous. One might argue (like the author) that this might be deemed dangerous according to child psychology, but what we call this rage and hatred is ‘patriotism’. Moreover, with the ‘hatred and rage’ that we carry for the war criminals since childhood, most of us commoners don’t grow up as a killer or pervert. Now take a look at the killings and other atrocities Jamaat-Shibir do despite being ignorant or indifferent our country’s true history.
Finally, this article references ‘BDINN’ as one of its news sources. The quality and neutrality of the news prepared by BDINN can be seriously questioned. For starters, there is no full-fledged news on the Shahbag movement right now, despite its massiveness and spontaneous participation of mass people.
I request the editors of the website to carefully scrutinize the works of this author.
Fahmim
This is what thje international media has been saying. BBC, AP, Reuters, CNN. Huffington Post, NYTimes, WashingtonPost, FOX, WSJ, Telegraph. What are you saying? What is your credibility?
All major int’l coverage available on http://shahbag.org/news/
February 14, 2013
The Daily Star: Wide coverage in int’l media
The Daily Star: War trials face delay
die Tageszeitung (German): Lautes Schweigen
February 13, 2013
Forbes: The Female Factor: Bangladesh Protests Break Boundaries
CS Monitor: Massive protest movement emerges against Islamists in Bangladesh
GlobalPost (USA): Dozen injured in Bangladesh war crimes protest
San Fransisco Chronicle: Huge protests upend Bangladesh politics
The Plainsman (Auburn University, USA): Protest in Bangladesh prompts rally on the Plains
GulfNews: Protest continues in Dhaka
The Indian Express: Bangladesh witnesses violence over war crimes trial
Gironalettismo (Italian): A morte il Macellaio di Mirpur
BDNews24.com: Spring of protest
BDNews24.com: ICT law amendment bill tabled
BDNews24.com: Jamaat-Shibir violence continues in Dhaka
February 12, 2013
The Guardian: Shahbag protesters versus the Butcher of Mirpur
The New York Times: Politics in Bangladesh Jolted by Huge Protests
Yahoo! News: Bangladesh approves law to swiftly execute war criminals
Le Figare (French): Trois minutes de silence au Bangladesh
MetroNews (French): Manifestation monstre au Bangladesh
BDNews24.com: ‘Massive’ Shibir attack on JU
CNN iReport: Bangladeshi students at UIUC echoed the demand of capital punishment for war criminals
BDNews24.com: ‘Bill to ban Jamaat on way’
Global Post (USA): Clashes over war crime trials hit Bangladesh capital
La Prensa (Spanish): Miles guardan silencio en Bangladesh, piden la ejecución de criminales de guerra
The Daily Star: Hit-and-run violence grips city
Niti Central (India): Bangladesh: Jamaatis open fire on cops in Dhaka, 13 hurt
ZeeNews (India): Bangladesh observes silence over demand for war
Asia One (Singapore): Bangladesh falls silent for execution of war criminals
The Voice of Russia:Thousands of Bangladeshi stage silent protest against war crimes
CNN iReport: A Bangladeshi Movement in San Francisco
Eurasia Review: Bangladesh: Justice And Blood – Analysis
February 11, 2013
The Raw Story: Bangladesh approves law to execute convicted war criminals
CNN iReport: Sheer Jamaat-e-Islami aggression on UK-based Shahbag Solidarity Protesters
CNN iReport: Rise and Rise Youth of Bangladesh: You Have Nothing To Fear But Your Own Power
The Huffington Post: Beyond Partisan Politics: Bangladesh Protests for Justice
Global Voices:Bangladeshi Women Join Shahbag Protests in Remarkable Numbers
The Daily Star: Bombs explode at Mymensingh protest
Technorati: Shahbag Protest Sparked by Social Media
BDNews24.com: Sayedee’s son detained along with 3 others
EuropaPress (Spanish): Bangladesh inicia el proceso de enmienda de la ley de crímenes de guerra
February 10, 2013
ALJAZEERA: Top photo of the week
REUTERS:Bangladesh to amend war crimes law amid protests: minister
ESPN/Cricinfo: Top cricketers visit Dhaka protest rally
February 9, 2013
CNN iReport: How the #shahbag movement is gaining momentum in social media
GlobalPost: Bangladesh protest demands death penalty for war crimes leader
NTD Television: Bangladesh Stands Up Against War Crimes
The Daily Star: Youths rekindle spirit of ’71
BDNews24.com: Voices rise across Bangladesh
The Daily Star: Shahbagh protests continue
Asian Tribune: Bangladesh- Protester Youths rekindle spirit of ’71
Charlotte Observer: Bangladesh protest calls for death for war crimes
Nation: 100,000 demand ban on Bangladesh Islamic party
February 8, 2013
The Daily Star: Vow to boycott Jamaat Institutions
BBC:Huge Bangladesh rally seeks death penalty for war crimes
Washington Post: Hundreds of thousands rally in Bangladesh to demand executions of 1971 war crimes suspects
Philadelphia Inquirer: Bangladesh protest calls for death for war crimes
REUTERS video: Thousands protest sentencing of Bangladeshi war criminal (0:31)
FOX NEWS: Hundreds of thousands rally in Bangladesh to demand executions of 1971 war crimes suspects
South China Morning Post: 100,000 demand ban on Bangladesh Islamic party
BDNews24.com: Teeming thousands chant ‘Hang them all’
NY DailyNews: 100,000 demand ban on Bangladesh Islamic party
LA Razon (in Spanish): Más de 100.000 personas piden la ejecución del islamista Molá durante una protesta récord
Le Figaro (in French): Bangladesh: sentence trop clémente
February 7, 2013
NZweek: Thousands flock to Bangladesh’s Shahbag square to demand death penalty for war crimes
ALJAZEERA: Thousands in Bangladesh war crimes protest
CNN iReport: The Spirit of ’71 Rises at Shahbag Square in Dhaka
Daily Telegraph: Pictures of the day: 7 February 2013
Global Voices: Bangladesh: Protesters Demand Capital Punishment for 1971 War Criminals
The Star (Malaysia): Protesters demand death for Bangladesh war crimes Islamist
February 6, 2013
Wall Street Journal: Asia in Pictures
Philadelphia Inquirer: Protests hit Bangladesh after war crimes verdict
The Globe and Mail: Bangladeshi protesters demand execution of Islamist leader
The Daily Star:Summary of verdict in Quader Mollah case
February 5, 2013
The New York Times: Bangladesh: Life Sentence in War Crimes Trial
Los Angeles Times: Bangladesh war crimes court jails Islamic party leader for life
Philadelphia Inquirer: Strike over war crimes trial hits Bangladesh
Mundo (Portuguese): Condenação de líder islamita gera protestos em Bangladesh
naf
Each time you mention Shibir’s activities you act like they were the most civilized groups in the world!!! .. this group is notorious and even their recentmost ‘protests’ were highly non-democratic! What kind of democratic group says just before the verdict, that the verdict will cause Shibir to start a civil war .. note they didn’t even know what the verdict was going to be (which implies the guilt). If their political leader was innocent why would he show a Victory sign when he received life sentence?! Which innocent person does that?? While Shahbag protesters are calmly sitting in and NOT causing any political disturbance, the “all-so-innocent” Shibir caused direct clashes with police with batons, torched buses (with passengers still in them), and were caught bringing explosives to Shahbag all in the name of asking for justice. Who are the real undemocratic ones, please open your eyes!
rinita
just only one question Mr Mahin khan….exactly how many people were injured by the protesters in Shajbag? How come none of the protesters,non-democratic violent protesters. possess any weapon to harm any one not even the democratic jamat-i-islam or shibir who killed one man( watch man of janata bank) and shooed six other person during their non-violence protest? oh, yes, i forgot, the protest was hold for punishing an Innocent man who showed victory sing on getting life sentence!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!anyway, let’s get back to my question, why did the nondemocratic protesters of Shabag has used silence and candles ( usually sing of nonviolence) for such a violent and non-democratic protest rather i should say( with your accordance) war?
John Polansky
Mr. Mahin Khan is quite correct in his most of the statements. The majority of the prosters are politically biased towards the current ruling party Awami League. In Bangladehs only a mentally retarded person is neutral. The shahbag crowd is basically intended to help hide the massive failure and large scale corruption of the ruling party behind the demand fo hanging Kader Mollah. It is now as clear as day light that heavily infiltrated by the ruling party and it has become a corrective machine to spread hatred, venginece, criminal intend to supress opposition threat and violence. The reason that there is no violence in shahbag because majority crowd and organizers are government sponsored and rest of them are stupid so called neutrals most likely under intoxication of drugs provided by the ruling party. Finally, I would like to say that this Shabag crowd will be know as the symbol of spreading hatred and violence, gaging freedom of speach, suppressing opposition voice when the truth will be revealed.
justicefor1971
Our protest is against radical Islamists – this is about justice for the 3 million people who were killed by these religious fanatics and their friendly Pakistani Army in 1971. At a time when radical Islamists are coming to power in the Middle East, we are campaigning to have these peddlers of religion banned from politics. This fight is yours, too. Can we count on your support for this campaign against injustice, religious extremism, and misogyny? Please sign the following petition to the White House:
Shameless Shahbag
I am the son of a freedom fighter and I swear by the name of my father that i am an atheist. I had voted for AL last election. I was often told by my BNP friends that Mujib alone was responsible for the murder of 40000 bengalis by Rakkhi Bahini, that AL leaders were hiding during the war and supported liberation war just for personal power. I didn’t care. Whatever his motive was, by supporting him we got Bangladesh. I wanted a secular Bangladesh.
But what AL did since 2009 made me realize that people were not so wrong after all. BDR, Shagar Runi, Felani, Railway scandal, Hallmark, destiny, stock loots, extrajudicial killings, the shaming of Yunus, murders and rapes by Chatra League with impunity, Padma bridge and nationalizing of Banks and the draining of national GDP made me realize that AL is the biggest danger for the country now. No r@zakar individually killed more than Mujib or Hasina did. Even then I support the trial of 1971 rajakars. But it should not make way for Awami League coming to power again because that will be more harmful for the country. But Shahbag is doing exactly that. They are trying to divert people from recent Awami crimes against the nation. Under the cover of justice for 1971, their main motive is to create public support for Awami League. Awami league has intentionally given a life sentence to Molla to create the protest for the hanging of Molla. This protest instead of protesting AL’s failure to prosecute properly, turned its angers towards the defendants, (motivated internally by AL through Imran who is an inside man of AL) and through nationwide yellow journalism.
I believe AL will not hang the rajakars till next election by giving excuse that the appeals and court procedures are taking time, and then they will say that give us vote again and we will hang the rajakars. People will have no choice but to vote Awami League backed by popular Shahbag. Its all election drama. Playing with the sentiments of 1971 is as horrible as all other crimes by AL. And even if the trial of Rajakars of 1971 was so important at this moment, why AL did not create a fair tribunal? Why not demand punishment of all rajakars? If rajakars can say that the tribunal of war criminals for 1971 is not fair, then that would be an insult to the shaheeds of 1971. This is also the reason that Jamaat is getting the chance to protest, and by openly firing at those protesters (without using other means before), a nationwide mass killing and civil war is on the way.
Why is Shahbag making a miserable country more miserable? I believe that AL thugs killed Rajib Haider to make the protest stronger, knowing that the blame will automatically fall on Jamaat since Rajib was an atheist. I think the same about the fire at book fair and the burning of hindu temples. Did they even think of bangladesh’s international reputation? What public can legally demand is actually the trial of a criminal. Don’t they know that public cannot demand a particular verdict from the court? Won’t the world think that Bangladesh is an illiterate nation run by illiterate thugs?
Government is financing the protest like anything. Shahbag is threatening and the government is taking action against all anti-government, even neutral media and intellectuals. They are calling true freedom fighters such as Bongobir Kader Siddiqui as rajakars just for the fault of not supporting the government. There are reports of extortions, abductions and marijuana abuse by shahbag mob. All they are actually doing is killing democracy and supporting a dangerous and fascist AL. Language movement of 1952 and Liberation war of 1971 brought good to the country. What good is shahbag bringing today except destruction? I support the spirit of protest of some youth in Shahbag, but they are actually harming the country this time with their thoughtless new patriotism. After finding out the true face of Shahbag many people are now against shahbag (which the media will not let you know), and the only people who are now in shahbag are 1) paid traitors of AL 2) importance seekers who want to believe that they will become nesw heros 3) emotional but dumb people who can’t understand what is good for the country.
The truly patriotic (and intelligent) people of Bangladesh will one day punish AL and Shahbag traitors (the leading ones) for their conspiracy against the country. They will also one by one punish all other criminals in AL, BNP and Jamaat. People want the true patritism of 1971 back, the politics of nations real success and development. They want new faces in politics. Long live Bangladesh!
Mr Mahin…The protesters in Shahbag is getting major response from all media is only because its not organised by a political party. Its a general peoples movement & people from all walk of life has joined here without any political motivation. They are not protesting for the government to step down, nor they are there because they want to establish a Islamic country because we already have seen those for too many time. This is special because this protest is “FOR THE PEOPLE,BY THE PEOPLE”. This is special because My mom & dad went to the protest last night and sent me text, crying how awesome that is.This demonstration is special because we are doing it & Not those petty protest that Jamat-Shibir host to save their political hide.
I am pretty sure this doesn’t make a single sense to you because your sitting in your air conditioned room getting payed bu Jamat to write these propaganda but if you can please book a ticket to Bangladesh and come to Shahbag then give your verdict…But remember when the public mass wants something that’s the law & We want all the war Criminals hanged.
And lastly you talked about how undemocratic it is for wanting to ban Jamat-Shibir’s political functions in Bangladesh. But the political party which opposed the creation of my motherland & helped the Pakistan army to kill and rape innocent civilians shouldn’t and can not operate on our holy land.
To let them function as a political party was the mistake of our Previous generation. But making it right is our duty. Peace out “Monir the Traitor” ( couldn’t help myself without giving out this jab
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