– Like a mafia, says UiO researcher – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries

The last few days have been quiet in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka. But the number of people killed and arrested after last week’s major student protests has continued to climb. 193 people, both students and police officers, were killed, according to AFP. Nearly 2,700 were arrested, according to media reports. But the protesters got what they wanted. They demanded that fewer jobs in the public sector be reserved for relatives of veterans of the 1971 liberation war. It was passed by the country’s Supreme Court on Sunday and approved by the government on Tuesday. The demonstrators nevertheless demand that the authorities be held accountable for their heavy-handed handling of the protests. Among other things, the United States has condemned reports that security forces were ordered to immediately open fire on the demonstrators. – They started shooting the students. Unarmed civilians. Unarmed students, who just wanted fairer competition for the jobs, says Mubashar Hasan to news. UiO researcher Mubashar Hasan was critical of the authorities in Bangladesh. It cost him dearly. Photo: University of Oslo Hasan is himself from Bangladesh. Today he is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Oslo (UiO) and lives in Australia. The road there has been dramatic. One of several hundred “disappeared”, Hasan researches, among other things, human rights, democracy and Bangladeshi society. It caused problems in the home country. – I was kidnapped on 7 November 2017 in front of the UN headquarters in the capital Dhaka, says Hasan. He describes how he was forced into a car, handcuffed and blindfolded and taken to a secret prison. On the way he was beaten. A policeman takes aim with a rifle during the demonstrations in Dhaka on Friday 19 July. Photo: Rajib Dhar / AP – I was kept in solitary confinement. There were other people there, but you weren’t allowed to meet each other. A powerful light was on 24 hours a day. I could hear grown people crying, says Hasan. More than 600 people have been subjected to “enforced disappearance” in Bangladesh since the Awami League led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina came to power in 2009, writes Human Rights Watch. Most have been released, but over 100 are still missing. The government has said that the disappeared are hiding. Despite his fears, Hasan was working at a local university when he was kidnapped. He says that masked men questioned him about his work and his criticism of the authorities. When he was released after 44 days, they threatened to go after the daughter and the father if he told about what had happened. – It’s like a mafia. But there should be a difference between how a criminal organization operates and how a state operates, says Hasan. A short time later, Hasan left Bangladesh. Through the Scholars at Risk program, he got a position at UiO in Oslo. And despite the threat to the family, he continues to be critical: – I have a sense of responsibility. Maybe I just made this up in my head, but I do it anyway. But I’m afraid. I don’t do it full of courage, he says. When he now sees and hears about what has happened in Bangladesh, he feels lucky. A soldier stood guard outside the National Assembly in Dhaka on Monday. Photo: MUNIR UZ ZAMAN / AFP – When I see how the authorities cracked down on the protests, I am shocked, he says and continues: – There have been moments in my life when I have thought that I have been terribly unlucky. But when I see how the situation developed I feel lucky to be alive. That I can breathe and talk. – Will smolder further During last week’s riots, the internet and telephone lines were closed. There were also schools and universities. A curfew contributed to almost empty streets in Dhaka. Politics in Bangladesh Bangladesh lies east of India and also borders Myanmar. With a population of over 170 million, it is one of the world’s most densely populated countries. It is also among the world’s poorest. The population is mainly Muslim, but a small proportion is also Hindu. In 1971, Bangladesh became an independent republic after the nine-month war of liberation with Pakistan. Politically, Bangladesh has been characterized by unrest for a long time and tensions between the ruling party Awami League and the opposition parties Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami. In January, the Awami League and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina were re-elected for a fifth term. They have now ruled Bangladesh for 15 years. The opposition boycotted the election and large protests broke out in which around 25,000 were arrested. Human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have criticized the authorities for violations of human rights. Among other things, they point to torture, “enforced disappearances”, lack of freedom of expression and extrajudicial executions. Source: Store norske lexikon, NTB, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch On Thursday, the internet and phone lines were still down and the universities were still closed. The curfew was still partially in effect. UN Human Rights Commissioner Volker Turk demanded that the internet be turned back on and that the authorities answer why so many were killed in the protests. In a statement, the authorities put responsibility for the violence on parts of the opposition, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Muslim party Jamaat. Security forces and protesters clashed in Dhaka on July 18. Photo: MUNIR UZ ZAMAN / AFP – The BNP-Jamaat clique took advantage of the situation by infiltrating the protest movement and made it violent, says the statement that the Bangladesh embassy has sent to news. Photos show how protesters attacked police officers with batons. The embassy has not yet commented on Hasan’s accusations. But even if a calm has descended in his homeland, Hasan has no faith that it will last. Especially not when the internet is turned on and the extent of the violence becomes known. People demonstrated in Dhaka on Friday against the killings and mass arrests that occurred during last week’s protests in Bangladesh. Photo: MUNIR UZ ZAMAN / AFP – I think the protests have calmed down. Not only because of the court’s decision, but also because of the murders. The demonstrators ran out of energy, he says and continues: – But there will be great rage and sorrow. And when the internet is turned on I guess you will see more of the brutality that went on when the protests were put down and the internet was turned off. So this will continue to simmer. Interested in foreign material? Listen to the foreign affairs editor’s podcast: Published 26/07/2024, at 22.14



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