Latest news with #AzharulIslam
Indian Express
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Sheikh Hasina's trial needs neutral observers, not partisan judges
Within a month of filing charges, the Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) has already sentenced Sheikh Hasina to six months in jail. The actual sentencing looks prima facie valid, coming on a charge of contempt of court. The case against her is based on an audio in which she allegedly said, 'There are 227 cases against me, so I now have a licence to kill 227 people.' As Hasina has fled to India, the trial is happening in absentia, but she has a state-appointed defence counsel to represent her. More than this particular instance, what deserves attention is the longer story of the ICT. The obvious point is that Hasina has gone from being the engineer of the ICT to a defendant in front of it. But this reversal cannot be dismissed as merely a poetic turn of justice. There is a change in the social meaning of the prosecution of international crimes in Bangladesh. The ICT was set up not just to deliver justice, but also to consolidate a form of national mythology of the founding of Bangladesh. Such international tribunals tend to enforce the 'victor's justice', a term coined by Richard Minear, referring to the Tokyo war crimes tribunal set up by the Allied Powers. Bangladesh's ICT follows this trend, and was widely criticised for its lack of due process. The faulty precedent is now being exploited by Hasina's opponents, whose victory has allowed them to implement an opposite version of justice and create an alternate national mythology. In the same week when the charges of crimes against humanity were filed against Sheikh Hasina, there was another notable news which illustrated this turn. The Bangladesh Supreme Court had ordered the release of ATM Azharul Islam, a Jamaat-e-Islami leader. He was previously convicted by the same International Crimes Tribunal that will now hear the case against Hasina. Azharul Islam had been deemed responsible for a massacre which claimed more than a thousand lives during the 1971 war, but the Supreme Court overturned both the ICT's judgment and its own previous decision. The ICT has been made to judge Hasina, taking a sharp U-turn from its intent of prosecuting Islamist opponents of Bangladesh's liberation war. The Law Adviser also attributed the release of Azharul Islam to the July uprising and painted him as an innocent victim of Hasina. It is painful to compare atrocities. But Azharul was held responsible for the loss of a similar number of lives as Sheikh Hasina is being accused of. Azharul's crime, though, happened in a single village. The ease with which such a case was overturned points to one of two possibilities: Either the initial case against Islam was weak, or the inroads made by the Jamaat-e-Islami into the highest levels of the judiciary made it easy. Reality is likely to be a mixture of the two — a deeper perusal by a neutral observer familiar with court proceedings would reveal more. In any case, the acquittal has solidified the legal foundation for what is known as 'accusation in a mirror'. This strategy is used by parties accused of grave crimes; they reaccuse and recriminate their opponents of similar crimes, often with little or no evidence, with the sole purpose of trivialising the crime itself. In psychology, the term DARVO (Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender) refers to a similar manoeuvre. Such a manoeuvre is not fully pre-planned. Over the past years, many of the opponents of Bangladesh's liberation war have used such tactics to try and trivialise the crimes related to it. One rather funny attempt to trivialise genocide was made by the present Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, Shafiqur Rahman, who suggested that holding elections without reforms would lead to an 'election genocide'. In this perspective, the ICT's verdict against Hasina is a foregone conclusion. The immediate byproduct of this process is the loss of the special status of the 1971 genocide in Bangladesh's official history, and a gradual exoneration of the pro-Pakistan leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami and the BNP from their position as the worst criminals in Bangladesh's history. The longer-term result will be that there will be no fair mechanism to prosecute future crimes against humanity. The prosecution of crimes against humanity has a short, flawed, but hopeful history. From the Nuremberg trials to the Tribunal set up over the Yugoslav wars, no process has been free of criticism. But the politicised use of the ICT, first by the Awami League to a lesser extent and now blatantly by a fluid group of anti-Awami League conspirators, marks a real disaster of this nascent field of legal theory. As the journalist David Bergman — a longtime observer of the ICT's workings in Bangladesh — has suggested before, the ICT and its reputation can be saved by internationalising it. While national prosecution of international crimes is a great idea, it is severely limited by cultural and social factors when it is put into practice. That judges and lawyers with little experience in prosecuting such cases have been appointed to the ICT is itself enough grounds to mistrust it. Only the presence of judges, lawyers and observers from other neutral countries, especially ones who specialise in international law and crimes against humanity, will make the process reliable and trustworthy. The question is which political actor can prioritise due judicial process over the immediate demands of the political climate — there is none. Mathew teaches politics and international relations at the School of Liberal Arts and Management Studies, P P Savani University, Surat. Ramachandran is a research scholar at the Department of Communication, University of Hyderabad
Int'l Business Times
28-05-2025
- Politics
- Int'l Business Times
Political Protests Paralyse Bangladesh Daily Life
Protests have become part of daily life in Bangladesh's capital, with residents either taking part as political parties jostle for power after an uprising last year -- or avoiding them. The South Asian nation of around 170 million people has been in political turmoil since former prime minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted in August 2024, fleeing by helicopter as crowds stormed her palace. Hasina's 15-year-long authoritarian rule contained protests like a pressure cooker, until the student-led movement spearheaded a revolt that toppled her from power. On Wednesday, at least half a dozen demonstrations were held in the sprawling megacity of Dhaka, home to more than 20 million people. This was a typical day, with the demonstrations ranging from political rallies and counter-protests, to worker strikes and celebrations at the release of an Islamist leader from death row. "I got released this morning after being imprisoned for 14 years," A.T.M. Azharul Islam said, waving at thousands of supporters of the country's main Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami. The tight-packed crowd cheered as the senior leader was released from a prison hospital in central Dhaka, a day after the Supreme Court overturned his death sentence and acquitted him of war crimes. "There was no justice in the past... we expect the court will ensure that the people get justice in the coming days," Islam said. Leftist parties say they will demonstrate in opposition to his release. Across Ramna Park in the neighbourhood of Naya Paltan, thousands choked the streets as part of a rally in support of the Bangladesh National Party (BNP). Political parties are readying for hugely anticipated elections which the interim government has vowed will take place by June 2026 at the latest. While tens of thousands gather at major intersections across Dhaka with their demands, others spend hours navigating their way through traffic-snarled streets. "All the major roads are blocked during the day," chicken seller Zakir Hossain said Wednesday. "We've had to shift our schedules. I start work at midnight now, even though the law and order situation is worsening every day, and muggings have become common." It worries many, remembering the violence last year when police tried -- and failed -- to crush the protests that toppled Hasina. "The situation is unpredictable -- the protests can turn violent at any moment," said a 43-year-old housewife, asking not to be identified as her husband is a government employee. "I never used to call my husband much, but now I do. If he is even a little late coming home from the office, all sorts of bad thoughts come to my mind." Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus, the 84-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner who is leading the caretaker government as its chief adviser until elections are held, has called for parties to build unity and calm intense political power struggles. The government warned on Saturday that "unreasonable demands" and obstruction had been "continuously obstructing" its work. Yunus has said polls could be held as early as December but that having them later would give the government more time for reform. Rallies organised by the powerful BNP are calling for the government to set an election date, as well as a raft of other demands, including the sacking of multiple members of Yunus's cabinet. In other protests, tax authority workers, angered at an overhaul of the body that would place it under the finance ministry's control, held a two-week partial strike. That escalated on Sunday when security forces surrounded the national tax headquarters, before the government later backtracked on its reform. Civil servants this week also demonstrated at the main government ministry complex to rally against orders changing employment rules -- which the government then said it will reconsider. On the streets, the protests continue. "Customers rarely come to the bank when they see the roads blocked," said bank manager Muhammed Sazzad. While he supported the right to assemble, he suggested the government "could designate a specific area for protests". Rakib Hasan Anik, a lecturer at the Bangladesh University of Professionals, said that "academic discipline is suffering", with students stuck in traffic and missing class. "There needs to be a balance," he said. "We can only hope all sides reach a consensus that prioritises the public." Bangladesh's Jamaat-e-Islami leader A.T.M. Azharul Islam (C) was released from prison in Dhaka on Wednesday AFP While tens of thousands gather at major intersections across Dhaka with their demands, others spend hours navigating their way through traffic-snarled streets AFP The frequest protests are a worry to many, remembering the violence last year when police tried -- and failed -- to crush the uprising that toppled Hasina AFP
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Political protests paralyse Bangladesh daily life
Protests have become part of daily life in Bangladesh's capital, with residents either taking part as political parties jostle for power after an uprising last year -- or avoiding them. The South Asian nation of around 170 million people has been in political turmoil since former prime minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted in August 2024, fleeing by helicopter as crowds stormed her palace. Hasina's 15-year-long authoritarian rule contained protests like a pressure cooker, until the student-led movement spearheaded a revolt that toppled her from power. On Wednesday, at least half a dozen demonstrations were held in the sprawling megacity of Dhaka, home to more than 20 million people. This was a typical day, with the demonstrations ranging from political rallies and counter-protests, to worker strikes and celebrations at the release of an Islamist leader from death row. "I got released this morning after being imprisoned for 14 years," A.T.M. Azharul Islam said, waving at thousands of supporters of the country's main Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami. The tight-packed crowd cheered as the senior leader was released from a prison hospital in central Dhaka, a day after the Supreme Court overturned his death sentence and acquitted him of war crimes. "There was no justice in the past... we expect the court will ensure that the people get justice in the coming days," Islam said. Leftist parties say they will demonstrate in opposition to his release. Across Ramna Park in the neighbourhood of Naya Paltan, thousands choked the streets as part of a rally in support of the Bangladesh National Party (BNP). Political parties are readying for hugely anticipated elections which the interim government has vowed will take place by June 2026 at the latest. - 'Unpredictable' - While tens of thousands gather at major intersections across Dhaka with their demands, others spend hours navigating their way through traffic-snarled streets. "All the major roads are blocked during the day," chicken seller Zakir Hossain said Wednesday. "We've had to shift our schedules. I start work at midnight now, even though the law and order situation is worsening every day, and muggings have become common." It worries many, remembering the violence last year when police tried -- and failed -- to crush the protests that toppled Hasina. "The situation is unpredictable -- the protests can turn violent at any moment," said a 43-year-old housewife, asking not to be identified as her husband is a government employee. "I never used to call my husband much, but now I do. If he is even a little late coming home from the office, all sorts of bad thoughts come to my mind." Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus, the 84-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner who is leading the caretaker government as its chief adviser until elections are held, has called for parties to build unity and calm intense political power struggles. The government warned on Saturday that "unreasonable demands" and obstruction had been "continuously obstructing" its work. - 'A balance' - Yunus has said polls could be held as early as December but that having them later would give the government more time for reform. Rallies organised by the powerful BNP are calling for the government to set an election date, as well as a raft of other demands, including the sacking of multiple members of Yunus's cabinet. In other protests, tax authority workers, angered at an overhaul of the body that would place it under the finance ministry's control, held a two-week partial strike. That escalated on Sunday when security forces surrounded the national tax headquarters, before the government later backtracked on its reform. Civil servants this week also demonstrated at the main government ministry complex to rally against orders changing employment rules -- which the government then said it will reconsider. On the streets, the protests continue. "Customers rarely come to the bank when they see the roads blocked," said bank manager Muhammed Sazzad. While he supported the right to assemble, he suggested the government "could designate a specific area for protests". Rakib Hasan Anik, a lecturer at the Bangladesh University of Professionals, said that "academic discipline is suffering", with students stuck in traffic and missing class. "There needs to be a balance," he said. "We can only hope all sides reach a consensus that prioritises the public." es/sa/pjm/dhc
France 24
28-05-2025
- Politics
- France 24
Political protests paralyse Bangladesh daily life
The South Asian nation of around 170 million people has been in political turmoil since former prime minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted in August 2024, fleeing by helicopter as crowds stormed her palace. Hasina's 15-year-long authoritarian rule contained protests like a pressure cooker, until the student-led movement spearheaded a revolt that toppled her from power. On Wednesday, at least half a dozen demonstrations were held in the sprawling megacity of Dhaka, home to more than 20 million people. This was a typical day, with the demonstrations ranging from political rallies and counter-protests, to worker strikes and celebrations at the release of an Islamist leader from death row. "I got released this morning after being imprisoned for 14 years," A.T.M. Azharul Islam said, waving at thousands of supporters of the country's main Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami. The tight-packed crowd cheered as the senior leader was released from a prison hospital in central Dhaka, a day after the Supreme Court overturned his death sentence and acquitted him of war crimes. "There was no justice in the past... we expect the court will ensure that the people get justice in the coming days," Islam said. Leftist parties say they will demonstrate in opposition to his release. Across Ramna Park in the neighbourhood of Naya Paltan, thousands choked the streets as part of a rally in support of the Bangladesh National Party (BNP). Political parties are readying for hugely anticipated elections which the interim government has vowed will take place by June 2026 at the latest. 'Unpredictable' While tens of thousands gather at major intersections across Dhaka with their demands, others spend hours navigating their way through traffic-snarled streets. "All the major roads are blocked during the day," chicken seller Zakir Hossain said Wednesday. "We've had to shift our schedules. I start work at midnight now, even though the law and order situation is worsening every day, and muggings have become common." It worries many, remembering the violence last year when police tried -- and failed -- to crush the protests that toppled Hasina. "The situation is unpredictable -- the protests can turn violent at any moment," said a 43-year-old housewife, asking not to be identified as her husband is a government employee. "I never used to call my husband much, but now I do. If he is even a little late coming home from the office, all sorts of bad thoughts come to my mind." Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus, the 84-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner who is leading the caretaker government as its chief adviser until elections are held, has called for parties to build unity and calm intense political power struggles. The government warned on Saturday that "unreasonable demands" and obstruction had been "continuously obstructing" its work. 'A balance' Yunus has said polls could be held as early as December but that having them later would give the government more time for reform. Rallies organised by the powerful BNP are calling for the government to set an election date, as well as a raft of other demands, including the sacking of multiple members of Yunus's cabinet. In other protests, tax authority workers, angered at an overhaul of the body that would place it under the finance ministry's control, held a two-week partial strike. That escalated on Sunday when security forces surrounded the national tax headquarters, before the government later backtracked on its reform. Civil servants this week also demonstrated at the main government ministry complex to rally against orders changing employment rules -- which the government then said it will reconsider. On the streets, the protests continue. "Customers rarely come to the bank when they see the roads blocked," said bank manager Muhammed Sazzad. While he supported the right to assemble, he suggested the government "could designate a specific area for protests". Rakib Hasan Anik, a lecturer at the Bangladesh University of Professionals, said that "academic discipline is suffering", with students stuck in traffic and missing class. "There needs to be a balance," he said. "We can only hope all sides reach a consensus that prioritises the public."
Economic Times
28-05-2025
- Politics
- Economic Times
Bangladesh deploys special forces as employees protest new rules
Dhaka remained tense on Tuesday as government employees continued with their protests inside the main government secretariat for the fourth consecutive day despite strict security measures taken by the law enforcement agencies. Members of the special weapons and tactics unit were seen stationed at the main entrance of the secretariat, in addition to members of the Border Guard Bangladesh and Rapid Action Battalion, people based in Dhaka told ET. Nobody, except for the officials and employees of the secretariat, was allowed to enter the premises, they said, adding that even local journalists were not allowed entry. Protests are intensifying in Bangladesh also because business is sluggish, investment remains scarce and new jobs are not being created, according to the people. Amid the chaos, on Tuesday, death row convict Jamaat-e-Islami leader ATM Azharul Islam was acquitted of the charges of crimes against humanity committed during the 1971 Liberation War. He was sentenced to death in 2014 by the International Crimes Tribunal, after having been accused of orchestrating mass killings in 1971. Between March and December 1971, under Azharul Islam's leadership, victims were abducted and confined in Bangladesh's Rangpur Town Hall, which was used as a rape camp, according to one charge against the Jamaat leader. Meanwhile, Bangladesh's interim government chief adviser Muhammad Yunus was scheduled to leave Dhaka early Wednesday on a four-day official visit to Japan to attend the 30th Nikkei Forum and hold talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to boost bilateral cooperation.
