The attack is the predictable result of unchecked violence

Jason Burke / The Guardian

For many observers of radical Islam, the first reaction to the attack on the diplomatic zone of Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka [last Friday] is that it was utterly predictable.

Over the past year, Bangladesh – an overwhelmingly Muslim country of 150 million people – has seen growing violence against both foreigners and locals deemed to be enemies of extremist Islam: secular bloggers, outspoken critics of fundamentalism, members of religious minorities such as Hindus and Christians, police officers and others.

Until now, the violence has taken the form of largely low-tech attacks involving small groups of militants or even individuals armed with knives or small arms.

Friday’s attack, however, was an operation of a much greater magnitude. Early reports suggest at least five gunmen, armed with sufficient automatic weapons and grenades to repel at least one assault by local police.

Western intelligence have been nervous about a major operation for at least 18 months. Indications of a complex plan to attack a diplomatic ball last year prompted much alarm – and pressure from western capitals on Dhaka to move effectively against the militant networks existing in the unstable south Asian nation.

This did not happen. The Awami League government of Hasina Sheikh has instead looked to extract political advantage from the situation, either blaming what is left of the political opposition in Bangladesh, or denying outright that militant networks linked to organisations such as Islamic State or al-Qaida even existed in the country, despite their claims of responsibility for successive killings.

Instead of cracking down on the hardline groups which encouraged, or even sponsored, the attacks on local bloggers and minorities, the government effectively made concessions to the conservatives, with the prime minister implying those who had insulted religious sensibilities were in part responsible for their fate. Bloggers seeking police protection were ignored.

So who might be responsible for this attack? Late on Friday, Islamic State claimed the attack through its affiliated Amaq news agency, but the group’s involvement could not be confirmed. Both Isis and al-Qaida have been targeting Bangladesh as an area of potential expansion. Indeed, the rivalry between the two is key. Isis has mentioned Bangladesh frequently in its propaganda, while al-Qaida has devoted entire videos to the country, calling on Muslims in the country to rise up against their “apostate” rulers.

But Bangladesh is far from the central zone of activity of Isis in the Middle East, and the organisation has never had a strong presence in south Asia. Al-Qaida, in contrast, was founded in Pakistan in 1988 and has been a permanent presence in the region since 1996. It sees the region as central to its strategy and survival.

In 2014, al-Qaida’s leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, announced the formation of a new affiliate, al-Qaida in South Asia (Aqisa), and said its zone of operations stretched from Afghanistan to Bangladesh. So far, Aqisa has failed to make its mark but it is entirely possible that the attack in Dhaka is its latest attempt to do so.

Can Bangladesh respond? There has been significant US and UK involvement with security services in Bangladesh aimed at reinforcing capabilities. The controversial Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has been the recipient of some aid – and has been accused of systematic human rights abuses.

The violence in Bangladesh over recent years has attracted some interest from the press but very little from policymakers around the world. Bangladesh, though in a key pivotal position between the Asia Pacific region and South Asia, has not been a priority in Washington, London or elsewhere. There has been some focus on the economy – which remains relatively healthy – but few have paid much attention to the increasingly restricted space in the troubled country for political dissent, pluralism or traditional moderate strands of observance.

This attack, however it ends, will make it much more difficult for both authorities in Dhaka and international observers to ignore the threat of extremist Islam in one of the biggest Muslim majority countries in the world.

How Will Bangladesh Respond to the Attack?

By Samanth Subramanian / The New Yorker

On Friday [July 1] evening, when gunmen burst into the Holey Artisan Bakery, in Dhaka, the restaurant was quiet. Few of its regular Muslim customers were dining out, having just broken their Ramadan fasts at home, so the tables were occupied largely by expatriates: a group of Italians out for dinner, another cluster of Japanese, Sri Lankans, and Indians. This was a crowd typical of Gulshan, a neighborhood of diplomats and corporate executives, which, with its tranquil streets and watercolor lake views, feels a long way from the traffic-choked bedlam elsewhere in Dhaka.

Storming the Holey Artisan Bakery was, in other words, a result of diligent homework. It wasn’t until the next morning, ten hours later, that Bangladesh Army commandos broke the siege, killing six attackers and arresting a seventh. Most of the twenty slain victims were foreigners; one, a sophomore at Emory University, was an American of Bangladeshi origin. Thirteen people, patrons as well as staff, survived. Through the long, terrible night, one eyewitness said, the attackers tested the hostages, torturing or murdering them if they couldn’t recite verses from the Koran. “We will not kill Bengalis,” one of the gunmen said, according to the Times. “We will only kill foreigners.”

The attack, which was subsequently claimed by the Islamic State, through its Amaq information agency, provides a tragically clarifying moment in Bangladesh’s recent history of violence. Since 2013, at least forty people across the country have been killed in separate attacks—on the streets or in their homes, many sliced to death with machetes. Among the first victims were several secular bloggers, including an American, Avijit Roy, who was killed in February, 2015; foreigners, publishers, minority Hindus and Christians, and gay-rights activists have also been murdered.

This spree of violence has punctured the self-constructed reputation of the Awami League, the ruling party, as the sole guardian of the secular fiber of Sunni-majority Bangladesh. In its successful election campaigns of 2008 and 2014, the Awami League had promised to be tough on terror, and to prosecute those who had collaborated with Pakistani Islamists to impede Bangladesh’s war of liberation, in 1971. The tensions of the war have lurked beneath the surface of the country’s politics ever since, boiling over in 2013, when students and bloggers organized massive protests, calling for the harshest possible sentences for convicted war criminals. But shortly thereafter, when assassins began to kill bloggers, often in public and in open daylight, the government responded weakly. Once, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina even suggested that the murdered writers ought to have kept their controversial opinions on Islam to themselves.

Over the past three years, Bangladesh has been unable to ascertain the force behind these executions. Some of the killings, including Roy’s, were claimed by Ansarullah Bangla Team, a local group of militants that spoke largely through its Twitter handle; a police official described Ansarullah as an Al Qaeda affiliate, but in a tweet Ansarullah bragged that Roy had been killed to avenge the United States’ actions againstISIS. Yet the government has denied the presence of either Al Qaeda or ISIS on Bangladeshi soil; one of its ministers, speaking to me late last year, was more eager to blame his party’s primary political opposition, the Bangladesh National Party, and the B.N.P.’s proscribed Islamist ally, the Jamaat-e-Islami. Last month, under pressure to act, the government arrested more than eleven thousand people, including a hundred and forty-five suspected Islamic militants; police officials said that they were cracking down on every form of crime, from theft to assault, but the B.N.P. complained that the raids were a cover to detain its workers. By way of further complication, it wasn’t uncommon to hear the paranoid theory that the government’s security agencies had carried out some of the murders, to give itself an excuse to turn Bangladesh into more of a police state.

Friday’s attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery, however, leaves little room for doubt about the growing influence of ISIS in the country, Amarnath Amarasingam, a fellow at George Washington University’s Program on Extremism, told me. “The most important thing here is that ISIS has taken credit, and they don’t take credit for things they didn’t do,” he said. “Now, this doesn’t mean Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is calling these guys in Dhaka and telling them what to do. It doesn’t mean these fighters were in direct contact with the top leadership or funded by them. What you can say is that linkages exist.” Even if the discontents are local, the allegiance is now global.

On Saturday, Amarasingam tweeted out photos of five of the attackers, which were first published on ISIS media channels. “Here they are again with names . . . and, ugh, smiling faces,” he wrote. “Definitely shows some serious pre-planning.” The photos show young men with starter goatees, distinctly South Asian in appearance, wearing black tunics and red-and-white kaffiyehs. They stand in front of the ISIS banner and hold automatic weapons at the same angle, pointed just to the left of their feet, their forefingers resting loosely on the trigger guards. In captions, we learn their given kunyas, or Arabic noms de guerre. They are squinting into the light, and their smiles are shockingly sunny, as if they were posing for yearbook photos.

The fact that these photos were taken, to be released after the siege ended, reveals an element of meticulous organization. Some of the people who were killed in the Holey Artisan Bakery were cut up with cleavers or machetes, and although this was not necessarily a signature of ISIS operations, Amarasingam said, “these attacks sometimes do have a sort of weird local flavor.” The gunmen had clearly planned to take photos of the carnage, mid-siege, and transmit them for publication on ISIS channels, but, when they snatched smartphones from survivors for this purpose, the 3G signal proved flimsy, so the restaurant staff was ordered to switch on the Wi-Fi network. One of the gunmen, survivors recalled, had also remembered to pack a laptop.

Still, despite signs that the attacks were the handiwork of ISIS sympathizers, Asaduzzaman Khan, Bangladesh’s home minister, refused afterward to acknowledge that the government is dealing with serious terrorism, rather than an extraordinarily violent brand of party politics. On Sunday, he said that the gunmen were members of yet another homegrown, long-banned Islamic militia, the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, not supporters of ISIS. Asked why the young men, who had gone to an élite school in Dhaka, would choose to become militants, Khan replied, “It has become a fashion.”

Such denials have begun to sound both rote and specious. Khan may be correct in implying that the disaffection driving these men to violence flows from the frictions and problems of Bangladeshi society, rather than the appeal of a global caliphate. But, given the sort of spectacular horror that Dhaka has just witnessed, it appears that ISIS has found firm traction within a segment of the populace. To forestall further acts of terror, Bangladesh’s government will have to face up to that grim new reality.

Samanth Subramanian is a New Delhi-based journalist and the author of ”This Divided Island: Stories from the Sri Lankan War.”

Terrorist attack in Dhaka should surprise no one

By Ishaan Tharoor, July 1 / The Washington Post

The details remain murky [on Friday evening in Washington]. On Friday night, assailants assaulted a restaurant in an upscale neighborhood in Dhaka, Bangladesh's teeming capital. They fired weapons and hurled grenades. Initial reports suggest that six to eight gunmen were inside the establishment, detaining about 20 hostages. At least one police officer was slain during the standoff with the militants.

Officers of the Rapid Action Battalion, an elite paramilitary police unit, filled the streets of Gulshan, a leafy district that's home to diplomats as well as the country's elite. The restaurant under siege is a bakery in the daytime and a Spanish eatery at night.

A media group online that's linked to the Islamic State took credit for the attack, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist activity. It's not clear, though, that the organization has a genuine operational presence in the country.

Speculation had immediately fallen on extremist groups believed to be operating in Bangladesh, including outfits affiliated both with al-Qaeda's South Asian wing and the Islamic State. In the past two years, horrific attacks by self-declared Islamists have targeted Hindus, intellectuals, secularist writers and bloggers.

According to one count, the Islamic State has claimed responsibility for more attacks in Bangladesh through its social media accounts than in Pakistan or Afghanistan. The extremist organization had called on its fighters and proxies to launch such strikes on soft targets during the holy month of Ramadan.

The government, led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has struggled to come to grips with the issue. It has rebuffed any suggestion that the Islamic State has a foothold in the country. And it has sought to deflect blame for its perceived mishandling of the security crisis.

Last month, a senior minister chose to pin the escalation in violence on a vague Israeli conspiracy rather than domestic problems. In police crackdowns, authorities have rounded up some 12,000 people, but most of those detained have been petty criminals and supporters of opposition parties, the Associated Press reported.

Counterterrorism experts say the Hasina government has expended more energy consolidating its position and suppressing its opponents than tackling the spread of Islamist violence in the country. A recent report from the International Crisis Group argued that a skewed judicial system and the heavy-handed rule of Hasina's ruling Awami League party, which is traditionally secular and center-left, was laying the foundation for further militant violence and unrest.

"There is no time to lose," the report concluded. "If mainstream dissent remains closed, more and more government opponents may come to view violence and violent groups as their only recourse."

The prime minister "has blamed much of the country’s extremist violence on the political opposition, namely the Jamaat-e-Islaami (JI) and the Bangladesh National Party," writes Michael Kugelman, South Asia expert at the Woodrow Wilson Center. ". ... Still, to seemingly rule out that groups other than Dhaka’s chief political foes are perpetrating Bangladesh’s intensifying extremist violence is naïve at best, and dangerous at worst."

WorldViews had more last month:

In the shadow of creeping extremism, the ruling government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been criticized for its growing authoritarian style.

Controversial moves to prosecute and execute war criminals from the country's bloody struggle for independence in 1971 pushed Islamist factions deeper underground and have perhaps provoked a violent counter-response. Meanwhile, other dissidents and journalists have found themselves subject to state censure and intimidation.

The political environment, in other words, has left Bangladesh deeply susceptible to such havoc. "By merely shrugging off Bangladesh’s alarming levels of extremist violence, Dhaka puts the country in greater peril," writes Kugelman. "And it strengthens the forces that wish to undermine Bangladesh’s founding identity as a pluralistic, secular state."

Bangladesh, as a nation, exists on the periphery of the American imagination. Few in the United States would probably know it has one of the world's largest Muslim populations, larger than that of any country in the Middle East. But in the wake of the Istanbul terrorist attack, attention has fallen on the chosen tactics of the Islamic State and its proxies. A coordinated strike on Gulshan, the epicenter of wealth and elite power in Dhaka, has all the hallmarks of the terrorist organization's strategy.

House of Commons debate on Bangladesh

From Hansard report of the UK House of Commons debate; June 28, 2016:

Simon Danczuk (Rochdale) (Ind)

I beg to move,
That this House has considered the current situation in Bangladesh.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Alan, and I thank the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the right hon. Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), for attending this very important debate.
Let me briefly set out why we are having this debate and explain what I hope to cover in the time available to me. The current situation in Bangladesh has some relationship to the war for independence in 1971, but it is also very much the result of the seriously flawed general election on 5 January 2014. That election was flawed because the Awami League Government were manipulating the results. They refused to consider the creation of a caretaker Government and they put obstacles in the way of the opposition parties; indeed, they made it impossible for the opposition to take part satisfactorily. That is why the opposition rightly and understandably boycotted that election. As we now creep towards the next general election, we see that the same Awami League Government have become increasingly concerned that they will not win it through legitimate means.
In debating the current situation in Bangladesh, I will talk about, first, the consequences of that flawed general election; secondly, what has been happening recently, particularly some of the atrocities that have taken place; thirdly, what we should anticipate happening next in Bangladesh; fourthly, why all this is relevant to the United Kingdom; and finally, what I hope the Government might consider doing in the near future.
There is irrefutable evidence that democracy has now broken down in Bangladesh. I was in the country just a few weeks ago and I spoke with trustworthy non-governmental organisations. I learned that ballot boxes were now being stuffed with ballot papers for the ruling party in advance of local elections taking place; that opposition candidates were not appearing on the ballot paper when they should have been; that opposition candidates were being “persuaded” not to stand or campaign; and that there are also concerns about the politicisation of the electoral commission in Bangladesh. Added to those issues is the restraint on freedom of expression and the pressure being put on the free press.

Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)

The hon. Gentleman is making a very powerful speech, even if it has only just begun.

4.18 pm

Sitting suspended for a Division in the House.

4.30 pm

On resuming—

Dr Huq

As I was saying before we were so rudely interrupted, is my hon. Friend aware of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and the fact that it is having its annual conference in September, with 200-plus nations gathering in Dhaka, Bangladesh? Can the Minister do anything to assure UK parliamentarians who may wish ​to attend that conference? If we want to meet secular or atheistic bloggers, can we have some assurances on freedom of association? I am not too sure about that, in light of the terrible recent murders that have shocked the world. The fact that my hon. Friend was talking about the opposition and what may happen next reminded me of that point, which I wanted to make him aware of.

Simon Danczuk

I am aware of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association conference that will take place in Bangladesh. It is a good forum for British parliamentarians and other parliamentarians from across the Commonwealth. It will allow them to be in Bangladesh and express some of the same concerns as my hon. Friend. The point I was making relates in particular to the press. The murder, torture and harassment of journalists is well known. Many are fleeing to Britain and seeking asylum here because of the threats and attacks.

John Howell (Henley) (Con)

I have been to Bangladesh on a number of occasions and once during an election period, and they have always been very violent affairs. What is it about this election that makes it different from those earlier elections?

Simon Danczuk

I completely agree that politics runs passionately high in the country, but it is getting unbearable. Some of the points that I will touch on show that things are moving towards a serious situation of civil unrest, and that needs to be addressed. Tensions are perhaps more heightened than when the hon. Gentleman was in the country.
I met Oli Ullah Numan, who came to the UK for the very reasons I described. He was a journalist who wrote disparagingly about the current Government. He soon started feeling that his life was under threat. Talking to him in Rochdale, I could see the stress and fear that his experience had caused him. Most upsetting for him was not that he was now separated from his wife and children, but that he feared for their lives because they remained in the country. Reporters Without Borders rates Bangladesh at 144th out of 180 countries on its world press freedom index and talks about how journalists there have to be very careful about criticising the Government or religion.
If all that was not bad enough, on 4 May, the Bangladesh Government announced the setting up of a media monitoring centre. They are also taking steps to bring social media under similar forms of regulation to those for print and television. Indeed, the draft Digital Security Act provides for sentences of life imprisonment for anyone spreading negative propaganda about the 1971 war of independence or Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s father. The Act also provides for the sentencing of anybody who deliberately defames someone or hurts their religious sentiment via digital media to two years in prison, replicating existing provisions in law. Another draft law, the Liberation War Denial Crimes Act, makes similar provisions.
All that is restricting a free press and attempting to quash any criticism of the Government. In addition, we are now seeing attacks on secular bloggers. In 2015, four were murdered: a gentleman called Roy in February, Rahman Babu in March, Bijoy Das in May and Chakrabarti in August. While al-Qaeda takes responsibility for some of the attacks, a group called Ansarullah Bangla Team also takes some responsibility. It has published a hit list that includes UK-based bloggers. ​On 6 April, a law student and blogger was murdered by a group linked to al-Qaeda. The Awami League Home Office Minister’s response was simply to tell bloggers to be careful what they wrote about. On 23 April, a university professor was hacked to death and Daesh claimed responsibility. On 25 April, two people were hacked to death, including the editor of a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender magazine, and again an al-Qaeda affiliate took responsibility. Then, on 30 April, a Hindu man was murdered and Daesh claimed responsibility. Those from the tiny Shi’a Muslim minority have also become prominent targets, with processions and their mosques facing attack. Last month, an elderly Buddhist monk was hacked to death. Religious minorities, writers, bloggers and publishers have continued to be attacked and murdered, and that has had a chilling effect on freedom of expression in Bangladesh.
The breakdown in law and order continues with the gross violation of human rights. Amnesty International regularly reports on what it calls enforced disappearances, and it clearly holds the security forces responsible. It talks of officers in plain clothes arresting dozens of people but then denying any knowledge of their whereabouts. A survey of national newspapers conducted by the human rights organisation, Ain o Salish Kendra, indicated the enforced disappearance of at least 43 individuals, including two women, between January and September 2015. Of the 43, six were later found dead, four were released after their abduction and five were found in police custody. The fate and whereabouts of the other 28 is unknown. Human Rights Watch has also criticised the authorities’ use of excessive force, which includes the extra-judicial killings of opposition supporters. In particular, the Rapid Action Battalion is singled out as being involved in the extra-judicial killings and disappearances. Mass arrests are taking place, with experts stating that they are aimed not so much at Islamic extremists or terrorists but more at political opponents.
If all that were not bad enough, the justice system is seen as biased and is being used to silence the Government’s political opponents, not least through what is called the International Crimes Tribunal. The tribunal has been condemned by the United Nations because it does not meet international standards. It is clearly politicised and is being used not to serve justice for crimes against humanity during the 1971 war of independence but to provide political results. That is perhaps best illustrated by the fact that both Jamaat-e-Islami and Bangladesh National party leaders have faced the death penalty following flawed trials at the tribunal.
Besides that, allegations are regularly made by the current Government against political opponents, tying them down in legal battles and constraining them through threats of police action and prison. As we steadily move towards the next general election in Bangladesh, the Government appear to be making more allegations, particularly against those political opponents who are particularly popular. Attempts are being made to use the judicial process to thwart the electoral chances of opponents such as Tarique Rahman and Khaleda Zia. It is as though the Awami League is trying to choose its opponents for the next general election. Indeed, the next general election could well be more corrupt and fraudulent than the last. We are observing Bangladesh collapse into chaos. As a consequence, we are also ​seeing a rise in Islamist extremism. The erosion of civic space, the demolition of democracy and the reduction of human rights are all causing a void that is being filled by fundamentalists.
Unhelpfully, the Bangladesh Government often deny that Daesh has a presence in the country and have criticised foreign intelligence agencies and independent commentators who have suggested otherwise. Such a “head in the sand” mentality helps nobody, but neither does the mentality of Bangladesh’s high commissioner to Britain, who recently went on the BBC Radio 4 “Today” programme and claimed, to the astonishment and disbelief of the presenter and audience, that some of the extremist murders are being committed by the Bangladesh Nationalist party. That can be bettered only by Bangladesh’s Minister of Home Affairs, who recently blamed Israel for some of the attacks. Let me be clear: it helps nobody to deny that there is a problem with extremism in Bangladesh, but it is deeply corrosive and haunting to play party politics with Islamist terrorism, as the high commissioner did.
Britain and Bangladesh have very strong ties. We trade heavily with each other. We rely heavily on the Bangladesh garment industry. We have the largest Bangladeshi diaspora in Europe. We enjoy the cultural experience that Bangladeshis bring to Britain—indeed, we rely heavily on Bangladeshi chefs to cook our national dish, chicken tikka masala. Bangladesh relies on aid from Britain, and on the remittances that are still being sent home. We share space and understanding within that great institution, the Commonwealth. I have grave concerns for the people of Bangladesh. The problems seem to be escalating. Human rights abuses are increasing dramatically. State violence is becoming extreme. I am worried that the country is steadily slipping towards civil unrest and, potentially, civil war, which is why I suggest that our Government take further action.
What more does the Minister think can be done? I accept that the Foreign Office has recently designated Bangladesh a human rights priority country, but more pressure needs to be applied. What more can the British Government do to press Sheikh Hasina’s regime to start holding free and fair elections and to move towards a free and fair general election? Do the Government believe that some of our aid budget for Bangladesh is going into institutions, such as the Election Commission Bangladesh, that are clearly politicised and favour one party over another? If so, what should be done? Does the Minister have any concerns that weapons or equipment from the UK may be used by the security forces to suppress political activists, restrain political liberty and reduce freedom of expression? Does the Minister agree that it is now appropriate to consider sanctions against Bangladesh? Perhaps we should at least refuse entry to the UK for those in Bangladesh who are clearly responsible for some of the abuses we are discussing.
I know that there will always remain a very strong bond between Britain and Bangladesh. Indeed, our relationship allows us to be critical friends. The time has now come for the British Government to be a little more critical and a little less friendly to the current Bangladesh regime.

Sir Alan Meale (in the Chair)

I shall call any other Members who wish to participate, but I should indicate to them that there are only around three to four minutes ​before I call the Minister to respond to the mover of the motion, who will wind up the debate at the end. If more than one Member wishes to speak, they should understand that if they are to be fair, there is limited time for them to make a representation. I call Rupa Huq.

4.43 pm

Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)

Sir Alan, it was my intention only to make an intervention about the bloggers and the fact that the Charter of the Commonwealth, by which the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association abides, ensures the fundamental freedom of association. I am particularly interested to hear from the Minister whether Her Majesty’s Government are making representations to the Government in Bangladesh to ensure that fundamental right when the conference takes place in September.
As you have given me the floor, Sir Alan, I would like to echo some of the comments made by my hon. Friend the Member for Rochdale (Simon Danczuk) about the Bangladeshi diaspora. I am one of three Members of Parliament of Bangladeshi origin in this House. My hon. Friend painted a rather depressing portrait. I believe it was George Harrison who wrote a song about Bangladesh being a terrible mess. Some of the sentiments expressed by my hon. Friend seem to give weight to that opinion, although it was expressed only in popular song. It is a country that has been monitored on many fronts: democracy, human rights and freedom of association. I am looking forward to hearing the Minister’s speech.

Sir Alan Meale (in the Chair)

Of course the hon. Lady is a senior politician in this place and she knows the rules. Debates in Westminster Hall operate under strict timetables. The mover of the motion has indicated that he wants the Minister to reply to the questions he posed. If any time is left, it can be granted to other Members, but we now have to move on because we are approaching the witching hour, when the Minister has to be called.

4.45 pm

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr Hugo Swire)

I congratulate the hon. Member for Rochdale (Simon Danczuk) on securing this important debate and commend the consistent commitment he has shown to Bangladesh, both as a member of the all-party group on Bangladesh and as an MP representing British nationals of Bangladeshi heritage. I thank the hon. Member for Ealing Central and Acton (Dr Huq) for her contribution. As the Minister with responsibility for bilateral relations with Bangladesh and for the Commonwealth, I will try to address as many of the points raised as I can in the time available.
As the hon. Member for Rochdale said, the relationship between the UK and Bangladesh is strong. That relationship is enhanced, and British society as a whole is enriched, by the diaspora community. As a close friend of Bangladesh and fellow members of the Commonwealth, we care deeply about what happens there, both now and in future. We want Bangladesh to develop into an economically ​successful country that maintains its Bengali tradition of respect and tolerance for people of all faiths and backgrounds.
In June last year, the House debated Bangladesh against a backdrop of political unrest, the brutal murders of bloggers, and allegations of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances. Since then, there have been more attacks against minority groups and those who hold views counter to traditional values and beliefs. Responsibility for many of the attacks has been claimed by Daesh, or by groups affiliated to Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent. As has been pointed out, there has also been pressure on opposition parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist party, and on dissenting voices in the media and civil society.
Peaceful, credible elections are the true mark of a mature functioning democracy, and all political parties share a responsibility for delivering them. The UK will continue to engage constructively with all parties in Bangladesh, and with international partners, to work towards that end. It is generally recognised that a shrinking of space for democratic challenge and debate can push some towards extremist alternatives. I am deeply concerned that the recent appalling spate of murders is becoming an all-too-common occurrence. The Prime Minister discussed our concerns with the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, on 27 May in Tokyo, highlighting the fact that extremist attacks risk undermining stability in Bangladesh. I also raised those concerns with the Bangladeshi high commissioner on 24 May, and our high commissioner in Dhaka regularly discusses these issues in meetings with the Bangladeshi Government.
I welcome the commitment by the Government of Bangladesh to bring those responsible for recent extremist attacks to justice. We have also made it clear, in public and in private, that justice must be done in a manner that fully respects the international human rights standards that Bangladesh has signed up to and which, as a member of both the Commonwealth and the UN Human Rights Council, it has pledged to uphold.
Mass arrests and suspicious “crossfire” deaths at the hands of the police undermine confidence in the judicial system. Investigations must be conducted transparently and impartially, irrespective of the identity of the victim or the alleged perpetrator. Anyone arrested should be treated in full accordance with due process and Bangladeshi law. It is also important to explore the root causes of the attacks involving international links.
We urge Bangladesh, as a vibrant, modern and rapidly growing democracy, to protect and promote freedom of expression as one of its core values. Prime Minister Hasina has repeatedly extolled the secular, tolerant nature of Bangladesh. Her Government must be unequivocal about protecting the rights of all citizens, including those who express different views or lead different lifestyles. The victims themselves should not be blamed.
As recent events in the United Kingdom, France, the US and elsewhere sadly show, Bangladesh is not alone in having to face the scourge of extremist violence. All countries must stand together to combat extremism and terrorism. This is not a challenge to be faced in isolation. We can and will do more to engage with the Government of Bangladesh on areas of shared concern, such as counter-terrorism, counter-extremism and the promotion of human rights for all. At the same time, our development ​programme—still one of our largest—continues to address some of the root causes, including poverty and economic marginalisation.
The threat of terrorism and extremism affects us all. It should not be faced alone, and it is incumbent on us all to work together to promote tolerance and acceptance. The protection of human rights is a core value of the UK and of the Commonwealth. The hon. Member for Ealing Central and Acton (Dr Huq) asked about the CPA meeting later in the year in Bangladesh, and I urge the new secretary-general of the Commonwealth, Baroness Scotland, to visit Bangladesh as soon as she can in order to assess the situation for herself. We will continue to encourage the Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, to deliver on her commitments to tackle terrorism, to protect human rights and to do so in a way that is compliant with the rule of law and due process, which is in both our interests. Bangladesh has a long-term vision to be a peaceful, prosperous and developed nation; the UK shares that aspiration and wants to be a friend of a vibrant, stable and economically successful Bangladesh.
I again thank the hon. Member for Rochdale for the opportunity to debate the issues, and I thank all other hon. Members for their contributions.

4.53 pm

Simon Danczuk (Rochdale) (Ind)

I thank hon. Members for their contributions and interventions, and I thank the Minister for his response to the issues that I have raised. Without doubt, we all want to see solutions to the problems that are obviously occurring in Bangladesh, and I am pleased to hear that the Prime Minister spoke to Sheikh Hasina as recently as last month.
I still have some concerns. We are fast approaching CHOGM, the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting, which will be held in London in a year or two. I hope that more progress will be made in Bangladesh before we get to that stage. Finally, we are left with three questions that the Minister still needs to answer: first, is any British aid being used in a partisan way; secondly, is there use of any weapons or equipment to suppress political opposition; and, thirdly, at what stage would Britain consider sanctions against Bangladesh, if the situation does not improve?

Sir Alan Meale (in the Chair)

May I suggest to the hon. Gentleman, when he goes over his deliberations in Hansard tomorrow, that he might take the view expressed by Ms Huq and contact the CPA to warn it that this matter came up in the course of his debate? He could ask the CPA to ensure that all precautions are taken in the event of the conference taking place.
Question put and agreed to.

নানা রকম প্রশ্ন উঠছে সামাজিক যোগাযোগ মাধ্যমে

শীর্ষ নিউজ, ঢাকা: 

পুলিশ কর্মকর্তা বাবুল আক্তারের স্ত্রী মাহমুদা বেগম মিতুর হত্যাকাণ্ডের সঙ্গে জড়িত সন্দেহে দু’জনের গ্রেফতার এবং আদালতে তাদের স্বীকারোক্তির বিষয়ে পুলিশের ব্রিফিং আলোচিত এই হত্যাকাণ্ড সম্পর্কে মানুষের আগ্রহ আরও বাড়িয়ে দিয়েছে।

এই হত্যাকাণ্ডের বিষয়ে বাবুল আক্তারকে‘জিজ্ঞাসাবাদ’র ফলে গুঞ্জনই কেবল বাড়ছে। নানা রকম প্রশ্ন উঠছে সামাজিক যোগাযোগ মাধ্যমে, কিন্তু প্রশ্নের নিরসন তো দূরের কথা, পুলিশ আর কর্তাব্যক্তিদের নানা বক্তব্য বরং নতুন প্রশ্ন উস্কে দিচ্ছে। চট্টগ্রামের পুলিশ দাবী করছে যে ওয়াসিম নামের একজন পেশাদার অপরাধী মাহমুদা বেগম মিতুকে গুলি করে হত্যা করেছে। ওয়াসিমের সহযোগী হিসেবে মোঃ আনোয়ার নামের একজনকেও গ্রেফতার করা হয়েছে। পুলিশের বক্তব্য দু’জনেই আদালতে জবানবন্দী দিয়ে অপরাধ স্বীকার করেছে। মাহমুদা বেগম মিতুর হত্যার পুলিশের প্রথম ধারণা ছিল ‘জঙ্গী দমনে সফল’ কর্মকর্তা বাবুল আক্তারের প্রতি প্রতিশোধ নিতে জঙ্গীরা এই হত্যাকা- ঘটাতে পারে।

কিন্তু গ্রেফতার হওয়া দু’জন জঙ্গীদের সঙ্গে সম্পর্কিত এমন কোন দাবী পুলিশ করছে না। তাহলে এই দু’জন কথিত পেশাদার ভাড়াটে খুনী মাহমুদা বেগম মিতুকে কেন খুন করবে? কার বা কাদের হয়ে এই দু’জন ভাড়া খেটেছেন? আর সরাসরি গুলি না করে কেন ঐ নারীকে কোপানো হলো? তা কি এই ঘটনা জঙ্গীদের সাথে সম্পর্কিত দেখানোর জন্যেই? সম্প্রতি পদোন্নতি পেয়ে বাবুল আক্তার পুলিশ সুপার হয়েছেন। এটি পুলিশের কমান্ড কাঠামোতে অত্যন্ত গুরুত্বপূর্ণ একটি স্তর। এই স্তরের একজন কর্মকর্তার স্ত্রীকে হত্যার ঘটনা কোন কারণ ছাড়া ঘটতে পারে না বলেই বিশ্বাস করেন পুলিশেরই অনেক কর্মকর্তা।

বাবুল আক্তারকে শুক্রবার রাতে ঢাকায় তার  শ্বশুরের বাসা থেকে নিয়ে গিয়ে পনের ঘণ্টা ধরে ‘জিজ্ঞাসাবাদ’ করা হয়েছিল। একজন এসপি’কে স্ত্রী হত্যা সম্পর্কিত বিষয়ে ‘জিজ্ঞাসাবাদ’ করা হলেও দীর্ঘ সময় ধরে পুলিশের পক্ষ থেকে আনুষ্ঠানিকভাবে কিছু বলা হয়নি।

শেষ পর্যন্ত এ বিষয়ে মুখ খুলতে হয় স্বরাষ্ট্রমন্ত্রী আসাদুজ্জামান খানকে, যিনি প্রশ্নের সামনে পড়ে সাংবাদিকদের জানান যে সন্দেহভাজনদের মুখোমুখি করতে তাকে গোয়েন্দা দপ্তরে নেয়া হয়েছে। চট্টগ্রামের পুলিশ বলছে, মিতু হত্যায় সাত-আট জন অংশ নিয়েছিল।

পুলিশের একজন সিনিয়র কর্মকর্তা মনে করেন, তদন্তকারীদের এখন খুঁজে বের করতে হবে ঘটনার পেছনে কে রয়েছে, কারণ সবচেয়ে বড় প্রশ্ন হলো – কারা এদের ভাড়া করেছিল। আর যাদের গ্রেফতার করা হয়েছে, জবানবন্দীতে তারা কাদের নাম বলেছে, আর যাদের এখনো গ্রেফতার করা যায়নি, গ্রেফতার হলে তারা কাদের নাম বলবে ঐ কর্মকর্তা মনে করছেন এ সবই হবে এই হত্যা রহস্য উন্মোচনের সবচেয়ে গুরুত্বপূর্ণ ধাপ। বাবুল আক্তারের স্ত্রীর হত্যার পর প্রধানমন্ত্রী শেখ হাসিনা বলেছিলেন, হত্যাকারীদের ছাড়া হবে না।

সূত্র: বিবিসি

A Rule of Law Meltdown Is Behind the Murder of Bloggers

Shehryar Fazli / World Politics Review


A series of gruesome attacks on bloggers in Bangladesh has shocked the country and the world. But they are only one element in a years-long cycle of mounting violence. Large-scale political repression has created a climate of injustice that extremist groups have easily exploited in their war against secularists and liberal thinkers.


Unfortunately, political violence is nothing new in Bangladesh. Much of it is the result of the unrelenting, intense rivalry between the country’s two major parties, the governing Awami League of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and its Islamist ally Jamaat-e-Islami. But the violence has worsened as repression peaks. The government, in its attempt to silence political dissent, has politicized and dangerously overstretched the country’s law enforcement institutions. Bangladesh’s prisons are overflowing with political opponents and activists, while extremists, thriving in an atmosphere of impunity, intimidate ordinary citizens.


Successive governments have used state machinery to suppress the opposition, which in turn mobilized violent party workers to undermine the government. This political conflict between the Awami League and the BNP has been aggravated by brutal government actions against political opponents and critics, including enforced disappearances, torture and extra-judicial killings.


Zia and her son Tarique Rahman, the BNP’s vice chair, currently face corruption and other criminal charges that could send them to prison for life. Their trial comes at a time when the BNP has apparently decided to shun violence and instead re-enter the political mainstream, offering an opportunity for long-overdue dialogue between the rival parties. But Hasina’s government has so far failed to seize it. Given the fragility of the political system, a single spark, such as Zia’s conviction, could reignite the violence that has brought the country to a virtual standstill twice since 2013.


All this has fueled resentment and provides a perfect breeding ground for Bangladesh’s hard-line and extremist Islamist groups—including Hefazat-e-Islam, Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh, Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh and a new jihadi organization, the Ansarullah Bangla Team—and their anti-state agenda. They depict the Awami League-led government as anti-Islam and a threat to Bangladesh’s Muslim identity, while attacking the country’s liberal thinkers and secular voices. In 2013, extremists reportedly issued a hit list of 84 bloggers they deemed “atheists.”


The Ansarullah Bangla Team, which has espoused al-Qaida’s ideology, marked its appearance three years ago with the brutal killing of a blogger and attacks on two others. Overall, 12 secular bloggers, publishers and editors have been killed since 2013. The killing of two publishers was claimed by al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS). The so-called Islamic State has claimed several other attacks, raising concerns about new entrants to Bangladesh’s jihadi landscape—even though the government disputes that the group is present in the country.


From late last year, sectarian attacks have also intensified, including on a Shiite procession, Shiite and Ahmadi mosques and shrines, Hindu temples, and several minority religious and community leaders. These appear to be the actions of a new generation of extremists, particularly from the Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh and Ansarullah Bangla Team, who are more sophisticated and more linked to transnational jihadi networks. According to a senior police official, “from 2003 to 2005, militant suspects were either illiterate or poor madrasa-educated students. We are worried, as most of the suspects this time are educated and technologically sound.”


On June 7, the government launched a massive week-long crackdown, ostensibly to counter extremist violence, reportedly arresting around 12,000 people. Many civil society actors describe the action as a pretext for silencing dissent and for police extortion. Brutal attacks continued, including the hacking to death of a Hindu monastery worker on June 10.


Combating political violence and religious extremism instead requires an effective and accountable justice system—something that is dangerously missing in Bangladesh. The current criminal justice regime is based on the outdated colonial-era framework of the 1860 Penal Code, the 1872 Evidence Act and the 1898 Code of Criminal Procedure. That these continue to serve their original purposes of punishment and suppression, rather than prevention, reform and rehabilitation, is reflected in a high prison population: 75,000 to 80,000 prisoners in 68 jails with a capacity of only about 30,000.


Periods of political turmoil, such as today’s, have further strained the prison system, with the number of inmates often doubling, in some cases forcing authorities to set up tents or lay out mats on open porches to accommodate them. Given the case backlog and mass arrests of opposition activists, only one-third of prisoners are convicted, let alone tried; detainees often remain behind bars without trial beyond the maximum sentence for the crimes charged.


This problem is compounded by a police force that is widely perceived as corrupt and inept. Police recruitment and appointments are largely partisan, and parliamentarians regularly interfere in postings and transfers of officers in their constituencies. Most senior and mid-level positions are filled by officers who demonstrate party allegiance. A senior official of the National Human Rights Commission says that many top officials—such as the inspector general, the Dhaka police chief, national police spokesperson, and heads of elite forces—all have direct links to the prime minister or her office. The police force is also grossly understaffed, with an estimated 161,000 officers serving a population of 160 million—roughly one officer per 1,000 people.


When cases go to trial, the procedure for prosecutions is weak. Prosecutions were under police remit until reforms in 2007 transferred them to the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs. Nine years later, prosecutors have yet to develop an institutional identity or gain public credibility. The ministry generally appoints them on political affiliation, not merit, with the only professional requirement being two years with a local bar. Prosecutors have allegedly harassed judges for granting bail to opposition activists or for making rulings deemed biased.


Multiple steps are needed to restore political stability and ensure security in Bangladesh. The main responsibility to break the cycle of violence is with Sheikh Hasina’s government. As a first step, it must stop using the criminal justice system to target political critics and respond positively to the BNP’s decision to refrain from violence. Dialogue with the BNP is essential to end the destabilizing stalemate.


The judiciary also has an important role to play. It should develop a consistent doctrine that upholds the right to a fair trial and restrains the executive branch from undermining fundamental constitutional rights. This includes respecting civil society institutions to function freely. This will also require judges to refrain from issuing contempt of court citations to media and other civil society representatives for criticizing court judgments, and to overturn unjustified contempt convictions in other courts, including Bangladesh’s deeply flawed International Crimes Tribunal, established in 2010 to prosecute individuals responsible for atrocities committed during the 1971 Liberation War.


And there needs to be greater respect for dissent. The government should begin by withdrawing the 2014 national broadcast policy and removing restrictions on online expression in the Information and Technology Act. It should also withdraw cases against journalists, human rights groups and others that are based on vague and dubious grounds, such as expressing views against the “public interest.”


Politicians should stop interfering in cases and instead help modernize the criminal justice system. The government can encourage this by establishing a more transparent, consultative appointment process to rule of law institutions; introducing merit-based selection and recruitment; building better programs to help train personnel and allocate resources, particularly for the Police Bureau of Investigation; and developing specialized investigation units for policing on the national and district levels.


The international community, for its part, should not stand idly by. It should link some development assistance to demonstrable improvements in human rights, free speech and association, and fair trial. The world’s continued indifference will only breed more instability in Bangladesh.


Shehryar Fazli is senior South Asia analyst and regional editor at the International Crisis Group.

What's next for Bangladesh?

By Ravi Agrawal / CNN   

New Delhi (CNN) : Bangladesh has a number of things going for it: its economy is growing, it's a democracy with a youthful population, and it's blessed with fertile lands.

It is also home to almost 150 million Muslims, and up until recently steered clear of the kind of radicalism that has plagued other parts of the world. But unfortunately there are ominous signs that this is changing.

For more than two years, a spate of brutal murders has rocked the South Asian nation. At first the killings had a clear pattern, targeting well-known secular writers in the capital, Dhaka. The attacks seemed designed to silence those who dared to criticize Islam.

One of the most high-profile of these -- the murder of the Bangladeshi-American writer Avijit Roy in 2014 -- took place right outside Dhaka's annual book fair.

Then in April this year, a well-known LGBT activist and his friend were murdered while they were at home.

In recent weeks these attacks extended into the countryside, increased in frequency, and targeted everyone from university professors to a seemingly random selection of Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, and even Sufi Muslims.

The death toll has now risen past 40.

The hand of ISIS?

One clear thread connecting the murders is the barbaric and medieval mode of attack: machetes.

But who is masterminding the killings?

So-called Islamic State (ISIS) has claimed a number of the attacks through its media affiliates, but the Bangladesh government has consistently denied any ISIS presence in the country. Other attacks have been claimed by local Islamist groups. Police have said that most of the suspected attackers were members of Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh, or JMB -- a banned Islamist group.

There's no clear consensus on the veracity of the claims, even amongst the region's top terror analysts.

"ISIS does not go around stabbing individuals in marketplaces," said Ajai Sahni, Executive Director of the South Asia Terrorism Portal.

Sahni said ISIS-affiliated media may be claiming some of the attacks because it makes the group's reach seem larger. "It wants to span the globe," he says. "But if ISIS is involved where is the real weaponry? Where are the trained and battle-hardened fighters?"

But terrorism expert Sajjan Gohel of the Asia-Pacific Foundation said the JMB can now be seen as closely aligned to ISIS.

"JMB has targeted foreigners, professors, and academics," he said. On the other hand, the other local terror outfit, Ansarul Bangla Team, or the ABT, has mostly targeted bloggers and atheists. Gohel saw the ABT as aligned more closely with the recently launched al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS).

If Gohel is right then Bangladesh could become -- or could already be -- a battleground for a proxy war between ISIS and al Qaeda. The motive and payoff is clear: a foothold in a country with the world's fourth-largest Muslim population. It also shares a border with an even bigger prize in India.

Things could get worse. Gohel pointed to a recent issue of ISIS's online propaganda magazine, Dabiq, for clues. "ISIS specifically mentioned they want to carry out more high profile attacks in Bangladesh. The next stage could be bigger and better," says Gohel. "And Bangladesh's government is in a total state of denial."

But why machetes?

"Stabbings and hackings aren't new," said Sahni. "In a certain measure Bangladesh has long had a political culture of low grade violence. But it's now been crystallized into something much bigger -- and that's in large part because it's being associated, rightly or wrongly, with the ISIS brand."

Even the smallest of attacks have a payoff.

"For terror groups any attack is an attack worth doing," said Gohel. "It's the oxygen of publicity that fuels them."

Branding seems almost essential for smaller terror outfits looking to make a splash, said CNN's terrorism analyst Peter Bergen.

"Former members of the Taliban have also self-identified as ISIS," he pointed out, even when they have no real links to ISIS. "The ISIS connection makes them a bigger and badder version of themselves."

Politics and finger-pointing

If you ask the government, the killings have clear motives and culprits.

Talking to CNN last month, Bangladesh's Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu pointed a finger loosely at the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its ally Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) -- the country's largest Islamist party.

But when he talked again to CNN earlier this month, Inu had honed his accusation into a movie analogy.

"The answer is very simple," he said, responding to a question about who was masterminding the spate of ongoing attacks. "The Producer is the BNP. The Director is JI. The small actors on the ground are ABT, JMB, and other militant Islamist networks."

He said any claims by ISIS were "fictitious and false," pointing instead to what he said was a sustained campaign by the opposition BNP to destabilize Bangladesh.

The BNP's spokesman completely disagreed.

"We are a political party with democratic values and norms," said Ruhul Kabir Rizvi. "The government's main aim is to trash the opposition. They want to establish a one-party political system."

The BNP does seem decimated.

By Rizvi's account more than 2,700 BNP members have been arrested in June as part of the government's drive to put an end to the killings. In all, more than 14,000 arrests have been made, but experts say only a few hundred of those are militants.

In a press release last week Human Rights Watch called the arrests arbitrary and without proper evidence of a crime.
"You can't arrest 14,000 people in the course of five days and claim they are legitimate arrests," said Tejshree Thapa of Human Rights Watch. "Why have they not been produced before a magistrate? Why have they not been remanded? Many of the BNP's top leaders have fled the country. They are terrified."

Longer-term impact

Bangladesh watchers are not only worried about potential misuse of power, but also about the longer-term impacts of a weakened opposition.

"The BNP is in total disarray," said William Milam, who served as U.S. Ambassador to Bangladesh from 1990 to 1993, and recently returned from a visit to Dhaka. "They are spending all their time claiming innocence and dodging the government. And a weakened opposition is contributing to what seems more and more like a one-party system."

The BNP's leader and two-time former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia is battling charges for alleged corruption as well as conspiring to bomb a public bus during an anti-government protest last year. Zia has said the charges are politically motivated.

The next national elections in Bangladesh are scheduled for 2019.

"Whatever is going on is really tragic," said Milam. "People are being killed for no particular reason."

What's next?

The Bangladeshi government looks set to press on with mass arrests.

Asked to explain why the attacks continue to take place -- despite recent crackdowns -- Information Minister Inu said the militants have clearly gotten more desperate.

"Radical elements are choosing unprotected soft targets to create an impression that they are active," he said. "But they are weak now."

While critics point to an increased frequency of attacks, Inu said it's telling the attacks have shifted from the big cities to more rural and lower-profile areas.

The BNP's Rizvi says the government needs to find the right culprits.

"This is the holy month of Ramadan," he said. "The people of Bangladesh are very afraid of this government and are wondering why they are playing games."

ISIS recently called for a worldwide call to arms, during this holy period.

There is also the worry that some of the machete murders could be "copycat" killings -- regular murders disguised to be seen as a terror attack. "I wouldn't rule out the theory," said Milam. "There is a clear atmosphere of impunity.

Some of the government's plans seem almost comical. Police in the Western Bangladeshi district of Magura have started arming villagers with bamboo sticks and whistles.

"In each village, a team of 20 people will be selected," said Mohammad Tariqul Islam of the Magura District Police to CNN. "The idea is to increase awareness and make villagers more vigilant against militants."

But ultimately the real verdict on the government's policies will depend not on who argues the best case but whether the attacks actually stop. Until then the ugly headlines will continue to dent Bangladesh's reputation around the world.

এক ফাহিম: অনেক প্রশ্ন

অব্যাহত গুপ্তহত্যা নিয়ে দেশবাসী যখন চরম আতঙ্কে ঠিক তখনই মাদারীপুরের কলেজ শিক্ষক রিপন চক্রবর্তী হত্যাচেষ্টার সময় গোলাম ফাইজুল্লাহ ফাহিমকে হাতেনাতে ধরে ফেলে জনতা। জনতা ফাহিমকে আইন-শৃঙ্খলা রক্ষাকারী বাহিনীর হাতে তুলে দেওয়ার সংবাদে দেশবাসী ভেবেছিল এবার গুপ্তহত্যার ক্লু উদ্ধারের  সুযোগ সৃষ্টি হয়েছে। কিন্তু মানুষের সেই ভাবনা বেশী সময় স্থায়ী হয়নি। গোলাম ফাইজুল্লাহ ফাহিম পুলিশের ‘কথিত বন্ধুকযুদ্ধে’ নিহত হওয়ার পর গুপ্তহত্যার রহস্য উদ্ঘাটনে সরকারের সদিচ্ছা নিয়েই এখন প্রশ্ন দেখা দিয়েছে।

বিদেশি নাগরিক তাবেলা সিজার, হোসি কুনিও থেকে শুরু করে মসজিদের ইমাম-মুয়াজ্জিন, মন্দিরের পুরোহিত, খ্রিষ্টানদের ধর্মগুরু হত্যার শিকার হয়েছে বিগত মাসগুলোতে। প্রকাশ্যে ভিন্ন ধর্মাবলম্বী নিরীহ নাগরিক, কুমিল্লার কলেজ ছাত্রী সোহাগী জাহান তনু, বন্ধুসহ মার্কিন কর্মকর্তা জুলহাস মান্নান ও এসপি’র স্ত্রী হত্যার ঘটনা- এগুলো ধারাবাহিকভাবে ঘটে চললেও পুলিশ এসবের কোন ক্লু উদ্ধার করতে পারেনি। ঘটনাগুলোর সঙ্গে জড়িত কাউকে এ পর্যন্ত কাউকে হাতেনাতে গ্রেফতার করা সম্ভব হয়নি। এ অবস্থায় মাদারীপুরের কলেজ শিক্ষক রিপন চক্রবর্তী হত্যাচেষ্টার সময় ফাহিমকে জনতাই হাতেনাতে ধরে ফেলে। ঘটনার সঙ্গে আরও কারা জড়িত তা জানার আগেই তাকে ‘ক্রসফায়ারের নামে হত্যা করা হয়েছে‘ বলে অভিযোগ দেশবাসীর। শুধু সরকার বিরোধীরাই নন, ক্ষমতাসীন জোটের পক্ষ থেকেও এ ঘটনার তীব্র সমালোচনা করা হয়। ক্রসফায়ারে ফাহিম হত্যার খবর প্রকাশের পর সামাজিক যোগাযোগ মাধ্যমগুলোতে এ ‘মৃত্যু’র মাধ্যমে সরকার কাকে আড়াল করতে চায় সেই প্রশ্ন তোলেন সচেতন মানুষ। ফাহিম নিহতের পর কেউ কেউ সরকারের বিরুদ্ধে জঙ্গি ইস্যু সচল রাখার অভিযোগ তুলেছেন। সরকার গুপ্ত হত্যাকাণ্ডে জড়িতদের আড়াল করতে চায় অথবা এ বিষয়ে দেশবাসীকে অন্ধকারে রাখতে চায় বলেও মন্তব্য করেন কেউ কেউ। আর ক্রসফায়ারের প্রকৃতচিত্র দেশবাসীর জানা রয়েছে বলেও মন্তব্য করেন সামাজিক যোগাযোগ মাধ্যম ব্যবহারকারীরা।

ক্রসফায়ারের কিচ্ছা এখন কেউ বিশ্বাস করে না বলে মন্তব্য করেছেন বিশিষ্ট আইনজীবী ড. শাহদীন মালিক। তিনি বলেন, বাংলাদেশে উচ্চ আদালতের নির্দেশনা অনুযায়ী রিমান্ডের সময় আইনজীবী বা পরিচিত কারো উপস্থিতির বিধান থাকলেও সেই নিয়মটি ‘মোটেও মানা হচ্ছে না'।

গোলাম ফাইজুল্লাহ ফাহিম পুলিশের রিমান্ডে থাকা অবস্থায় কথিত ‘বন্দুকযুদ্ধে’ নিহত হবার পর এই অভিযোগ করেন আইনজীবী শাহদীন মালিক। তিনি বলেন, ‘আমারতো মনে হয় দেশে কারো কোন সন্দেহ নাই যে পুলিশ তাদের ইচ্ছাকৃতভাবে মেরে ফেলছে’।

মনে করা হচ্ছিল, তার কাছ থেকে ধারাবাহিক হত্যাকাণ্ড ও জঙ্গিবাদ সম্পর্কে গুরুত্বপূর্ণ তথ্য পাওয়া যাবে। কিন্তু ১০ দিনের রিমান্ডে নিয়ে জিজ্ঞাসাবাদ শুরুর চব্বিশ ঘণ্টার মাথায় সে কথিত ক্রসফায়ারে নিহত হবার পর এ নিয়ে ইতিমধ্যে তীব্র বিতর্ক সৃষ্টি হয়েছে। অনেকেই প্রশ্ন তুলছেন, রিমান্ডে থাকা অভিযুক্তকে নিয়ে অভিযানে যাওয়া প্রসঙ্গে। তবে ঘটনার পর মাদারীপুরের পুলিশ প্রধান সরোয়ার হোসেন বলেছিলেন, ফাহিম তার সহযোগিদের নাম এবং আড্ডাস্থল বলেছিল এবং তাদের ধরতে ফাহিমকে নিয়েই পুলিশ অভিযানে গিয়েছিল। এসময় ফাহিমের ‘সহযোগিদের সঙ্গে বন্দুকযুদ্ধে’ আহত হয়ে সে মারা যায়। এ প্রসঙ্গে শাহদীন মালিক বলেন, "২০০৪-০৫ সালে হয়তো কেউ কেউ ক্রসফায়ারের কিচ্ছা বিশ্বাস করতো, এখন কেউ এটা বিশ্বাস করে না"।

মানবাধিকার কমিশনের চেয়ারম্যান ড. মিজানুর রহমান বলেন, গুরুত্বপূর্ণ মামলার আসামিরা এভাবে (ক্রসফায়ারে) মারা গেলে অনেক সত্য অপ্রকাশিত থাকবে। ট্রান্সপারেন্সি ইন্টারন্যাশনাল বাংলাদেশের সভাপতি অ্যাডভোকেট সুলতানা কামাল বলেছেন, রাষ্ট্র আইন হাতে তুলে নিচ্ছে, যা কোনোভাবেই কাম্য নয়।

আইন-শৃঙ্খলা বাহিনীর সাথে কথিত বন্দুকযুদ্ধে একের পর অভিযুক্ত ব্যক্তি নিহত হওয়ার ঘটনার তীব্র সমালোচনা করেছেন গণজাগরণ মঞ্চের মুখপাত্র ও ব্লগার ইমরান এইচ সরকার। তিনি বলেছেন, সন্ত্রাসী, জঙ্গি বা আইন শৃঙ্খলা বাহিনী যারাই খুন করুক না কেনো খুনকে খুনই বলা হবে। তিনি চান দেশে আইনের শাসন প্রতিষ্ঠিত হোক এবং অপরাধী তার অপরাধের মাত্রা অনুযায়ী শাস্তি পাক। তবে তিনি বলেন, “কিন্তু কোনোভাবেই চাই না এই অপরাধীর দায়-দায়িত্ব আইন শৃঙ্খলা বাহিনী নিজেরাই তুলে নেবে।”

স্বরাষ্ট্রমন্ত্রীর কাছে ১৮ জুন সন্ধ্যায় সাংবাদিকরা জানতে চান ‘গায়ে বুলেট প্রুফ জ্যাকেট, মাথায় হেলমেট থাকার পরও ফাহিম কীভাবে গুলিতে নিহত হলো? এমন প্রশ্নের সঠিক কোনো জবাব দিতে পারেননি স্বরাষ্ট্রমন্ত্রী আসাদুজ্জামান খান কামাল। একইদিন জাতীয় প্রেসক্লাবে বিএফইউজে ও ডিইউজে’র  একাংশ আয়োজিত ইফতার মাহফিলে অংশ নিয়ে প্রধানমন্ত্রী শেখ হাসিনা সাম্প্রতিক গুপ্তহত্যার প্রসঙ্গ তুলে বক্তৃতা করেন। এ বিষয়ে প্রধানমন্ত্রী বলেন, ‘গুপ্তহত্যা চলছে। আমি বলেছিলাম তথ্য আছে। মাদারীপুরে শিক্ষককে হত্যাচেষ্টা থেকে এখন প্রমাণ হয়েছে। সেখানে জনগণ হাতেনাতে ধরেছে। এ ঘটনার পর কারও সন্দেহ থাকার কথা নয়। এরপর এভাবেই মানুষ ধরবে।’ কিন্তু প্রধানমন্ত্রীর বক্তব্যে ফাহিম নিহতের প্রসঙ্গ আসেনি।

‘বন্দুকযুদ্ধে’ ফাহিম নিহত হওয়ার পর ফেসবুকে এ ঘটনাটি নিয়ে মন্তব্য করেছেন সাংবাদিক গোলাম মোর্তোজা। তিনি লিখেছেন, “রাজনৈতিক বক্তৃতায় যে কাউকে অভিযুক্ত করা যায়। নিজেরা ধরতে পারি না, জনগণ ধরে দেয়। তাদের ক্রসফায়ারে বা বন্দুক যুদ্ধে হত্যা করা হয়। এমন একটি হত্যাকাণ্ড যে ঘটতে যাচ্ছে, অভিযানের ধরণে তা প্রত্যাশিতই ছিল।”

“তিনি আরো লিখেছেন- কারা জঙ্গি, কারা তৈরি করে, কারা পৃষ্ঠপোষক, কারা জঙ্গি-গুপ্তহত্যা টিকিয়ে রেখে সুবিধা পেতে চায়- সব প্রশ্নের উত্তর আছে এই একটি হত্যাকাণ্ডের মধ্যে।”

ফাহিমের ‘রহস্যেঘেরা’ এই মৃত্যু নিয়ে সন্দেহ প্রকাশ করেছেন বিপুলসংখ্যক সামাজিক যোগাযোগমাধ্যম ব্যবহারকারী। সমালোচনার ঝড় উঠেছে, তার হাত হ্যান্ডকাফে বাঁধা ছিল, তা নিয়েও। ফাহিমকে যখন ময়নাতদন্তের জন্য মর্গে পাঠানো হয় ওই সময় তার বুকে গুলির চিহ্ন দেখা যায়। তার পরনে প্যান্ট ও একটি সাদা রংয়ের গেঞ্জি রয়েছে। হাত হ্যান্ডকাফে আটকানো।

একের পর এক হত্যাকাণ্ডের যখন সুরাহা করা যাচ্ছিল না, তখন ফাহিম গ্রেফতার হওয়ায় বেশকিছু তথ্য পাওয়া যাবে এমন আশা ছিল দেশবাসীর। এ প্রসঙ্গে নির্মাতা মোস্তফা সরয়ার ফারুকী ‘বন্দুক, তুমি যুদ্ধ বোঝো, তদন্ত বোঝো না’ শিরোনামে ফেসবুকে লিখেছেন, “মাদারীপুরে কলেজ শিক্ষক হত্যাচেষ্টার আসামি ফাহিম রিমান্ডে থাকাকালীন ১৮ জুন শনিবার ভোররাতে ‘বন্ধুকযুদ্ধে’ নিহত হয়েছেন। মৃত্যুর পর তার হাতে হাতকড়া দেখা গেছে বলে জানিয়েছেন স্থানীয়রা।” মোস্তফা সরয়ার ফারুকী। ১৮ জুন সকালে নিজের ফেসবুকে ‘বন্দুক, তুমি যুদ্ধ বোঝো, তদন্ত বোঝো না?’ শিরোনামে লেখা ওই পোস্টে আরো উল্লেখ করেন, “যেখানে এই আক্রমণের হাত থেকে আস্তিক নাস্তিক, সংখ্যালঘু সংখ্যাগুরু, নারী পুরুষ, সিভিলিয়ান, পুলিশ কেউই ছাড় পাচ্ছিলো না, যেখানে এটা দাবানলের মতো ছড়িয়ে পড়তেছিলো এবং আমরা কোনো বিশ্বাসযোগ্য তদন্তের আলামত দেখছিলাম না, সেখানে মাদারীপুরের মানুষ এক আসামি হাতে নাতে ধরে ফেলার পর আশা করছিলাম ভেতরের কলকাঠির সুলুক সন্ধান করা হবে। সেই স্থলে এই বন্দুকযুদ্ধের কি মানে?'’

জাহাঙ্গীরনগর বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের অধ্যাপক আনু মুহাম্মাদ লিখেছেন, “এই আশংকাটাই করছিলাম। শিক্ষক রিপন চক্রবর্তীর ওপর হামলাকারী ফাহিমকে রিমান্ডে নিয়ে বন্দুকযুদ্ধের নামে খুন করা হলো। এখন আর কোনো প্রমাণ নেই সুতরাং নানা কাহিনী চালিয়ে দেওয়া সম্ভব হবে। কেউ ধরা না পড়লে যথারীতি অনেক গল্প শুনতাম, কিন্তু গোল বাঁধিয়েছে এলাকার মানুষ ফাহিমকে হাতে নাতে ধরে। পুরোটা না পারলেও ফাহিম কিছুটা সূত্র দিতে পারতো নিশ্চয়ই।”

ক্ষমতাসীন ১৪ দলের শরিক নুরুল আম্বিয়া ও নাজমুল হক প্রধানের নেতৃত্বাধীন জাসদ দাবি করেছে, পুলিশ হেফাজতে থাকা অবস্থায় ‘বন্দুকযুদ্ধে’ গোলাম ফয়জুল্লাহ ফাহিম নিহতের ঘটনা ‘রহস্যজনক’।

জঙ্গিবাদ-সন্ত্রাসবাদের আসল ঘটনা আড়াল করতেই মাদারীপুরের কলেজ শিক্ষক রিপন চক্রবর্তী হত্যাচেষ্টা মামলায় রিমান্ডে থাকা গোলাম ফাইজুল্লাহ ফাহিমকে ক্রসফায়ারে হত্যা করা হয়েছে বলে অভিযোগ করেছে বিএনপি। ১৮ জুন বিএনপি এক সংবাদ সম্মেলনে এ অভিযোগ করে। দলের পক্ষে সিনিয়র যুগ্ম মহাসচিব রুহুল কবির রিজভী বলেন, ‘ওখানে উচিৎ ছিল আইনি প্রক্রিয়ার মাধ্যমে আরো কারা জড়িত সেটা উদঘাটন করা। তাকে আইনি প্রক্রিয়া নেওয়া যেত। তার কাছ থেকে স্বীকারোক্তিমূলক জবানবন্দি নেয়া যেত। যাচাই-বাছাই করে জানা যেতে এরা প্রকৃত জঙ্গি কী না, জানা যেতো আর কারা কারা জড়িত। এটা জনসন্মুখে উদ্ভাসিত হতো, তাদের নামগুলো জানা যেত।’ তিনি বলেন, ‘সরকার তাকে (ফাহিম) ক্রসফায়ারে হত্যা করল, হত্যা করা মানে প্রকৃত ঘটনা আড়াল করা। এটাকে সামনে আসতে দিল না। আমরা আগেই বলেছি প্রতিটি সন্ত্রাসের সঙ্গে রাষ্ট্রের একটা সম্পর্ক আছে। আমাদের দলের চেয়ারপারসন বলেছেন উগ্রবাদী চক্রের সঙ্গে সরকার জড়িত। এ ঘটনাটিতে যে ঘনকুয়াশা তৈরি করেছে সরকার। এর সঙ্গে সরকার জড়িত।’ একইদিন দলটির চেয়ারপারসন ঢাকায় এক অনুষ্ঠানে অংশ নিয়ে ক্রসফায়ারে হত্যার সমালোচনা করেছেন। প্রকৃত অপরাধীদের আড়াল করতেই ক্রসফায়ারে হত্যা করা হচ্ছে বলে অভিযোগ করেন তিনি।

শীর্ষ নিউজ

Bangladesh's denial, India's concerns

Sunil Raman / FirstPost

Denials by Bangladesh government notwithstanding, intelligence agencies in India strongly suspect that the country has become the next battleground for Islamist terror groups. Indian security experts believe that with Al-Qaeda and Islamic State under attack in Afghanistan/Pakistan area, terror groups have decided to focus on Bangladesh by joining hands with local militant groups.

After a spate of killings of Hindus, Christians, secularists and a gay activist the latest to be threatened is the head of Rama Krishna Mission in Dhaka. At India’s request Bangladesh has provided security cover to the Mission head who has been warned that there is no place for Hindus in an Islamic country.

The Al-Qaeda in Indian Sub-continent (AQIS) was formed in 2014 and Islamic State announced its arrival in Bangladesh in April 2016. In Bangladesh Ansar ul Islam is the Bangladesh division of Al-Qaeda.

With Bangladesh as a base they plan to target India and also focus on Myanmar.

Denying the existence of IS in Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina has, however, put the blame for such attacks on local militants and political opponents. She has vowed to tackle them but her assessment is viewed with scepticism in New Delhi and many western capitals.

On a visit to Dhaka last month the US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Nisha Desai Biswal, was quoted as having spoken of Bangladesh terrorist groups, linking them with Al-Qaeda and IS.

In over one year the war crimes tribunal set up by the Awami League government convicted several people including leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami who have been hanged for mass murders of 1970s. Their convictions further fuelled opposition to Sheikh Hasina and her government.

Assessment by experts show that growing violence and killings of Hindus, Christians, secular bloggers, gays and missionaries is different from the political violence that Bangladesh has known for decades.

Bangladesh’s deeply divided politics controlled by two women — Awami League of Sheikh Hasina and BNP of Khaleda Zia – has seen violence become a part of its landscape. Political vendetta has often taken the form of gruesome killings but new attacks belong to a new category of violence.
Experts argue that the nature and scale of these violent attacks are different. The Bangladesh government remains in denial mode asserting that Islamic State has no presence in the country.

On 12 June, newspaper Dhaka Tribune quoted Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal as having said that “there are a few local homegrown militant groups but we have never found any kind of IS activity here,” he said.

The minister said the propaganda about IS’ presence in Bangladesh was “nothing but a conspiracy established by a group in support of some foreign countries.”

Inspector General of Police AKM Shahidul Hoque echoed the home minister. He claimed to have settled down around 80 percent militant cases that happened in the past couple of years and none arrested in connection with those cases have admitted having involvement with the IS or any other group.

“In some incidents, especially in Satkania or Chittagong communal violence, we arrested a number of accused and all of them later confessed that all these activities were done at the directive of some top leader of Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Chhatra Shibir,” added the police chief in the newspaper report.
Over 30 people have been killed in last one year with 10 chopped to death with machettes and knives. Most of the killers riding on 'mobikes' disappear with government agencies quite clueless about their identity.

Over 5,000 people have been arrested in a crackdown that prime minister Sheikh Hasina has claimed would see security agencies “catch every killer.”

Indian authorities, however, are alarmed by jihadist literature that is in circulation. In April the English-magazine of Islamic State, Dābiq, carried an interview with the terror outfit’s Bangladesh head named Shaykh Abu Ibrahim Al-Hanif.

Asked to explain the importance of Bangladesh which they call ‘Bengal’ he pinpointed its importance to its “strategic geographic position” that would “facilitate performing guerilla attacks inside India simultaneously from both sides and facilitate creating a condition of tawahhush in India…” In Arabic the word, ‘tawahhush’ means chaos.

Security experts told Firstpost that the interview speaks of Islamic State’s intent to target Hindus, Christians, Shias, missionaries and Muslim sects like Qadianis. Published in several languages including English, Dābiq is the official magazine of Islamic State.

Last week, Dhaka Tribune quoted a leading geopolitical intelligence and consulting firm, Stratfor, that the “biggest impediments” to the Islamic State’s expansion in Bangladesh will be al-Qaeda’s branch in the Indian subcontinent and its allies.

But, there is no evidence to show that these two outfits that are competing in Iraq and Syria are at loggerheads in Bangladesh.

The Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri had announced two years ago a plan for South Asia where he called upon the people of Bangladesh to “launch a massive public uprising (intifada) in defense of Islam against the enemies of Islam.”

In recent months Singapore deported 25 workers for being “radicalised” and eight were detained for planning terror strikes.

These pointers do not seem to have perturbed the Bangladesh government as it continues to blame Jamaat and local militant groups.

However, India, seriously concerned by developments in the neighbouring country sees growing threats and killing of Hindus as a bad omen.

প্রশ্নবিদ্ধ ‘বন্দুকযুদ্ধে’ নিহত ফাহিম

ইত্তেফাক রিপোর্ট

মাদারীপুরে কলেজ শিক্ষকের ওপর হামলার ঘটনায় হাতেনাতে গ্রেফতার হওয়া হিযবুত তাহরীরের সদস্য গোলাম ফাইজুল্লাহ ফাহিম (১৮) পুলিশের ‘বন্দুকযুদ্ধে’ নিহত হয়েছেন। সচেতন সমাজ বন্দুকযুদ্ধের এই দাবি মানতে নারাজ। তারা এ ঘটনাকে ‘পরিকল্পিত হত্যাকাণ্ড’ বলে অভিহিত করেছেন। এ নিয়ে সামাজিক যোগাযোগ মাধ্যমে সমালোচনার ঝড় বইছে। মন্তব্যকারীদের কেউই পুলিশের গল্প বিশ্বাস করতে পারছেন না। তারা কথিত এই বন্দুকযুদ্ধকে সন্দেহের দৃষ্টিতে দেখছেন।

গত সাড়ে তিন বছরে কথিত বন্দুকযুদ্ধ/ক্রসফায়ার এবং পুলিশের হেফাজতে ৪৫৬ জন ব্যক্তি নিহত হয়েছেন। এর মধ্যে ২০১৩ সালে ৭২ জন, ২০১৪ সালে ১২৮ জন, ২০১৫ সালে ১৮৩ জন এবং চলতি বছরের এ পর্যন্ত ৭৩ জন বন্দুকযুদ্ধে বা পুলিশ হেফাজতে নিহত হয়েছেন। সব ‘বন্দুকযুদ্ধ বা ক্রসফায়ারের’  গল্প ছিলো একইরকম। পুলিশের গল্প বা দাবি সত্য বলে ধরে নিলে তাদের পেশাদারিত্ব নিয়ে প্রশ্ন দেখা দিবে। কেননা এতগুলো হত্যাকাণ্ডের পরও নিরাপত্তামূলক ব্যবস্থা নিতে তাদের দেখা যায়নি।

পুলিশ হেফাজতে মৃত্যুর এই ঘটনাকে খুব হালকাভাবে দেখা হচ্ছে। এখন পর্যন্ত কথিত বন্দুকযুদ্ধের একটি ঘটনাতেও প্রতিপক্ষের কাউকে আটক করতেও দেখা যায়নি। দায়িত্বে অবহেলার জন্য শাস্তিমূলক ব্যবস্থা নিতেও দেখা যায়নি। ঘটনায় একজনই ক্ষতিগ্রস্ত হন (নিহত) যিনি ছিলেন শুধু পুলিশের হাতে আটক। ফলে ফাহিমের কথিত বন্দুকযুদ্ধ নিয়ে জনমনে ব্যাপক প্রশ্ন দেখা দিয়েছে।

এ প্রসঙ্গে গতকাল এক অনুষ্ঠানে ট্রান্সপারেন্সি ইন্টারন্যাশনাল বাংলাদেশের (টিআইবি) সভাপতি সুলতানা কামাল বলেছেন, ‘মানুষ আমাদের বলছে, যাদের ক্রসফায়ারে দেওয়া হচ্ছে, তারা অন্যের মানবাধিকার লঙ্ঘন করেছে। অতএব তাদের মানবাধিকার নেই। এই যে একটা বোধ সমাজে চলে আসে, যেনতেনভাবে নিজের অস্তিত্ব রক্ষা করতে হবে। এটা কোনো আধুনিক, গণতান্ত্রিক, সুশাসনসম্পন্ন রাষ্ট্রের লক্ষ্য নয়।’ তিনি বলেন, ‘হতাশা থেকে আমরা দেখতে পাচ্ছি, রাষ্ট্র নিজের হাতে আইন তুলে নিচ্ছে। কোনো কিছুর তোয়াক্কা করছে না’।

মাদারীপুর প্রতিনিধি জানিয়েছেন, গতকাল শনিবার ভোরে জেলার বাহাদুরপুর ইউনিয়নের মিয়ারচর এলাকায় এই বন্দুকযুদ্ধের ঘটনা ঘটে বলে পুলিশ দাবি করেছে। এসময় ফাহিমের হাতে পুলিশের হ্যান্ডকাফ ছিল। ঐ অবস্থায় ফাহিম কিভাবে পালিয়ে যাওয়ার চেষ্টা করেছিল-তা নিয়ে পুলিশ কোনো সদুত্তর দিতে পারেনি। তার বুকের বাম পাশে গুলির চিহ্ন রয়েছে।

নিহত ফাহিম ঢাকার উত্তরা হাইস্কুল এন্ড কলেজ থেকে চলতি বছর এইচএসসি পরীক্ষায় অংশ নিয়েছিলেন। তিনি নিষিদ্ধ জঙ্গি সংগঠন হিযবুত তাহরীরের সদস্য ছিলেন বলে পুলিশ দাবি করেছে। শিক্ষকের ওপর হামলার ঘটনায় দায়ের করা মামলায় ফাহিম ১০ দিনের পুলিশি রিমান্ডে ছিলেন। রিমান্ডের আসামি বন্দুকযুদ্ধে নিহতের  ঘটনা নিয়ে সংশ্লিষ্ট মহলে প্রশ্ন উঠেছে। যদিও পুলিশ দাবি করেছে, রিমান্ডের প্রথম দিনেই ফাহিমের কাছ থেকে গুরুত্বপূর্ণ তথ্য পাওয়া গেছে। ঐ তথ্যের ভিত্তিতে তার সহকর্মীদের আটক করার অভিযানের সময় এই বন্দুকযুদ্ধের ঘটনা ঘটে।

শনিবার দুপুরে মাদারীপুরে পুলিশ সুপার মোহাম্মদ সরোয়ার হোসেন জানান, ফাহিমের দেওয়া তথ্য মতে ভোরে পুলিশ সদর উপজেলার বাহাদুরপুর ইউনিয়নের মিয়ারচর এলাকায় যায়। এসময় ফাহিমের পরিচিত হিযবুত তাহরীরের সদস্যরা তাকে ছাড়িয়ে নেওয়ার লক্ষ্যে পুলিশের উপর হামলা চালায়। আত্মরক্ষার্থে পুলিশ পাল্টা গুলি চালায়। ফাহিমের ‘সহযোগীদের গুলিতে’ পুলিশের গাড়িও ক্ষতিগ্রস্ত হয়। এসময় ফাহিম গুলিবিদ্ধ হলে পুলিশ তাকে চিকিত্সার জন্য সদর হাসপাতালে নিয়ে যায়। কর্তব্যরত চিকিত্সক ফাহিমকে মৃত বলে ঘোষণা করেন। গুলি বিনিময়ের সময় কনস্টেবল মো. আলী হোসেন গুলিবিদ্ধ হন। ঘটনাস্থল থেকে পুলিশ একটি আগ্নেয়াস্ত্র, রাইফেল ও বন্দুকের ৫টি গুলির খোসা ও ২ রাউন্ড গুলি উদ্ধার করে।  ময়না তদন্ত শেষে পরিবার লাশ চাঁপাইনবাবগঞ্জ নিয়ে যায়।

এদিকে, মাদারীপুর সদর মডেল থানার ওসি জিয়াউল মোরশেদ জানান, জিজ্ঞাসাবাদে ফাহিম জানিয়েছেন, বরিশালে এক আইনজীবীর চেম্বারে তারা ৬ জন দেখা করেন। ফাহিম ছাড়া অন্যরা হলেন, সালমান তাসকিন, শাহরিয়ার হাসান, জাহিন, রায়হান ও মেজবাহ। ফাহিম উত্তরা হাইস্কুল এন্ড কলেজের এক বড় ভাইয়ের মাধ্যমে হিযবুত তাহরীরের সদস্য হন। ওই কলেজের সামনে এক লাইব্রেরিতে প্রায়ই তারা বৈঠক করতেন। বরিশালে ঐ আইনজীবীর চেম্বারে মাদারীপুরের সরকারি নাজিম উদ্দিন কলেজের গণিত বিভাগের শিক্ষক রিপন চক্রবর্তীর ছবি দেখানো হয়। এরপরই তারা সিদ্ধান্ত নেন ছবির ঐ ব্যক্তিকে হত্যা করতে হবে।

ফাহিমের দেওয়া তথ্য থেকে মাদারীপুর পুলিশ সন্দেহভাজন দুইজনকে আটক করেছে। তবে এ আটকের ব্যাপারে আনুষ্ঠানিকভাবে কিছু জানানো হয়নি।

গত বুধবার সন্ধ্যায় প্রভাষক রিপন চক্রবর্তীকে কলেজ এলাকায় ভাড়া করা বাসায় তিন যুবক কুপিয়ে হত্যার চেষ্টা করে। এসময় জনতা ফাহিমকে আটক করতে পারলেও বাকি দুইজন পালিয়ে যায়। ফাহিমের বাড়ি ঢাকার দক্ষিণখানের ফায়দাবাদে।

র্যাবের গোয়েন্দা শাখার পরিচালক লে.কর্নেল আবুল কালাম আজাদ বলেন, ফাহিম হিযবুত তাহরীরের সক্রিয় সদস্য ছিলেন। সংগঠনটির লিফলেট বিতরণের সময় একবার র্যাবের হাতে ধরা পড়ে জেলে যান। জামিনে মুক্তি পেয়ে মাদারীপুরে কিলিং মিশনে যোগ দেন। তাদের পরবর্তী টার্গেট ছিল বরিশাল শহরে।

গতকাল ফাহিমের পরিবারের সদস্যরা ক্ষুব্ধ প্রতিক্রিয়া ব্যক্ত করেছেন। ফাহিমের নিহত হওয়ার খবর পৌঁছার পর তার বাবা-মা আক্ষেপ করে বলেন, ‘আমরা অবশ্যই আমাদের সন্তান যদি জঙ্গি কার্যক্রমের সঙ্গে জড়িত থাকে-তার বিচার চাই। কিন্তু তার অর্থ এই নয় যে, তাকে বন্দুকযুদ্ধের মতো নাটক সাজিয়ে হত্যা করতে হবে। এখন পুলিশ ও গোয়েন্দা সংস্থা থেকে চাপ দেওয়া হচ্ছে যে, এ ব্যাপারে কেউ যেন গণমাধ্যমের কাছে কোনো মন্তব্য না করে।’

ফেসবুকে ঝড়

পুলিশের রিমান্ডে থাকা আসামি ‘বন্দুকযুদ্ধে’ নিহত হওয়ার খবর প্রকাশের পর তা নিয়ে সামাজিক যোগাযোগ মাধ্যমে সমালোচনার ঝড় উঠেছে। বেশিরভাগ পোস্টে সন্দেহ প্রকাশ করে বলা হচ্ছে, হয় ফাহিম এমন কিছু জানতেন যা তার জানা উচিত ছিল না, না হয় তিনি কিছুই জানতেন না। সমালোচনার ঝড় উঠেছে, তার হাত পেছন থেকে হ্যান্ডকাফে বাঁধা ছিল, তা নিয়েও।

নির্মাতা মোস্তফা সরওয়ার ফারুকী তার ফেসবুক স্টাটাসে লিখেছেন, একের পর এক হত্যাকাণ্ডের যখন সুরাহা করা যাচ্ছিল না, তখন ফাহিম গ্রেফতার হওয়ায় বেশকিছু তথ্য পাওয়া যাবে এমন আশা ছিল দেশবাসীর। তিনি লিখেছেন,  ‘যেখানে এই আক্রমণের হাত থেকে আস্তিক নাস্তিক, হিন্দু, মুসলমান, নারী পুরুষ, সিভিলিয়ান পুলিশ কেউই ছাড় পাচ্ছিল না, যেখানে এটা দাবানলের মতো ছড়িয়ে পড়তেছিল এবং আমরা কোনো বিশ্বাসযোগ্য তদন্তের আলামত দেখছিলাম না, সেখানে মাদারীপুরের মানুষ এক আসামি হাতেনাতে ধরে ফেলার পর আশা করছিলাম, ভেতরের কলকাঠির সুলুক সন্ধান করা হবে। সেই স্থলে এই বন্দুকযুদ্ধের কী মানে?’

অস্ট্রেলিয়া প্রবাসী সিনিয়র সাংবাদিক ফজলুল বারী ফেসবুকে লিখেছেন, ‘আমাদের ভালো ইচ্ছাগুলোকে করে দেওয়া হচ্ছে প্রশ্নবিদ্ধ! মাদারীপুরে ধরা ফাহিম ছেলেটির রিপোর্টে পড়ছিলাম আদালতে বিচারককে সে চিত্কার করে বলে এই ঘটনার সঙ্গে সে জড়িত না। স্থানীয় এক নেতা তাকে ফাঁসিয়ে দিয়েছেন। সাধারণত কোনও জঙ্গি এভাবে কোর্টে বলে না। কিন্তু পুলিশ তাকে মেরে ফেললো ক্রসফায়ারে? স্থানীয় যে নেতার কথা ফাহিম বলেছিল, সে কি পুলিশের জন্য বিব্রতকর ছিল?’

আরেক ফেসবুক ব্যবহারকারী বারীর ওয়ালে লিখেছেন, ‘ফাইজুল্লাহ ফাহিম বন্দুকযুদ্ধে মারা যাওয়ার কারণ দুটি হতে পারে। ১. সে অনেক তথ্য জানতো। ২. সে কিছুই জানতো না।

জাহাঙ্গীরনগর বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের অধ্যাপক আনু মুহাম্মাদ লিখেছেন ফেসবুকে, ‘এই আশঙ্কটাই করছিলাম। শিক্ষক রিপন চক্রবর্তীর ওপর হামলাকারী ফাহিমকে রিমান্ডে নিয়ে বন্দুকযুদ্ধের নামে খুন করা হলো। এখন আর কোনো প্রমাণ নেই সুতরাং নানা কাহিনি চালিয়ে দেওয়া সম্ভব হবে। কেউ ধরা না পড়লে যথারীতি অনেক গল্প শুনতাম, কিন্তু গোল বাঁধিয়েছে এলাকার মানুষ ফাহিমকে হাতেনাতে ধরে। পুরোটা না পারলেও ফাহিম কিছুটা সূত্র দিতে পারতো নিশ্চয়ই। যারা ফাহিমের মতো কিশোর তরুণদের গুম করে এসব অপারেশনে যেতে বাধ্য করে, তাদের পক্ষে এ রকম অবস্থায় বসে থাকলে চলে না। এই রকম বুলেটপ্রুফ জ্যাকেট, হেলমেট থাকার পরও ছেলেটা বন্দুকযুদ্ধে নিহত হইছে। পুলিশ বলতেছে, ‘তাঁর বুকের বামপাশে দুটি গুলির চিহ্ন পাওয়া গেছে।’

সাব্বির জনি নামে একজন লিখেছেন, ‘পুলিশই তাকে গুলি করে খুন করেছে। এর কারণ খুবই স্পষ্ট তার দেওয়া স্বীকারোক্তিতে বেরিয়ে পড়বে চলমান গুপ্তহত্যার সঙ্গে কোনো গোয়েন্দা সংস্থা জড়িত’।

ওবায়দুর রহমান লিখেছেন, “ফাহিম বেঁচে থাকলে কার লস হত সেটা নিশ্চয়ই জনতা ভেবে দেখবে। আমাদের হাত বাঁধা চোখ বাঁধা কিন্তু আমরা উপলব্ধি করতে পারছি অনেক বড় ঝুঁকিতে আছে প্রিয় মাতৃভূমি’।

নানা জনের এরকম মন্তব্যে ভরে উঠেছে ফেসবুকের পাতা। সর্বত্রই সমালোচনার ঝড়।