Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was compelled to resign and flee the nation on Monday, touchdown by helicopter in India simply after lunchtime.
Her dramatic fall from energy comes after tens of 1000’s of protesters gathered on the streets of Dhaka all through Sunday and early Monday, in defiance of a nationwide curfew, calling on Hasina to resign.
The protests had been constructing all through July over plans to reinstate a quota that might have reserved a proportion of presidency jobs for veterans of Bangladesh’s battle of independence.
On Monday morning a near-total web shutdown was imposed, a tactic that has ceaselessly been used to attempt to quell protests within the nation. Footage revealing how the protests escalated continues to be rising because of this.
But movies analysed by Bellingcat from the ultimate hours of Hasina’s rule reveal police being outnumbered on the streets of the Bangladeshi capital as protesters took management, with police resorting to firing from the rooftops of a number of police stations.
We additionally recognized incidents of police violence in opposition to unarmed protesters and assaults in opposition to buildings affiliated with Hasina’s Awami League political get together.
How Hasina’s Management Unraveled
On Friday, August 2, Netblocks reported that Fb, WhatsApp and Telegram had been restricted, persevering with a sample of blockages that occurred throughout earlier protests in July.
A number of incidents of violence had been reported in northern Dhaka’s Uttara neighbourhood in Sector 11.
Bellingcat recognized protesters working away from police apparently firing tear fuel in the direction of them in Sector 11, right here: 23.8781591,90.3907882.
One other video, shot on the identical day in the identical space, reveals police firing down the road, lower than 200m away from Shaheed Monsur Ali Medical School Hospital.
A 3rd video taken on the identical avenue reveals police thrashing an unarmed civilian. The person is then carried away by two different folks.
Bangladesh’s largest nationwide newspaper Prothom Alo reported that clashes broke out after police tried to interrupt up a deliberate pupil march ranging from Milestone School in Uttara Sector 11 about 5pm on Friday. Police fired sound grenades, tear fuel canisters and rubber bullets at protesters, injuring at the least six folks.
The way it Began: Anti-Quota Protests
Protests started in late July with college students taking to the streets to demand an finish to the federal government job quota which reserved 30 p.c of jobs for the family of veterans who took half in Bangladesh’s battle of independence.
The quota made aggressive authorities jobs much more inaccessible to the broader inhabitants and college students argued it favoured supporters of the ruling get together.
This coverage was beforehand scrapped in 2018 following widespread protests however was reinstated in June, sparking the newest wave of dissent.
Regardless of the largely peaceable nature of the protests, greater than 200 folks, largely college students, had been reportedly killed, with native counts placing the figures a lot larger.
Using deadly power by police in response drew widespread condemnation from human rights teams, and it marked essentially the most lethal violence in Bangladesh since its 1971 battle of independence.
Regardless of the scaling again of the quota on July 21, protests continued over police violence and college students referred to as for Hasina to resign.
Earlier Incidents of Police Violence
Bellingcat verified footage from plenty of incidents of police violence through the July protests, displaying unarmed protesters being attacked.
In footage (Warning: Graphic content material) from Dhaka’s Jatrabari neighbourhood, coordinates 23.705481,90.4448897, a police officer could be seen taking pictures pellets at an injured pupil being carried. The protester is left motionless inflicting the person carrying him to desert him and flee.
Some posts on social media establish the protester as Eman Hasan Taim, though Bellingcat was not capable of independently confirm this. Taim, 17, is listed as among the many lifeless by Shohid, an internet site compiling an inventory of those that died within the violence.
A number of movies present a automobile owned by Bangladesh’s elite paramilitary power, the Speedy Motion Battalion (RAB), ramming into protesters in Uttara at 23.868263, 90.400344 earlier than protesters violently assault (Warning: Graphic content material) the driving force.
One other video, taken at 23.7621326,90.443909 in Dhaka’s Bansree neighbourhood, reveals police firing at an individual making an attempt to cover by hanging from a constructing.
Individually, a number of movies taken in Dhaka’s neighbouring metropolis of Savar reveals a person being carried on the roof of an Armoured Personnel Provider (APC) alongside the Dhaka-Aricha Freeway at 23.8465328,90.2570423.
The person, who seems to be unconscious is then pulled off the roof of the automobile by two law enforcement officials, onto the street.
Because the automobile drives away somebody could be heard within the footage asking, “Is he lifeless?”
The sufferer was later recognized as Shykh Yamin, a pupil of the Army Institute of Science and Know-how (MIST).
Bellingcat was unable to seek out particulars of Yamin’s demise however Amnesty consulted an unbiased forensic pathologist who examined photographic proof of his wounds to chest, concluding that his demise might fairly be presumed to have been brought on by birdshot pellet accidents.
Saturday, August 3:
Big crowds gathered on the streets throughout Bangladesh’s fundamental cities, demanding a public apology from Hasina for the violence and killings and calling for her to go away workplace.
Protesters blocked fundamental roads in Bangladesh’s second-largest metropolis Chittagong (formally referred to as Chattogram) and gathered in Dhaka’s largest buying space close to town centre.
Chittagong, Bangladesh, 03 August 2024 pic.twitter.com/mxUAiXS4uc
— ParanjoyGuhaThakurta (@paranjoygt) August 4, 2024
Scholar protesters declared an indefinite non-cooperation motion and mass gatherings passed off in a number of areas.
Sunday, August 4:
By Sunday, widespread rallies had been persevering with throughout Dhaka and a number of skirmishes broke out between police, protesters and supporters of Hasina’s Awami league. At the least 13 law enforcement officials and 90 civilians had been reportedly killed within the clashes.
The federal government imposed an indefinite curfew throughout the nation.
We geolocated the next footage displaying a automobile ploughing right into a crowd of individuals on the road at excessive pace to this location 25.01713,90.0136716 outdoors a ceramics showroom within the northern metropolis of Sherpur.
Social media posts claimed the automobile was a police automotive. Bellingcat couldn’t confirm this from the footage alone because the automobile had no apparent distinguishing markings that might instantly establish it as a police automobile. It was additionally not doable to verify the variety of accidents from this incident, though one particular person seemed to be instantly hit and was tossed violently into the air.
Violence additionally broke out in Dhaka as protesters gathered close to the Prime Minister’s residence. A video captured protesters outdoors a police station, some armed with sticks attacking what did look like a police automobile and others throwing objects in the direction of the station. Above them, police could be seen firing from a rooftop which X person PowerPigeon2 geolocated to the Khilgaon Police Station at 23.750973, 90.425147.
Along with the police, plenty of folks in civilian garments could be seen on the roof of the police station throwing objects at people on the road. The road quickly clears out as somebody behind the digicam could be heard saying in Bengali, “There’s blood on the street”.
One other video taken roughly 100m from the Khilgaon Police Station at 23.7502851,90.4254509 reveals police firing their weapons down the road. The police look like accompanied by males in civilian garments carrying batons and throwing objects. A video taken from a unique angle reveals the identical scene.
Bellingcat was not capable of confirm who the folks in plain garments had been, however footage clearly reveals a number of folks in civilian clothes alongside police throwing objects in the direction of protesters. Protesters advised the Guardian that police and members of the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), the coed wing of Hasina’s Awami League, have attacked protesters collectively.
On Sunday evening Hasina reportedly met together with her military chief and army generals who stated they wouldn’t implement the curfew or fireplace on protesters, in line with Reuters experiences citing military sources. Prothom Alo reported that officers tried to persuade Hasina to relinquish energy and clarify that the protests couldn’t be put down by power, however in line with the BBC, it was solely after they recruited members of the family to intercede that Hasina agreed to go away.
Monday, August 5:
On Monday morning a near-total nationwide web shutdown occurred nationwide. Regardless of the curfew, tens of 1000’s of individuals gathered in Dhaka and commenced making their solution to Hasina’s residence.
A video confirmed police firing their weapons from a rooftop which Bellingcat geolocated to the Uttara East Police Station, right here 23.8675773,90.4003782. A number of males in civilian garments can be seen on the roof throwing stones. Movies of individuals carrying the injured (1, 2) in the identical space had been additionally shared on-line.
Dhaka-based English language newspaper Day by day Star reported that protesters and police clashed on the web site for hours, with police firing bullets, rubber bullets and tear fuel from the roof of the station which protesters stormed. At the least 21 folks, together with a policeman, had been reportedly killed and greater than 100 injured on the web site.
Within the west, in Jashore, a lodge positioned at 23.1656977,89.2083993 was set on fireplace by unidentified males reportedly killing at the least 24 folks. The lodge was owned by a frontrunner of the Awami League.
Comparable scenes performed out at plenty of areas throughout the nation. Prothom Alo reported that plenty of authorities official’s homes, the places of work of the Awami League, police stations and different authorities installations had been attacked, vandalised and torched in 39 districts.
Elsewhere within the capital, protesters celebrated on the streets after it grew to become clear the military wouldn’t implement the curfew and upon affirmation that Hasina had left, flying by helicopter from her residence, ultimately touchdown in Delhi after lunchtime.
What’s subsequent for Bangladesh?
The scholars’ victory comes in opposition to the backdrop of immense violence documented in movies, particularly within the capital. Plenty of retailers have been making an attempt to doc and establish all of the protesters who’ve been killed since demonstrations started. At the least 90 folks, together with law enforcement officials, had been killed within the renewed protests and clashes over the weekend.
Yesterday, Bangladesh’s Nobel laureate and broadly revered economist Muhammad Yunus–a preferred alternative amongst pupil demonstrators – agreed to move the nation’s interim authorities.
Jake Godin, Lucy Swinnen and Rob Cecilio from Bellingcat’s Discord neighborhood contributed reporting to this piece.
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