What’s going on in Bangladesh now?

According to media reports, amid the non-cooperation program of the ongoing anti-discrimination student movement, 13 policemen were killed by entering Enayetpur police station in Sirajganj.

The matter has been confirmed by the police headquarters in Bangladesh Apart from this, a policeman of Comilla's Elliotganj Highway police station was beaten to death. According to media reports with police sources, miscreants attacked Enayetpur police station on Sunday (August 4) afternoon.

They entered the police station and vandalized and set it on fire. At the same time, 13 policemen on duty at the police station were beaten to death. However, the details of the deceased have not been found.

Meanwhile, the public relations department of the police headquarters informed that the culprits also attacked Jatrabari and Khilgaon police stations of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), Gogai Highway Police Station of Tangail, Sadar, Dupchanchia and Sherpur Police Stations of Bogra and Naruli Police Outposts, Joypurhat Sadar Police Station, Elliotganj Highway Police Station of Comilla, Gangachra of Rangpur. , Mithapukur, Pirgacha, Pirganj, Badarganj and Gangachra, Brahmanbaria Sadar and Ashuganj Police Stations, Enayetpur, Ullapara and Shahjadpur Police Stations in Sirajganj, Madhavpur Outpost in Habiganj, Mymensingh Range Office, Superintendent of Police’s office’s in Narayanganj, Bogra, Pabna and Sirajganj districts, Dinajpur Sadar Police Station.

The police headquarter also said that the injured policemen are more than three hundred. According to media reports, some vested groups also attacked the CMM court and BSMMU (medical university and Hospital). The severity of the current dire situation has been witnessed by millions of people nationwide.

The student movement devolved into violence and political activism! As a result, every murder indicates that it was premeditated in a violent and cruel way. When police and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) troops were sent in to defend the populace and state property from the attackers, fighting broke out. They have allegedly now launched direct attacks on police stations, courts, and hospitals. Aren’t these the human rights violation? Who will bear the brunt of these casualties? Public participation is central to the political identity.

People are never in favor of using force or extralegal matters. Without a doubt, long-term planning led to this unprecedented act of vandalism and rampage. The deliberate and targeted assaults on law enforcement organizations and the devastation of the nation's vital infrastructure are blatantly obvious to be highly coordinated acts.

The primary objective of the anti-discrimination student movement was quota reform. That is what the High Court has put into effect. From what the student leaders have said, it appears that they want to implement a political agenda, so why is the quota reform movement still being maintained? Every request made by the students has been fulfilled. The prime minister has allowed students to have discussions in Ganabhaban. The administration is dedicated to hearing what they have to say. However, some special interests are exploiting the movement to undermine national security. However, the people of the country will not accept these conspiracies. At the very moment where the government is working for the development of the people of the country, the fact of hurting the development of the country and damaging the lives has made the countrymen alarmed. One of their goals was to harms stability and tarnish its image to foreigners by hitting the symbol of the country's development.

People observe how a peaceful protest was turned into a violent struggle due to the engagement of several parties with vested interests in regime change.  It sounds further intense when we hear this kind of news regarding anti-state activities. It is also a human rights violation. The question has arisen, why is this anger on the law enforcement agencies on duty? If they are also present in the performance of professional duties, how acceptable is such an attack? The incidents indicating that these were coordinated efforts of the third party to destabilize the country and create anarchy in the country. The incident was a very sad and unbearable incident in the history of the country

The police are an important branch of the law enforcement system in Bangladesh. It is a human rights defense organization. During COVID-19, police had a special responsibility to uphold moral and social standards, safeguard the public, and make a lasting impression. The recent atrocities against police go beyond the pale of criminal violence because they were committed with the intention of undermining government efforts to stabilize the economy and preventing the return of regular life to the nation. The day the rioters attacked the establishments tasked with upholding the law was a dark one in Bangladeshi police history. The true goal of the assault was not only to weaken national unity and spark social unrest, but also to overthrow democracy, bury the Constitution, and impose dictatorship on the nation. It is obvious that outside forces hostile to democracy and, dissatisfied with the nation's advancements took advantage of the circumstances to instigate the violence to topple the elected government. They committed the atrocity in a police Thana because law enforcement organizations, including the police and other forces, were finding it to stop the violence. In the end, relative normalcy was achieved through the cautious handling of the situation by law enforcement agencies. But these incidents' aftermath raises important questions about the motivations behind the attacks and their wider implications for Bangladesh's political and economic stability.

The involvement of outside parties in the violence suggests that the student movement was seized by those looking to topple the government and create an unstable atmosphere. Utilizing protests for political ends has a worrying propensity to weaken democracy and obstruct meaningful discourse. The results have been appalling. buildings, offices, toll plazas, buses, trains, and other public property. —is no longer in existence. Bangladesh Television's buildings were set on fire. It soon became apparent that individuals engaged in anti-state activities had penetrated the student movement and were on a mission to destabilize the nation. The overthrow of the government was their evil objective. The people who incited protestors during all these riots, planned to harm law enforcement, and set fire to the streets do not wish for the stability of the nation. These individuals made Bangladesh a global joke. The cost to the country has been heavy. It is imperative that civil unrest is neither encouraged nor permitted to recur. It's time for things to get back to normal so that businesses can start producing again, people can go back to their jobs, and educational institutions can reopen.

Written by: Ozair Islam

Bio: Ozair Islam is a freelance writer and columnist, with a Master’s from the Department of Development Studies, University of Dhaka

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