Bangladesh: Activist-turned-politician critically injured in Dhaka shooting
Dhaka, Dec 12 : In yet another shocking incident highlighting the worsening law and order situation in Bangladesh under the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus, spokesperson of a July protest platform and a potential independent candidate for Dhaka-8 constituency in the upcoming February elections was shot in the head in full public view on a Dhaka street, Friday afternoon.
Sharif Osman Hadi, spokesperson of Inqilab Mancha, a radical activist platform, was shot in the capital's Bijoynagar and remains in a critical condition - on life support - at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital, the local media reported.
Country's leading Bengali daily Prothom Alo quoted Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, Muhammad Talebur Rahman, as saying that the miscreants arrived on a motorcycle at 2:25 pm and fired shots at Hadi who was riding a rickshaw in the Box Culvert area of Bijoynagar in Dhaka.
Another Bengali daily 'Kaler Kantho' highlighted a statement from Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sheikh Sajjat Ali in which he said that a "massive operation" has been launched to arrest the culprits who shot Hadi.
Bangladesh has witnessed an alarming rise in violence that extends beyond minority persecution under the Yunus-led interim government.
Last month, Bangladesh’s Awami League party accused the Yunus government of conspiring to push the people of the country towards an uncertain future, warning that a new form of “mob terrorism” has emerged as an organised “terror tactic”.
Slamming the Yunus regime, the party stated that since the “illegal usurpers” seized power, incidents of murder, rape, theft, robbery, looting, and mugging have sharply increased across the country.
It claimed that the Yunus-led interim government has resorted to “terrorism” as a means to cling to power, leaving citizens with no guarantee of even minimal safety for their lives or property.
“When the state itself becomes the patron of terrorism and acts with terror against its own citizens, there can no longer exist the rule of law or public order characteristic of a civilised and modern state. This is why, under the guise of law and order, even the Chattogram Police Commissioner can casually speak about ‘brush fires’ (summary shootings). For a regime that lacks the people’s mandate, terror and fear become the only means of survival — and that reality is being reflected throughout society and the state,” read a statement issued by the Awami League.
“Although human rights organisations have already expressed grave concern about the rise of terrorism in the country, the government remains completely indifferent. As early as March, a national daily reported that terrorist activities in the country had increased by 6.16 per cent. Following that trend, in October, human rights organisations again voiced alarm over the escalation of state-sponsored and other terrorist activities,” the statement added.
According to the Awami League, extrajudicial killings, murders in custody, and the discovery of unidentified bodies continue to rise unabated in Bangladesh. The party alleged that its leaders and activists are being targetted in a planned manner -- killed inside prisons, while outside, “mob terrorism” is being unleashed through attacks, killings, and looting.