“Operation Devil Hunt” involves the military, police and border guards.
Zia Chowdhury/Dhaka
At least 1,600 people, including scores belonging to Bangladesh’s deposed former ruling party, were swept up in a crackdown launched by authorities over the weekend, court documents show, days after protesters destroyed a museum memorializing the country’s founding father.
Home Affairs Adviser Md. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury told journalists that the ongoing operation, dubbed as “Devil Hunt,” involved the military, police and border guards.
“What does ‘devil’ mean? It refers to evil forces,” he told reporters on Sunday. “This operation is aimed at those who try to destabilize the country, break the law, engage in criminal activities and commit acts of terrorism.”
Last week, officials from the interim government accused former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and supporters of her Awami League party of trying to whip up trouble, when she delivered a speech from India to mark the six-month anniversary of her ouster by a student-led uprising. A huge crowd of people opposed to her 15-year rule then converged on a memorial-museum that honored her late father, and burned and tore it down.
Abu Nased Mohammad Khaled, a police official who was coordinating Operation Devil Hunt, declined to disclose the political affiliations of the 1,651 detainees. Still, BenarNews obtained a list of arrestees in the Gazipur Metropolitan Police area, which mentioned about 240 leaders and activists who were identified as Awami League (AL) or affiliated organizations over two days. The list was shared by court officials.
In addition, AL Organizing Secretary Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, who is in hiding, said scores of party activists had been arrested.
“They’re trying to save the original devils and in the name of the operation they’re wiping out the Awami League. But history will repeat [itself] – the Awami League will return to its position of power again,” Khalid told BenarNews.
In the weeks after Hasina’s government fell, hundreds of officials from her party and its supporters fled and went into hiding. The interim government, which includes students who spearheaded the uprising that toppled Hasina, have been pursuing ex-Awami League officials and charging them in connection with the deaths of hundreds of demonstrators during the July-August protests.
In contrast, police have made no arrests linked to the Feb. 5 demonstration that led to the destruction of the memorial museum to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the country’s founder and the father of Sheikh Hasina, according to police in Dhanmondi, a neighborhood of Dhaka where the museum stood.Hasina had power over the AL and served as prime minister before student-led protests forced her out of the country last Aug. 5.
In late January, the AL announced that members would hold a month-long demonstration in February featuring protest rallies, blockades and a general strike to demand the resignation of interim government chief adviser Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel laureate.
Among events was a Feb. 5 address by Hasina from India, where she has been hiding out since fleeing Bangladesh, to members of the AL student wing.
Shortly afterward, student-led protesters set fires to the museum dedicated to her father. The museum was housed in Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s home in Dhaka, where Bangladesh’s founding president was assassinated in a coup in 1975.
Different protest
Bangladesh authorities announced that a different protest led to the weekend operation – violent attacks and vandalism beginning around 9 p.m. Friday near the Gazipur residence of A.K.M. Mozammel Haque, the former Liberation War Affairs minister. Several people were injured.
Student movement leaders tried to stop the attacks they claimed were caused by “Awami League goons.” Many reiterated calls to ban the AL.
On Saturday, Asif Mahmud Shajib Bhuyian, interim government youth and sports adviser, told the state-owned news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) that the government would soon take steps to ban the AL as a political party.
“First of all, it is very positive that political parties have reached a ‘consensus’ on banning the Awami League,” he said. “We – the common people and political parties – represent the people of this country. Prioritizing their aspirations and demands should be our main goal.
“From that perspective, I would like to applaud the BNP for raising the demand to ban the Awami League,” he said.
‘Innocent’ people arrested
G.M. Quader, chairman of the Jatiyo Party, which is perceived as an enabler of Hasina’s government, claimed that false complaints were being filed against leaders and activists from his party.
In a written statement on Monday, he called on the interim government to end the persecution and harassment of “innocent” people.
“Atrocities and persecution are being carried out against the Jatiyo Party, numerous false cases have been filed against the party-men,” he said in the statement.
“They are being arrested and denied bail,” Quader told BenarNews.
Human rights activist Abu Ahmed Faijul Kabir questioned the weekend operation and called on the Yunus-led government to not target any specific political party or group.
“The name of the operation is a disrespect for the citizens – every citizen has the right to defend himself or herself by the law,” he told BenarNews. “Before any verdict takes place, naming someone as ‘devil’ is wrongful.”
For his part, Yunus on Monday called for reconciliation since protests began in July 2024 that led to Hasina’s downfall.
“Our country’s future depends on our ability to overcome conflict. We must find a way forward together,” Yunus said, according to a news release of his statement.
“We will not indulge in injustice. Those who break the law will face its consequences. But for those who haven’t, we will tell them that, ‘you have caused me a lot of pain, but I will not do the same for you.’”
Meanwhile, the president of Nagorik Oikya political party blamed Yunus’s interim government for the uprisings.
“The interim government should be responsible for the attacks, they were supposed to stop and retaliate against the attacks wherever they occur – but the government did not – it’s absurd,” Mahmudur Rahman Manna told BenarNews.
Copyright ©2015-2024, BenarNews. Used with the permission of BenarNews.
