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Bangladesh protests: How two road deaths led to a violent crackdown
More than 100 students have been injured in violent protests rocking Dhaka. But what brought the city to a standstill?
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By Nick Baker
Image: A photographer is targeted during a student protest in Dhaka on August 5, 2018. (NurPhoto)
Mass protests have erupted in Bangladesh over its dismal road safety record, considered one of the worst in the world.
The demonstrators, who are mostly students, are demanding the government urgently act to improve Bangladesh's lethal roads.
But events have taken a violent turn.
Is this a major government crackdown?
Yes, according to some human rights groups.
Amnesty International's deputy South Asia director Omar Waraich told SBS News that at least 115 students were injured in the protests since Friday.
"The police resorted to grossly excessive force, including firing rubber bullets and tear gas at thousands of overwhelmingly peaceful student protesters," Mr Waraich said.
Australia director of Human Rights Watch Elaine Pearson said that police also "stood by as young men, believed to be supporters of the ruling Awami League party, have attacked and beaten student protesters".
A photographer is targeted during the Dhaka protests. Source: AAP
"The government's response is to arrest the student protesters and target journalists and activists who have highlighted the violence, when in reality the government should be arresting and prosecuting the thugs responsible for violently attacking the protesters," she said.
Is there a media blackout of the protests?
Ms Pearson said that 20 journalists, particularly photographers and videographers, have been "beaten up by thugs for documenting the attacks on protesters".
"Journalists report on the protests at their peril," she said.
Ms Pearson said the government has been arresting journalists "under the draconian Information and Communication Technology Act", the most prominent being photojournalist and activist Shahidul Alam.
A photojournalist runs as a group of unidentified men attack him during the protests. Source: AAP
Mr Alam was detained on Sunday night after documenting demonstrations and giving an interview to Al Jazeera.
"[They] washed my bloodstained punjabi [tunic] and made me wear it again," he said as he was taken into a Dhaka court, unable to walk.
And Ms Pearson said, "authorities have also restricted access to telecommunications networks claiming the shutdowns are necessary to prevent violence fuelled by rumours circulated on social media".
What have the government and police said?
Authorities have blamed the students for escalating the situation, by damaging property and being violent towards police.
Clashes on Monday in Dhaka saw police use tear gas to dispel hundreds of students from a private university.
But local police chief Rafiqul Islam said the students "tried to set ablaze a police camp ... We fired tear gas to disperse them", adding four police officers were injured.
And Road Transport Minister Obaidul Quader has rejected allegations that party cadres from the ruling Awami League party attacked the students.
Bangladeshi students march in Dhaka on August 5 Source: AAP
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who faces an election due by the end of the year, has accused her political rivals of using the protests to stir up anti-government sentiment. The opposition has denied such involvement.
Why did the protests start?
On July 29, two students were run over and killed when a privately-operated bus lost control in Dhaka. The driver was reportedly racing another bus to pick up passengers.
The deaths prompted an outpouring of anger from students across the city which has only grown since.
The students contend the government is ignoring road safety at the expense of young lives.
And numbers back their claim. According to the National Committee to Protect Shipping, Roads and Railways, a private research group, more than 4,200 pedestrians were killed in road accidents last year, a 25 per cent increase from 2016.
A remark by Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan stoked the situation last week when he questioned why there was such an uproar over the two Dhaka children but no reaction when 33 people were killed in an Indian bus crash the day before.
Protests in Dhaka on August 5. Source: Getty
Sheikh Shafi, a polytechnic student injured in a protest on Saturday, said one key problem was that bus drivers must work long hours as they do not receive monthly salaries but are paid commissions based on passenger numbers instead.
"Our demand is that the owners must appoint them and they will work a maximum of 10 hours. The commission-based system must be eliminated," said Mr Shafi, whose brother died in a road accident in 2015.
Will road safety improve in Bangladesh?
The government has taken some steps since the protests started.
On Monday, Law and Justice Minister Anisul Huq said the cabinet approved a new law allowing for the death penalty "if an investigation finds that the death in a road accident has been caused deliberately".
And cabinet approved raising the maximum jail time for rash driving deaths to five years from three.
How are Bangladeshi-Australians reacting?
Bangladeshi-Australians held peaceful demonstrations in several capital cities over the weekend, in solidarity with the protesters in Dhaka.
"We are very fortunate that we live in a country where road safety is of a high standard. Our children are very safe," Akhter Hossain from Melbourne told SBS News.
Bangladeshi-Australians held demonstrations over the weekend. Source: Facebook
"But for students going to school [in Bangladesh], there is no guarantee they will come home."
Additional reporting: AFP, Reuters
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