Bangladesh’s state minister for information and broadcasting has defended the government’s handling of mass protests, as United Nations experts called for an independent investigation into the government’s handling of the protests. deadly repression on the protesters.
In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera on Thursday, Mohammad Arafat said the country’s security forces had done everything “to bring peace” amid the student protests.
He accused “third party” actors, including “extremists and terrorists,” of fueling the unrest.
“We are not talking about students as terrorists or anarchists. This is a third party, those who interfered in this movement and started doing all this,” Arafat said. Talk to Al Jazeera.
“We have done our best to defuse tensions,” he said, adding that “some people are trying to add fuel to the fire, to create a situation that they can take advantage of… and overthrow the government.”
Thousands of Bangladeshi students took to the streets earlier this month to demand reforms to the South Asian country’s education system. Quota systemwhich awards 30% of government jobs to descendants of veterans who fought for Bangladesh in the 1971 war.
More than 150 student protesters have been killed and thousands more arrested in the crackdown on demonstrations, according to local media, fueling tensions across the country of more than 170 million people.
The protests turned violent on July 15 after members of the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) – the student wing of the country’s ruling party – reportedly attacked the protesters.
The police then cracked down on the protests and imposed a curfewStudents were asked to leave universities, which were closed; businesses were shut down and internet access was disrupted across the country.
The Bangladeshi government has come under international scrutiny for its handling of the protests.
On Thursday, the UN human rights chief Volker Turk called for “an impartial, independent and transparent investigation into all alleged human rights violations” that occurred during the crackdown.
“We understand that many people have been victims of violent attacks by groups apparently affiliated with the government, and that no efforts have been made to protect them,” Turk said.
In a separate statementA group of UN experts also called for an independent investigation into what they described as the government’s “violent repression of protesters”.
“The government is blaming other people, other people are blaming the government; we need an impartial and full investigation,” one of the experts, Irene Khan, the UN special rapporteur on freedom of expression and opinion, told Al Jazeera.
“But since there is no trust in the government, it has to be done with the international community,” Khan said Thursday.
“We call on the government to invite the UN to conduct such an investigation to determine what happened, to take responsibility and to hold the perpetrators to account.”
Official death toll not yet determined, minister says
In his interview with Talk to Al JazeeraArafat – the minister – denounced the protesters for storm the headquarters of state-run Bangladesh Television (BTV) in the capital, Dhaka.
He said the police officers guarding the building were outnumbered and that “because they were not allowed to open fire… these criminals entered the BTV, literally invaded it, set it on fire and started vandalizing and destroying all the property.”
Arafat said the government had not yet determined the official death toll from the unrest.
“When it comes to casualties, injuries and deaths, we are not prepared to distinguish between the police and the general population, or between protesters and government supporters,” he said.
The minister told Al Jazeera that an independent judicial commission would ensure a thorough investigation was carried out into what happened, “so that all those responsible for these victims are brought to justice”.
Arafat also rejected all calls for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign, adding that she had only “protected the people.”
On Tuesday, protesters extended the suspension of their demonstrations until Friday, but they were due to meet on Thursday to discuss the possibility of extending the pause further.
Among their main demands is that Hasina issue a public apology for the student killings.
They also called on Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader, Education Minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury Nowfel and Law Minister Anisul Haque to resign from the cabinet and the party.
