Bangladesh’s minister of state for data and broadcasting has defended the federal government’s dealing with of mass protests, as UN consultants known as for an impartial inquiry into the federal government’s lethal crackdown on demonstrators.
Mohammad Arafat instructed Al Jazeera in an unique interview on Thursday that the nation’s safety forces had performed every part they may to “restore peace” amid pupil protests.
He blamed “third-party” actors together with “extremists and terrorists” for fueling the unrest.
“We’re not speaking about college students [as] Terrorists and anarchists. It was the third events, those who broke into the motion and began doing all this,” Arafat mentioned. Speak to Al Jazeera.
“We attempt to de-escalate tensions,” he mentioned, including that “some individuals are making an attempt so as to add gas to the fireplace, making an attempt to create a state of affairs that they’ll exploit… and overthrow the federal government.”
Earlier this month, 1000’s of Bangladeshi college students took to the streets to demand reform of the South Asian nation’s quota system, which allocates 30% of presidency jobs to descendants of veterans who fought for Bangladesh within the 1971 struggle.
In line with native media stories, greater than 150 pupil protesters have been killed and 1000’s arrested through the crackdown on demonstrations, exacerbating tensions throughout a rustic of greater than 170 million folks.
Protests turned violent on July 15 when members of the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), a pupil group of Bangladesh’s ruling celebration, allegedly attacked protesters.
Police later suppressed the demonstrations and imposed a curfew. College students had been requested to go away closed universities; companies had been shut down and web entry was disrupted nationwide.
The Bangladeshi authorities has come underneath intense worldwide scrutiny for its dealing with of the protests.
On Thursday, UN Excessive Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk known as for “an neutral, impartial and clear investigation into all alleged human rights violations” dedicated through the crackdown.
“We perceive that many individuals have been topic to violent assaults by teams reportedly affiliated with the federal government, however the authorities has performed nothing to guard them,” Turk mentioned.
In a separate assertion, a gaggle of United Nations consultants additionally known as for an impartial investigation into what they mentioned was the federal government’s “violent crackdown on protesters.”
“Governments blame others, others blame governments; we want a full and neutral investigation,” one of many consultants, Irene Khan, the UN particular rapporteur on freedom of expression and opinion, instructed Al Jazeera.
“However as a result of there is no such thing as a belief within the authorities, cooperation with the worldwide group is critical,” Khan mentioned on Thursday.
“We name on the federal government to ask the United Nations to conduct such an investigation to determine what went unsuitable, settle for accountability and maintain these accountable accountable.”
Official demise toll but to be decided: minister
in his interview Speak to Al JazeeraMinister Arafat condemned protesters for storming the headquarters of state broadcaster Bangladesh Tv (BTV) within the capital Dhaka.
He mentioned there weren’t sufficient law enforcement officials guarding the constructing “as a result of they weren’t allowed to fireplace… These criminals bought contained in the BTV and actually invaded and set fireplace to it and began destroying and destroying all of the belongings”.
Arafat mentioned the federal government had not decided an official demise toll from the unrest.
“In terms of casualties, we’re not keen to discriminate between police and atypical folks, or protesters, or authorities supporters,” he mentioned.
The minister instructed Al Jazeera that an impartial judicial fee would guarantee an intensive investigation into what occurred “so that each one these accountable for these casualties are dropped at justice.”
Arafat additionally dismissed any requires Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign, including that she was solely “defending the folks”.
Protesters on Tuesday prolonged a pause in protests till Friday, however they’re scheduled to satisfy Thursday to debate whether or not to increase the pause additional.
Considered one of their principal calls for was that Hasina should publicly apologize for killing the scholars.
Additionally they appealed to House Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, Highway Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader, Schooling Minister Mohibul Hasan Chaudhry Nofer and Regulation Minister Anisul Harker resigned from cupboard and celebration positions.
