The 2013 Shahbag protests were widespread demonstrations held in Bangladesh. On 5 February 2013, protests ignited in Shahbag, Bangladesh, fuelled by the call for the execution of the convicted war criminal Abdul Quader Mollah. Previously sentenced to life imprisonment, Mollah was convicted on five of six counts of war crimes by the International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh. Mollah supported West Pakistan during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War and played a crucial role in the murder of numerous Bengali nationalists and intellectuals. The demonstrations also sought the government's ban on Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, from participating in politics, including elections, and a boycott of institutions supporting or affiliated with the group.
Protesters perceived Mollah's initial sentence of life imprisonment as unduly lenient, leading bloggers and online activists to mobilize additional protests at Shahbag, resulting in heightened participation in the demonstrations. Jamaat orchestrated several counter-protests challenging the tribunal's validity and the protest movement, advocating for the release of those accused and convicted.
On 15 February, blogger and activist Ahmed Rajib Haider was killed outside his house, by members of an Islamist conservative terrorist group, Ansarullah Bangla Team, leading to widespread condemnation and outrage during the heightened time. On 27 February of the same year, the war tribunal convicted Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, a prominent fundamental-Islamist, of war crimes against humanity and subsequently sentenced him to death; the sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment.
Background
From March to December 1971, East Pakistan engaged in a nine-month conflict against West Pakistan. The Indian Army, having provided guerrilla training to the Mukti Bahini, entered the war on 3 December 1971, supporting East Pakistan's liberation. The armed conflict culminated on 16 December 1971, with the surrender of the Pakistani Armed Forces to the joint force of Bangladesh and India in East Pakistan. This surrender marked the formation of the People's Republic of Bangladesh as an independent and sovereign nation.
According to the famous Blood telegram from the United States consulate in Dhaka (formerly known as 'Dacca') to the State Department, many atrocities had been committed by the Pakistan Army and its supporter Razakars and Al-Badar militia. Time reported a high-ranking US official as saying, "It is the most incredible, calculated killing since the days of the Nazis in Poland." Estimates are that one to three million people were killed, nearly a quarter of a million women were raped and more than ten million people fled to India to escape persecution.
A paramilitary force known as the Razakars was created by the May 1971 Razakar Ordinance promulgated by Tikka Khan, the governor of East Pakistan. The ordinance stipulated the creation of a volunteer force, trained and equipped by the provincial government.
The majority of East Pakistanis supported the call to create a free and independent Bangladesh during the Liberation War. However, Pakistani supporters and members of Islamic political parties, particularly Jamaat-e-islami and its east Pakistan student wing Islami Chatra Sangha (ICS, Bengali: ইসলামী ছাত্র সঙ্ঘ, romanized: Islami Chhatro Shônggho), the Muslim League, the Pakistan Democratic Party (PDP) Council and Nizam-e-Islami, collaborated with the Pakistani army to resist the formation of an independent Bangladesh. The students belonging to Islami Chatra Sangha were known as the Al-Badr force; people belonging to Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, Muslim League, Nizam-e-Islami and similar groups were called Al-Shams, and the Urdu-speaking people (generally known as Bihari) were known as Al-Mujahid.
After independence
In November 1973 Sheikh Mujibur Rahman issued a general pardon for the war criminals during the liberation war. Under Hussain Muhammad Ershad Jamaat-e-Islami participated in 1986 election. In the 1991 election, which was the first free and fair election after independence, Jamaat got 18 seats out of 300 and gained 12.2% of vote.
In 1992, the distinguished Bangladeshi writer and political activist, Jahanara Imam, led the war-crime tribunal committee, Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee, advocating for the prosecution of Ghulam Azam, the leader of Jamaat-e-Islami and a convicted war criminal. On 26 March 1992, the committee organized mock trials in Dhaka, known as Gono Adalat (The People's Court), symbolically 'sentencing' individuals they accused of being war criminals.
In the 2001 general election, Bangladesh Nationalist party in coalition with Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami won the election. From 2001 to 2003, the leader of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Motiur Rahman Nizami served as the Minister of Agriculture, then as the Minister of Industry from 2003 to 2006, and general the secretary Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed served the Ministry of Social Welfare between 2001 and 2006.
International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) of 2010
Since 2000, there has been growing demands in Bangladesh for justice related to war crimes committed during the 1971 struggle; the issue was central to the 2008 general election.
The Awami League-led, 14-party Grand Alliance included this issue in its election manifesto. Its rival, four-party alliance (which included the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami) had several leaders alleged to have committed war crimes.
The Grand Alliance won the election (held on 29 December 2008) with a two-thirds majority, based in part on its promise to prosecute alleged war criminals.
On 29 January 2009 the new Parliament unanimously passed a resolution to prosecute war criminals. The government intended to use the 1973 law: the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act. The government worked to amend the law, updating it and incorporating in it other nations' experience.
The amendments provided the legal basis for the trial of individuals and political parties that had committed war crimes during Bangladesh liberation war. The government was empowered to appeal tribunal decisions.
On 25 March 2010, the Awami-led government announced the formation of a three-member tribunal, a seven-member investigation agency, and a twelve-member prosecution team to conduct the trials under the ICT Act 1973. The panel of three judges included Fazle Kabir and Zahir Ahmed, with Mohammed Nizamul Huq as chairman. Abdul Matin, Abdur Rahim, Kutubur Rahman, Shamsul Arefin, Mir Shahidul Islam, Nurul Islam and M. Abdur Razzak Khan were appointed to assist the state prosecutors. Golam Arif Tipu was named Chief Prosecutor. Others prosecutors were Syed Rezaur Rahman, Golam Hasnayen, Rana Das Gupta, Zahirul Huq, Md. Nurul Islam Sujon, Syed Haider Ali, Khandaker Abdul Mannan, Mosharraf Hossain Kajal, Zead Al Malum, Sanjida Khanam, and Sultan Mahmud Semon.
Verdicts
A formal charge was filed by the prosecution against Abdul Quader Mollah on 18 December 2011. He was charged with:
- The Pallab murder
- Killing pro-liberation poet Meherunnesa, her mother and two brothers
- The Khondakar Abu Taleb killing
- The Ghatar Char and Bhawal Khan Bari killings
- The Alubdi mass killing (344 people)
- The rape and murder of Hazrat Ali and his family
On 5 February 2013, the ICT found Mollah guilty of crimes against humanity. The day before the verdict was announced, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami announced a nationwide dawn-to-dusk general strike for 5 February in protest of their leader's conviction.
Protesters' demands
Over several days, protesters increased their demands, asking for:
- Death penalty for Mollah
- Death sentences for those convicted of war crimes by the International War Crimes Tribunal
- A ban of Jamaat from Bangladeshi politics
- A boycott of Jamaat institutions
Development
Origins
Protest began right after the verdict was announced. Student organizations started the protest immediately after the Judgement in the Shahbag square. On 7 February, demonstrations began at 8 am. Thousands of people gathered with banners, posters, Bangladeshi flags and placards in Shahbag with their demands. On Friday afternoon, a mass rally was held at Shahbag with an estimated attendance of more than 100,000.
On 12 February, protesters observed three minutes of silence at 4 pm at Shahbag and all across Bangladesh. In Dhaka, traffic was stopped as thousands of people took to the streets, formed human chains and stood in silence. A Bangladesh Premier League game at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium halted for three minutes, as players and supporters observed the silence. Parliamentarians and the police also joined the protest. Bengali singer Kabir Suman wrote a song entitled "Tin Minit" ("Three Minutes") in honour of the silent protest.
Further developments
On 21 February, International Mother Language Day, the number of protesters reached a new high. Its leadership declared 26 March 2013, the Independence Day of Bangladesh, as the deadline for the government to ban Jamaat-e-Islami from politics.
Seven protesters began a fast until death on 26 March at 10:30 pm in front of the National Museum, protesting "inadequate government action" to ban Jamaat in response to the Shahbag protesters' ultimatum. The protesters said at a press briefing that they would send an open letter to Prime Minister Hasina during the 100th hour of their protests. More than 100 organizations expressed solidarity with the hunger strikers.
Sentencing of Delwar Hossain Sayeedi
On 28 February the International Crimes Tribunal sentenced Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, Nayeb-e-Ameer (vice-president) of Jamaat-e-Islami, to death for convictions on 8 out of 20 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.
Counter-demonstrations
Jamaat followers were enraged by the decision, claiming that the case against Sayeedi was politically motivated. His lawyer, Abdur Razzaq, accused authorities of preventing a key witness from testifying and intentionally slanting the process. "This is a perverse judgment. It is inconceivable that a court of law awarded him a conviction. This prosecution was for a political purpose", Razzaq said. Jamaat quickly called for a nationwide two-day strike, to start on 3 March. By afternoon, violence led by Jamaat-e-Islami supporters had erupted across Bangladesh. "The Jamaat-e-Islami is fighting for its political survival", said a spokesperson. By the end of the day thirty-five people were dead, including three police officers; an additional eight hundred were injured. According to the BBC, it marked "the worst day of political violence in Bangladesh in decades".
Clashes between police and Jamaat-e-Islami workers continued on 1 March, spreading to the northern districts of Gaibandha and Chapai Nawabganj. Opposition leader Khaleda Zia criticised government and called for a demonstration in the capital, Dhaka. Security measures were increased to prevent the situation from escalating. The death toll rose to forty-four (including six policemen). Former prime minister and BNP member Khaleda Zia declared a nationwide dawn-to-dusk strike for 5 March, and called for countrywide rallies on 2 March to protest what she called government corruption, misrule, oppression, and "mass killings".
Violent conflict continued on 2 March, with another four deaths and hundreds of injuries. In Chittagong district police opened fire on Jamaat-e-Islami protesters, leading to three deaths. In Nilphamari, a young person died in a clash between protesters and police.
On 3 March, violence continued as the Jamaat-organised strike began. In Bogra Jamaat supporters attacked police outposts with sticks and homemade bombs, leading to at least eight deaths. In Godagari two deaths were reported in a similar incident, and three deaths were reported in the Joypurhat district. Violence continued in Chittagong as well, where Jamaat claimed that police opened fire without provocation. The government denied the charge, saying that violence against citizens and police would not be tolerated; three deaths were reported. "People in the street are very, very afraid of Jamaat-e-Islam. I am scared", reported an eyewitness in Dhaka. Jamaat supporters were accused of attacking Hindu citizens and their homes in many parts of the country, and torching Hindu temples. More than 40 temples and many statues were destroyed and scores of houses set ablaze, leaving hundreds of people homeless throughout the country.
Amnesty International has urged the Bangladeshi government to provide better protection for minority Hindus. Abbas Faiz, the organization's Bangladesh researcher, has noted that the attacks on the Hindu community were a shocking development in the recent history of Bangladesh.
Reactions
Domestic response
The Shahbag protests has attracted people from all walks of life and in Shahbag intersection at the centre of the protests has been referred to as "Generation Circle" (Bengali: প্রজন্ম চত্ত্বর Projônmo Chôttor) or "Shahbag Square", in a nod to the events which unfolded in Tahrir Square, Cairo. The protest spread from Shahbagh to other parts of the country, with sit-ins and demonstrations in Chittagong, Rajshahi, Khulna, Sylhet, Barisal, Mymensingh, Rajbari, Rangpur, Comilla, Bogra, Narayanganj, Sunamganj, Noakhali and Narsingdi.