Political unrest targets Bangladesh civilians

DHAKA, Bangladesh — “When I woke up, my face was on fire,” said Khokon, a 30-year-old man who sells plastic shoes in a small shop in Dhaka, the capital. He was napping on a bus on his way home in late January when the attack happened. Molotov cocktails were hurled at the vehicle, and nine passengers were killed.

“Everybody was screaming and trying to get out. I fell down on the floor, and people were stepping on me,” he said.

His face and hands suffered the worst burns. His left hand is missing two fingers; they were amputated after becoming infected. The doctors aren’t yet sure how bad the damage is to his right eye. Khokon, who only goes by one name, has been told an eye specialist will look at it once the burns have healed.

“Our mother fainted when she saw him,” said his sister Selma, who keeps him company in the hospital.

He has a 1-year-old daughter, and he is worried about how he will be able to provide for his family now. According to local human rights organizations, he is one of about 2,000 people in Bangladesh who have been injured in similar attacks since the beginning of the year. At least 100 have died. On March 25, two patients in the same ward as Khokon died from their burns.

Political violence is not a new phenomenon in Bangladesh. This latest surge in deadly attacks started in early January, when the opposition was barred from holding a demonstration against last year’s elections, which it claims were illegitimate.

In 2014 the opposition demanded that the ruling Awami League hand over power to a neutral interim government that would oversee the elections to avoid fraud. When the government refused, the opposition, led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, boycotted the elections. Out of 300 parliamentary seats, 154 were uncontested.

The opposition was left with no influence in Parliament. A year later, this January, when the government barred it from holding protests and put party leader Khaleda Zia under house arrest, the opposition responded by imposing general strikes and a nationwide blockade of roads and transport routes.

In an attempt to enforce it, alleged opposition activists and hired thugs started throwing Molotov cocktails at vehicles that broke the blockade.

Khokon, like most of the other people being treated at the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, has never been involved in politics and does not have any stake in the rivalry between the country’s two main parties.

In a bed next to him lay 19-year-old Niranjon, who was admitted the same day as Khokon and was working as a helper on a truck that was attacked.

“I couldn’t see who threw the bomb because it was dark,” Niranjon said. “I jumped out of the truck, and people came up to me and hugged me to put the flames out.”

A sign over his bed says burns cover 42 percent of his body.

“I can’t sleep at night. As soon as I close my eyes, the images of the attack come back to me. On top of that, most of my body itches and burns constantly.”

As he spoke, his father entered the room with a bag of fruit. He sleeps on a small blanket on the floor next to his son’s bed in order to be close to him. “He’s my only son. His mother, my wife, died when he was 10 years old. It’s just me and him now,” his father said, tears rolling down his cheeks.

“When I heard what had happened to my son, I dropped everything I was doing and rushed out of my home without even locking the door,” he continued. “We are common people, and we don’t like this kind of politics. What does this have to do with us?”

It is civilians who suffer most from the ongoing political violence, says Sultana Kamal, the head of the Bangladesh human rights organization Ain o Salish Kendra, or ASK. “Many people have died because of these kinds of bombs and arson attacks. But to deal with this, the government is also taking very extreme measures.” she said.

According to figures compiled by ASK, at least 64 people have been killed by law enforcement since January, in what Kamal describes as “extrajudicial killings.”

“These are only the deaths we know about. Usually they go unreported,” she added.

In this violent and polarized environment, it can be hard to predict the consequences of reporting on politically charged crimes. 

“The government is touchy about a lot of things and can react sharply to any kind of dissent. But you can also get in trouble if you criticize the opposition and [its supporters’] violent means. The minute you do that, you become a target for them,” Kamal said.