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[Shah Adaan Uzzaman @ShahAdaanU]

12/12

Secretary of Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir’s University of Dhaka Unit, S M Farhad, stated in a public event:

"Whenever I see Asif Bhai (SAD Coordinator and currently Adviser in Yunus-led Interim Govt), I am reminded of one incident. When the quota movement was losing its steam, he came to our house and drew a map discussing which 5/6 points around Ganabhaban needed to fall for us to take over the establishment. I still have that map preserved with care. In that paper all the points which needed to be captured are drawn."

🔍 Assessment

The recent revelations from multiple SAD coordinators, BNP, and Shibir leaders made it evident that in so many cases the preconditions of self-defense were absent. Instead, violence, arson attacks, destruction of both public and private property, lynchings, and killings were an integral part of the movement aimed at unseating a constitutionally elected government.

[Shah Adaan Uzzaman @ShahAdaanU]

11/12

Hasib Al Islam, one of the student movement coordinators, said that

"The revolution would not have been achieved easily if the metro rail had not been set on fire and the police had not been killed. We call it a revolution or a mass uprising, no matter what we call it, it did not follow any constitutional rules, it did not follow the law. If we had followed the law, then these revolutions would not have happened.”

🔍 Assessment

As one of the coordinators takes credit for the attack on the police and metro rail, we can reasonably conclude that the Students Against Discrimination (SAD) group didn’t carry out these acts in self-defense; instead, they killed police and set fire to metro rail with the intent to destabilize Bangladesh.

[Shah Adaan Uzzaman @ShahAdaanU]

10/ 12

One of the leaders of the far-right Islamist political party publicly admitted that they killed the police officers of Enayetpur Police Station.

"The people of Bangladesh know that we killed the police officers of Enayetpur Police Station. We, the Tawhidi citizens, attacked the station, resulting in the deaths of 17 police officers. We also lost four young men from Enayetpur, who embraced Shahadat.”

🔍 Assessment

According to the statement, it is evident that radical groups also participated along with BNP in the police killings of Enayetpur.
As the perpetrators are disclosing their crimes and bragging about their "accomplishments” in killing law enforcers, legal actions must be taken by the interim government instead of citing “self-defense to absolve them from their crimes against humanity.

[Shah Adaan Uzzaman @ShahAdaanU]

9/12

BNP's Sirajganj District Unit General Secretary Saidur Rahman Bachchu bragged about BNP’s pivotal role in the brutal police killings of Enayetpur:

"During the quota movement, if 15 police officers were not killed in Sirajganj's Enayetpur, then the morale of police across the nation would not have been broken... In Sirajganj, what we did destroyed the backbone of the police and strengthened the movement".

🔍 Assessment

A large crowd led by BNP (as substantiated by Saidur Rahman Bacchu) attacked police officers who were performing their legal duties in the police station and did not pose any threat to any protester.

Therefore, this event cannot be considered “self-defense,” and the perpetrators should be prosecuted instead of offering them immunity. Despite Bacchu’s confession, no legal action has been taken by the interim government.

[Shah Adaan Uzzaman @ShahAdaanU]

8/ 12

When Can an Act NOT Be Considered Self-Defense?

An act loses its justification as self-defense if:

1. Provocation: If the person claiming self-defense initiated or provoked the attack, they generally cannot claim self-defense.

2. Preemptive Attacks: Initiating violence against perceived opponents or authorities without an immediate threat.

3. Retaliation or Revenge: Self-defense is not revenge; an act committed after the threat has passed is no longer self-defense.

4. Use of Force Against Lawful Actions: Attacking law enforcement or security personnel performing their legal duties does not usually qualify as self-defense.

Also, vandalizing public or private property (as property cannot "attack").

5. Non-imminent Threats: Responding to verbal threats or potential future harm is generally not considered self-defense.

6. Disproportionate Force: Using excessive force beyond what is necessary to neutralize the threat.

Therefore, if we can constructively prove with evidence that many attacks during the movement fulfill the above six criteria of not being considered as self-defense, then we can reasonably conclude that the blanket immunity offered by the interim government is morally wrong and protects human rights offenders. 👇

[Shah Adaan Uzzaman @ShahAdaanU]

7/12

What is Self-Defense?

An act is generally considered self-defense when it meets the following 5 criteria (non-exhaustive list):

1. Imminent Threat: The threat of harm must be immediate and present.

2. Proportional Response: The force used in self-defense must be proportionate to the threat faced.

Deadly force, for example, should not be used against minor threats.

3. Lack of Alternatives: Self-defense is only justified when there is no reasonable way to escape or avoid harm.

4. Reasonable Belief: The defender must genuinely believe that their life or safety (or that of another) is at risk.

5. Unlawful Aggression: The person acting in self-defense must be responding to an unlawful attack or a legitimate threat.

[Shah Adaan Uzzaman @ShahAdaanU]

6/ 12

Then, let’s investigate 2 things: 

1. Can we classify the criminal actions carried out by the protesters or individuals disguised as students as "self-defense"?

Should we treat Jamaat-e-Islami, Shibir, and BNP as hostile actors during the movement or merely just entities exercising their right to self-defense?

2. Is the blanket immunity morally justified?

[Shah Adaan Uzzaman @ShahAdaanU]

5/ 12

3. Victims' Rights

People whose homes or properties are damaged or looted should have the right to:

- Sue the perpetrators in civil court
- Hold authorities accountable if they failed to protect them

4. Self-Defense in Criminal Cases

The right to self-defense can still be used as a legal argument, but each case should be judged individually rather than applying a general rule that excuses all actions.

5. Fairness in Justice

For a country to heal and reconcile after violence or conflict, its justice system must be fair and impartial, meaning everyone should be held accountable based on law, not bias.

[Shah Adaan Uzzaman @ShahAdaanU]

4/12 

1. Key Human Rights Obligations

Every country has a duty to protect the rights to life, personal security, and freedom from discrimination based on gender, ethnicity, or religion.

This means governments must investigate and punish crimes like murder, serious violence, and discrimination-based attacks that were intentional.

2. What Crimes Should NOT Be Exempt from Arrest or Prosecution?

Certain crimes are too serious to be excused from legal consequences, such as:

- Murder and other crimes against life
- Sexual and gender-based violence
- Severe physical assaults
- Arson (burning down homes with people inside)
- Crimes targeting people because of their ethnicity, religion, or gender

[Shah Adaan Uzzaman @ShahAdaanU]

3/12 In light of these comments from the interim government, the UN’s statement in the report can be boiled down into the following five layers: 👇

[Shah Adaan Uzzaman @ShahAdaanU]

2/12 On October 14, 2024, the interim government led by Dr. Yunus announced a blanket immunity to all the movement participants for their violent and criminal actions between July 15 and August 8. 

The interim government’s justification behind this blanket immunity can be broken down into three parts:

1. Violence by the movement participants was “mostly” done in the form of desperate self-defense, or

2. In response to extreme provocation, and

3. The blanket immunity is necessary “to stabilize the situation, heal the nation in the post-conflict period, and promote national reconciliation.”

[Shah Adaan Uzzaman @ShahAdaanU]

1/12 On February 12, 2025, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) published their fact-finding report on human rights violations and abuses related to the protests of July and August 2024 in Bangladesh. 

On page 61, paragraph 262, the United Nations expressed its concern about the interim government’s “blanket exclusion of prosecution” to “many perpetrators of revenge violence and abuses” between July 15 and August 8.

Read my article and/or this thread below 🧵👇

https://t.co/WhQqULeoh2

[Shah Adaan Uzzaman @ShahAdaanU]

Let a thousand birds sing, let a thousand minds soar. Let every voice rise, let every thought roar.

On Feb 10th, a mob of radicals attacked and vandalized  a book stall in Bangladesh’s main annual book fair “Ekushe Boi Mela” for publishing and displaying a book by an exiled secular and feminist Bangladeshi writer, Taslima Nasreen. The extremists even assaulted the writer Shatabdi Bhaba who was present in the stall during the attack. 

Unfortunately, the last line of defense for millions of Bangladeshis to safeguard their right to express their own opinion seems to be collapsing. 

From destroying the farmer’s sculpture to attacking girl’s football matches, mobs and radicals are promotiong extremism on a regular basis without any check and balance. They are operating with absolute impunity. 

Right now, the mob and the radicals are the powerful force. The people, minorities, and opposition voices are the weaker ones. And the state has become a weapon of oppression against the weak by clearly siding with the powerful force.

#BangladeshCrisis

@paulocasaca1 @taslimanasreen @theAshleyMolly @albd1971 @MdShahriarAlam @RazzaqNahim @RadwanSiddiq @MAarafat71 @bdwatch2024 @UNHumanRights @UtsavSanduja @CJBdingo25 @hrw @amnesty @elonmusk @realDonaldTrump @POTUS @TrumpUpdateHQ @amnestyusa @NeuronDirec @Chellaney @rayhanrashid @Kai_Schultz @TheDavidBergman @DavidPBMaddox @JonathanEmont @HannahEP @CharlieCamp6ell @MujMash @UNHumanRights @UN_SPExperts @VivekGRamaswamy @State_SCA @StateDRL

[Shah Adaan Uzzaman @ShahAdaanU]

Bangladesh is on its way to becoming the next Afghanistan.

On February 5th, a mob backed by the Students Against Discrimination Movement, demolished the Bangabandhu Museum on Dhanmondi Road 32 in Dhaka, chanting “Nara-e-Takbir, Allahu Akbar,” and waving Islamic flags like Al-Qaeda and ISIS. 

This event cannot be ignored by the international community.

#BangladeshCrisis

@theAshleyMolly @NeuronDirec @bdwatch2024 @MAarafat71 @paulocasaca1 @RazzaqNahim @UtsavSanduja @elonmusk @realDonaldTrump @TrumpUpdateHQ

[Shah Adaan Uzzaman @ShahAdaanU]

How did this extremist attack start in Bangladesh?

Yesterday, when @albd1971 and @bslBD1971 announced that Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina would address the nation - particularly students and youth - through a Facebook Live, extremists responded by declaring their intention to demolish the former residence of Bangladesh’s founding father, a historical landmark.

This is the harsh reality of Yunus and his interim government’s “new” Bangladesh: Yunus does not tolerate any form of dialogue or peaceful expression of one’s ideology or beliefs.

Make no mistake - Awami League is advocating for their democratic right to assembly and peaceful protests against the undemocratic Yunus government. Yunus is deliberately delaying national elections to extend his fascist rule.

There is a deep state in Bangladesh: Yunus is the puppet, while extremist and terrorist outfits are the puppet masters.

#BangladeshCrisis
#YunusMustGo

@theAshleyMolly @paulocasaca1 @UtsavSanduja @State_SCA @StateDRL @Kash_Patel @amnesty @amnestysasia @hrw @UNHumanRights @UN_HRC @OHCHRAsia @NeuronDirec

[Bangladesh Watch @bdwatch2024]

Sad scenes from #Dhaka: A mob sponsored by the Students vs Discrimination (SAD) Movement is tearing down the #Bangabandhu Museum at Dhanmondi Road 32 shouting "Nara-e-Takbir, Allahu Akbar".

The museum, witness to the birth of #Bangladesh, was already burnt down on Aug 5, 2024. The SAD mob, with full cooperation of the Interim Govt of Dr. #Yunus and law enforcement agencies, is now tearing whatever was left of the physical facade of the structure.

A historic monument, a key venue of many of the country's decisive moments and turning points, and above all a symbol of #Bengali identity, is being torn by an unruly mob shouting "Allahu Akbar" with full patronisation of the state.

This is what "new" Bangladesh stands for. This is what Yunus has really delivered.

#BangladeshCrisis

[Shah Adaan Uzzaman @ShahAdaanU]

Heartbreaking scenes from #Dhaka: A mob, backed by the Students Against Discrimination (SAD) Movement, is demolishing the #Bangabandhu Museum on Dhanmondi Road 32, chanting “Nara-e-Takbir, Allahu Akbar.”

This historic site, deeply intertwined with the birth of #Bangladesh, had already been set ablaze on August 5, 2024. Now, with the full cooperation of the Interim Government led by Dr. #Yunus and law enforcement agencies, the SAD-backed mob is tearing down whatever remained of its physical structure.

A monument of immense historical significance, a witness to decisive moments in the nation’s history, and a powerful symbol of #Bengali identity is being destroyed - this time not just by flames, but by an orchestrated attack under state patronage.

This is the reality of “new” Bangladesh. This is what Yunus has truly brought to the nation.

#BangladeshCrisis

@State_SCA @realDonaldTrump @realDonaldTrump @TulsiGabbard @hrw @amnesty @amnestysasia @NeuronDirec @paulocasaca1 @CJBdingo25 @UtsavSanduja @Kash_Patel @IHRF_English

[Shah Adaan Uzzaman @ShahAdaanU]

Students don’t go around demolishing historic monuments or landmarks while chanting “Allahu Akbar, Nara-e-Takbir.”

We all know what this means - terrorists and extremists, disguising themselves as students, are destroying the symbols of secularism in Bangladesh.

The residence of Bangladesh’s founding father, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, stands as an emblem of the fight against extremism and oppression.

Why is law enforcement not stopping the attackers? In any other nation, if a mob attacks, sets fire, and destroys a place, law enforcement agencies promptly intervene and stabilize the situation.

But in the Yunus-led “New” Bangladesh, law enforcement only cracks down on peaceful political actions while safeguarding violent extremists.

Yunus and his fascist interim government have granted impunity to these terrorists, allowing them to dismantle the very foundation of Bangladesh’s existence as a nation - secularism.

#BangladeshCrisis

@paulocasaca1 @NeuronDirec @theAshleyMolly @UtsavSanduja @State_SCA @StateDRL @realDonaldTrump @TrumpUpdateHQ @EricTrump @elonmusk @hrw @UNHumanRights @UN_HRC @amnesty @amnestysasia @CJBdingo25

[Bangladesh Watch @bdwatch2024]

In #Bangladesh, thousands of students are being denied their right to #education purely for political vendetta under the #Yunus Regime.

Top engineering school BUET permanently expels 8 students and suspends 52 others for involvement with @albd1971 ’s student wing, #ChhatraLeague, politics.

Ever since the Yunus-led Interim Govt, without any judicial or quasi-judicial processes, unlawfully banned the student wing of #AwamiLeague, thousands of activists and supporters of the organisation have been denied their basic human right to education through: arbitrary revocation of student statuses, cancellation of certificates and transcripts, denial of facilities such as classrooms or libraries, denial of opportunity to sit for examinations, eviction from student halls of residence, etc.

The latest such manifestation of the unfair policy is the admin. of Bangladesh University of Engineering Technology (BUET) expelling 8 students permanently, and suspending 52 others for various terms, for being involved with the politics of Chhatra League. News:

https://t.co/43kKdBlXiX

BUET is Bangladesh’s top science and tech higher educational institution. The students here are the best of the best. 60 of these students now have permanent records. 8 of them have their dreams of becoming engineers shattered. The impact of such mindless political retribution is affecting thousands of families too. And their consequences will reverberate for decades.

……..

#BangladeshCrisis #Education #BUET @UNESCO @UN_HRC @Ginitastar @volker_turk @StateDRL @FCDOHumanRights @EURightsAgency @HumanRightsCtte @RFKHumanRights @fidh_en @IHRF_English @HRF @usedgov @UNHumanRights

[Shah Adaan Uzzaman @ShahAdaanU]

To the Interim Government of Dr. Yunus: Release Those Unjustly Arrested for Peaceful Protests Immediately

In the realm of politics in #Bangladesh, few activities are as peaceful as leaflet distribution. Yet, under the leadership of Dr. #Yunus, the Interim Government is using state resources and political influence to suppress even this most basic form of activism by #AwamiLeague.

Over the past two days, multiple confirmed arrests have taken place as AL activists and supporters distributed leaflets in preparation for their planned activities in February 2025:

1.Rajon, a Youth (Jubo) League activist, was arrested in the Kalshi area of Mirpur, #Dhaka.

2.Poran Chowdhury, an Awami League activist, was detained on the premises of #Laxmipur District Court.

3.Safayet Gazi, an AL activist, was arrested in Tungipara, #Gopalganj.

4.Prince Chowdhury, an AL activist, was arrested in #Faridpur Sadar.

5.Shahadat and Mita, two AL supporters, were taken into custody on Saturday in Bhedorganj Upazila, #Shariatpur.

https://t.co/21Jt6KaVrQ #Habiganj, Shamim Ahmed, a lawyer and Awami League supporter, was assaulted by BNP activists before being handed over to the police, who then officially placed him under arrest.

These arrests have been independently verified, but there are numerous other reports of activists being physically assaulted - primarily by BNP and its affiliated groups - while distributing leaflets. Disturbingly, in many cases, law enforcement stood by as attacks took place, only intervening to detain the victims rather than the perpetrators.

The right to engage in peaceful political activities, including leaflet distribution, is both a constitutional guarantee in Bangladesh and a fundamental human right enshrined in international treaties such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

The Interim Government led by Dr. Yunus must immediately and unconditionally release all AL activists and supporters arrested for exercising their right to peaceful protest. Furthermore, it must uphold the fundamental rights of @albd1971 activists and supporters, ensuring their ability to participate in lawful political activities without fear of state repression.

#BangladeshCrisis #CivilRights #PoliticalRights #ICCPR @OHCHRAsia @UNHumanRights @Ginitastar @volker_turk @amnesty @hrw @TiranaHassan @AP @amnestysasia @StateDRL @UN_SPExperts @AFP @UN_HRC @FCDOHumanRights @EURightsAgency @HumanRightsCtte @AndrewRosindell @SecRubio @State_SCA @eu_eeas @kajakallas @DRL_AS @HRF @IHRF_English @DavidLammy @FCDOGovUK @GERonSouthAsia @EUinBangladesh @fidh_en @UKinBangladesh @usembassydhaka @GerAmbBD @ABaerbock @GermanyDiplo @UNinBangladesh @GwynLewis12 @HCSarahCooke @dwnews