BNP Govt Continues Mass Arrests of Awami League Activists and Supporters: At Least 52 Detained in the Last 24 Hours Across Chattogram, Noakhali, and Lalmonirhat.
The #BNP government is continuing its nationwide crackdown on #AwamiLeague activists and supporters, with at least 52 people detained in the last 24 hours alone in #Noakhali, #Chattogram, and #Lalmonirhat.
Of those arrested, 24 were detained in Noakhali after activists and supporters of the Awami League reportedly organized a large procession protesting the ban on the party’s activities. The detainees include 9 members of Jubo League, the party’s youth wing, and 15 members of Chhatra League, the party’s student wing. According to reports, the arrests were carried out during late-night police raids in the Aojbalia and Kaladarap areas.
In Chattogram, police arrested 13 leaders and activists of the Awami League and its affiliated organizations on similar allegations. Their arrests were linked to participating in, or organizing a procession, in support of #SheikhHasina and demanding the restoration of its political activities.
News: https://t.co/kQhP4kyel1
In Lalmonirhat, following a procession organized by Chhatra League activists, police arrested 15 Awami League activists and supporters, along with members of affiliated orgs. The arrests were made during multiple raids conducted on Friday night and throughout Saturday across different parts of the district.
News: https://t.co/CtDPRtflh0
At BD Watch, we have been regularly documenting and reporting on these arrests, which have now become an almost daily occurrence across #Bangladesh. In the overwhelming majority of cases, those detained are political activists and supporters accused of participating in flash processions or demonstrations calling for the removal of the ban on their party’s activities.
While many of these arrests are initially carried out under provisions of the Anti-#Terrorism Act, the political detainees are frequently later implicated in the more than 1,800 mass criminal cases linked to the July–August 2024 violence. These cases often contain hundreds of “unnamed accused,” creating broad legal avenues for prolonged arbitrary detention of opposition activists and supporters.
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#BangladeshCrisis #DemocracyNow #ProtectCivilLiberties @amnestysasia@hrw@PearsonElaine@cvoule@Ginitastar@ESandersFCDO@SRjudgeslawyers@UN_SPExperts@UN@UN_HRC@UNHumanRights@volker_turk@OHCHRAsia@BonaveroIHR@EURightsAgency@Kennedy_HRC@HRF@forum_asia@FortifyRights@S_Asian_Rights@IBAHRI
Zulfiquar Bhutto, at a rally, attempted to reason with West Pakistanis about Bengalis, the crowd calls Bengalis “Suavvar, Suavvar (Swine, Swine)”, eventually forced Bhutto to refer Bengalis as “Suavvar Ke Bacche Jahannum Mei Jayei’n (Let the children of swines go to hell)”
Al-Qaeda in Bangladesh: From Laden to Yunus-Tarique
Al-Qaeda was formed in 1988 by Saudi-origin Osama bin Laden, along with key figures like Muhammad Atef and Abu Ubaidah al-Banshiri, in Peshawar, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.
It originated from a network of Arab fighters who participated in the U.S.-backed Afghan insurgency against the Soviet Union, later pivoting to target Western influence.
Purpose: Founded to support Islamist causes globally, the organization evolved into a transnational jihadist network committed to a "holy war" against Western powers and allied Muslim governments.
Context: It arose in the late 1980s from the Makhtab al-Khidamat (Office of Services) logistical network established earlier by Laden to support the Afghan jihad against the Soviets.
Development: Following the 1991 Gulf War, the group expanded its focus to oppose the presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia.
Ideology: The organization is dedicated to creating a strict Islamic state, often employing terrorist tactics and establishing training camps to fight "Western Crusaders".
Bangladeshi Qawmi madrasa teachers and students joined Al-Qaeda when they traveled to Afghanistan to fight the Soviets during the tenure of military dictator General HM Ershad. Some of them joined Pakistan-based Harkat-ul Jihad al-Islsmi (HuJI) and upon return, they formed its Bangladesh chapter.
On September 3, 2014, Ayman al-Zawahiri, then-leader of al-Qaeda, announced the creation of Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) via a video message, aiming to spread jihad into South Asia, including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. The branch was designed to revive the Caliphate, with its base in Pakistan. The announcement followed two years of preparation by Zawahiri to unify various jihadi factions in the region, including Ansarullah Bangla Team.
Leader: Zawahiri appointed Asim Umar, a Pakistani militant formerly associated with Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), as the first Emir of AQIS. Asim Umar reiterated his allegiance to the Taliban leader Mullah Omar.
Objectives: The group pledged to "liberate" Muslim lands, protect Muslims in regions like Kashmir, Gujarat, and Assam, and restore Islamic rule in the Indian subcontinent.
Ansar al-Islam, the Bangladesh chapter of the AQIS, launched its first operation on February 26, 2015, when they killed secularist writer Avijit Roy, a Bangladeshi-American scientist, and left his wife, Rafida Ahmed Bonnya, seriously injured. Several followers and close aides of Avijit were killed in the following year amid the execution of Jamaat's top leadership in war crimes cases. Pakistan and Turkey opposed the trials while providing support to Ansar al-Islam and Jamaat-Shibir.
Until April 25, 2016, the AQIS claimed responsibility for 11 attacks, with the murder of USAID employee Xulhaz Mannan and his friend, Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy, both LGBT rights activists, in Dhaka. Xulhaz was the founder of Roopbaan magazine.
Following a crackdown by the Awami League government and the rise of Islamic State (ISIS), AQIS quickly shifted its focus to the Rohingya camps and supported the rise of Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), previously known as Harakah-al-Yakin, under the leadership of Ata Ullah, a Saudi-born Rohingya, to wage a war against the Myanmar Army, triggering violent retaliation and an exodus of over a million Rohingya into Bangladesh by 2017.
Since then, AQIS has been actively propagating its ideology through social media but often showed off their presence in the streets after the 2024 jihadist-army coup that toppled the Awami League government under the direct patronization of the Yunus-led interim government.
Public announcements reveal that apart from Ansar al-Islam, militants linked to like-minded Hizb ut-Tahrir, HuJI-B and Pakistan's Lashkar-e-Tayyiba and Jamast-ut-Dawa were also involved in the July-August violence.
Photos show Al-Qaeda flags in Cox's Bazar in recent weeks under Tarique Rahman's rule.
Alarming: Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman exchanges pleasantries with radical Islamist leaders Abdur Razzaq bin Yusuf and Ahmadullah.
Reminds me of Tarique's patronization of JMB, HuJI and Hizb ut-Tahrir in 2001-06.
To my Bangladeshi brothers and sisters,
Greetings,
I have noticed that, unfortunately, some of our #Bangladeshi brothers have been deceived by #Taliban propaganda and consistently supporting their ideology. As a young from #Afghanistan , I feel it is my duty to share the truth with you: the Taliban present themselves as angelic in their propaganda, but in reality, they have not only violated human and Islamic principles, they have ruled over the people of Afghanistan like Pharaohs of our time.
I sincerely urge you not to be deceived by this oppressive regime and not to believe their propaganda and become the tools of their propagandas. You have not lived under their tyranny, so you cannot truly understand how far the Taliban are from real Islam, brotherhood, and human values.
I hope this letter serves as a means to spread the truth to others and that you will help me deliver this message to our Bangladeshi brothers and sisters.
With respect,
Ahmad Sharifzad
@D4RW1NEXE@BobLancia@paulocasaca1@deepscribble Yes! US has their own puppet in every single country, they enter with funding in the name of various social work, manipulate people by saying democracy and use anti Nationalist to take down and demolish the country. My bad!
What Is Jamaat-e-Islam, How it works, whats ideology they have, we all know. US, the most democratic country, how can they make an agreement/accept terrorist party like Jamaat-e-Islam? Bangladesh is gonna be the next Afghanistan? @BobLancia@paulocasaca1@deepscribble
@JonFDanilowicz You are seen on the lap of terrorist group like Jamaat-e-Islam, genocider of 1971. You are viewing #bangladesh in the lens of Jamaat-e-Islam.
@deepscribble Do you really think BNP has had no knowledge on that from the very beginning? As a Bangladeshi, we think BNP is a B- Team of Jamaat-e-Islam.
@paulocasaca1 True, my country is under fascism now. Thanks Paulo, you have been very kind and supportive to us from the very beginning, in our rainy days.
Asked about the uprising in Bangladesh that ousted his mother, Sajeed Wazeb, the son of Sheikh Hasina, says the Awami League 'mishandled the protests'.
I ask: is mishandled too mild a term to describe hundreds of protestors killed on his mother's instructions?
Full interview coming up on @AJEnglish. #BangladeshElections
Deadly attacks on Bangladesh's Hindu minorities haven't stopped since August 2024.American stooge Muhammad Yunus is directly responsible for this. He must be held accountable for this and punished accordingly.@MEAIndia@PMOIndia@DrSJaishankar@DerekJGrossman@AdityaRajKaul@3