The enforced disappearance, extra-judicial killings and other forms of brutality executed during Sheikh Hasina regime severely undermined the human rights situation in Bangladesh. That is a fact with which we are all familiar. However, a significant chapter of these human rights abuses transpired during the struggle against radicalism, of which we remain unaware, due to the media’s failure to address it.
Over the past decade, the media in general highlighted the successful anti-militancy drives and the capture of suspected militants, often without verification of what the government or the law-enforcement agencies had been telling. That drew an impressive, rosy picture of combating extremism. However, that’s not the whole story.
When in early 2013, two extremist groups started targeting killings, the Awami League government was already busy tackling violent agitations of BNP and Jamaat. The killings went on, and the law-enforcement agencies couldn’t do anything but express helplessness in identifying the attackers. Unstoppable murders coupled with the anti-government movements posed a huge challenge to Hasina.
Then in July 2016, the largest terrorist attack in history occurred when youths inspired by the Islamic State carried out a massacre at a café in Dhaka’s diplomatic zone, resulting in the deaths of 17 foreigners and five locals.
That was the moment Hasina felt compelled to take any action necessary -- whether through legal means or otherwise -- to eliminate those responsible for the terror attacks. Amid domestic and international pressure, she ordered her law-enforcement and intelligence agencies to exert all efforts to confront the attackers with zero tolerance.
Then, all at once, the results began to emerge. Dens of terrorists were identified, and police engaged in battles that resulted in the elimination of all but those remaining inside the dens.
Following several such missions that killed dozens of suspects, Hasina made a claim that no nation has ever made before. Barely a year after the Holey Artisan massacre, she stated in parliament, “Bangladesh is a role model in the world for successfully addressing militancy.”
The extensive media coverage of the “successful” campaign bolstered her claim, becoming a crucial political asset that she leveraged repeatedly to gain political advantage and justify her rule.
They were falsely framed as extremists by police to earn credit, incentives, medals, media coverage, and praise
However, what was happening on the ground remained undisclosed. In addition to apprehending true extremists, various police units had been falsely portraying innocent individuals as members and leaders of militant groups through fabricated narratives.
I would not be aware of the extent of false arrests and their human rights violations unless I engaged in a book writing project with German researcher and author Dr Jasmin Lorch in 2021. We independently conducted research for three years on the involvement and role of Bangladeshi women in jihadist groups. The book was released in Germany in December 2023.
We discovered that many of the women arrested on terrorism charges were indeed genuine, while numerous others were innocent, meaning they were falsely framed as extremists by police to earn credit, incentives, medals, media coverage, and praise.
During research, several police and RAB officers willingly shared accounts in which both innocent men and women were falsely accused of being jihadists, with evidence including jihadi literature and bomb-making materials being planted on them. This trend spread throughout every police unit, including those at the field level.
We found many such framed stories. What surprised us the most was the portrayal of some women as members of suicide squad, even though no such squad existed in the country.
In Sirajganj, roughly two months following the Holey Artisan attack, the district's DB police presented four women to journalists, claiming that they were members of a suicide squad linked to Neo-JMB, and that these women were prepared to carry out a suicide attack.
A mother, her two underage daughters, and another middle-aged woman. DB arrested them when they were holding a secret meeting in the house of the mother at around 2:30am the night before -- so police told journalists.
Media consumed the police narratives and ultimately the truth was swept under the rug
No journalist inquired about how these village women, two of whom are illiterate, could become members of a suicide squad. None of them took the time to verify the police claims and the women by visiting the village. Thus, the fact that the women were abducted from their homes in broad daylight, rather than at night, were kept confined in the DB office, and coerced into giving confessional statements, went unnoticed by anyone.
That year, there was another story in the district. The same DB police picked up four other women from different districts on different days and detained them in their office for one to three months. They were arrested only after DB obtained their confessional statements, claiming that the arrests occurred in the dead of night while they were holding a conspiratorial meeting at one of the women's houses to plan subversive acts.
Again, no question asked. Media consumed the police narratives and ultimately the truth was swept under the rug.
Stories of this kind are abundant.
A woman in 2021 shared how she and her husband were forced to provide a statement affirming that they had left the path of extremism after undergoing the rehabilitation process with RAB. And there was the drama: A group of militants appeared at the RAB headquarters and surrendered voluntarily.
An investigation into an operation in Chapai Nawabganj in 2018 was particularly intriguing. Police engaged in a two-day exchange of gunfire with extremists to amplify the situation and portray it as highly significant and demonstrate that the police force neutralized high-profile terrorists without any casualties.
One of the biggest truths that has remained hidden is that Shakira, the first female suicide attacker in Bangladesh, was also shot. According to media reports, she detonated the suicide belt and died instantly during a police raid in December 2016 in Dhaka. This event received extensive coverage from both local and international media outlets.
Two CTTC officers confirmed that she was also shot during or soon after she exploded IED. One SWAT sniper admitted that he himself fired several shots that hit Shakira. Mysteriously, there was no mention of it in her post-mortem report. This is how the other side of the story of counter-terrorism remained concealed.
Our research revealed at least one-third of the women that police arrested had nothing to do with extremism. The figure is significantly greater among males arrested on charges related to terrorism and extremism. Some officers in police and RAB estimated half of the total arrest of men and women in counter-terrorism was not involved in extremism.
Some officers in police and RAB estimated half of the total arrest of men and women in counter-terrorism was not involved in extremism
When someone is arrested as an extremist, his or her life is ruined. They are then unable to settle down and become a burden in the family. After being arrested, the person goes through severe mental and physical trauma in police custody and faces imprisonment. After being released, they continue to face the charges indefinitely. If a person is innocent, they still carry the weight of all the false charges throughout their lives, making everything incredibly difficult.
The number of innocent victims who were arrested during the previous government’s counter-terrorism campaign, may have reached at least several thousands, and they all endured an unimaginable phase of human rights violations and suffering. Many of them were in fact abducted and remained missing for months, and thus are also victims of enforced disappearance.
Militancy was a big political tool for Sheikh Hasina and her party, Awami League. They utilized this card right until their last day and are still trying to use it even after being overthrown from power. But inflicting suffering on a large number of innocent people and violating their human rights in countering militancy constitutes a heinous crime.
Despite this, the AL had been able to establish itself as the sole force in combating extremism, thanks to the media’s role that focused on the bright side but ignored the darker side.
Publishing a story, particularly one involving the government or police department, without verification and investigation, can lead to significant mistakes and potentially harm both the public and the state. Terrorism reporting is an example of that.
M Abul Kalam Azad is a journalist and terrorism researcher.