In July and August, the ‘core committee’ used to meet every evening at the residence of former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal to suppress the student and public movements. Former top officials of law enforcement and intelligence agencies were present at the meeting. The blueprint for suppressing the movement was basically prepared there.
This information was revealed in a fact-finding report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Wednesday (February 12).
The report reveals that former Prime Minister Hasina believed that if heavy weapons were used, ordinary protesters would return home in fear. But her attempt also proved to be unsuccessful. On the contrary, the movement became stronger when Abu Sayeed was killed in Rangpur on July 16.
The report says that the former Home Minister used to meet regularly with a committee called the core committee to suppress the protests. The meeting was held at his residence in the evening. Among the participants were the former Inspector General of Police; former Director Generals of BGB, RAB and Ansar/VDP; DGFI, NSI, Police Special Branch and NTMC chief and Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner. A senior army general also participated from July 20. Sheikh Hasina and several senior officials from her office were also in regular contact with senior security officials to suppress the movement.
The report also said that on the evening of July 14 last year, Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader and banned Chhatra League president Saddam Hossain incited Chhatra League supporters to launch armed attacks on protesting students in various universities. In this regard, a former senior official told OHCHR that Chhatra League had confronted the protesters on the basis of Obaidul Quader’s call. But what happened was unexpected, the students fought back.
Another former senior official said that the then prime minister thought that if they deployed their heavy units, only the militants would be on the streets and the others would go home. As a result, the police used shotguns loaded with lethal metal bullets to suppress the growing protests. At the same time, Awami League supporters also launched armed attacks at that time. At least six people, including Abu Sayeed, were killed on July 16 alone.
Meanwhile, when the anti-discrimination student movement called for a complete shutdown, the former prime minister assigned the law minister, education minister, and state minister for information to hold talks with the students. However, at that stage, the students were no longer ready for talks. Because they doubted the good faith of the government due to the Chhatra League and police attacks.
The report said that from July 18, the general public also took to the streets. The protesters tried to disrupt traffic on main roads. At this stage, the security forces transformed into an example of lethal force. They used rifles, pistols, and shotguns to disperse the peaceful protests. They killed people in many places. At the same time, they also obstructed medical care for the injured. That evening, the government ordered the BGB to use maximum force. Then, a complete internet shutdown was announced in the country until July 23. They were unable to quell the unrest by firing on students and crowds across the country.
The report further said that RAB was deployed alongside regular police from July 10. During the agitation, they deployed all 15 battalions across the country. At least 14 Ansar/VDP battalions were deployed from July 15. From July 16, the BGB was also deployed. Around 4,000 border guards were deployed at 58 locations across the country. From that day, six armed police battalions were deployed on the orders of the former Inspector General of Police and they used shotguns and rifles. Around 110 officers of DGFI and 900 field workers were deployed to collect information.
