Obaidul Quader's call for violence should never have been made, was a mistake, former cabinet member tells UN

A former senior cabinet member told the United Nations that statements made by Awami League Secretary General Obaidul Quader, alongside those of Chhatra League President Saddam Hussain, should never have been said. 

This view was also shared by some other former senior officials who expressly distanced themselves from them, with one describing it as a "mistake", according to a report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released today (12 February). 

No AL and Chhatra League leaders or other former officials interviewed by the OHCHR, however, could point to any public statements or other directives, in which the AL leadership sought to walk back or otherwise resile or dissociate itself from these statements, nor to any call on the Chhatra League or other AL supporters to stop using violence. 

This was despite acknowledgement by some of these interviewees that the AL in fact had the ability to control when and where armed supporters would deploy, e.g., by calling on them to defend party offices from attacks by rioters. 

From 14 to 17 July 2024, when protests occurred mainly on or near university campuses, violent individuals among Chhatra League supporters, at times joined by other Awami League supporters, carried out attacks with blunt and sharp weapons, and some firearms, against male and female student protesters. 

These attacks were incited by senior AL and government officials, the UN said. 

Addressing supporters at Raju Memorial Sculpture, Chhatra League President Saddam Hussain had said: "From Monday [15 July], there will be no razakar on the streets of Bangladesh. This is a clear directive to leaders in every district, city, university, and educational institution, those who seek to create anarchy or mock the martyrs will be dealt with on the streets."

On 15 July, Quader said the student protesters had "been arrogant."

"We are ready to take action," he said, adding, "Chhatra League is ready to respond to the remarks by several quota reform movement leaders. Students chanting slogans related to the identity of razakars on Dhaka University campus is like an audacity to our national sentiment. We will resist any evil force against the spirit of the Liberation War with an iron hand."

Some former senior officials asserted that these statements were "political rhetoric". 

Other government ministers had already added statements that branded the student protesters as traitors or razakars with no right to protest, building on the then prime minister's introduction of the term in relation to the student protests, the report said. 

The OHCHR was able to attribute a series of attacks on student protesters, which occurred right after the AL officials' remarks inciting violence, directly to members and supporters of the Chhatra League, the report said.

Some witnesses identified Chhatra League leaders or individual members among the attackers. 

The attackers often also chanted slogans associated with the Chhatra League. 

Eyewitness testimony, videos and photos showed that they brandished weapons, wore motorbike helmets, and deployed organised tactics of violence in a way that resembled Chhatra League attacks on past occasions. 

The UN said Chhatra League supporters regularly initiated violence against student protesters. 

"It was often apparent that Chhatra League supporters did not spontaneously engage in violence but had specifically brought along weapons to sites of confrontation and positioned themselves in advance to attack student protesters."

The UN said it was Obaidul Quader who reinforced the calls for violence.