Bangladesh Struggles To Control Radical Mobs, Yunus' Key Aide Apologises
The Yunus Government has been soft on radicals, and that has emboldened arsonists and rioters who belong to groups like the Chhatra Shibir.
· NDTVBangladesh's Interim Government's Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus' key aide and Press Advisor Shafiqul Alam has apologised for the chaos and destruction unleashed by radical mobs in Dhaka.
As radical mobs caused mayhem all night and burnt down newspaper offices and cultural centres, Shafiqul Alam said, "I wish I could dig up a great piece of earth and bury myself in shame."
The Yunus Government has been soft on radicals, and that has emboldened arsonists and rioters who belong to groups like the Chhatra Shibir.
"Last night, I received frantic, tear-choked calls for help from my journalist friends at The Daily Star and Prothom Alo. To all my friends, I am deeply sorry that I failed you. I made scores of calls to the right people, trying to mobilise help, but it did not arrive in time," Shafiqul Alam said in a post on Facebook.
"I finally went to sleep at 5 am, knowing that all the journalists trapped inside The Daily Star had been rescued and were safe. By then, however, the two newspapers had already witnessed and endured one of the country's worst mob attacks and arsons on media outlets," Shafiqul Alam added.
He said that as a former journalist he was sorry and that he wished he could 'dig up a great piece of earth and bury himself in shame,' he added.
As Bangladesh descends into chaos with radicals taking over streets, the media and cultural centres are under attack in Dhaka and elsewhere in the country. Prominent political leaders from India's northeast are now flagging the 'New Pakistan' emerging in India's neighbourhood.
"The only political parties in the Northeast to publicly protest outside the Bangladesh High Commission after statements were made against our Northeast are Tipra Motha and YTF. Wake up, political rivals; our real fight should be against the new mini-Pakistan (Bangladesh), not each other," Founder of the Tipra Motha Pradyot said.
With cultural centres, newspaper offices and minorities coming under attack in Bangladesh, the Yunus government finds itself cornered as radical elements take over the streets under the pretext of protesting against the shooting of election candidate Sharif Osman Hadi. These developments also show that the Yunus government is losing its grip on the situations.
One of the most shocking developments of last night's violence was the destruction of Chhayanaut.
"Chhayanaut, founded in the 1960s, survived the carnage of 1971. Even Pakistani occupiers failed to destroy it. So, what kind of force is stalking Bangladesh today? What does Osman Hadi's death have to do with Chhayanaut?," Bangladeshi journalist and author Shahidul Hassan Khokon said in a post on X.
The Chhayanaut is an institution devoted to Bengali culture, founded in 1961. It was established during Pakistani rule in Bangladesh to promote and nurture the cultural and musical heritage of Bengal. Chhayanaut arranges activities in order to celebrate the Poila Boishakh, the Bengali New Year.
Groups like the Jamaat-E-Islami Bangladesh and its affiliates like the Chhatra Shibir have been targeting those with liberal and cosmopolitan views in Bangladesh with an aim to turn them towards hardline radical Islam. The Hindu minority in the country has borne the brunt of this turn that Bangladesh has taken, with Hindus facing attacks.
Earlier in the day, the Interim Government in a statement condemned the violence and said, "We strongly and unconsciously condemn all activities of violence, fear, fire and window destruction."
"We deeply condemn the incident of beating and killing a Hindu man in Mymensingh. There is no place for this kind of violence in New Bangladesh. No one involved in this brutal crime will be exempted," the government said, referring to the lynching of Dipu Chandra Das, a young Hindu worker from Tarakanda in Mymensingh, who was beaten to death by a murderous mob over an allegation of blasphemy. After Dipu Chandra died, his lifeless body was tied to a tree and set on fire, with the mob celebrating the brutal killing.
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