THE only responsible government response to the violent policing of student protests seeking public job quota reform was to take responsibility for the death and injuries. But the government continues to spread reckless lies and deceive the public. The first information report that the Rangpur police filed about the death of a Begum Rokeya University student on July 16 contradicts known facts as it notes that the student was not a victim of police firing. He, rather, died as protesters fired weapons and threw brick bats. There is a widely circulated video footage of the killing that makes it clear that the student posed no apparent physical threat to the police and he was shot unprovoked. In two video clips verified by Amnesty International, at least two police officers fired 12-gauge shotguns directly at him at a distance of 15 metres. The deputy commissioner confirms that a policeman fired a weapon without authorisation and was cautious about taking any action against him before the completion of the investigation but unhesitatingly subscribed to the ruling party version of the police violence that unnamed people, including many of the political opposition, used firearms. Such deceit amounts to covering up a crime and will only add to public grief and unattended grievances of students.
The official attempt at denying truth about the violent crackdown on student protests in eight days since July 16 is not limited to the case statement about the police killing of the student in Rangpur. The state minister for posts, telecommunications and information technology has made conflicting statements on the internet lockdown imposed on July 18, apparently to contain the violence. Against the minister鈥檚 insistence that internet communication was disrupted because protesters set fire to the building that houses the data centre, the Internet Service Providers鈥� Association contested the claim, noting that they have suspended services at government instructions. The Cloudfare Radar, which monitors global internet traffic, also disputes the claim and says that the government directed internet shutdown. Ranking police officials are also relying on deception to justify their repression against student protest leaders. When three leaders were picked up from a hospital in Dhaka, the Detective Branch said that it had so done to ensure the 鈥榮afety鈥� of the detained. The act of denying treatment to ensure 鈥榮afety鈥� in police custody is a blatant attempt at justifying the repression against student organisers.
The government鈥檚 unhesitant reliance on lies and deceit to avoid taking responsibility for the unprecedented violence and repression that killed more than 212 people and injured several thousand will only worsen matters. It must abandon the tactic of denial and deceit and form an independent investigation commission by ensuring citizen鈥檚 participation and following international protocol required for such violent policing of protests.
