THE foreign minister Hasan Mahmud briefed foreign diplomats in Dhaka on July 21 and screened a 15-minute video for them which was focused on the damage allegedly caused by the protesters who sought reforms in civil service job reservations. What the government showed to the ambassadors is half-truth, which is at times worse than lies. The protests began on July 1 and the Appellate Division on July 21 brought the percentage of job reservations from the earlier 56 per cent down to 7 per cent 鈥� 5 per cent for the children of freedom fighters, 1 per cent for national minorities and 1 per cent for people with disabilities and the third gender. The protests, meanwhile, turned violent on July 15 at the provocation of the ruling Awami League鈥檚 general secretary which let the Chhatra League and the Juba League, along with the police, attack the unarmed protesters. The border guards were deployed on July 16 and the army was called in aid of civil administration along with the imposition of curfew at midnight past July 19. At least 157 people, including protesters, have, meanwhile, died in attacks by the law enforcement units and several thousand became wounded.
Whilst the government has, on the one hand, talked about carrying out investigation of the incidents, government leaders and functionaries have all the while have blamed, on the other hand, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the largest in the opposition camp, and Jamaat-e-Islami for the violence without carrying out a credible investigation. In doing so, the government has not talked about the number of protesters and others who died in the violent attacks. The government has also screened a video for the businesspeople who met the prime minister on July 22. The video this time was also focused on the damage, without mentioning anything about the attacks on the student protesters by Chhatra League and Juba League, and the law enforcement units or the number of death that occurred during the unrest. But it was the provocation of the Awami League鈥檚 general secretary, also the roads and bridges minister, and the order of the home minister for the law enforcement units that forced the peaceful protests of the students fighting for a legitimate cause to flare up into violent unrest. Such a concerted campaign of disinformation on part of the government and its leaders and functionaries would not help to sustainably resolve the problem. Some foreign diplomats in Dhaka, as media reported on July 22, also questioned the government鈥檚 deadly response to the student protests and became critical of the government for laying the blame for the violence solely at the protesters鈥� feet. One of the diplomats noted that what the government showed them was a one-sided version of the events.
The government must, in such a situation, stay off the campaign of disinformation by enforcing a full internet blackout and must, rather, carry out a credible investigation to establish who attacked the protesters and killed many of them and deterrently punish them to sustainably resolve the problem.