At least three recent incidents in which a mob that called itself ‘Towhidi janata’ and exerted pressure on law enforcement agencies to release detainees and held protests in front of Prothom Alo and The Daily Star newspapers appear to have been coordinated acts.
The Agence France-Presse fact check editor, Bangladesh, Qadaruddin Shishir, analysed photos and video footage of the three incidents and found three men’s presence in all of them among mobs of several hundred men, staging sits-in in front of the two dailies’ offices in November and in the latest incident on Thursday besieged the Shahbagh police station, demanding release of a man detained allegedly for sexually harassing a Dhaka University female student.
Of the three identified men—Sher Muhammad was detained by the Rapid Action Battalion in November 2022 as he was accused of financing Jama’atul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya. He is also a director of Online Shariah Graduation Institution, according to the fact check.
The fact check also found images in which Sher Muhammad was seen hoisting the Al Qaeda black flag following the ouster of Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League regime on August 5.
When contacted, Sher Muhammad told ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ· on Friday that none of the three incidents were pre-planned. They were incidents with spontaneous people’s participation, he said.
‘We had protested against Prothom Alo and Daily Star for their yellow journalism,’ he added.
He said that they staged a protest in front of the Shahbagh police station as the university staff Mostofa was framed in a ‘false and fabricated case’.
Asked about Sher Muhammad’s detention by the RAB, he said that he became a victim of enforced disappearance in October 2022 and the RAB spread false information through a press conference in November that year.
Ataur Rahman Bikrompuri, another man who was present in the demonstrations in front of Prothom Alo and the Daily Star, was also at the Shahbagh police station protest to release Mostofa.
In 2021, Atuar was arrested as a member of Ansarullah Bangla Team, the fact checker said, adding that he was also a central coordinator of the movement launched for releasing extremists.
The fact checker also mentioned that Ataur and his group went to the Kashimpur High Security Central Jail in Gazipur and questioned officials for releasing extremists after August 5.
Mohammad Tamim, the third man, studied at Government Unani and Ayurvedic Medical College Hospital.
Asked about his involvement in three incidents, Mohammad Tamim told ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ· that he was actively present in the three ‘anti-Islam movements’.
‘We will protest again when any injustice against Islam will occur,’ said Tamim.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police deputy commissioner for Media and Public Relations Muhammad Talebur Rahman said that they were investigating into the recent incidents of Towhidi Janata whether it was isolated or coordinated.
Ataur Rahman Bikrampuri could not be reached for comments.