INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
It was a warm afternoon in May 2020 when Ahmed Kabir Kishore, dozing lazily, awoke to 20 men breaking down the door of his apartment in
With guns waved in his face, he was dragged to a van outside
He was a cartoonist whose political drawings, published in prominent Bangladesh newspapers and magazines, took a critical view of the
alleged corruption, human rights abuses and mishandling of the Covid pandemic by the government, led by prime minister Sheikh Hasina.For
three days, he was kept blindfolded and handcuffed in a tiny room
Then the interrogation and torture began
so hard that his eardrum ruptured and he could barely walk.When the blindfold was removed, Kishore understood with dread that he was in the
whose wounds had begun to go septic, was handed to police and sent to Dhaka central jail
Alongside 11 others, including journalists and activists, he was charged under the Digital Security Act, ostensibly for spreading
misinformation about Covid
Human rights groups claimed the law was a brazen attempt to silence government critics and criminalise dissent.For almost a year, Kishore
remained behind bars, growing weaker from his injuries
outrage followed, Kishore was granted bail in March 2021.After attempts were made to detain him again, Kishore fled to Nepal and on to
Sweden, where he has lived in exile ever since
countless activists, writers, artists, opposition politicians and lawyers since Hasina came to power in 2009 has formed the basis of the
the Covid pandemic and Ukraine war, coupled with frustration at a decade of alleged corruption, human rights abuses and rigging of
elections, have driven hundreds of thousands to the streets for protests organised by the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and
allies.In the past they carried out extrajudicial killings in gunfights at night
Now they do it in broad daylight AKM Wahiduzzaman, BNPCritics of Hasina and her Awami League government fear that elections due at the end
They are demanding she resign and make way for a caretaker government
country to independence in 1971, has been draconian
While the Awami League is free to hold vast gatherings, BNP rallies have been denied permission and transport strikes have been imposed to
stop people attending.Police are accused of a coordinated campaign of violence against the opposition
Officers have fired on peaceful protests, killing eight BNP activists and injuring more than 200 protesters in the past five months
At least 20,000 cases have been filed against BNP supporters, while more than 7,000 BNP members and activists have been arrested, including
killings in staged gunfights at night; now they are killing in broad daylight
minister Sheikh Hasina in Delhi last September
becoming the main supplier of garments to the west
However, the period has also seen authoritarianism and human rights abuses at the hands of the state, particularly by the RAB
Last year, the US sanctioned six RAB commanders for alleged extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.Zakir Hossain, 37, a former
He was kept in solitary confinement for almost three years, and for 11 months in jail before he was finally released, never having faced a
courtroom for his alleged crimes
In 2021, he fled to the UK
in such abuses, and at least 16 people were forcibly disappeared in Bangladesh
This article first appeared/also appeared in theguardian.com
