Analysis of 150 deaths: 113 of the deceased young, 45 students

Students and workers are the most among the people who died in the quota reform movement and the subsequent violence and clashes. As many as 75 per cent (113) of the killed were children, teenagers and young adults.

Most of the deceased persons sustained bullet shots in the upper part of the body - in abdomen, chest and head. Usually, the law enforcers, when forced to, shot at legs and they don’t usually fire indiscriminately. But a contrasting picture was seen this time.

Prothom Alo received information of the deaths of 210 people in the clashes so far from various sources including hospitals, relatives and the people who brought the dead bodies.

Of these, detailed information on age, occupation and type of injury and the area where they sustained injuries or killed was found for 150 people.

An analysis of the deaths reveals most of the bodies had marks of live bullet injuries while marks of pellet, rubber bullet or other type of injuries were little.

Autopsies are necessary to ascertain the reason of death and type of bullets. In many cases, the autopsy was performed but no reports prepared on those. In some cases, the relatives of the deceased took away the bodies without performing the autopsies.

Clashes broke out in Dhaka and other parts of the country on 15 July but no information of death was received that day. The deaths were reported on 16, 18, 19, 20 and 21 July while no information of death was reported on 17 July. Later, many people died while undergoing treatments at hospitals.

While addressing a media conference at the secretariat Sunday, home minister Asaduzzaman Khan said they have received information of 147 deaths till then. They were continuing their investigation, he added.

The minister further said if the actual death toll becomes available later, the number may rise.

Asaduzzaman stated that Chhatra League men are included among the dead, who are students. There are people of different classes and professions, different ages, and people of different political identities. These will be informed in detail later.

Protestors and common people brought in the injured and deceased people at hospitals during the clashes. In some cases, the police also brought them. Most of them did not know about the identity, age and professions of the injured and dead people.

Prothom Alo found out relatives of the deceased people in the last seven days and collected documents from different hospitals to know the details of the deaths and the injured. So far, we could collect the detailed information of 150 people.

The analysis shows 19 of the deceased are children and adolescents including a 4-year-old child. Ninety four are 18-29 years old, 21 are 30-39 years old and 16 are about 40 years of age.

This analysis considered the people below 18 years old as children and those up to 29 years old are youths. According to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), 15-29 years of age are considered as youths, said Mainul Islam, professor of population sciences department at Dhaka University.

Most of the deaths (88 out of 150) were recorded in Dhaka, followed by Narsingdi (15), Narayanganj (14), Savar (8), Gazipur (5), and other districts.

Mostly students and youths took part in the mass movements before and after the liberation war of Bangladesh, and it was the same this time also, thinks writer and researcher Mohiuddin Ahmad.

He told Prothom Alo when the quota reform movement went beyond the campus, the common people expressed their pent-up anger and grievances. People from all walks of lives joined. Maybe there were some looters among them but that’s a common feature for all ages.

Mohiuddin Ahmad further said the government is indiscriminately speaking about terrorism but not analysing why the people are aggrieved.

Mohiuddin Ahmad also pointed out that except during the war period, no movement before and after the independence of Bangladesh saw such indiscriminate use of lethal weapons. There have never been so many deaths in such a short time.

Among the victims was four-year-old victim Abdul Ahad. He died on 19 July at his house in Jatrabari’s Rajabazar area. Ahad was hit by bullet in his eye at the verandah of his house on the eighth floor. Riya Gope of Narayanganj was hit by bullet in her head while playing on the rooftop of the house. Riya was six and half years old.

The victim children include Hossain Mia (10), of Narayanganj, Samir (11), of Mirpur, Ibrahim (13), of Jatrabari, Saad Mahmud Khan (14), of Savar, Tahmid Bhuiyan (15), of Narsingdi, Imran (16), of Narayanganj, Sagar (16), on Mymensingh and Sujan Mia (17), of Narsingdi.

Hossain Mia’s father Manik Mia is a hawker. He told Prothom Alo, ‘My son is such a minor boy. He sustained two bullets in his body. One bullet entered into his lower abdomen and exited on the other side piercing his body. Another bullet hit his waist. How much pain my son endured!’

Apart from analysing the death of 150 persons, Prothom Alo also talked with injured persons admitted to 31 hospitals in Dhaka city. It revealed that the majority of the injured persons are teens and youth. A total of 35 were receiving treatment to casualty-2 ward of National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation’s (NITOR) on 23 July. Of them, 26 were teenagers and youth.

Protesters, injured persons and law enforcement sources said the protesters were mostly teenagers and youth and that’s why they bore the most brunt in terms of casualties. Those who sustained injuries despite staying inside their houses were mainly bullet-hit. Most of the dead persons sustained bullet shots in abdomen, chest and head. Usually, the law enforcers, when forced to, shot at legs. They don’t usually fire indiscriminately. But a contrasting picture was seen this time.

A woman named Maya Islam, 60, died after sustaining a bullet hit in head at her house in Banasree. Her son Mostafizur Rahman told Prothom Alo that Maya was hit by a bullet around 3:30 pm on 19 July. She died after being taken to hospital.

Of the 150 victims analyzed, at least 45 were students of different public and private universities, schools and colleges.

Among the university students killed Abu Saeed (22) of English department of Begum Rokeya University, Hridoy Chandra Tarua (22) of Chittagong University, Ahsan Habib Tamim (23) of Jagannath University, Rudra Sen (22) of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Shaikh Ashhabul Yamin (22) of Military Institute of Science and Technology (MIST), Mir Mahfuzur Rahman (26) of Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP), Asif Hasan (21) of Northern University, Zahiduzzaman Tanveen (23) of Islamic University of Technology (IUT) ), Imtiaz Ahmed of South East University, Irfan Bhuiyan (21) of United International University and Parvez Shakeel (22) of Manarat University.

Kobi Nazrul College students Omar Faruk (23) and Jihad Hossain (22) and Dhaka College student and Chhatra League activist Sabuj Ali (26) are also among the killed.

The students of schools and colleges who were killed include Farhan Faiyaz Ratul, 17, of Dhaka Residential Model College, Mahamudur Rahman, 19, of Mohammadpur Model School and College, Jillur Sheikh, 17, of Imperial College, Naima Sultana, 15, of Milestone College, Dipta Day, 21, of Madaripur Government College and Imon Mia, 22, of Government Shaheed Asad College.

The quota reform movement mainly surfaced on Dhaka University and other public university campuses. Quota reform protesters and Chhatra League men clashed in DU’s Bijoy Ekattar Hall on 15 July. Later, Chhatra League carried out one after another attacks on protesters. Even female students were not spared from attacks. From 16 July, students of public and private universities and schools and colleges also joined in the protests.

Analysis of data on deceased showed most of them were labourers, small traders, shop workers, drivers, workers, and low-income people.

Twenty-five out of 150 deceased were workers of various shops, hotels and sale centres; 16 were shopkeepers, small traders and hawkers; 11 were daily wagers and from similar professions; 13 were drivers of different vehicles, trucks, rickshaw pullers and assistants’ five were apparel workers while 27 deceased including a physician were job holders and from other professions.

Several analysts said daily labourers joined the protest due to the rise in commodity prices and other socioeconomic factors as inflation has been nearly 10 per cent in Bangladesh over one and a half years.

Three of the deceased were police members and one was an Ansar member. Sub-inspector SM Masud Pervez Bhuiyan, assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Muhammad Muktadir and Nayek Gias Uddin died after sustaining repeated blows. Ansar member Jewel Sheikh had bullet marks on his chest.

Four of the deceased were journalists. ATM Turab, Sylhet correspondent of Daily Naya Diganta, and Hasan Mehedi of Dhaka Times died from pallets while Shakil Hossain of Daily Bhorer Awaz and freelance journalist Tahir Zaman died from bullet wounds.

Five of the 150 people killed were actively involved in politics. They were Sabuj Ali, activist of Chhattra League’s Dhaka College unit, Tipu Sultan, leader of Matshyajibi League’s Narsingdi unit, Nabin Talukder, convenor of Jubo Dal’s Baufal upazila, Wasim Akram, joint convener of Chhatra Dal’s Chittagong College unit, and Faisal Ahmed, activist of Islami Chhttra Shibir.

Relatives of several deceased claimed the victims went outside for various necessities despite the clashes and they sustained bullets. Many families now face hardship due to losing their earning members.

Jasim Uddin, 35, from Banaripara of Barishal was a father of two. He was killed during clashes in the capital’s Uttrata. His brother Nizam Uddin said Jasim was a manager of a vehicle shop. He went outside to purchase spare parts at the instruction of the shop owner and was caught in the clashes. He sustained a bullet in the chest. There were lots of wounds from rubber bullets on his face and other parts of his body. Nizam further said, “We are poor people and we pass days worrying about how to survive. Justice is a far cry for us.”

Prothom Alo spoke to two security analysts on the various aspects of the 150 deceased. One of them said on condition of anonymity that analysis of data on the deaths showed who participated in the protest and political activists had less involvement in it while students and low-income people had greater participation.

Security analyst Brigadier General (retd) M Sakhawat Hossain opined lethal weapons (bullets) were used to quell the protests. He told Prothom Alo police are randomly seen carrying Chinese rifles, which are mostly used by military and paramilitary forces. Armed police may have these arms but not the general police forces. Border Guard Bangladesh has lethal weapons. Such use of lethal weapons to suppress the protest of unarmed people is seen nowhere in the world other than the battlegrounds.

Prothom Alo’s Staff Correspondents from Chattogram, Rangpur, Bogura and Savar, and Correspondents from Sylhet, Narayanganj, Narsingdi, Gazipur, Mymensingh, Cnahdpur and Madaripur contributed reporting.

This report appeared in the print and online editions of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten in English by Shameen Reza, Galib Ashraf and Hasanul Banna.