Friday, 19 July 2024, began with the autocratic Sheikh Hasina-led government blocking all access to the internet, both mobile and broadband, throughout the country.

It ended with the army personnel deployed to impose a curfew and the blanket suspension of international mobile phone lines.
On the day, the law enforcers and members of the then ruling party Bangladesh Awami League (AL) went wild to kill the protesters – mainly students – waging a movement for reformation in the government job quota system, aiming to suppress their movement.   Helicopters of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) were also used to suppress the demonstrators that day.

Initially, mass media published reports stating that around 50 to 60 people were killed by the law enforcers and the AL men, but the government is yet to provide the specific data on the day.

But a study report by the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) and the Tech Gl`obal Institute (TGI) shows that at least 148 people were killed that day, which was the second highest number after the killings on 5 August. The report was revealed at a programme titled “The July Revolution: Evidence of Atrocities” at Bangla Academy in the capital on Wednesday.

Shockingly 54 of them were shot in the head or throat. Of the 148 deceased, 77 were protestors and their associates and 43 passersby. Many were killed when they were near windows, balconies, or on rooftops.
Of the victims, 124 were killed in the capital, seven in Narsingdi, seven in Narayanganj, four in Rangpur, two in Madaripur and each one in Mymensingh, Bogura, Sylhet and Savar in Dhaka district.

Of the 124 casualties in the capital, 24 were killed in Mirpur, 23 in Rampura, 13 in Mohammadpur, 12 in Badda, nine in Jatrabari,  nine in Uttara, five in Dhanmondi, four in Mohakhali, three in Lakshmi Bazar, three in New Market and 18 in various other places.

The ages of the victims ranged from 0 to above 50.  Three deceased were aged below 10 years, 11 victims were aged between 11 and 15 years, 14 aged between 16 and 17 years, 32 aged 18 and 21 years, 43 aged between 22 and 29 years, 25 aged 30 and 39 years, 16 aged between 40 and 49 years and four were above50.
Victims’ families were barred from taking legal actions
Safkat, a nine-year old madrassa student, was shot in the head when he was closing a window in his home in Mirpur as he tried to stay safe from tear gas shells during clashes between law enforcement agencies and protestors outside.
His uncle also sustained bullet injuries in his shoulder.

His father, Sakibur, came to know about the shooting when he was on the way home. He arrived to find his son Samir lying lifeless on the floor.
He rushed him to a nearby clinic, where it was confirmed that Samir was dead.
The police persuaded Sakibur to sign a form saying that he would not pursue any legal action. “The police station presented me with a written form, saying that if I didn’t sign, there would be many troubles, including investigation, interrogation, and providing evidence. The corpse would become a political tool,” he said.
14-year-old Naima Sultana was shot in the head at about 5pm on 19 July last year when she was standing on the balcony of her family’s rented house on the third floor in a building in Uttara.  She had gone onto the balcony to collect clothes that were drying. “I saw her slowly lying down on the floor while she was holding the railing,” her mother Aynun said.

Another was 24-year-old Nasima Akhter who was shot in the head standing with her two nephews on the roof of her flat in Dhanmondi.
“There is no doubt that this was unlawful and targeted use of force by the police which constitutes gross violations of human rights and if proven in a court of law, amounts to crimes against humanity,” said the ITJP’s Executive Director and international lawyer Yasmin Sooka.
“Sheikh Hasina must have known what was going on and did nothing to stop it,” she said.
Medical services in the capital were overwhelmed by casualties. In one case, a hospital literally ran out of gauze and bandages.

There are agonising accounts of moving acutely injured people around town in a succession of ambulances, three wheelers or even motorbikes, often from hospital to hospital in a desperate attempt to find life-saving treatment amid the turmoil and chaos.
Law Adviser Dr Asif Nazrul said, “It seems if we cannot carry out a trial of the atrocities, we have no rights to survive. It is unbelievable that such a cruel (Sheikh Hasina) person was born in Bangladesh who killed her own country’s people in this way.”
“I promise the countrymen that justice will definitely be ensured. We have sufficient evidence to ensure justice,” he said, adding that the aims of the interim government’s reformation activities are that no such cruel ruler can rule in future.