Dhaka, Oct 8 (IANS) Bangladesh's Awami League party on Monday claimed that a fact-finding team from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), which visited the country between September 16 2024 and February 12 2025 and later released a report on the so-called 'July–August 2024 demonstrations', received only selective coverage in the local media.

The party alleged that amid the widespread censorship of media under the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government, only parts of the report that went against former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government were widely published.

"Since 5 August, many journalists and other civil society observers have perceived a climate of reverse intimidation, where journalists and media outlets are cautious about reporting anything that could be seen as favourable to the Awami League or critical of its political opposition," the party cited a certain part of the report that drew attention to an environment of fear gripping the country after Hasina was overthrown.

"For the sake of truth, the Bangladeshi people need to know what else is inside the OHCHR report. Since the media has already highlighted everything that implicates the then Awami League government, it is better to focus on the remaining points," the Awami League stated.

According to the party, the July–August violence caused extensive loss of life, and the OHCHR report noted that not all of these deaths were caused by state forces. The party claimed that various opportunistic groups were involved in the unrest as well.

The party recalled that after the one-sided election held under the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government on February 25 1996, at least 171 protesters were killed in just one month.

The Awami League emphasised that Bangladesh must also reckon with the presence of militant groups. While there was no domestic militant involvement in 1996, it said such groups were active in 2024.

"Pakistan-based Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Lashkar-e-Taiba have openly claimed they were active on the ground during the so-called 2024 movement. So it is more logical to call this a militant attack rather than a movement," the party stated.

The Awami League highlighted that after Hasina left for India on August 5, thousands attacked the Jatrabari police station. Citing international media reports, the party stated that more than 50 were killed when police opened fire in self-defence. It also stated that a similar incident occurred at Ashulia police station in Savar, while more than 450 police stations across the country were attacked, and many police and civilians were killed or injured.

The party questioned whether Hasina, the Awami League, or its student wing Chhatra League, could be held responsible for those killings.

"Yet the OHCHR report, without proper investigation and with clear intent, attributes almost all deaths to the police and other security forces, and also blames the Awami League and especially the Chhatra League," the Awami League noted.

--IANS

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