At least nine people were killed and 268 others injured in 37 incidents of political violence across Bangladesh in September, according to a monthly human rights monitoring report released on Tuesday by the Human Rights Support Society (HRSS).
The rights body noted that although the number of violent incidents declined compared with August, fatalities increased. In August, 67 cases of political violence left four dead and 514 injured.
The September violence stemmed largely from factional rivalries, disputes over party committees, extortion and clashes linked to rallies and territorial dominance. Of the 37 incidents, 24 were linked to internal conflicts within the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), leaving seven dead and 192 injured.
Seven incidents involved clashes between the BNP and the ruling Awami League, which resulted in one death and 42 injuries. Three clashes took place between BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami activists, while four others involved multiple political groups.
Among the nine dead were eight BNP members and one Jamaat activist. HRSS also reported at least 14 separate attacks by unidentified assailants on political activists, killing nine people including three from the Awami League and four from the BNP.
Beyond deaths and injuries, the group documented at least 25 people shot during the month, along with widespread vandalism, arson and looting that targeted more than 30 homes, vehicles, businesses and political offices.
Journalists also came under attack. In at least 32 incidents, 42 journalists were killed, injured, harassed or threatened in September. One journalist was killed, at least 20 were injured, nine were assaulted, six received death threats, and six were implicated in three separate legal cases.
The body of veteran journalist Wahed-uz-Zaman Bulu, 60, was recovered under Khulna’s Khan Jahan Ali Bridge with injury marks on his hand and face. Bulu had worked with several Bangladeshi outlets over three decades. Another journalist, 23-year-old Mohammad Amin, was found hanging from a tree near Cox’s Bazar beach; he had been working as a local correspondent for the daily Amar Praner Bangladesh.
The report further documented 28 mob-lynching incidents in which at least 24 people were killed. Among them was Sajjad Hossain, a 30-year-old mentally challenged man beaten to death in Narayanganj on September 7 after being suspected of robbery. Another man, Monsur Ahmed, 40, was lynched in Feni on September 14.
Communal violence also persisted, with at least eight attacks on religious minorities, including assaults on two temples and the desecration of 20 idols. At least five shrines were vandalised or set ablaze.
At the borders, HRSS recorded two incidents of violence involving India’s Border Security Force (BSF), which injured two Bangladeshis and detained 13 others. The group also alleged that 132 Bengali-speaking people were pushed into Bangladesh from India. Meanwhile, in Cox’s Bazar, Myanmar’s Arakan Army reportedly seized five fishing trawlers and abducted 40 fishermen in the Bay of Bengal.
Labour rights abuses remained widespread. At least 28 incidents of violence against workers left seven dead and 57 injured, while unsafe conditions and lack of protective equipment caused the deaths of 18 more workers at their workplaces.
Child abuse figures were described as “alarming.” HRSS said 133 children faced abuse in September, of whom 25 died. Another 108 suffered physical or psychological torture. On September 4, a leader of the Bangladesh Chhatra Shikkhak Oikya Parishad (Bagchas) allegedly beat nearly 50 failing students inside a classroom in Rangpur, leaving many traumatised.
The rights watchdog warned that without stronger rule of law, protection of fundamental rights and broader dialogue among political parties, civil society and the media, Bangladesh’s overall human rights situation risks further deterioration.
SMS/
