Country sees rise in deaths in political violence: Experts

The trend of mass murder in the form of political violence has increased in the country at present compared to the previous years, experts said at a programme Wednesday.

At least 1,028 people were killed and 52,066 injured in 3,540 incidents of political violence in Bangladesh in five years – between 2013 and 2017, according to a keynote paper presented at the international conference on genocide.

The experts suggested the government and civil society should work together to control the trend, specially the government needs to be stricter to stop mass violence against and deaths of the minorities.

The virtual conference titled "5th International Conference on Genocide and Mass Violence in the Twenty-First Century" was organised by the Centre for Genocide Studies of Dhaka University. 

Imtiaz Ahmed, professor of international relations and director of Center for Genocide Studies, moderated the discussion.

A number of papers including the Rohingya issue, domestic politics and violence against the minority were presented at the programme.

Prof Syed Jamil Ahmed, founding chair of department of theatre and performance studies of Dhaka University presented the keynote paper.

In his paper, Prof Jamil said of the 3,540 incidents of political violence, 304 incidents took place between the Awami League and the BNP claiming 64 lives. Some 11 incidents occurred between the BNP and Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, that claimed three lives. There were also intra-party conflicts within AL costing 146 lives.

In another paper, presented jointly by Shahidul Haque, former ambassador, and Professor M Jashim Uddin of North South University, it was noted that by the end of 2021, with the onset of the political crisis in Myanmar, rise of apathy, if not total antipathy, was visible among the people in Cox's Bazar. There is evidence of tensions rising between the Rohingya and their host communities in Cox's Bazar. The host communities often blame the Rohingyas for various criminal activities carried out in the region.  

They also mentioned the adverse consequences on the local environment, the socio-cultural fabric in Cox's Bazar due to the presence of the Rohingyas there. Despite the presence of antipathy towards the Rohingyas, the overall situation of hosting in Cox's Bazar has been relatively peaceful and stable.

Experts recommended taking effective and robust measures both locally and internationally to establish peace among the genocide victims like Rohingyas and the residents of Cox's Bazar.   

They also observed there is no alternative to take both official and unofficial steps to ensure social coherence among the Rohingyas for the long-term peace, stability and progress in Cox's Bazar.  Besides, the international community should take measures for the repatriation of the Rohingyas to their country. 

Sudipto Mukherjee, resident representative, UNDP Bangladesh, Brig Gen Shahedul Anam Khan ndc, psc (Retd), former associate editor, The Daily Star and Robert Stoelman, senior programme manager, UNDP also took part in the discussion, among others.