[Music]
[Applause]
the roads are completely empty nobody is
out here where we're walking towards is
where the opposition leader Kalia lives
and her house is barricaded with cops I
mean there's dozens of
them are are barricaded so the police
leaders are telling me they have
enhanced the security the protection of
the opposition leader and that's why all
these police officers have barricaded
her house with a large media presence
outside Z attempted to leave her house
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unable to leave Zia made her way back
inside essentially under house
arrest 5 days earlier khadia had called
on the supporters of her BNP party to
take to the streets in a March for
democracy the call for a protest March
combined with an electoral boycott came
in responds to prime minister Shay Cina
and a ruling aami party refusing to
return to a caretaker government to
oversee elections planned on January 5th
I made my way to the bmq the scheduled
starting point for the March for
democracy which Z was supposed to be
leading there's expected to be at least
a million people at this protest so
let's see what
happens we're seeing loads of police
officers coming into the scene we are
literally three blocks away from the BMP
office there are no protesters in sight
but police
everywhere the police were determined
that no one would reach the bmq but a
former MP Aliza Zaman did attempt to
cross the barricade
[Laughter]
it looked like Zia's March for democracy
was over before it had begun and with
the police showing zero tolerance for
any form of protest even we felt under
scrutiny our driver just told us that a
police officer followed us to the
opposition leader office and now I'm a
little wor worried that we might be
followed at taka Supreme Court a group
of BMP lawyers were attempting to join
the
[Applause]
March what happened you were protesting
Mar is already going but the main thing
is that the Bangladesh Supreme Court
Lawyers are striking for the master
democracy saying that the current
government has locked the gates on them
so they're not able to come
out we tried hard and soul to come out
for their democracy but we we did not g
any opportunity for the barrier of the
presid government ring pres government
while the security Crackdown had
successfully stopped the main Mar small
protests were breaking out everywhere
just a block away the streets in front
of the Press Club look like a war
[Applause]
zone outside our Pro government
protesters inside this gate are
anti-government protesters and they're
fighting each other right now
Bangladesh only gained independence from
Pakistan in 1971 after a bloody war for
many the wounds were not healed the
Supreme Court is currently holding war
crimes tribunals against those who
collaborated with Pakistan many of the
accused are major figures within the BNP
and the islamist party jamaat
[Applause]
islami police had made a half-hearted
attempt to stop fighting but Pro
government supporters continued to hurl
Stones this time at their fellow
supporters who managed to infiltrate the
Press Club
elections are supposed to be a positive
thing and my experience here so far is
just seeing a lot of chaos violence and
innocent people getting hurt some
opposition activists fearing for their
safety have gone into
hiding I guess they're negotiating my
entrance right
now questioning Where We Are Who We Are
stop filming stop filming so we're in a
secret location this BMP activist is
hiding so we had to turn our cameras
off nice to meet
the BMP has ties to several
fundamentalist islamist groups whose
presence and violence have increased in
recent years one of these groups he
islami is a platform of different
islamist organizations
on May 5th 2013 they shut down Central
taka this was an active protest after
their demands for stringent Islamic laws
were denied the clashes left 27 dead
including two police
officers to find out more about their
role in the power play of Bangladeshi
politics we went to meet
them I have to pull my hijab down more
cuz we're meeting the head sheet inside
the madrasa I'm not covered enough
the madasa elders were Keen to show me
that despite widespread criticism the
heat were a peaceful movement focused on
religion
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guys live here and read the Quran here
as well this is their life
despite their apparent openness heot has
called for the introduction of blasphemy
laws has reported links to Taliban
leaders and in October 2013 one of its
madrasas was the S side of an explosion
caused during the failed manufacturer of
handmade bombs it was extraordinary to
see how they were controlling all
aspects of the lives of these
boys so right now we're on our way to
the Supreme Court where yesterday tons
of violence took place so we're on our
way to the scene to see what what's
going on and right now as we're driving
there our Pro wammi protesters taking to
the
[Applause]
[Music]
street it's very similar to what
happened yesterday they're protesting
against the BMP supporters that are
behind the Supreme Court
gate they're they're fighting about
something but I can't hear exactly what
it is there's a man stopping them from
coming through to fight
people many
theam supporter's fervent denouncement
of jatti islami I wanted to speak with
gono jagon mancho a secular movement and
the ideological opposite of the
islamists led by imarker and made up of
mostly students this purply nonpartisan
group is gaining popularity we're about
to meet with the mentor of the
secularist group and see what he has to
say so this this is the night life in
Bangladesh where all the Young
Generation hangs out and it's pretty
cool you know and this is the first time
I see a group of men and women
collectively just hanging out together
it's it's a Bangladesh I've never
seen I'm ENT supporter of of G and I
think this is this is the only discourse
right at this moment to to come out of
this uh whole bloody mess the crisis
that is going on in Bangladesh what
about the heers
they are real fundamentalist really they
told me they were peaceful no they
talibans we wanted to see that those
people are not visible in the scenario
of Bangladesh politics but unfortunately
they are now I mean this is Terrorism
what they doing now terrorism terrorism
they can kill innocent people they can
say use the name of religion we have no
threat for religion in Bangladesh the
rise of of fundamentalism in this
country has been challenged For the
First Time by The Young Generation of
this country from where you can really
foresee a secular society a Democratic
Society January 5th the day of Elections
the streets of taka were surprisingly
quiet people crowded around televisions
awaiting news on the elections many
looking whether it would be safe to
vot there was a heavy military presence
across the
city I headed to a local polling station
to see what the situation was really
like
although this particular polling station
was peaceful reports of violence and
destruction flooded in from around the
country hundreds of polling stations
were burnt to the ground and their
workers brutally attacked the government
blames jamat activists for most of the
violence is this the burn unit
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the results were announced with over
2third of the vote Shake Casina and her
aami party had won at a nearby t- shop
hina's first postelection television
appearance was pled the people I'm
talking to here don't seem to give a
they're completely apathetic to the
situation
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sh Casina speech she keeps saying that
she's for the people and she wants to
see peace and Harmony but it's the
complete opposite there was so much
Bloodshed and chaos and these are the
people who are suffering from it the
chaos happening in the
country fewer than half of the
Parliamentary seats were contested with
no opposition and voter turnout claimed
to be as low as 20% leaving the wami
league in power 120 people died in
pre-election clashes and 18 on Election
Day itself making a Bangladesh's most
violent election to date