The presence of videographers and photographers at different locations where Bangladeshi soldiers were shown shooting at Gopalganj residents and Awami League/Chhatra League supporters on July 16 has begun to throw up disturbing questions that point to attempts at damaging the Army’s reputation as a professional fighting force.
Equally intriguing was today’s crash involving a Chinese made two-seater F-7 fighter trainer in which a young pilot and at least 19 school children lost their lives.
Even as the Air Chief Marshal Hasan Mahmood Khan today left for Istanbul on an official visit, the Air Force ordered a Court of Inquiry (CoI) into the crash.
A cross-section of retired and serving Bangladesh Army officers Northeast News spoke with, since soldiers opened fire at demonstrators in Gopalganj, arguably the Awami League’s strongest bastion in the country, wondered why the top brass did not forbid the publicisation of the firings.
In this context, sources said that “individuals” close to Army chief General Waker-uz-Zaman wanted videos and still photos to be shot and disseminated widely.
None of the retired officers were inclined to identify themselves for this report for “retributive measures” against them.
Indeed, one Bangladesh Army officer asked why it did not occur to the top brass, including General Waker-uz-Zaman, Principal Staff Officer in the Armed Forces Division Lieutenant General S M Kamrul Hassan, Directorate General of Forces Intelligence DG Major General Jahangir Alam and National Security Intelligence DG Abu Mohammad Sarwar Farid, to prevent the photographers and videographers from shooting the actual opening of fire by soldiers belonging to the 55th Infantry Division.
Even more curious is why the Army completely overlooked institutionalising a Court of Inquiry (CoI) to get to the bottom of the whole incident involving at least five officers, including 55th Infantry Division General Officer Commanding Emdadul Islam, Brigadier General Mohammad Mizanur Rahman (BA-5594, 37 BMA LC), Lieutenant Colonel Mabrur Hassan, the local unit Commanding Officer on the ground, Major Ahsanul Huq and Major Shahidullah.
“When a decision was taken to open fire, why did the local level COs (Commanding Officers) not take tough measures to “prevent any filming of what was about to happen”, a retired Major General said, adding that “they (videographers or men with mobile phones) should have been driven away”.
In one video clip that went viral on social media an officer is heard shouting orders, laced with invectives, to “stand up shoot directly” at the demonstrators.
“Was the officer trigger happy or did he issue the orders knowing fully well that the whole incident was being filmed? This and the other videos, including one in which some soldiers were seen kicking a grievously injured man – identified as Dipto Saha – sparked Bangladesh-wide outrage.
A second video which emerged today shows two soldiers dragging a body along a deserted dirt track with one-storied buildings on one side and thick shrubs on the other.
It is not known whether this body is among the five official counts of those who died in the Army firing.
The Army is constitutionally obligated to assist the government during domestic emergencies, such as natural disasters, and to maintain law and order.
The Army was given magistracy powers in September 2024 to quell unrest and maintain law and order in the wake of the assumption of office by the Mohammad Yunus-led interim regime.
Since then, there has been little or no improvement in the overall law and situation across Bangladesh.
A few months ago, murders, incidents of rape, snatchings and other crimes went up. This was followed by unchecked and deadly mob violence and lynchings.
The Army’s magistracy powers were extended for a period of 60 days in March 2025.
This empowered “commissioned officers holding the rank of captain and above in the Bangladesh Armed Forces” with “special executive magistrate powers across the country”, a Public Administration Ministry statement said at that time. This move too did not bring any salutary difference to the law and order situation.
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The Army’s use of disproportionate force on July 16 – it later claimed that it opened fire for self-defence – was therefore surprising.
However, a senior serving officer said, “the brazen allowance for the shootings to be videographed defied logic as it directly tarnished the Army’s image, especially at a time when the UN Human Rights Commission was close to establishing a mission office in Dhaka.
This was an outcome of an announcement related to the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and Bangladesh Foreign Ministry.
