Political Violence Kills 281 in Bangladesh Since Hasina's Fall.

22 hours ago7 min read

The stark report from Odhikar landed with the force of a physical blow, a grim ledger of a nation still convulsing in the bloody vacuum left by power. In the year since student-led protests finally toppled the autocratic regime of Sheikh Hasina, sending her fleeing across the border to India in August 2024, a staggering 281 souls have been lost to political violence.This isn't just a number; it's a tapestry of shattered families, silenced dissent, and a democracy teetering on the brink. The Dhaka-based rights group’s documentation, covering the period from Hasina’s fall through September 2025, paints a picture not of a triumphant new dawn but of a protracted and vicious struggle for control, where the streets have become a battleground and the rule of law seems a distant memory.The initial euphoria that greeted the youth-driven movement has curdled into a pervasive fear, as the old guard, remnants of Hasina's Awami League, and an array of opposition factions jockey for position, settling scores with knives, clubs, and bullets rather than ballots. On top of the 281 politically motivated killings, Odhikar’s chilling addendum of another 40 victims of extrajudicial actions—so-called 'crossfire' or 'encounter' killings often attributed to security forces—suggests a state apparatus either complicit or utterly overwhelmed, unable or unwilling to stem the tide of bloodshed.This descent into chaos was, in many ways, predictable. Hasina’s long tenure, while bringing some economic progress, was marred by a systematic dismantling of democratic institutions, the stifling of a free press, and the brutal suppression of opposition, creating a pressure cooker of resentment that finally exploded.Now, with the lid blown off, the fragments of that pressure cooker are being used as weapons. The international community, particularly neighboring India which now hosts the deposed leader, watches with bated breath, its strategic interests in the region colliding with concerns over human rights and regional stability.Analysts fear that without a concerted effort for a national dialogue and credible elections overseen by impartial bodies, Bangladesh risks sliding into a protracted civil conflict, a scenario that would not only devastate its 170 million people but also send shockwaves through South Asia, potentially creating a new flashpoint for regional powers. Each entry in Odhikar’s report is a life extinguished, a story cut short, a testament to the brutal cost of this unresolved transition, and a desperate plea for a peace that seems, for now, agonizingly out of reach.

#Bangladesh

#political violence

#human rights

#Odhikar

#protests

#casualties

#featured

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