3 Bangladeshi journalists killed in quota protests as reporters attacked, internet blocked

New York, July 26, 2024– The Committee to Protect Journalists has called on Bangladesh authorities to investigate the killings of journalists Hasan Mehedi, Md. Shakil Hossain, and Abu Taher Md Turab and other attacks on reporters covering deadly nationwide protests over government job quotas.

“CPJ is deeply disturbed by the killing of journalists Hasan Mehedi, Md. Shakil Hossain, and Abu Taher Md Turab while they were reporting on the quota protests in Bangladesh,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi. “The Bangladesh government must hold to account those responsible for all assaults on journalists and fully restore internet and phone services to allow the free flow of information needed to cover matters of public interest.”

Bangladesh authorities imposed an internet shutdown and severely disrupted mobile services on July 18. Broadband internet was partially restored in limited areas on Tuesday evening, but mobile services and social media remained blocked as of July 26.

Mehedi, a reporter for the news website Dhaka Times, was fatally shot on July 18 while covering clashes in the Jatrabari area of Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, according to news reports. Dhaka Times editor Arifur Rahman Dolon told CPJ that Mehedi was killed by law enforcement officials,but limited internet availability prevented him providing additional details.

Hossain, a correspondent for Daily Bhorer Awaj newspaper, was also killed on July 18 while reportingin Bangladesh’s central Gazipur city, according to the Sweden-based investigative news website Netra News and the journalists’ association Dhaka Reporters Unity.

Turab, a reporter for the Daily Jalalabad and Daily Naya Diganta newspapers, was wearing a press vest when he was fatally shot by police firing into a July 19 procession of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party in northeast Sylhet city, according to New Age newspaper and a Daily Jalalabad reporter, who spoke to CPJ anonymously for fear of reprisal.

Meanwhile on July 18, protesters set fire to the headquarters of state-run Bangladesh Television in Dhaka, as well as several of the broadcaster’s vehicles, when riot police retreated inside the premises.  

CPJ has confirmed attacks on the 14 journalists listed below and is continuing to investigate  reports that dozens more have been assaulted either by police, protesters, or supporters of the Bangladesh Chhatra League, the student wing of the ruling Awami League party. Of the 14, several required hospital treatment for injuries including head wounds.

Police attacks

July 16
Police fired metal pellets at newspaper correspondents Mehedi Mamun (Daily Bonik Barta); Wajahatul Islam, (Daily Janakantha); Abdur Rahman Khan Sarjil, (Dainik Bangla), and freelancer Jubayer Ahmed, despite their identifying themselves as journalists covering demonstrations at Jahangirnagar University (JU), on the outskirts of Dhaka, Mamun and Islam told CPJ.

July 17
– Police grabbed the phone of Abdullah Al Mamun, a correspondent for Prothom Alo newspaper, while he was recording police action against students trying to leave JU’s campus. Al Mamun told CPJ that, despite identifying himself as a journalist and showing his press card, officers beat him with rifles and batons and fired a rubber bullet at him as he tried to flee.

– Shadique Mahbub Islam, a features writer for The Business Standard newspaper, told CPJ that police fired sound grenades at him and two other unidentified reporters while they were photographing a protester’s arrest at the Dhaka University (DU) campus. Police trying to surround protesting students again fired two sound grenades and tear gas in front of Islam later that day.

July 18
– Muktadir Rashid, a correspondent for Bangla Outlook website, told CPJ that he was hit with birdshot pellets as police and ruling party activists fired at protesters near Dhaka’s Mirpur police station.

– Jibon Ahmed, a photojournalist for Daily Manab Zamin newspaper, told CPJ that police in Dhaka fired lead pellets at a group reporting in the same area after he raised his hands and identified himself and around seven others as journalists.

Chhatra League attacks

July 15
– The Business Standard’s Islam told CPJ that despite showing his press identification, Chhatra League supporters beat him with rods and threw bricks at him as they forcibly dispersed protesters at DU’s campus.

– Prabir Das, a senior photographer for The Daily Star newspaper, told CPJ that Chhatra League supporters beat him with sticks while he was reporting from DU’s campus. Dipu Malakar, photojournalist for Prothom Alo newspaper, said he was also reporting on campus when a Chhatra League supporter threw a brick at him.

July 16
Chhatra League supporters beat Sakib Ahmed, a correspondent for the South Asian Times, with a rod and snatched his press card while he was reporting at JU, the journalist told CPJ.

Protester attacks

July 11
Protesters in the Shahbagh area of Dhaka pushed Somoy TV reporter Toha Khan Tamim and hit him with a helmet. Demonstrators also damaged the camera of the broadcaster’s senior video journalist Prince Arefin before chasing him, according to Omar Faroque, the broadcaster’s chief input editor.

July 16
Protesters in northern Bogura city beat Jamuna Television senior reporter and local bureau chief Meherul Sujon with bamboo sticks while he was wearing a press card and carrying a microphone, the journalist told CPJ.

Bangladesh’s state information minister Mohammad Ali Arafat and Chhatra League president Saddam Hussain did not respond to CPJ’s requests for comment sent via messaging app.

(Editor’s note: The ninth paragraph of this report has been updated to reflect that metal pellets were fired at the newspaper correspondents.)