By Dr. Akash Mazumder
After 5 August 2024, present-day Bangladesh is a valley with no laws, no constitution, no human rights, no national flag, and no map.
This opinion article explores the post-5 August 2024 sociopolitical landscape of Bangladesh—a time many critics are calling a descent into an existential crisis for the nation-state. This essay argues that Bangladesh is now facing a dramatic erosion of legal frameworks, constitutional authority, human rights protections, and national identity. The claim that the country resembles a ‘valley with no laws, no constitution, no human rights, no national flag, and no map’ is examined from legal, political, and socio-cultural perspectives. With evidence from recent events, political decisions, and international reactions, this article offers a critical lens on how political authoritarianism, digital manipulation, militarization, and international silence have rendered Bangladesh’s democratic fabric tattered and its identity ambiguous.
Jihadi infiltration in Bangladesh Army: Recent controversial activities
Bangladesh Army’s ‘self-defense’ claim conceals brutal killings in Gopalganj
Since the historical date of 5 August 2024, Bangladesh has entered what many intellectuals, civil society leaders, and international observers are calling a ‘constitutional and existential void.’ The metaphoric phrase—’a valley with no laws, no constitution, no human rights, no national flag, no map’—is not mere political rhetoric but a piercing critique of the nation’s ongoing descent into systemic lawlessness and identity disintegration. This phrase encapsulates the country’s situation where institutions are hollowed out, legal norms are selectively applied, the rule of law is weaponized, and political opponents, journalists, and common citizens are silenced with brutal force.
The purpose of this article is to investigate how a post-5 August 2024 Bangladesh has transformed into a politically paralyzed, legally ambiguous, and humanly violated space. Using contemporary reports, human rights documentation, and academic perspectives, we will dissect this dramatic turn of events.
1. The Date That Marked the Collapse: What Happened on 5 August 2024?
The events of 5 August 2024 were marked by several dramatic and controversial political moves by the ruling Awami League regime. Citing national security concerns, the government issued an executive proclamation to revise the electoral commission, dissolve local governments deemed ‘oppositional,’ and suspend Article 70 of the constitution—the backbone of parliamentary accountability.
Moreover, a new set of digital surveillance laws was passed overnight via executive fiat, without parliamentary deliberation. This move essentially legalized the monitoring of all forms of online and offline political speech, paving the way for widespread arrests and forced disappearances of dissenters.
Yunus’ press wing lies about post-mortem of Gopalganj victims
Awami League condemns block raids, torture, arrests in Gopalganj
According to reports by Human Rights Watch (2024) and Amnesty International (2024), over 1,000 individuals, including human rights defenders, opposition leaders, and student protesters, were detained or abducted within 72 hours of these new laws being passed.
2. Dismantling of the Constitution: A Legal Coup
Bangladesh’s 1972 Constitution, often considered a landmark post-colonial document, has now become a ghost in its own homeland. Articles related to freedom of expression (Article 39), assembly (Article 37), and freedom of religion (Article 41) are now rendered functionally obsolete.
The reinterpretation of the constitution by unelected bureaucratic and judicial actors has turned the legal system into a tool of suppression rather than protection. The constitution was amended under a state of emergency, an act widely criticized by legal scholars as illegitimate under international law norms (ICCPR, 1966; UN HRC, 2023).
Lawyer and constitutional expert, Dr. Reza Karim (2025), notes: ‘The constitution today serves only one master—the ruling party. It is no longer a document of the people, for the people, by the people.’
3. The Death of Human Rights in Bangladesh
The systematic suppression of human rights has become normalized in the post-5 August regime. Reports from South Asian Network on Human Rights Defenders (SANHRD, 2025) indicate that at least 400 cases of extra-judicial killings, including custodial deaths, occurred between August 2024 and June 2025. Additionally, enforced disappearances, a tactic long used by security forces, have increased exponentially.
The UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders (2025) expressed deep concern over the criminalization of dissent, particularly targeting ethnic minorities, Rohingya refugees, and activists critical of the government’s Rohingya policy.
In rural and urban spaces alike, mass surveillance, arbitrary detention, and military-police alliances have created what Foucault called a ‘disciplinary society’—one where citizens internalize fear to the point of self-censorship (Foucault, 1977).
4. No National Flag, No Map: A Crisis of Identity
The claim that there is ‘no national flag, no map’ is a poetic yet powerful expression of how the state has eroded national pride and representation. The flag, a symbol of sovereignty, has been weaponized—used only in state-sanctioned spaces and denied to opposition events, academic institutions, and civil society movements.
More concerning is the sudden modification of geographical boundaries in official maps. In early 2025, the Ministry of Home Affairs quietly published a new map of Bangladesh on government websites, omitting several indigenous and disputed regions. This redrawing of the map without public debate or parliamentary approval drew criticism from regional experts and even international observers. A Professor of Dhaka University, 2025 wrote: ‘This is not just cartographic violence; it is identity erasure.’
The symbolic erasure of geographical markers corresponds to a deeper psychological and existential crisis among the people, especially minorities and borderland populations.
5. Media Blackout and State-Controlled Narratives
The press in Bangladesh has become a casualty of authoritarian resurgence. Following 5 August 2024, the Digital Security Act (DSA) was weaponized against journalists. Over 80 journalists were detained between August 2024 and May 2025, according to the Bangladesh Centre for Journalistic Freedom (BCJF, 2025).
In Orwellian fashion, truth has become a victim of propaganda.
6. Militarization and Politics: Army as Shadow Government
Another alarming development is the increasing influence of the army in political governance. Army officers have been placed in administrative positions, educational institutions, and even courts under the pretext of ‘disciplinary control.’ While some argue this is a stabilization tactic, many see it as the beginning of a military-police complex controlling civilian life.
The controversial meeting between UN Secretary-General António Guterres and the Bangladesh Army Chief in early 2025—held without media access or explanation—has sparked fears of international endorsement of military control, rather than condemnation.
7. International Community’s Silence and Strategic Complicity
While several watchdog organizations have issued reports condemning the post-5 August actions, key players like the United States, India, and China have remained largely silent, each driven by their geopolitical interests in the Bay of Bengal and Indo-Pacific corridors.
The European Union, previously vocal on issues of governance, issued a vague statement urging ‘dialogue and reform’ but avoided mentioning state repression.
This strategic silence contributes to what political theorist Partha Chatterjee calls the ‘postcolonial condition of tolerated authoritarianism,’ where undemocratic regimes are seen as acceptable so long as they serve regional or economic interests (Chatterjee, 2004).
8. Youth, Resistance, and the Silenced Future
Bangladesh’s youth, historically the vanguard of resistance—from the Language Movement of 1952 to Shahbagh in 2013—are now subdued by fear, surveillance, and job insecurity. The education system has been politicized, scholarships withheld from dissenters, and civil society spaces shut down.
Yet, sparks of resistance continue in digital spaces. Despite state bans, young Bangladeshis are using encrypted apps, art, poetry, and underground publishing to challenge narratives. Some exile-based initiatives like ‘Bangladesh Watchdog 2025’ have emerged as sources of truth and resistance.
In the end, the metaphor of Bangladesh as a valley with no laws, no constitution, no human rights, no flag, and no map is tragically appropriate. The country today exists more as a shadow of itself—unanchored from its founding ideals of democracy, secularism, justice, and liberty.
The erosion of institutions, coupled with the silencing of dissent and manipulation of national identity, has created a condition where citizens are exiled in their own homeland. It is not only a political crisis but a civilizational one. The road ahead demands critical introspection, international accountability, and grassroots resistance to rebuild the soul of the nation.
9. Gopalganj Massacre, 16 July 2025: Army Boot Perspective
The Day Gopalganj Bled: A Tale of State Brutality and the Collapse of Civilian Governance: A Town Turned into a Killing Field
On the morning of 16 July 2025, the otherwise calm district of Gopalganj, known historically as the political birthplace of the nation’s founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, witnessed one of the bloodiest military crackdowns in modern South Asian history. Branded by critics and survivors alike as the ‘Gopalganj Massacre,’ this singular event has left deep scars in the national consciousness.
The symbolic significance of Gopalganj made the massacre even more shocking. What was once celebrated as the ideological root of Bangladesh’s liberation struggle has now become the stage for state-sponsored bloodshed, carried out under the pretext of ‘restoring order.’ Civilians—many of them women, children, teachers, and peaceful political protesters—were mowed down by military bullets, dragged out of their homes, and executed in open fields. Eyewitnesses reported sniper fire from rooftops, military tanks rolling through civilian neighborhoods, and the use of drones for surveillance and targeted strikes.
The operation was executed with military precision, but with terrifying disregard for human life. Soldiers wore no visible badges, and military trucks bore no number plates, contributing to an atmosphere of terror and unaccountability. The people of Gopalganj, locked in their homes, described the night as ‘a war zone with no enemy—only victims.’
10. How a Protest Turned into a Massacre
The massacre was sparked by a mass civilian demonstration demanding the restoration of constitutional rule, the release of political prisoners, and the removal of army personnel from civilian administrative offices. Organized primarily by students, teachers, farmers, and local clerics, the protest was initially peaceful. The protestors carried the national flag, placards citing the 1972 Constitution, and recited verses from the Liberation War Declaration.
The Army’s Special Operations Group (SOG) was deployed under the Directives of the National Security Command Authority (NSCA), a newly formed body functioning outside the Parliament and judiciary, and reportedly under direct control of top military officials. The NSCA invoked Special Military Regulation No. 14/2025, labeling the protest as an ‘internal insurgency.’
Within hours, helicopter gunships circled over Gopalganj College, known to be a gathering point for protesters. Local journalists attempting to cover the protest were detained or forcibly disappeared. By 3:45 PM, over 5,000 soldiers and commandos had surrounded key town zones, initiating one of the most brutal military assaults in the region’s postcolonial history.
11. The Kill Chain: How the Massacre Was Orchestrated
According to leaked audio recordings published by Global Rights Network (GRN, 2025) and whistleblowers inside the Bangladesh Army Intelligence Corps, the operation followed a centralized kill order:
‘Engage without warning.’
‘No identification needed. No flags spared.’
‘Civilians or not, disobedience is treason.’
This order was interpreted literally, resulting in indiscriminate firing into crowds and homes. Medical centers were blocked by military vehicles. Several witnesses reported paramilitary units setting fire to homes, destroying mobile towers, and disabling the local internet infrastructure to prevent documentation.
The local Imam of Gopalganj Central Mosque, Maulana Rahim Uddin, was reportedly shot in the head while trying to calm the crowds with a loudspeaker recitation of peace verses from the Quran. His body was dumped in the nearby Madhumati River—an act that sparked outrage across religious and secular communities alike.
12. The Aftermath: Death Toll, Disappearances, and Media Blackout
While official state media claim that ‘only 17 people died during a riot,’ credible reports from Human Rights Watch (2025), Doctors Without Borders (2025), and local survivor testimonies suggest that over 428 civilians were killed, more than 1,100 injured, and over 300 people are still missing, many presumed abducted by military intelligence.
Many bodies were taken away in refrigerated trucks and burned at undisclosed locations, with no funeral rites permitted. Families searching for their loved ones were warned not to speak to the press. Journalist Firoz Mahmud, who filmed secret footage of the mass burials, has been missing since July 17.
An immediate media blackout was enforced by the Ministry of Digital Communication and Military Affairs. Satellite footage taken by independent agencies, however, shows clear signs of mass troop deployment and destruction patterns consistent with military-grade weaponry.
13. The Army Boot Perspective: Militarization of Everyday Life
The phrase ‘Army Boot Perspective’ has now become symbolic of a new regime of control, domination, and impunity. Gopalganj’s massacre is not merely an event; it is a paradigm. A way of governing—by boot, by fear, by blood. Since 5 August 2024, the line between the military and the civil domain has been erased.
In Gopalganj, this erasure manifested in:
-School playgrounds turned into detention camps
-Mosques turned into observation posts
-Courts shut down and replaced with military tribunals
-Marketplaces transformed into surveillance zones
Children who survived the massacre are now reported to suffer from acute trauma, PTSD, and mutism, unable to speak since the event. Teachers in the district have either gone underground or been detained, leading to the complete collapse of public education.
14. Victims’ Voices: Testimonies from the Valley of Death
A 19-year-old survivor, Shamima, said in her testimony recorded by the underground portal ‘Voices of Gopalganj’: ‘They shot my father in front of me because he asked them not to touch my sister. They laughed. Then they dragged her away. We have not seen her since. We don’t live in Bangladesh anymore; we live in a prison with no walls.’ Another survivor, a retired school headmaster named Jahirul Islam, said: ‘We used to teach our children about the Liberation War. Now we teach them how to hide when soldiers come.’
15. National and International Response: Deafening Silence and Strategic Denial
Despite growing international outrage from diaspora communities, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres has yet to issue a formal statement about the massacre. His visit to the Rohingya refugee camps earlier in July, and his secret meeting with the Army Chief, have further fueled speculations of UN complicity or calculated indifference.
Regional powers like India and China have remained strategically silent, while the US issued only a generic advisory urging calm, without acknowledging the massacre. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) issued a symbolic condemnation but failed to follow up with tangible actions.
Inside Bangladesh, any attempt to organize prayer meetings, candlelight vigils, or protests in memory of the Gopalganj victims have been met with police batons, detentions, and threats.
16. The Bigger Picture: Gopalganj as a National Allegory
The Gopalganj Massacre is not an isolated incident. It reflects a wider pattern of militarization, state terror, and post-democratic authoritarianism. It is a continuation of the state’s war—not against foreign enemies, but against its own people.
Gopalganj is now the symbol of a country where:
-Justice is replaced by military courts
-Faith is policed by gun barrels
-Memory is erased by surveillance
And history is rewritten by uniformed men.
17. Gopalganj Is Everywhere Now
In the months since the massacre, many have said, ‘Gopalganj is everywhere now.’ The event has become a grim reminder that under the current regime, no place is sacred, no civilian is safe, and no institution is neutral. The state has turned against its own womb—its origin place, its symbolic heart.
Unless national and international actors take immediate steps for justice, truth, and reparations, the blood of Gopalganj will stain the moral fabric of the nation for generations to come. Gopalganj must not be forgotten. For forgetting would mean accepting that massacres are part of governance, and silence is the new patriotism.
18. Gopalganj, 16 July 2025: Bangladesh Army Operations—Midnight Darkness and the Violation of Oath
The Gopalganj Massacre of 16 July 2025 marks a turning point in the political and moral trajectory of Bangladesh. Once the cradle of the country’s liberation narrative, Gopalganj has now become a theater of state-sponsored terror. This article critically explores the Bangladesh Army’s operations conducted under the cover of midnight darkness, analyzing how they violated their constitutional and moral oath, betrayed the legacy of the Liberation War, and redefined the relationship between the state and its citizens. Drawing on survivor testimony, military whistleblower leaks, legal documents, and historical references, the piece interrogates the collapse of civil-military ethics and the erasure of the military’s accountability to the people of Bangladesh.
19. Midnight Falls on Gopalganj
On the night of 15 July 2025, as the nation slept in silence, military convoys moved toward Gopalganj, a district now branded not for its legacy but for its mass graves. By 2:00 AM, more than 3,000 troops had quietly surrounded the key townships of Tungipara, Kotalipara, and Gopalganj Sadar. Military sources later admitted that the operation, codenamed ‘Operation Purification,’ was greenlit by the National Security Command Authority (NSCA), a militarized council that operates without parliamentary oversight.
At 3:15 AM, lights across Gopalganj went out—total blackout. The military cut off power grids, disabled internet towers, and jammed mobile networks. At 3:30 AM, what began was not an operation—it was an execution.
By the first light of 16 July, over 400 civilians were dead, many of them unarmed protesters, teachers, farmers, and even children. The army used night-vision gear, sniper rifles, and armored vehicles, making it a clear demonstration of asymmetric state violence. The attack occurred with such planning and precision that it reflected a systematic, institutional order rather than a reactionary excess.
20. The Army Oath: Sacred Words, Broken Promises
The Bangladesh Army’s official oath, adopted in line with constitutional and military law, states: ‘I solemnly swear that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, that I will faithfully discharge the duties assigned to me, and that I will protect the sovereignty and integrity of the country with honor and dignity.’
Embedded in this oath are the values of constitutional loyalty, civilian supremacy, and human dignity. However, the Gopalganj operations of 16 July reflect a complete inversion of these values. Instead of protecting the sovereignty of the people, the army became the agent of their oppression.
Violating the oath constitutes not only a moral and ethical failure, but a legal breach of military and constitutional duty. As per the Armed Forces Rules of 1953, and the Bangladesh Constitution (Articles 61, 111, 142), military personnel are accountable to civilian authority, which was suspended in practice post-5 August 2024.
21. Tactical Brutality in the Dark: A Chronology of Horror
3:30 AM – The First Strike
Multiple testimonies confirm that the first shots were fired near Gopalganj Government College, where students were sleeping in makeshift camps after peaceful protests during the day. Snipers targeted the sleeping youth, many of whom had no political affiliation, only demands for constitutional order.
4:00 AM – Entry into Villages
Tanks entered Ghonapara and Tungipara—residential zones housing descendants of liberation war martyrs. Soldiers kicked down doors, blindfolded entire families, and shot those who resisted or spoke.
5:00 AM – Aerial Surveillance and Droning
Military drones equipped with infrared detection marked homes for ‘soft target elimination.’ Residents reported being hit with gas grenades, rubber-coated bullets, and even sonic deterrents—a tactic outlawed under the Geneva Conventions.
6:30 AM – Execution by Fire
The homes of known student organizers were set ablaze. Many burned alive. Reports from Doctors Without Borders (2025) estimate at least 91 people died from smoke inhalation or fire injuries, especially women and children.
22. Violations of Domestic and International Law
The Gopalganj operation constitutes multiple violations:
A. Violations of the Bangladesh Constitution
-Article 27: All citizens are equal before the law.
-Article 32: No person shall be deprived of life or liberty except in accordance with law.
-Article 46: Protection in respect of punishment under ex post facto laws.
All these were blatantly ignored during the massacre.
B. Violations of International Humanitarian Law
-Geneva Conventions (IV): Prohibits targeting civilians during armed conflict.
-Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC): Crimes against humanity include extermination, enforced disappearances, and persecution.
-The army’s use of unmarked vehicles, anonymous uniforms, and extra-judicial killings fits the ICC’s definition of systematic, state-sanctioned crimes.
C. Breach of Army Code of Conduct
-Section 15(c) of Bangladesh Army Act (1952) prohibits the use of military force on unarmed civilians without presidential decree, which was absent or fabricated post-facto.
23. Eyewitness Accounts: What the Soldiers Did Not Expect
Eyewitness accounts not only chronicle death but also speak of dehumanization. Survivors say soldiers called them ‘insects,’ ‘cockroaches,’ ‘terrorists,’ and ‘enemies of the state.’ Many soldiers were allegedly under the influence of performance-enhancing narcotics, a practice confirmed by a leaked internal supply log accessed by the Global Rights Network (GRN, 2025).
One survivor, Hasina Khatun, a 50-year-old schoolteacher, recalled: ‘They shot my husband because he had a portrait of Sheikh Mujib. They told me— ‘This Mujib is dead. Your republic is over.’ I screamed, and they hit me with a rifle butt.’
Another student, Afsana, said: ‘A soldier whispered, ‘Say the army is your god, or you die.’ I refused. They broke my hand and dragged me by my hair. I still shouted, ‘Inqilab Zindabad.’’
24. Whistleblower Leaks and Chain of Command
The Bangladesh Army Internal Communications Report (leaked July 20, 2025) reveals the following chain of command:
-General Z. R. Rahman: National Commander, directed tactical forces.
-Brigadier Ishtiaq Nawaz: Coordinated drone and sniper deployment.
-Colonel Tamim Uddin: Oversaw digital shutdown and civilian detentions.
-Captain Alamgir Hossain: Responsible for ‘sanitation teams’ (bodies disposal).
Codewords used:
‘Purge Alpha’ = Youth protesters.
‘Ghost Nest’ = Homes with political leaflets.
‘Flaming Night’ = Burn after breach.
These codenames show a pre-meditated architecture of violence, not reactionary excesses.
25. Psychological Warfare and Information Suppression
The army employed psychological warfare to instill silence and submission:
-Mock broadcasts with fabricated news were aired to suggest the operation was peaceful.
-Bodies were dumped into rivers or buried in cement sacks, denying families any closure.
-Community leaders were offered bribes or threatened into silence.
-Satellite signal jammers prevented documentation of real-time violence.
The Digital Security Act (Amendment, 2025) criminalized sharing any footage or posts related to the army. Over 600 social media users were detained within 48 hours.
26. Collapse of the Army’s Moral Compass
The Bangladesh Army, once hailed for its professionalism, has now crossed a Rubicon. By killing the very citizens, it swore to protect, it has become a mercenary force in service of authoritarianism.
This is not just a collapse of conduct, but the institutionalization of impunity. Where once soldiers were taught the values of 1971, now they are taught enemy classification theory, crowd suppression, and information dominance.
As Major (Retd.) Kamrul Hasan wrote in exile: ‘They made us believe we serve the nation. But now we serve fear, and fear has no flag.’
27. Comparative Lessons: From Gopalganj to Tiananmen
The Gopalganj massacre draws eerie parallels with:
-Tiananmen Square (China, 1989): Civilian massacre by army tanks.
-Jallianwala Bagh (India, 1919): Colonial massacre of unarmed protesters.
-Rohingya Crisis (Myanmar, 2017): State-led ethnic cleansing with army participation.
In all cases, the military turned against the people, and history judges such crimes—even if delayed by silence.
28. When the Soldiers Become Shadows
Gopalganj is not just a place. It is now a metaphor for betrayal—the betrayal of trust between the people and their protectors, between oath and action, between midnight and morning. As of now, no soldier has been held accountable, no parliamentary hearing has been convened, and no apology issued. The Bangladesh Army remains silent, as does the global community. But the cries of Gopalganj will not fade. They are etched into every slogan, whispered through every burnt page of the constitution, and written on the blood-soaked oath that lies violated. The army must ask itself: When did we stop protecting the nation and start killing its soul?
29. Visual Testimony of State Brutality: The Gopalganj Torture Incident of 16 July 2025
A Picture Worth a Thousand Screams
The images captured from Gopalganj on 16 July 2025, now widely circulated on global human rights forums, are more than just frames from a livestream—they are unfiltered visual testimonies of torture, humiliation, and the collapse of lawful order. In these images, we see Bangladeshi army soldiers in full combat gear—boots, rifles, sticks—publicly torturing an unarmed civilian on the streets in broad daylight.
Every frame reflects not only a violation of human dignity, but also a mockery of national law, military ethics, and international humanitarian standards. The images became iconic not because of journalistic storytelling, but because of WhatsApp livestreams and digital civilian resistance, as seen in the visible interface.
This will offer visual analysis, contextual decoding, legal critique, and testimonies drawn from survivors and analysts, to explain how Gopalganj became the Guernica of modern Bangladesh—an assault on the very soul of civil society.
30. Breakdown of the Visuals: What Do the Images Show?
Let us interpret the four quadrants of the image montage in sequence:
Frame 1 (Top-Left): Submission under the Boot
An unarmed, barefooted young man lies on the road, face contorted, hands shackled behind his back. Two army soldiers in combat uniform kneel over him—one presses his neck while another points a bayonet in a gesture of intimidation. The man is not resisting. His body language indicates exhaustion or trauma.
Interpretation: This is a classic instance of coercive submission—a forced posture meant not for arrest, but public humiliation. According to UNCAT Article 1, this treatment qualifies as torture when committed by a public official for intimidation.
Frame 2 (Top-Right): Dragging of a Broken Body
The same civilian is seen being dragged across the road like a sack of meat by multiple soldiers, while another soldier follows with a bayonet and one civilian watches helplessly. The victim’s lower limbs appear motionless, possibly due to injury or neurological shock.
Interpretation: This act represents physical desecration. International law protects the right to dignity of the injured, as stated in the Geneva Convention IV. The dragging, particularly in public view, aims to send a message of fear to onlookers, especially since it occurred in a commercial district where shops remain closed under military lockdown.
Frame 3 (Bottom-Left): Boot on the Face
The soldier’s heavy military boot is shown stepping on the victim’s face, while others surround him with rifles and batons. The victim lies immobilized, dirt on his shirt, eyes closed, and hands still behind his back. This frame received over 35.8k viewers live during the stream.
Interpretation: This image is a symbolic killing of personhood. The soldier is not defending himself, nor restraining a violent suspect. The gesture is theatrical—it is a ritualized domination. As theorized by Frantz Fanon (1961), the act of stepping on a face is not just bodily violence, but an erasure of political voice.
Frame 4 (Bottom-Right): Militarized Street Execution Zone
A broader frame shows at least nine soldiers and one civilian, with the body of the tortured man on the ground. The environment looks like a makeshift zone of martial law—a commercial area turned into a temporary military base. Bricks are scattered around, perhaps from a previous protest.
Interpretation: This frame establishes the contextual geography—a civilian street transformed into a field of terror. Notably, there are no emergency medics, police, or legal observers present. The army operates with absolute impunity.
31. Violation of National Laws and Military Protocols
According to Bangladesh’s Army Act (1952, revised 2015) and constitutional Article 32, no person can be subjected to torture, cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. The man seen in the images was:
-Unarmed and non-violent
-Not given due legal process
-Denied medical attention
-Humiliated and physically violated in public
Furthermore, Bangladesh is a signatory of the United Nations Convention Against Torture (UNCAT, 1984). Article 1 and 16 of the Convention explicitly forbid such treatment, even during states of emergency or war.
As per the Military Manual of Combat Ethics (2010, Bangladesh Armed Forces), Chapter 7 states: ‘Soldiers are guardians of the people and must refrain from acts that humiliate, injure, or provoke unarmed civilians.’
Hence, the soldiers seen in the images have violated both international and national legal frameworks and dishonored their oath to the republic.
31. Psychological Impact and National Trauma
These images, broadcast and shared across encrypted messaging platforms and later picked up by diaspora news portals, have become a symbol of national trauma. Young people—especially students and activists—have reported experiencing:
-Acute stress symptoms
-Moral injury
-Despair and loss of national identity
As per a July 2025 report by the Bangladesh Psychological Society (BPS), over 11,000 individuals in the Gopalganj-Barisal zone have shown signs of mass PTSD, a phenomenon not seen since the 1971 Liberation War genocide. Children who viewed these images, especially if they knew the victim, reportedly suffered night terrors and refusal to attend school, fearing army presence. Trauma researchers like Cathy Caruth (1996) would define such visual experiences as ‘wounds that speak through silence’, especially in politically repressive environments.
32. Media Ethics, Digital Witnessing, and Censorship
The livestreaming nature of the image (as seen via WhatsApp Live with viewer counts of 35k+) demonstrates a new age of digital resistance and citizen journalism.
In traditional authoritarian environments, such visuals would have been buried by state-controlled media. However, encrypted platforms like WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram allowed:
-Real-time documentation
-Decentralized archiving
-Global broadcasting
This leads to what media theorist John Durham Peters (2015) calls ‘witnessing without permission’—the act of documenting truth despite the state’s attempts to erase it. Unsurprisingly, after these images went viral, the Digital Security Act (Amendment 2025) criminalized any distribution or reposting of ‘anti-state visuals.’ As of August 2025:
-Over 260 citizens were arrested for sharing the footage.
-At least 14 journalists are missing.
-Several Facebook and YouTube pages were forcibly taken down.
33. Who Was the Victim? The Face of a Nation
Though the identity of the tortured man has not been officially confirmed (likely due to fear of reprisal against his family), sources suggest he was a 19-year-old student from Tungipara Government College, involved in peaceful processions calling for restoration of the constitution.
His classmates described him as: ‘Soft-spoken. A poet. He never carried sticks, only leaflets.’
His last WhatsApp status reportedly read:
‘আমরা কেউ রাষ্ট্রদ্রোহী না, আমরা শুধু নাগরিক হতে চেয়েছিলাম’
(‘We are not traitors; we only wanted to be citizens.’)
This anonymous, faceless youth has become the face of the betrayed republic, embodying the collapse of constitutional citizenship.
34. Comparative Global Precedents
This visual record places Gopalganj within a larger pattern of military brutality across regimes:
-Abu Ghraib Prison (Iraq, 2003): U.S. military torture of detainees, with similar boot-on-body poses.
-Chile under Pinochet (1973–1990): Public torture used to suppress democratic resistance.
-Soweto Uprising (South Africa, 1976): Young students brutalized, later immortalized in protest art.
What links these cases is that every authoritarian regime tried to erase the images—yet they survived, and became evidence in tribunals and symbols of revolt.
35. Memory Cannot Be Beaten Down
In these four images, we do not merely see a single incident of state cruelty. We see:
-The death of military ethics.
-The public display of power and sadism.
-The desperation of a regime facing a citizenry that refuses to be silenced.
These images are now archived in international rights forums, included in HRW and Amnesty reports, and shared in diaspora vigils. They have transcended national censorship, becoming what Susan Sontag (2003) called ‘painful icons that resist forgetting.’
Bangladesh’s rulers may ban the footage, detain the citizen journalists, or threaten the families. But the bootprint on the face of that unarmed youth is now etched into the moral memory of a nation. One day, when tribunals are formed or truth commissions convened, these images will return—not as propaganda, but as prosecution exhibits.
36. Violations of United Nations Human Rights and Peacekeeping Principles: A Case for Sanctions Against the Bangladesh Army
On 16 July 2025, Gopalganj—a historically symbolic district in Bangladesh—became a site of mass civilian repression at the hands of the Bangladesh Army. Video evidence and eyewitness reports confirm the extrajudicial killing, torture, public humiliation, and digital suppression of unarmed citizens. These acts have not only drawn national outrage but have triggered global concern, particularly from human rights bodies and diplomatic circles.
The United Nations (UN)—as the global custodian of peace, human rights, and the rule of law—has explicit charters, resolutions, and peacekeeping principles that categorically prohibit the conduct observed during the Gopalganj operations. Given Bangladesh’s role as one of the top contributors to UN Peacekeeping Missions (UNPKM), these acts further represent a dangerous betrayal of trust and violation of international law.
This section will assess the legal, moral, and operational violations committed by the Bangladesh Army, with a focus on:
-UN human rights treaties and protocols,
-UN Peacekeeping doctrine,
-Past precedent for military sanctions,
-Grounds for targeted international sanctions.
37. Bangladesh and the United Nations: Background and Obligations
A. Membership and Peacekeeping Role
Bangladesh became a member of the United Nations in 1974, under Article 4 of the UN Charter. Since the 1990s, it has ranked among the top five troop-contributing countries (TCCs) to global peacekeeping operations. By 2024, Bangladesh had over 7,000 troops deployed in missions across Africa and the Middle East.
With such contribution comes a moral and institutional obligation to adhere to the UN Charter, Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and the UN Code of Personal Conduct for Blue Helmets.
B. Treaty Signatures and Ratifications
Bangladesh is a state party to the following human rights conventions:
-Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR, 1948)
-International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR, 1976)
-Convention Against Torture (UNCAT, 1984)
-Geneva Conventions (1949)
-Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC, 2002)
Therefore, the military’s violent actions in Gopalganj are not only unconstitutional domestically—they are criminal under international law.
38. United Nations Human Rights Violations: A Legal Breakdown
A. Extrajudicial Killings and Arbitrary Detention
As per Article 6 of the ICCPR, ‘Every human being has the inherent right to life. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life.’ The images and videos from 16 July 2025 demonstrate military troops killing unarmed civilians without due process. This constitutes a gross violation of Article 6 and falls under the ICC definition of crimes against humanity (Rome Statute, Article 7).
In addition:
-Detaining citizens without warrant or trial is a breach of Article 9 of the ICCPR (Right to Liberty and Security).
-Denial of medical treatment to injured detainees violates Article 10 (Humane treatment of persons deprived of liberty).
B. Torture and Degrading Treatment
-Multiple images show army personnel:
-Stepping on the face of detainees.
-Beating immobilized youth with rifle butts.
-Dragging bodies across the road.
Under UNCAT Article 1 and 16, such acts constitute torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, prohibited under any circumstance—even during conflict.
Moreover, Bangladesh’s voluntary pledges to the UNHRC in 2018 and 2022 promised ‘zero tolerance against custodial torture.’ This incident exposes that promise as political theater.
C. Targeting of Civilians and Disproportionate Use of Force
According to the Geneva Conventions IV (1949), civilians must be protected against:
-Collective punishment,
-Intimidation,
-Violence to life and person.
The Gopalganj events—including the blackout, sniper deployment, public beatings, and drone surveillance—reflect a military campaign designed to terrorize, not pacify.
The UN Human Rights Committee General Comment No. 36 (2018) states: ‘The use of force by law enforcement should be exceptional, strictly necessary, and proportional.’
What occurred in Gopalganj was not law enforcement—it was a war strategy executed on citizens.
39. United Nations Peacekeeping Mandate Violations
A. Peacekeeping Ethics and Rules of Engagement
-Every Bangladeshi soldier sent on UNPKM must:
-Complete mandatory human rights training,
-Sign the UN Code of Conduct,
-Submit to disciplinary oversight by the UN Department of Peace Operations (DPO).
The UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials (1990) declare that: ‘Law enforcement officials shall apply non-violent means before resorting to the use of force and firearms.’
The soldiers involved in Gopalganj, trained under this framework, directly violated these principles on home soil, proving their training either failed—or their command structure is complicit in undermining it.
B. The Reputation of UN Peacekeepers at Stake
The credibility of UN Peacekeeping Missions depends heavily on the ethical standards of its personnel. When Bangladeshi troops commit human rights abuses domestically, it tarnishes the image of UN peacekeeping globally.
If a nation allows soldiers to torture and kill at home, how can they be trusted to protect civilians in Mali, Congo, or South Sudan?
As per UNSCR 2272 (2016), the Secretary-General is empowered to repel or suspend units from peacekeeping operations in cases of credible misconduct, even domestically.
40. Comparative Precedents: When Peacekeeper States Were Sanctioned
A. Rwanda (1994):
After the genocide, Rwandan military units were barred from UN missions due to complicity in domestic crimes.
B. Sri Lanka (2011):
Following the Mullivaikkal Massacre, the UN Department of Field Support suspended Sri Lankan troops from peacekeeping duties for four years.
C. Democratic Republic of Congo (2019):
UN peacekeepers from the DRC were suspended due to rape and murder cases tied to domestic battalions.
In all cases, the UN withheld further deployment, froze financial payments, and called for independent commissions of inquiry.
41. A Case for Sanctions: What Should Be Done
Given the scope and documentation of the Bangladesh Army’s crimes, the following sanction recommendations are in accordance with international human rights frameworks:
A. Suspension from UN Peacekeeping
The UN Secretary-General, through Department of Peace Operations (DPO) and Human Rights Upfront Initiative, should:
-Immediately suspend all Bangladeshi deployments,
-Cancel future troop rotations until investigations conclude,
-Publish a full audit of Bangladesh military human rights performance.
B. Individual-Level Sanctions (Magnitsky Framework)
Under the Global Magnitsky Act (U.S., U.K., Canada, EU), individuals involved in torture, repression, or extrajudicial killings may face:
-Visa bans,
-Asset freezes,
-Exclusion from international institutions.
High-ranking officers (e.g., commanding generals, intelligence heads) involved in the Gopalganj massacre should be named in a Magnitsky report.
C. Referral to the International Criminal Court (ICC)
Since Bangladesh is a Rome Statute member, the ICC can launch investigations under Article 7 (Crimes against humanity). The Gopalganj operations qualify under:
-Murder,
-Imprisonment,
-Torture,
-Persecution against a civilian population.
A UN Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) should be deployed with independent observers, forensic experts, and survivor protection mechanisms.
D. Sanctions on Defense Trade and Military Aid
-All bilateral military aid and training programs (e.g., from the U.S., U.K., China) should be suspended or reviewed.
-Arms-exporting nations should follow the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) standards, which prohibit arms sales to militaries engaged in rights abuses.
42. Role of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC)
The UNHRC has the authority to pass country-specific resolutions, conduct universal periodic reviews (UPR), and dispatch commissions of inquiry.
Given that Gopalganj’s case features strong digital evidence, the UNHRC must:
-Call a special session on Bangladesh,
-Appoint a Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Bangladesh,
-Demand unrestricted access to the affected area, media, and victims.
If Bangladesh refuses cooperation, the General Assembly (UNGA) may proceed with a global condemnation vote, similar to past votes on Myanmar, Russia, or North Korea.
43. Conclusion: No Peacekeeping Without Peace at Home
The brutal images from Gopalganj are not just a national tragedy—they are an international alarm bell. A country whose military tortures citizens cannot be permitted to fly the UN flag of peace abroad. It corrupts the very spirit of multilateralism and justice.
The United Nations, especially under the leadership of Secretary-General António Guterres, must uphold its credibility by:
-Suspending Bangladeshi troops from peacekeeping,
-Imposing Magnitsky-style sanctions on perpetrators,
-Supporting international justice mechanisms for accountability.
-Silence is complicity. And justice delayed is not just denied—it is desecrated.
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