The information of 'July Revolution' has been saved by two websites of volunteers

Jasim Uddin created a website in the middle of July to preserve the number and identity of the victims of attacks and clashes in the quota reform movement. Named 'Shaheed.info'.

More than 490 deaths have been reported on this website so far, and more than 33,000 people have been injured. More than 11,000 people have been arrested and disappeared. Within a short period of the movement, the website became known to many.

Jasimuddin, a software engineer of a company in Thailand, said, “The history of the movement should not be hidden or distorted in any way, that's why this site was created. Here you can see the number of people killed and injured in the movement.”

Jasim Uddin's house is in Baniachang of Habiganj. This young man, who studied from Bangladesh University, opened the 'Shaheed.info' website on his own initiative.

Abdul Mannan Masood, Coordinator of Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, said that no database or website has been created in a coordinated initiative regarding the statistics of casualties in the 36-day movement of students. He said about taking informational support from 'Shaheed.info' in the movement.

Coordinator Abdul Mannan Masood said, “We haven't made a website yet, but there are plans. I am unable to launch the website right now due to various issues. Keeping the information with us for now, will be databased later.”

Casualty figures vary according to the government, activists and the media. M Sakhawat Hossain, who served as Home Affairs Advisor for a short time, said the death toll was more than a thousand. According to the UN report, this number is 650. According to different media, there are different numbers between 600 and 700.

After the quota reform movement turned into a one-phase movement for the overthrow of the government, on August 4, the news of the death of a hundred people in a single day came in the media. The next day, on the day of the 'Long March to Dhaka' program, hundreds more people lost their lives across the country. Sheikh Hasina resigned from the post of Prime Minister and left the country on the same day of the massive mass movement.

Jasimuddin of 'Shaheed.info' said that while keeping an account of the casualties in the entire movement, he also fell under the government's fire.

He said, “The site was banned in Bangladesh during the nine-phase movement of students. It was taken away after the fall of the government.”

Jasim Uddin said that he was in fear because the information of the casualties of the movement was preserved. He commented, “Between July 24 and 26, around 10 people visited my LinkedIn profile, many of whom were associated with cybercrime organizations. Repeatedly reported on my site. I had to make all my communication channels 'private' out of fear.”

How to verify casualty information?

Although Jasim Uddin is based in Thailand, he has a team of 23 people in the country. They check the information, pictures and other things of the injured and the dead in various ways.

Jasim Uddin said, “Before releasing the information, it is verified whether the person is dead or injured. So that no wrong information gets out.”

When asked about the verification process, he said, “Initially, out of thousands of posts on Facebook, only the posts made by the family of the person who was killed or injured were considered. But now an IT and verification team of about 10 people has worked to verify the posts coming to us from different parts of the country. Besides, information from various reliable newspapers has also been taken.

“The data is then collected in a Google Form. So that the information is not wrong in any way, so the verification is done at two levels.” Although other members verify the information, Jaseem himself does the work of publishing the information.

Apart from the casualty list, a category called 'Virtual Museum' will be added to the website, said Jaseem. The entire movement will be highlighted there. Slogans, placards, graffiti, pictures used from the beginning to the end of the movement will be preserved.

Besides, the family members or relatives will have the opportunity to use the profiles of the killed and injured persons on the website. He said that the work of recording the flow of events along the dates and events is also going on.

List of casualties and affected families

Jasim Uddin informed about the preparation of the list of injured and affected families in the movement. He said that efforts are being made to work with various NGOs with their help.

“Several families have already been helped by Shaheed.info initiative. Besides, many people have been given medical assistance like blood collection and necessary medicines. But public funds will not be taken for assistance.”

'Know'

Even though the coordinators do not have any platform to store the information of the movement and the casualties, many people know about 'Shaheed.info'.

A young graduate from Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP) has created another website called 'Chine Rukhna'.

The number of injured and killed in the July student movement and the photos and videos of the attackers in the movement have been published on this website. The names and identities of 13 people who were indirectly attacked during the movement have been published on this website.

Although the idea of ​​creating 'Chene Rukhkan' belonged to Shabaab Junaid, the site was created by his friend Noor Mohammad Mamun. Their entire team lives in Dhaka. The site uploads various pictures and videos of the attackers attacking the protesters.

Shabab Junayed said, “When the students are being attacked in the movement, I am thinking of creating a 'recognize' website, so that everyone can identify the 'criminals' and make it easier to bring them to justice. Apart from this, the evidence of the crime should be preserved.”

He said that three people worked to verify the information on the site, which was launched on August 4. Seven others are doing data collection, submission and other work. However, the last step of verifying the identity of the 'attacker' or releasing the picture/video is done by Shabaab itself. Submissions are removed if information cannot be verified, he said.

Shabab said, “It takes 3/4 days or more to verify a key. After getting the picture, video, the social account of the person is verified and the identity is confirmed.

“The name, identity and party affiliation information of a person associated with a political party is verified from information published in the media about that person, including social media and Google searches. And if someone is a member of the law enforcement force, his name, police station, professional title are searched and his identity is confirmed. Any identity or information is not published on the site unless it is clearly confirmed.”

He said, “We have field work planned for more accurate information. The website has indirectly attacked and later set fire to religious institutions and houses during the movement, while trying to launch a section by disclosing their identity.

As of last Thursday, the site has revealed the identity of 30 'attackers' with detailed identities, photos, videos.

Shabab said, “It is a public and open site. Relatives, acquaintances and common people of the dead and injured send pictures, videos and other information here from all over the country. Media information is also taken. From there the information is published after two-three levels of verification.”

The 'Recognize' website shows the 'official deaths' of over 439 people in the movement. And the estimated death toll is over 1,150. Apart from this, more than 21,000 injured have been shown.

These information and data of the movement have been presented on the website 'Chine Rukhun' and 'Shaheed.info'. Abdul Mannan Masud, one of the coordinators of the movement, does not know about the 'recognize' site.

Shabab Junaid also said that he did not contact any coordinator of the movement regarding the website. However, he wants to contact the coordinators after completing the rest of the website.

Meanwhile, the interim government has taken the initiative to make a complete list with the identity of the casualties. That is why a committee of 13 members has been appointed from the health department.

Source: bdnews24.com

Bangladesh /OF