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[00:00:38] Hello and welcome to Global Eye. Every week we bring you a selection
[00:00:41] of the best reports from BBC World Service from a different
[00:00:45] part of the world. I'm Sami Awami,
[00:00:48] BBC Africa correspondent. Two weeks ago, I was dispatched
[00:00:52] to Madagascar to cover the anger and frustration of
[00:00:56] Generation Z, which has fueled political unrest.
[00:01:00] In this program, I will explain the importance of these developments.
[00:01:03] Of course, Madagascar is not
[00:01:07] the only country struggling with protests.
[00:01:10] All over the world, young people are demanding
[00:01:14] a better life from their leaders. And
[00:01:17] the response from many governments has been extreme violence. This is the
[00:01:20] Jatra highway. You can see the police are shooting.
[00:01:24] We will also see a BBC report about one of the worst
[00:01:28] massacres in Bangladesh's history amidst protests
[00:01:32] that led to the fall of the government.
[00:01:35] And we will go to Indonesia, where
[00:01:38] local residents are coping with their villages being
[00:01:42] submerged. I realized that these trees can stop
[00:01:45] the waves and prevent erosion.
[00:01:49] Madagascar is the
[00:01:55] fourth largest island in the world and has a population
[00:01:59] of approximately 32 million people. The country boasts rich biodiversity
[00:02:03] and pristine nature. But
[00:02:06] behind these beautiful landscapes, a crisis is unfolding that
[00:02:09] threatens the country's stability.
[00:02:13] Madagascar is the world's largest producer of vanilla, but
[00:02:16] it is also one of the poorest countries in the world. According to the
[00:02:20] International Monetary Fund, more than a quarter of the population lives
[00:02:24] below the poverty line, and only about a quarter of the people
[00:02:28] have access to electricity.
[00:02:30] Madagascar is one of the youngest countries in the world. Until
[00:02:34] 65 years ago, it was a French colony, and over
[00:02:38] half of its population is under 25 years old.
[00:02:42] Since its independence, Madagascar has been caught in a cycle
[00:02:46] of coups, disputed elections, and economic setbacks.
[00:02:49] The recent protests initially began due to
[00:02:52] widespread power outages and water shortages.
[00:02:56] But they soon escalated into a broader dissatisfaction
[00:03:00] with the country's leadership over unemployment and economic
[00:03:03] mismanagement.
[00:03:06] We don't have electricity and water regularly. When Malagasy children have to
[00:03:10] study in the dark, what will become of this country's future?
[00:03:13] Where is the wealthy Madagascar that many countries envied? In
[00:03:17] late September, protests turned violent when security forces
[00:03:20] opened fire on protesters. At least 14 people were killed
[00:03:24] and dozens were injured.
[00:03:25] The
[00:03:28] government claimed the crackdown was necessary to prevent
[00:03:32] foreign sabotage. But human rights organizations
[00:03:34] considered the government's response disproportionate and illegal.
[00:03:38] President
[00:03:41] Andry Rajoelina, who was previously a DJ, was
[00:03:45] impeached and removed from office, and the Supreme
[00:03:49] Constitutional Court appointed a special military council,
[00:03:52] CAPSATO, as the new leader. We have taken
[00:03:55] power. This is the presidential palace.
[00:04:00] Amidst the unrest, I had an interview with Colonel
[00:04:04] Randria Nirina. The
[00:04:06] country is in chaos
[00:04:09] because there is no
[00:04:12] president. He has left
[00:04:16] the country. The president of the Senate
[00:04:19] is also not here, because I removed him. We have
[00:04:23] a prime minister without a government. So
[00:04:27] who is running the country?
[00:04:30] That's what I'm asking myself. It's
[00:04:33] complete chaos.
[00:04:37] It's really complete chaos. Since
[00:04:40] my conversation with him, Colonel Randria Nirina has been sworn
[00:04:43] in as the president of the new military government
[00:04:47] and has pledged to hold new elections within two
[00:04:50] years. For the second time in just over
[00:04:54] a month, youth-led protests have led to the overthrow of
[00:04:57] the government, and this indicates a wave of
[00:05:00] dissatisfaction among Generation Z worldwide. In Nepal,
[00:05:04] protests against corruption led to a storming of parliament
[00:05:08] and the prime minister's resignation, with 70 people killed.
[00:05:11] The desire
[00:05:15] of young people has been inspired by youth movements around
[00:05:19] the world. Solidarity in the digital
[00:05:22] world connects these seemingly disparate uprisings,
[00:05:26] from demands for educational reform in Morocco to
[00:05:30] protests against crime in Peru.
[00:05:33] Technology has led to the formation of a common
[00:05:36] visual language. Emoji of clenched fists and flames,
[00:05:40] manga characters, and comic book heroes
[00:05:43] who fight corrupt systems. These symbols have
[00:05:46] become tools of mobilization. Memes for resistance that
[00:05:50] know no bounds.
[00:05:52] The Generation
[00:05:55] Z revolution in Bangladesh
[00:05:59] has been highly influential. In July
[00:06:02] 2024, youth anger over controversial quotas
[00:06:05] for government employment led to nationwide protests.
[00:06:08] It is estimated that during
[00:06:12] several weeks of unrest, about 1400
[00:06:14] people were killed and thousands were injured.
[00:06:17] But what really happened and who
[00:06:21] is responsible? The BBC team, using so-called
[00:06:25] open-source methods, has investigated one of the
[00:06:28] key days of this revolution by analyzing videos, documents,
[00:06:32] and eyewitness accounts. We see Ridhiya's report on this. August
[00:06:36] 5,
[00:06:49] 2024. For weeks,
[00:06:52] protests have been underway across Bangladesh's capital,
[00:06:55] Dhaka. Protesters are fleeing
[00:06:59] a hail of bullets. They keep shooting.
[00:07:08] police are firing indiscriminately, killing at least
[00:07:11] 52 people and injuring many more.
[00:07:15] Using unseen footage, we uncover
[00:07:18] the police narratives, the protesters' accounts of
[00:07:22] these events, and those responsible. We will
[00:07:25] avenge every drop of spilled blood.
[00:07:29] Bangladesh
[00:07:36] was under the rule of Sheikh Hasina
[00:07:39] and her Awami League for 15 years.
[00:08:11] A law that restricted access to government jobs allocated about
[00:08:15] 30% of jobs to families of soldiers from the country's
[00:08:19] war of independence.
[00:08:20] Students
[00:08:25] like Russell Mahmud coordinated these protests.
[00:08:29] Seeing the discriminatory nature of the quotas, I realized
[00:08:32] I might become a victim of this inequality and
[00:08:36] not be able to get a good job. People from all over joined
[00:08:39] us.
[00:08:48] The protests are met with violent police
[00:08:51] suppression.
[00:08:53] Communications are cut across the country,
[00:08:56] and the government orders an internet shutdown.
[00:09:00] The government
[00:09:00] wanted to
[00:09:04] suppress this movement at all costs.
[00:09:07] Bijoy, a young student, became
[00:09:10] one of the voices.
[00:09:42] they use. This leaked audio file, the authenticity
[00:09:46] of which has been confirmed by the BBC, shows that
[00:09:50] he directed the security forces. I have
[00:09:54] publicly ordered them to use lethal weapons from now on.
[00:09:57] Wherever they find them, they will
[00:10:00] shoot.
[00:10:02] I won't go anywhere without my brother. Release
[00:10:06] my brother. But the crackdown intensified
[00:10:09] the protests. You can never stop this movement.
[00:10:12] We will continue to protest,
[00:10:16] and on August 5, protesters
[00:10:18] in Dhaka demanded her resignation.
[00:10:21] Among the protesters were two friends, Shawan and Miraj.
[00:10:25] Miraj believed
[00:10:28] that change was necessary. He thought
[00:10:31] that the problems afflicting Bangladesh, especially
[00:10:35] discrimination in employment and unemployment,
[00:10:38] needed solutions. Wherever
[00:10:41] he saw injustice, he
[00:10:45] protested.
[00:10:47] He
[00:10:52] and I were always in the neighborhood.
[00:11:27] What happened next led to one of the worst instances
[00:11:31] of police violence in Bangladesh's history.
[00:11:34] We have collected and analyzed hundreds of videos, photos,
[00:11:38] and eyewitness accounts to paint an accurate picture of
[00:11:41] the events. This is the
[00:11:44] Jatra highway. You can see the police shooting.
[00:11:47] That's the sound of a
[00:11:49] single shot.
[00:11:52] At 1:05 PM, police
[00:11:56] exited the
[00:11:57] station.
[00:12:02] They push protesters back along the highway.
[00:12:05] The
[00:12:08] protesters are driven back.
[00:12:11] The army arrives and positions itself between
[00:12:15] them and the police. The news
[00:12:18] spread that Sheikh Hasina was going to
[00:12:22] resign and might issue a command.
[00:12:38] In the afternoon, he fled by helicopter to a military
[00:12:41] airport.
[00:12:44] Almost simultaneously, army vehicles begin to
[00:12:47] leave the area. But forces are still
[00:12:51] deployed outside the police station. Miraj and
[00:12:54] Shawan moved towards the station.
[00:12:56] We were standing there,
[00:13:00] watching, when suddenly
[00:13:03] either a gas canister or a car
[00:13:07] tire exploded with a loud
[00:13:11] bang. I started
[00:13:12] running.
[00:13:15] But Miraj stayed and filmed the soldiers
[00:13:19] leaving the police station.
[00:13:21] A few seconds after
[00:13:46] I saw Miraj lying among other dead bodies.
[00:13:48] I couldn't
[00:13:50] control myself.
[00:13:54] A few moments ago he was next to
[00:13:58] me, and now he was gone. It was very
[00:14:00] sad.
[00:14:04] But for those who were still on the streets, the horror
[00:14:08] continued. At 3:27 PM,
[00:14:12] police retreated to a temporary army barracks,
[00:14:15] and some others, in civilian clothes, fled.
[00:14:18] Some officers were trapped
[00:14:22] inside the police station, while protesters entered
[00:14:25] the building, set it on fire, and at least six
[00:14:29] officers were killed. Videos show that the army
[00:14:32] merely watched during the shooting.
[00:14:36] Answer me. Why did they shoot? How
[00:14:39] could so many people be killed before your eyes? Go and
[00:14:42] see how many bodies are piled
[00:14:59] up. As the chaos subsided, one
[00:15:02] question remained: Who is responsible? The
[00:15:05] police officers we spoke to claimed they were just
[00:15:09] following orders. We operate under a chain of
[00:15:13] command. Going beyond
[00:15:14] orders is not allowed.
[00:15:17] Abul Hassan, acting head of Jatrabari
[00:15:20] Police Station, was present at the scene during
[00:15:23] the massacre.
[00:15:26] The station commander was
[00:15:29] in contact with senior
[00:15:32] officials. At that moment,
[00:15:35] he was our leader,
[00:15:38] and we did everything he said. We were
[00:15:41] obliged to carry out orders without question.
[00:15:45] Hassan was arrested,
[00:15:49] but we were told that he was taking orders
[00:15:52] from senior officers during the protests. One
[00:15:56] of them was Senior Detective Harun al-Rashid,
[00:15:59] who was seen commanding the police in
[00:16:03] Jatrabari in July. Previously, when we were
[00:16:06] moving forward.
[00:16:32] Anyone who wants to disrupt order and law, it doesn't
[00:16:35] matter.
[00:17:13] He is now in exile, but in Bangladesh, a court convicted him of crimes against humanity and sentenced him to death.
[00:17:16] He strongly denies these charges.
[00:17:20] The Awami League also denies its responsibility
[00:17:24] for the massacre of protesters. His
[00:17:27] trial is still ongoing.
[00:17:29] August
[00:17:33] 5th was a happy day for everyone.
[00:17:43] We comfort ourselves with the thought that my brother's
[00:17:47] sacrifice and blood helped free
[00:17:50] the country from oppression and build
[00:17:54] a new
[00:17:55] country.
[00:18:01] I can only hope that people
[00:18:05] cling to hope without
[00:18:21] Miraj getting the justice he
[00:18:24] deserves.
[00:18:28] When I think about those events, tears
[00:18:30] come to my eyes.
[00:18:33] We lost so many brothers. We regained
[00:18:37] our independence, and I no longer feel afraid.
[00:18:40] The fear I had is completely gone. Now
[00:19:51] , the use of technology by young people to launch
[00:19:54] major movements is nothing new. The Arab
[00:19:58] Spring and the Occupy Wall Street movement in the 2010s
[00:20:01] relied on Twitter for information. But for this generation,
[00:20:05] who grew up with smartphones and in quarantine, platforms
[00:20:09] like Instagram and TikTok are so much a part of their daily
[00:20:13] lives that they are considered a fundamental right, and
[00:20:16] government efforts to control and restrict access to them
[00:20:20] have been met with explosive
[00:20:22] reactions.
[00:20:24] And now we go to Indonesia and the northern coast of Java,
[00:20:28] where villages are quietly disappearing due to land
[00:20:32] subsidence and the gradual advance of seawater inland.
[00:20:35] Experts
[00:20:47] are dealing with this situation.
[00:20:57] Along the northern coast of Java, the sea is devouring
[00:21:00] villages. Java, Indonesia's most populous
[00:21:04] island, hosts more than half of the country's
[00:21:07] 284 million population, and accounts for more
[00:21:10] than 55% of the country's economy.
[00:21:12] Ningsih
[00:21:15] has lived in Yeritanutan her entire
[00:21:18] life.
[00:21:21] What was once a quiet fishing village has become
[00:21:25] deserted as its neighborhoods have been completely
[00:21:27] submerged.
[00:21:30] When I was young, before I got married,
[00:21:33] there was no such flooding. It was
[00:21:36] dry here.
[00:21:40] But over the years, things have gotten
[00:21:44] worse and worse.
[00:21:46] This village is one of several struggling with
[00:21:50] severe land subsidence caused by decades of excessive groundwater
[00:21:54] extraction. It has also been affected by rising
[00:21:57] sea levels for years. Ningsih has witnessed
[00:22:01] floods destroying roads, engulfing homes, and forcing
[00:22:05] many families to leave the area. Her
[00:22:09] family decided to stay, but this
[00:22:12] is what they face every day. When the
[00:22:15] high tide comes, the water rises
[00:22:18] up to here. Everything is underwater,
[00:22:21] even inside the rooms. It usually starts rising
[00:22:25] around 1 or 2 PM and recedes around
[00:22:29] 3 or 4 AM. On the northern coast of Java,
[00:22:32] more than 30 million people live in areas at risk
[00:22:36] of being submerged. Factories and industrial areas have
[00:22:40] replaced mangrove forests and fish farms, accelerating
[00:22:44] a gradual catastrophe already exacerbated by climate
[00:22:47] change. Experts warn that by
[00:22:50] 2050, a large part of these coasts
[00:22:54] may be submerged. The government is now building
[00:22:57] a massive defense system, including a 500-kilometer
[00:23:00] sea wall and giant pumps to contain
[00:23:04] the sea. But critics say these
[00:23:07] measures may not be enough, especially with
[00:23:10] continued development and coastal land reclamation.
[00:23:14] Nearly 300 kilometers from Ningsih's village
[00:23:18] in the coastal city of Kendal, a man is trying
[00:23:21] to save his home from erosion. Mangrove
[00:23:25] roots protect the coast from erosion and storms
[00:23:28] and provide breeding grounds for fish and
[00:23:32] shrimp. Kendal has experienced the
[00:23:35] worst coastal erosion since
[00:23:39] around 2019. That's
[00:23:41] when we really felt the severe
[00:23:44] impact. Why did this happen? Then
[00:23:47] it became clear. The
[00:23:50] problem was land use change. Coastal
[00:23:53] areas were converted into industrial areas
[00:23:57] and their use changed. Factories
[00:24:00] and ports built in the Kendal industrial area
[00:24:04] have long been accused of destroying coastal
[00:24:07] mangrove forests, a claim officials deny. They
[00:24:11] say land subsidence was a serious problem
[00:24:14] long before the factories were built. But with
[00:24:18] the loss of natural barriers,
[00:24:22] the sea began to swallow the land. The government
[00:24:25] has denied the claim that industrial areas
[00:24:29] are the root cause of the problem, saying
[00:24:32] that the subsidence of Java's coastal areas
[00:24:36] is primarily a natural process. However, Wasito has witnessed
[00:24:39] this destruction firsthand and decided to take
[00:24:42] action. When the first trees grew
[00:24:46] and gradually filled the surrounding area,
[00:24:50] the locals were excited and joined
[00:24:53] me. When I saw the trees grow
[00:24:57] and the sand stopped there, I realized these
[00:25:01] trees could stop the waves and prevent
[00:25:04] erosion. Since 2006, Wasito
[00:25:07] and his neighbors have planted thousands of mangrove trees,
[00:25:10] creating a living wall to prevent the sea
[00:25:14] from advancing. This forest now stretches along
[00:25:18] the coast, protecting people's homes and livelihoods.
[00:25:22] But with further land development, the remaining
[00:25:25] mangrove areas are rapidly disappearing. If the
[00:25:28] entire coast becomes industrialized, the
[00:25:31] remaining protected
[00:25:33] areas will need special
[00:25:35] attention. Otherwise, the damage will
[00:25:39] not be limited
[00:25:40] to the coastline.
[00:25:43] As sea levels continue to rise and the consequences
[00:25:47] of climate change intensify, coastal communities
[00:25:50] in Java's subsiding areas are striving to
[00:25:53] protect their land.
[00:25:56] Thank you for joining me in Madagascar. We look
[00:26:00] forward to your comments
[00:26:02] on Global Eye. Write to us on social media
[00:26:06] with the hashtag #BBCGlobalEye. Next week we will be
[00:26:09] with you from Peru. Goodbye.
[00:27:30] on Aparat.
[00:27:47] As people in Iran deal with unstable and expensive
[00:27:50] internet, another concern has been added for many.
[00:27:54] What if the US, which has started to lift some
[00:27:58] sanctions waivers for Iran, also lifts waivers related
[00:28:01] to technology and electronic communications? What's the story?
[00:28:05] Over the years, the US government has imposed various sanctions
[00:28:08] on Iran, but for some of them that significantly
[00:28:12] affect the Iranian people's use, it has granted
[00:28:16] waivers. Meaning, it first imposed the sanction, then
[00:28:19] said, "For now, we won't implement this part." For
[00:28:23] example, regarding security certificates, which are very
[00:28:26] important for services related to financial transactions,
[00:28:30] or even regarding Iranian users' access to many free services provided by American technology companies, such as Google services.
[00:28:47] The Iranian user is caught between foreign sanctions
[00:28:50] and domestic inefficiencies. On one hand, foreign
[00:28:53] sanctions have affected the user, and on
[00:28:57] the other hand, inefficient domestic services,
[00:29:00] wrong policies, lack of proper
[00:29:02] decision-making, and unpreparedness for critical
[00:29:06] situations. With rising tensions between Iran and the US
[00:29:10] in recent weeks, Donald Trump's government has lifted
[00:29:14] similar waivers, including those related to educational
[00:29:17] and cultural affairs. Consequently, Iranians can no longer
[00:29:20] participate in many foreign language proficiency tests,
[00:29:24] a requirement for anyone who wants to immigrate,
[00:29:28] especially for further education. This has also
[00:29:31] heightened concerns about the possibility of technology
[00:29:35] sanctions being imposed on Iranians. For
[00:29:39] many years, we have been grappling with this
[00:29:42] issue of sanctions and the internet in Iran because
[00:29:45] there have been sanctions, and then they came
[00:29:49] and issued permits to say that you can,
[00:29:52] for example, have access and such, but as soon
[00:29:56] as there is a war, as soon
[00:29:59] as a political dispute occurs,
[00:30:03] this access to the internet and online
[00:30:07] services is jeopardized because, unfortunately,
[00:30:11] these permits are not enough. It always
[00:30:14] affects the ordinary person who is
[00:30:17] behind their computer and wants
[00:30:48] days? How are
[00:30:50] you able to connect? If you can connect at all, how much has this internet connection been fragile and exhausting for you, or perhaps it hasn't made much difference to you? Write to me. And now on BBC Persian Television, current issues.