2013 Shapla Square protests

2013 Shapla Square protests
Part of 2013 Bangladesh violence
Date	5 May 2013 – 6 May 2013 (1 day)
Location	Dhaka
Caused by	2013 Bangladesh violence
Goals	Enactment of blasphemy law; Stopping criticism of Islam.
Methods	Sit-in occupation of Shapla Square
Resulted in	Protesters barricading the Shapla Square shot Reports of deaths of protesters in Shapla Square Dozens of protesters killed on the morning of 6 May in Narayanganj and Bagerhat; Diganta Television and Islamic TV shut down.
Parties
Government of Bangladesh Bangladesh Police Rapid Action Battalion Awami League Bangladesh Chhatra League[1][2] Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh
Lead figures
Sheikh Hasina Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir Benazir Ahmed Ahmad Shafi
Casualties
Death(s)	93 killed (Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh claims) 10-12 (government claims) 53-61 (Independent sources)[6]

The Shapla Square protests, known as the siege of Dhaka, Shapla Square massacre, also called as the Operation Shapla, Operation Flash Out by security forces,^[2] was the protests and subsequent shootings of protesters on 5 and 6 May 2013 at Shapla Square, located in the Motijheel district, the main financial area of Dhaka, Bangladesh.^[7] The protests were organized by the Islamist advocacy group, Hefazat-e Islam, who were demanding the enactment of a blasphemy law.^[7][8][9] The government responded to the protests by cracking down on the protesters using a combined force drawn from the police, Rapid Action Battalion and paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh to drive the protesters out of Shapla Square.^{[10][11][12][13]}

Following the events at Motijheel, protests in other parts of the country also broke out, during which 27 people died,^[14][15][16] although different sources report casualty numbers ranging from 20 to 61.^{[14][15][16][17][18][19]} The opposition party BNP initially claimed thousands of Hefazat activists were killed during the operation, but this was disputed by the government.^[20][21] Human Rights Watch and other human rights organizations put the total death toll at above 50.^[20][5] Initial attempts to dispute the chain of events were thwarted due to the government closure of two television channels, Diganta Television and Islamic TV, which were live telecasting the operation.^[22][23]