Dhaka, August 07 (Siliguri Journal) – Anarchic violence swept across Bangladesh on Tuesday, targeting Awami League leaders and police, attacking minorities, and setting hotels and clubs ablaze. Many supporters of the former regime went into hiding or tried to flee the country.
As the chaos unfolded, a veteran journalist reported the death toll since Monday at 1,000. In response to the bloodshed, the country took initial steps towards forming an interim government, with President Mohammed Shahabuddin dissolving the parliament.
A senior officer in the President’s press office informed Bangladeshi media that a meeting on Tuesday evening decided that Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of the Grameen Bank, would lead the interim government.
A 13-member team from the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, which spearheaded the agitation that ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, met with President Shahabuddin, the three service chiefs, and two academics to outline the structure of the new administration.
The press officer stated that a decision on the composition of the new administration, tasked with restoring order and reviving the economy, would be made after consulting political parties.
The announcement, made about five-and-a-half hours after the meeting began, highlighted that reaching a consensus on the interim government’s composition would be the biggest challenge in post-Hasina Bangladesh.
Another source mentioned a potential sticking point: Yunus reportedly wants three to six years at the helm of the interim government, while the BNP, the main opposition party, prefers elections within three to four months.
“When the students who sacrificed so much are requesting me to step in at this difficult juncture, how can I refuse?” Yunus told Bangladeshi media, signaling his willingness to guide the nation through this challenging period.
Several people from Bangladesh told The Telegraph they were living in fear as law enforcement had nearly disappeared and the army had returned to the barracks, allowing vandals to run amok.
“It’s free for all now…. At least 100 policemen have been killed in less than 24 hours, and their arms stolen. Revenge killing is going on everywhere,” the chief editor of a popular news channel told to The Telegraph correspondent.
“I can’t give you an exact count, but the death toll in the last 36 hours would not be less than 1,000.”
Multiple sources from regions like Chandpur, Meherpur, Comilla, Jessore, Faridpur, and Satkhira echoed the veteran journalist’s concerns, describing how the absence of law enforcement left them, especially minorities, vulnerable.
Reports detailed the torching of hotels, popular clubs, and the Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre in Dhaka, along with attacks on the offices and homes of Awami League leaders. Some media outlets highlighted efforts by student leaders to restore order and appeal for the protection of minorities.
Several student leaders appeared on news channels, blaming the “ousted fascists and their collaborators” for the violence and vandalism.
“We are working on a plan for a new beginning and are confident that the interim government will address all the issues and stabilise the country,” said Asad Ronny, one of the coordinators of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement.
Opposition parties like the BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami, and the Jatiya Party, along with hard-line religious organizations and civil society members, have united under the patronage of the armed forces to form a new government. However, the student leaders have emerged as the central force in these efforts.
The challenges of navigating a new direction for the country became evident amid reports that student leaders were unhappy with the BNP’s demand to appoint the party’s acting chairperson, Tareq Rahman, who has been exiled in London since 2008, as the head of the interim government.
“We fought the fascist regime of Hasina, we lost our brothers and friends…. The interim government will have to be formed along the outline provided by us. We won’t let the political parties, be it the BNP or the Jatiya Party, dictate terms,” Ronny told this newspaper in the afternoon.
A source within the student camp accused the BNP of stalling the deliberations on forming the interim government. Additionally, the army chief, General Waqar-uz-Zaman, faced criticism from some student leaders for his role in the process.
“He involved the BNP and extremist forces like the Jamaat and Hefazat-e-Islam in the process, which we didn’t approve of…. Nor do we want an interim government that would be under army supervision,” a student source said.
“If the interim government contains BNP elements, a fresh movement will start,” he said. “The BNP and the Awami League are two sides of the same coin. We want a fresh start with people without baggage.”
He added that the prolonged meeting at the President’s residence, Bangabhaban, highlighted the difficulties in reaching a consensus on the new government.
Some potential members of the new government, whose names have been circulating in Dhaka’s political circles, have had connections with the BNP and Jamaat. “Keeping them out of any formation would be difficult,” a student leader said.
Hasina uncertainty
With the UK government yet to decide on her asylum request, Hasina’s next destination remains uncertain. “The file is still with the (UK) Home Department, but her application is unlikely to be accepted,” a source said, adding that Hasina had begun exploring asylum options in a Gulf country.
Reports indicated a scramble among Awami League leaders to leave the country to escape revenge killings. Two of Hasina’s trusted aides, former foreign minister Hasan Mahmud and junior ICT minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak, were detained at Shahjalal International Airport while trying to flee the country.
“They will kill us if we stay on…. I too am trying to leave the country,” a former minister told to The Telegraph correspondent in a shaky voice from Dhaka.
