As dawn approached on Saturday morning of July 20, 2024 a disturbing scene unfolded in Monsur Nagar Housing Estate in Savar upazila, on the outskirts of Dhaka. Some eight to 10 plainclothes men identifying themselves as being from the detective branch (DB) of Bangladesh Police, surrounded the home of Abul Khair, a 70-year-old, who had fought in the 1971 war for freedom. The officers, armed and aggressive, began shouting and demanded that Khair open the gate, threatening to break it down if he did not. Soon, they forcefully entered, seized the family’s phones and detained Khair’s two sons, Arif Sohel, 27, and Mohammad Ali Jowel.

While Jowel was released, Sohel went missing for the next 36 hours. No police station the family approached denied his detention; nor did they show his arrest, says the family. He was allegedly beaten up and not given food. For this brief spell, the family says Sohel was another victim of ‘enforced disappearance’, a common tactic the people of Bangladesh say the former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government used, to suppress dissent. Then, he was officially shown as arrested and placed on a seven-day remand in a case his family says is fabricated. Sohel’s father says, “The behavior of the law enforcement agencies was similar to that of the Pakistani military during the Liberation War.”

Sohel is a student and convener of the Jahangir Nagar University of Students Against Discrimination movement that swept the country from July 1. The students were protesting the June 5 Dhaka Supreme Court ruling to reinstate a 30% government job quota for descendants of 1971 independence war veterans (the quota had been withdrawn in 2018).

Student unrest

Like many other movements across the world, including India’s Mandal Commission and China’s Tiananmen square, students across Bangladesh took to the streets in the thousands. They demanded the abolition of the quota and the establishment of a merit-based system instead. Underlying the anti-quota protests though, was the fear that members of the Awami League, the political party that led Bangladesh’s independence movement against Pakistan, would benefit.

The student protests were met with a brutal reaction from the government. Citizens went through raids, in which thousands of students, opposition leaders, and others were arrested for their alleged involvement in the Students Against Discrimination movement. A curfew was imposed on the midnight of July 19. Images of the army and police firing on students came out of the country, with India saying this was Bangladesh’s “internal matter”, the same way that Hasina’s government had described India’s Citizenship Amendment Act in 2022. In fact, Hasina was the first state guest to visit India after the Bharatiya Janata Party government came to power for a third term this year.

When violence broke out, about 300 Indian students who had been pursuing MBBS degrees, returned home. The internet was cut, and it was difficult to reach friends and relatives. So far, 439 people have died in the violence, as per Prothom Alo, a leading newspaper in Bangladesh.

Under pressure from students, the Supreme Court scaled back the quota on July 21 to 5%, with an additional 2% for ethnic minorities. Sifat Hasan Sakib, one of the organisers from Dhaka’s government-run Jagannath University, says, “We fought against discrimination, and students won the fight, even at the cost of lives. We want a peaceful environment on university campuses, which has been absent for a long time due to the student wing of the Awami League, Bangladesh Chhatra League. Regular students’ union elections can play a crucial role in protecting the rights of students.”

Students say the Bangladesh Chhatra League dominates student life on campus, doling out privileges only to its members, and capturing posts that no other student organisation was allowed to hold. Abdullah Al Mamun, a recent graduate from the English Department of Dhaka College, expressed his frustration, saying, “There was no alternative but to take to the streets in protest…. Sheikh Hasina would often boast about economic development, but at the same time, she allowed Chhatra League to dismantle the education system in Bangladesh.”

He says the integrity of job examinations was severely compromised. “It was common for exam paper leaks. Moreover, the viva boards were biased, often favoring candidates affiliated with Chhatra League. This left general students with little hope of securing a job. The system was rigged against us.”

Bangladesh’s tipping point

Similar to how the 1857 uprising was sparked by a long history of disenchantment with British oppression, the students’ movement emerged from deep-seated political and social angst against authoritarianism and human rights violations. Thousands joined from across the country, and it was so strong it compelled Hasina to resign in the presence of the three service chiefs and flee the country, on August 5, 2024. The former Prime Minister, elected for the fifth time in January 2024, arrived in India and continues to be there, her future plans uncertain.

When she left her official residence, Ganabhaban, the public stormed its lavish premises. The world saw images of people making off with suitcases and deep freezers, but also goats, fish, and a German Shepherd pup. Statues of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Hasina’s father, considered the founding father of Bangladesh, were vandalised, the video going viral.

The army chief, General Waker-Uz-Zaman, called for peace, and on August 6, 2024 it was announced that Muhammad Yunus, the 84-year-old pioneer of microfinance who won the Nobel prize in 2006, would lead an interim government, with 16 advisers, including two student representatives. The Hasina government had filed over 200 cases against the Grameen Bank founder, for corruption.

It wasn’t just student politics that brought the Hasina government down. According to Bangladeshi human rights organisations, security forces have committed over 600 enforced disappearances since 2009. While some people were later released, produced in court, or said to have died during an armed exchange with security forces, nearly 100 people remain missing, they say.

These actions angered people. For instance, Brigadier General (suspended) Abdullahil Amaan Azmi was released from the detention centre known as Aynaghar (House of Mirrors), after eight years of captivity in the early hours of August 6. Azmi is the son of late Ghulam Azam, the former ameer (chief) of the Jamaat-e-Islami, a religion-based political party that was started in 1941 and has its roots in present-day Pakistan. He was allegedly forcibly picked up from his residence on August 23, 2016, and had since been missing. The Hasina government had repeatedly denied the existence of Aynaghar and 23 other detention camps, where political opponents were allegedly kept.

The Hasina government had, on August 1, 2024, banned the Jamaat-e-Islami, saying it was a threat to public security. The Jamaat is a key ally of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), who was then in jail on charges of corruption, but now released. “They (Jamaat and BNP) just used the students as their shield,” Hasina had said, when Italian Ambassador Antonio Alessandro called on her, news agency PTI reported.

The Jamaat’s central executive committee member and the party’s media and publicity secretary, Matiur Rahman Akanda, calls the 2024 election a “dummy election”.

After the fall of the Hasina regime, families of political prisoners secretly jailed under her rule have gathered in front of Director General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) headquarters. Sanjida Islam Tulee, co-founder of Mayer Dak, an organization of the families of the victims of ‘enforced disappearances’, says, “We have learnt from recently released former army officer Brigadier General Abdullahil Aman Azmi that there are many others in that Aynaghor. We went to the DGFI office to find out who is detained there and to talk about the issue.” They demand that the prisoners be released together instead of separately.

Media strangulation

The Bangladeshi media have often accused the government of stifling freedom of speech and assembly. According to a research paper by the Centre for Governance Studies (CGS), at least 451 journalists were sued under the Digital Security Act (DSA) since its inception and 255 of them were sued for their journalistic reports. Among the accused, 209 journalists are associated with national-level Bangladesh media and 197 with regional media outlets. The CGS found that at least 4,520 people have been charged in 1,436 cases filed between October 2018 and September 2023.

Raihan Hossain, a journalist from Jago News, an online news outlet in Bangladesh, says journalists in Bangladesh have faced huge challenges, particularly when reporting on sensitive issues like the extra-judicial killings, enforced disappearances, and the corruptions.

He says, “Journalists who dared to investigate and report on these issues often faced severe threats. The powers-that-be would go to great lengths to silence us, using intimidation and fear to prevent any negative coverage. It was a constant battle, and many of us were put in positions where our safety was at risk simply for trying to do our jobs.”

He adds that the situation was further complicated by the government’s blatant ‘favouritism’ for certain media outlets. “Newspapers that aligned with the government’s agenda were granted numerous facilities and privileges, while those that attempted to maintain journalistic integrity were often deprived of essential resources. This made it increasingly difficult for independent journalism to thrive, as the government’s influence over the media landscape created an environment where only the voices that supported the official narrative could prosper.”

A rise in minority violence

After Hasina’s fall, there has also been a rise in violence against the Hindu minority. According to Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC), 200-300 Hindu homes and businesses were vandalized, and 15-20 temples were damaged. Many have been injured.

Rana Dasgupta, the general secretary of the BHBCUC Oikya Parishad says, “Some of those whose homes were attacked may be directly involved in Awami League politics, but 98% are Hindus not involved in political activity.” He hopes the interim government will restore stability and protect minorities. Student and Jamaat leaders have put out statements asking supporters to guard temples and churches as diplomats and rights groups expressed concerns over reports of attacks on minority groups.

Monzurul Islam, president of the Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, says they do not consider any group a minority or majority in the country: “Everyone is equal,” he says, despite the group’s belief that the reason for Hasina’s political dominance in the country was India. Hindus, who form 8% of the population of over 17 crore, were traditionally Awami League supporters.

Photographer and human rights activist Shahidul Alam says, “India is effectively Bangladesh’s only neighbour. It is also a major trade partner. It makes no sense for Bangladesh not to have a cordial relationship with India.” He hopes though that a future relationship will be based on equality, rather than that of a ‘big brother’.

Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin (left) administers the oath of office to Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus as the leader of the country’s interim government at a ceremony in Dhaka on August 8, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AFP

A 17-member Bangladesh interim government under the leadership of Noble Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus took oath on Thursday (August 7, 2024), three days after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted and fled the country.

Bangladesh President Mohammad Shahabuddin administered the oath to the 84-year-old chief adviser Prof. Yunus at 9.20 p.m., followed by the Cabinet members, at a ceremony attended by politicians including BNP leader Mirza Fakhrul Islam, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami leader Amir Shafiqur Rahman and Jatiya Party chairman Ghulam Muhammed Quader, diplomats from the U.K., Japan, China, Philippines, Iran, Argentina, Qatar, The Netherlands and the UAE, civil society figures and senior civil and military officials at Bangabhaban Presidential Palace. Prof. Yunus reached Bangabhaban at 8.45 p.m. No one from the Awami League was seen at Bangabhaban.

Thirteen out of the 16 advisers of the interim government also took oath after Prof. Yunus. Theye were: Dr. Saleh Uddin Ahmed, Dr. Asif Nazrul, Adilur Rahman Khan, Hasan Arif, Tauhid Hossain, Syeda Rizwana Hasan, Brig. Gen. (retd.) M. Sakhawat Hossain, Farida Akhtar, Bidhan Ranjan Roy, Dr. A.F.M. Khalid Hossain, Nurjahan Begum, Sharmin Murshid, Nahid Islam (student representative) and Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan (students’ representative).

The other three advisers — Supradip Chakma, Bidhan Ranjan Roy and Farooqui Azam — were not present at the ceremony as they were outside of Dhaka that time.

As the Prime Minister’s Office and official residence Gono Bhaban remain in shambles, the State Guest House, Jamuna, will be the office and residence of Prof. Yunus.

A committee will be formed to assess the damage to these two important installations, and renovation will begin soon afterwards.

Earlier in the day, after landing in Bangladesh from a trip to France, Prof. Yunus, gave an emotional speech recalling the sacrifices made by students whose protests were met with a heavy-hand by the Hasina-led government.

At a press conference at the Dhaka airport, he addressed the people of Bangladesh as “one big family”, and said that the young protesters had given them a “new birth”. Also, he condemned the recent violence directed against the country’s religious minorities over the last two days.

“My first word to you is to protect the country from disorder. Protect it from violence so we can follow the path our students have shown us,” he said.

Restoring stability and stopping anarchy, arson, destructive activities has become forepoint in Bangladesh as attacks, looting and destructive activities persisted yesterday as well in many part of the country, in absence of government and enforcement agencies. 

However, the Bangladesh Army, alongside other armed forces and law enforcement agencies, decided to take strict action to stop the ongoing anarchy, arson attacks, and destructive activities across the country. 

Following the newly appointed Inspector-General of Police’s call to return to duty within 24 hours, some police personnel have started to report back, but many others are waiting for security assurances before returning to their posts. Many force members fear violent reprisals from the public after having opened fire on protesters and the general public under the Hasina regime.

During a regular briefing in Washington on Wednesday (August 7, 2024), Matthew Miller, the U.S. State Department spokesperson, said that the United States believes the interim government should respect democratic principles, the rule of law, and the will of the Bangladeshi people. Mr. Miller also mentioned that they think the interim government will play a vital role in establishing long-term peace and political stability in Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, Shamsus Sadat Selim, head of the APD Wing and additional secretary of the Ministry of Public Administration, confirmed that all contractual appointments of officials made during the tenure of the recently ousted Awami League government are set to be cancelled. Also, there is a growing demand to remove other officials who benefited from the last government’s tenure from key positions.

Bangladeshi Army officers stand guard at the Bangladesh Secretariat in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on August 7, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Several residents across Bangladesh spent a sleepless night as they gathered in groups to guard the streets amid fears of robbery and looting by criminals in the violence-hit country, where an interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus is all set to take oath on Thursday (August 8, 2024).

Also read: BSF stops entry of 120 people from Bangladesh

Security concerns have gripped the country since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s ouster on Monday as police observed a work abstention, citing fears for their safety amid reports of deadly attacks on security personnel.

Follow Bangladesh crisis LIVE Updates here

The Yunus-led interim government – appointed by President Mohammed Shahabuddin who had dissolved the parliament – is set to take oath in the evening after weeks of tumultuous student protests that forced Hasina to resign and flee the country.

The chaos and fear created by the deadly protests remained. Gangs of criminals have been looting and robbing homes in the absence of law enforcers over the last two days.

Many residents spent a sleepless night on Wednesday amid fears of robbery and looting. From one end of Dhaka to another, particularly Uttara to Mohammadpur, people were concerned about their safety.

Facebook users were posting in different groups and streaming live. Residents in many areas, including in Uttara and Mohammadpur, formed neighbourhood watch groups to stand guard, bdnews24.com news portal reported.

Nazvi Islam, a part-time teacher at Dhaka University and resident of Mohammadpur’s Bosila, said that robbers had terrorised the area on Tuesday night. Mosques were regularly making announcements, asking everyone to remain on alert.

On Wednesday night, residents gathered in groups to guard the streets with sticks and bats. Hundreds of students from the local madrasa also came to guard the area. After standing watch all night, they returned home in the morning. The students divided themselves into small groups and guarded the government buildings and public properties.

Zakirul Islam, a resident of Chanmia Housing in Mohammadpur, said guards were posted at the gates to the housing area on Wednesday night, but residents still could not sleep due to fear.

Abir Hossain, a resident of Mirpur-14, where many government officials live, says that everyone panicked when news spread that robbers had entered their housing complex.

“Last night, a group of people carrying local weapons came and attacked a neighbouring house. They forcefully opened the main gate and looted cash and jewellery,” The Daily Star newspaper quoted a resident of the Naboday Housing area as saying.

Many Facebook users posted or live-streamed videos of robbers attacking a building in the ECB Chattar area adjacent to the Mirpur cantonment. Sounds of Army patron sirens could be heard in the videos.

People posted on Facebook about the attacks and robberies throughout the night. Many have questioned where so many robbers had sprung up from.

Most ATMs were out of cash and even many bank branches were running low on cash as the money supply had been disrupted due to inadequate security, The Daily Star reported, citing bankers.

“Overall, I visited almost 10 booths but failed to withdraw a single penny. Either they had run out of money or restricted the use of ATM cards issued by other banks,” Nasir Hossain, a resident of the capital’s Dhanmondi area, was quoted as saying by the paper.

Managing Director of Pubali Bank Mohammad Ali said although there is no cash crisis in the banking sector, they have been unable to deliver money to booths and branches as security companies that transport money have halted services.

“The security agencies that carry our cash told us that they will not provide services in the current situation,” he said.

Hence, banks are struggling to supply money, especially to remote branches and booths, he added.

Meanwhile, political parties in the country discussed the structure of the interim Cabinet.

The anti-discrimination student movement has reportedly prepared a list of 15 names in the interim government. The list will be finalised after discussions with Yunus after he returns home on Thursday. According to multiple sources in the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the leaders of the student movement met BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir yesterday and discussed the list.

The anti-discrimination student movement has formed a liaison committee to discuss the list with various parties.

Bangladesh Nobel winner Muhammad Yunus said on Tuesday (August 6, 2024) he is ready to head a caretaker government, a day after the military took control as mass protests forced longtime ruler Sheikh Hasina to flee.

Microfinance pioneer Mr. Yunus, 84, is credited with lifting millions out of poverty — earning the enmity of ousted Ms. Hasina and the wide respect of millions of Bangladeshis.

“If action is needed in Bangladesh, for my country and for the courage of my people, then I will take it,” he told AFP in a statement, also calling for “free elections”, after student leaders called for him to lead an interim government.

Follow LIVE updates from the crisis in Bangladesh on August 06, 2024

Ms. Hasina, 76, had been in power since 2009 but was accused of rigging elections in January and then watched millions of people take to the streets over the past month demanding she quit.

Hundreds of people were killed as security forces sought to quell the unrest but the protests grew and Ms. Hasina finally fled aboard a helicopter on Monday (August 5, 2024) after the military turned against her.

Army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman announced on Monday (August 5, 2024) the military would form an interim government, saying it was “time to stop the violence”.

The president dissolved parliament on Tuesday (August 6, 2024), a key demand of the student leaders and the major opposition Bangladesh National Party (BNP), which has demanded elections within three months.

‘In Dr. Yunus we trust’

“In Dr. Yunus, we trust,” Asif Mahmud, a key leader of the Students Against Discrimination (SAD) group, wrote on Facebook.

The military on Tuesday (August 6, 2024) reshuffled several top generals, demoting some seen as close to Ms. Hasina, and sacking Ziaul Ahsan, a commander of the feared and US-sanctioned Rapid Action Battalion paramilitary force.

Ex-Prime Minister and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, 78, was also released from years of house arrest, a presidential statement and her party said.

Streets in the capital were largely peaceful on Tuesday (August 6, 2024) — with traffic resuming, shops opening and international flights resuming at Dhaka’s airport — but government offices were mainly closed a day after chaotic violence in which at least 122 people were killed.

Millions of Bangladeshis flooded the streets of Dhaka to celebrate after Gen. Waker’s announcement on Monday (August 5, 2024) — and jubilant crowds also stormed and looted Hasina’s official residence.

“We have been freed from a dictatorship”, said Sazid Ahnaf, 21, comparing the events to the independence war that split the nation from Pakistan more than five decades ago.

Deadliest day

Police said mobs had launched revenge attacks on Hasina’s allies and their own officers, as well as broke into a prison, releasing more than 500 inmates.

Monday (August 5, 2024) was the deadliest day since protests began in early July, with a further 10 people killed on Tuesday (August 6, 2024), taking the total toll overall to at least 432, according to an AFP tally based on police, government officials and doctors at hospitals.

Protesters broke into Parliament and torched TV stations. Others smashed statues of Ms. Hasina’s father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh’s independence hero.

Some businesses and homes owned by Hindus — a group seen by some in the Muslim-majority nation as close to Ms. Hasina — were also attacked, witnesses said.

Bangladeshi rights groups, as well as U.S. and European Union diplomats, said Tuesday (August 6, 2024) they were “very concerned” about reports of attacks on religious, ethnic and other minority groups.

Key police unions said their members had declared a strike “until the security of every member of the police is secured”, offering their “apology” for police actions against the protesters.

Key regional allies of Bangladesh, neighbouring India and China, both called for calm on Tuesday (August 6, 2024).

China hopes that “social stability can be restored in Bangladesh” soon, the Foreign Ministry in Beijing said on Tuesday (August 6, 2024), while Indian foreign minister S. Jaishankar said he was “deeply concerned till law and order is visibly restored”.

Political prisoners freed

The unrest began last month with protests against civil service job quotas and escalated into wider calls for Ms. Hasina to stand down.

Her government was accused by rights groups of misusing state institutions to entrench its hold on power and stamp out dissent, including through the extrajudicial killing of opposition activists.

Mothers of some of the hundreds of political prisoners secretly jailed under Hasina’s rule waited outside a military intelligence building in Dhaka on Tuesday (August 6, 2024).

“We need answers,” said campaigner Sanjida Islam Tulee.

The fate of Ms. Hasina, now in India, is also uncertain.

A source had said she wanted to go to London but calls by the British government for a U.N.-led investigation into the “unprecedented” violence put that in doubt.

Thomas Kean from the International Crisis Group said the new authorities faced a daunting challenge.

“The interim government that will now assume power… needs to embark on the long task of rebuilding democracy in Bangladesh, which has been so badly eroded in recent years,” he said.