ENTRE News – Thousands of demonstrators including former military officers took to the streets asking Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign, Sunday (4/8). The demonstration initiated by Students Against Discrimination took place at Shabagh Square, Dhaka.
A number of former military officers also joined this student movement. Former military chief General Ikbal Karim Bhuiyan even changed his profile photo on Facebook to red. This is a sign of his support for the demonstrators. Bangladesh‘s current military chief Waker Uz Zaman conveyed the army’s support for the people in the presence of officers on Saturday evening.
“The Bangladesh Army is a symbol of the people’s faith,” said Zaman, quoted by AFP.
He then said, “The Bangladesh Army always supports the people and will act for the sake of the people and the country.”
The statement did not provide further details or explicitly whether the army supported today’s protests. This protest movement involved people from all walks of life in Bangladesh. They include young groups, film stars, musicians, singers and rappers. One of the action participants, Sakhawat, said this demonstration was not about job quotas.
“We want our next generation to be able to live freely in this country,” he said.
However, the demonstration in Bangladesh ended in chaos. There are pro-government groups who also took to the streets. Police said many of the protesters were carrying sticks.
“There were clashes between students and members of the ruling party,” said police inspector in Dhaka, Al Helal, quoted by AFP.
Al Helal also said two people were killed in Dhaka’s Munshiganj district.
“One of the victims died was hacked in the head and the other suffered a gunshot wound,” he said.
Another police officer said the entire city had turned into a battlefield. He also said that the demonstrators burned cars and motorbikes outside the hospital. Police and doctors reported six more deaths in the northern districts of Pabna and Rangpur, as well as in Magura in the west. Thus, the total death toll in this demonstration was eight people.
Before this demonstration broke out, Students Against Democracy stated that they would hold the demonstration peacefully. However, they also warned to make preparations if someone attacks. One of the protest leaders, Asif Mahmud, also asked his supporters to prepare.
“Prepare bamboo sticks and liberate Bangladesh,” wrote on Facebook.
Bangladesh has been in turmoil since last July. In previous large-scale demonstrations, the masses demanded that the government cancel the 30 percent quota for civil servants (PNS) for families of fighters. A number of parties consider this step to perpetuate Hasina’s power. The decision on the civil servant quota was then cancelled.
However, demonstrations returned to demand that Hasina resign. Hasina has ruled Bangladesh since 2009 and won her fourth consecutive general election this year. Human rights monitoring groups accuse Hasina’s government of abusing state institutions to maintain power, stamping out dissent, including through extrajudicial killings of the opposition.