Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina issued a call Tuesday from self-exile in India for an investigation into those responsible for killings of students and others during weeks of violent protests in Bangladesh that prompted her ouster.
Hasina, who stepped down and fled Bangladesh on Aug. 5 after student activists led an uprising against her government, is herself accused of responsibility for much of the deadly violence, and activists have demanded that she be put on trial.
In a statement posted on the social media platform X by her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy, Hasina said she wanted an investigation and demanded “punishment for those responsible for the killings and sabotage." It was her first public statement since leaving the country.
More than 300 people were killed in unrest that started July with protests against a quota system for government jobs that later morphed into a movement against what was considered Hasina's increasingly autocratic administration.
Some of the violence pitted student activists against pro-government student and youth groups and police, and many of those who died were among the student activists. However, Hasina's statement underlined that police officers, members of her Awami League political party, bystanders and others also were victims of what she described as “terrorist aggression.” She previously has blamed opposition parties for stoking the unrest.
Earlier Tuesday, police launched a murder investigation in what was expected to be the first of several cases accusing Hasina and other government officials of responsibility for deaths during the violence.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right, talks with his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina at the Indian presidential palace in New Delhi, India, Saturday, June 22, 2024. Hasina is on a two day state visit to India.(Manish Swarup / AP Photo)
Hasina’s statement came as the country’s interim government on Tuesday canceled a public holiday that she had declared for Thursday to mark the death of her father, Bangladesh’s independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He was killed along with most of his family in 1975 in a military coup. Hasina and her younger sister were out of the country at the time.
The cancellation came at the request of at least seven political parties, including the main previous opposition group, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. After Hasina's downfall on Aug. 5, demonstrators set fire to her father's house, now a museum, in Dhaka.
Despite all that, Hasina urged people in her statement to observe the holiday “with proper dignity.”
The case launched Tuesday involved the killing of a grocery shop owner in July. S.M. Amir Hamza, described as a “well-wisher” of grocery store owner Abu Sayeed, filed the case at the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Rajesh Chowdhury. Hamza said Sayeed was killed on July 19 amid clashes during the student-led uprising, and that he filed the case because Sayeed’s family did not have the capacity to seek justice.
Hasina was named as a suspect in the petition along six other people including former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, General Secretary of then ruling Awami League party Obaidul Quader, and top police officials.
The Dhaka court asked the Mohammadpur Police Station to register the case. Police will now investigate the case and file a report to the court.
The uprising forced Hasina to leave office and flee to India, ending a 15-year rule that turned increasingly autocratic, her critics say.
Army personnel stand guard in front of Shahbagh Police Station, near Dhaka University in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. (Rajib Dhar / AP Photo)
An interim government is now running the country. On Thursday, Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel peace laureate, was sworn in as interim leader. Sixteen people, including two student protest leaders and others drawn mainly from civil society, were included in his interim Cabinet.
The new Cabinet members were chosen after talks between student leaders, civil society representatives and the military.
Hasina and her party’s many top leaders have either gone into hiding or have been barred from leaving the country.
Peaceful protests by students began in July against a quota system for government jobs that critics said favored people with connections to Hasina’s party.
Hasina, 76, was elected to a fourth consecutive term in January, but the vote was boycotted by her main opponents, with thousands of opposition activists detained beforehand. The U.S. and U.K. denounced the result as not credible. Hasina’s critics say her administration increasingly was marked by human rights abuses and corruption.
The chaos on Bangladesh’s streets continued after her resignation. Dozens of police officers were killed, prompting police to stop working across the country. Police officers have gradually returned to work.
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