Massive Protests In Bangladesh As BNP Demands Elections By December
The BNP had earlier threatened to withdraw support to Chief Advisor of the Interim Government Muhammad Yunus if polls are delayed.
New Delhi: Massive protests rocked Bangladesh on Wednesday with thousands of supporters of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) holding rallies in Dhaka to pressurise the country's interim government to hold general elections by December this year. Yunus led interim government is also facing protests, on a daily basis, from civil servants, school teachers and employees at the national revenue service on different issues. Besides, the business bodies too have upped the ante criticising Yunus over the weakening of the economy and labour unrest.
People have also been demanding reforms in various areas like election, judiciary, clean up of the government which has not taken place despite ten months of Yunus in the chief advisor’s seat. People in Bangladesh view this as delaying tactics in order to hold on to the top post for a longer period.
The BNP had earlier threatened to withdraw support to Chief Advisor of the Interim Government Muhammad Yunus if polls are delayed. However, Yunus, who is touring Japan, on Wednesday reiterated from Tokyo that polls will be held by June 2026 at all cost.
Wednesday's rally took place in the backdrop of political tensions between Yunus and his advisors on one side and Army and political parties like the BNP on the other. Yunus last week threatened to quit after the Army chief urged for an election by December this year. The BNP has termed Yunus' resignation threat as “drama” and added hat the country wants elections not resignations as the people have seen enough drama.
Discontent has been growing in Bangladesh due to delay in general elections. The political parties and the general people believe that the interim government was set up to stabilise the volatile situation and the unrest in the country at the time former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country. However, with the situation under control now, the people of Bangladesh, Army which has been handed over the job of policing, and the political parties are now pressuring Yunus to declare elections. The Army chief had made it clear that the force needs to go back to the barracks and not be on roads to manage day to day law and order though Yunus’s team has stressed that the government and Army are working together and are not at odds.
On Wednesday political workers and students linked to the BNP gathered on the streets outside its party headquarters, under heightened security. The BNP's acting chairman, Tarique Rahman, addressed the rally through video conferencing from London, where he is in exile. On Wednesday Tarique Rahman and his wife Zubaida Rahman were acquitted in a case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) over alleged accumulation of wealth beyond known sources of income.
“Excuses are already being made regarding the national elections. Even after 10 months, the interim government has not announced an election date,” Bangladesh media house Prothom Alo quoted Tarique as saying. Addressing the government, he said, "Begin preparations to ensure that the national elections are held by December," Tarique was reported to be saying.
Addressing people BNP Standing Committee member Mirza Abbas alleged that the majority of members in the interim government are not citizens of Bangladesh, and questioned the government's actions saying, "What are you doing with Saint Martin's Island, the corridors, and Starlink? Do you think we don't understand? We do. Don't take the people of this country for fools," Daily Star reported. He added that the interim government was causing more damage to the country than the Awami League.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal’s chief prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam disclosed during a hearing before the tribunal that Sheikh Hasina was adamant against resigning in August last year and had told the Armed forces officers to shoot her and bury in Ganabhaban when advised to quit, Daily Star reported. It quoted Islam saying that Hasina even ordered the Army to use choppers to fire bullets on protesters as they marched to Dhaka. She finally stepped down after her son spoke to her.
According to Tajul Islam, Daily Star reported. then Parliament speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury had suggested Hasina to step down during the uprising but senior leaders of Awami League opposed the idea. Daily Star reported Tajul Islam told the tribunal that Sheikh Rehana, Hasina’s younger sister, also tried to persuade her to step down but Hasina remained adamant until military leaders reached out to her son, Sajeeb Wazed Joy.
