Chaos continues in Bangladesh as authorities scramble to bring law and order under control

PTI, Dhaka, Aug 7, 2024 :  Students carried out traffic management as volunteers for the second consecutive day on Wednesday in Bangladesh, as a top police official called on every member of the police force to resume their duties gradually and maintain law and order.

     

Chaos reigned supreme in Bangladesh after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government on Monday, with police absent from their duty to keep law and order or manage traffic, local media reports said.

Additional Inspector General of Police (AIG) A K M Shahidur Rahman, who was appointed as the focal person of the Bangladesh Police on Tuesday to handle the current crisis, called on every member of the police force to resume their duties gradually and maintain public safety and law and order.

The students, including members of Bangladesh Scouts, were seen controlling the traffic movement at several places, the Dhaka Tribune newspaper reported.

     

"The police are friends of the people and work for the public. We cannot imagine a society without the police. Therefore, I request our police members once again to ignore rumours and return to their duties in a phased manner, ensuring that security arrangements are properly in place," said Rahman, who has now been appointed as the Director General of RAB in a fresh reshuffle on Wednesday.

     

There were reports of attacks on police stations and facilities across the country on Tuesday, resulting in numerous police casualties, which have led to this unprecedented situation, the newspaper said.

     

The authorities reconstituted the top positions of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) on Wednesday. “AKM Shahidur Rahman has been appointed as Director General of RAB while Md Mainul Hasan will replace Habibur Rahman as the commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police,” news portal Prothom Alo said.

     

The reshuffle comes hours after President Mohammed Shahabuddin appointed Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus as the head of an interim government on Tuesday night.

     

Attorney General Advocate Abu Mohammad Amin Uddin, who was appointed in October 2020, resigned on Wednesday.

     

Meanwhile, businesses on Wednesday demanded immediate restoration of law and order to ensure the safety of their production units amid incidents of arson attacks on factories over the last two days.

     

They said they opened factories today, particularly the garment units, but many cannot run properly fearing unrest and vandalism, the Daily Star newspaper reported, citing a press conference by the International Chamber of Commerce, Bangladesh (ICC-B).

     

Six top officials of Bangladesh Bank including Deputy Governor Kazi Sayedur Rahman resigned as unrest erupted at Bangladesh Bank on Wednesday, the second day after offices reopened, the Dhaka Tribune reported.

     

It said that more than a hundred officials of Bangladesh Bank stormed the bank governor's office, forcing several deputy governors to leave the office claiming the duo was helping the bank looters.

     

Bodies of at least 29 supporters of Hasina’s Awami League party were recovered across the country through Tuesday, taking the overall death toll to 469 in almost three weeks since the protest first started in July over a quota system in government jobs.

     

Media reports also flagged more and more cases of violence against minorities surfacing through Tuesday, prominent among them being the massive vandalism and destruction at popular folk band Joler Gaan’s frontman Rahul Ananda's residence on Monday prompting the singer and his family to take shelter at a secret place.

     

The Daily Star quoted Saiful Islam Jarnal, one of Joler Gaan's founding members who described that the mob after breaking the main gate, started ravaging the house taking whatever they could find for themselves - from furniture, mirrors to valuables and then torched the whole house along with Rahul Anand's over 3,000 musical instruments, which he designed and made over the years. 

Meanwhile, Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman said Nobel laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus-led interim government in Bangladesh will take oath on Thursday. 

Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, General Waker said the interim government is likely to be sworn in at 8 pm on Thursday. He also said the advisory council may have 15 members. 

Yunus, the 84-year-old economist, was on Tuesday appointed as the head of interim government by President Mohammed Shahabuddin, a day after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country following deadly protests against her government over a controversial quota system in jobs.