Protesters in Bangladesh on Monday demanded the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s resignation, preparing to return to the streets of Dhaka as security forces patrolled the capital.
This follows the deadliest day of unrest since demonstrations began in July.
Analysts are concerned that the violence could surpass that of Sunday when hundreds of thousands of protesters and government supporters clashed with sticks and knives across the country. Security forces responded with rifle fire.
In Dhaka, soldiers and police barricaded routes to Hasina’s office with barbed wire to enforce a curfew that started Sunday evening, according to AFP reporters.
Mobile internet access was heavily restricted nationwide, offices were closed, and over 3,500 garment factories crucial to the economy were shut down.
The protests, which started last month against civil service job quotas, have escalated into some of the most severe unrest of Hasina’s 15-year tenure, now calling for the 76-year-old leader to step down.
Asif Mahmud, a key leader in the nationwide civil disobedience campaign, stated, “We are calling on students and the public all over the country to march towards Dhaka. The time has come for the final protest.”
Sunday’s violence resulted in at least 94 deaths, including 14 police officers, many of whom were killed when protesters stormed a station in Enayetpur.
Since the protests began in early July, at least 300 people have died, according to an AFP tally from police, government officials, and hospital doctors.
United Nations rights chief Volker Turk condemned the violence, saying, “The shocking violence in Bangladesh must stop.”
Ali Riaz, a politics professor and Bangladesh expert at Illinois State University, expressed deep concern over the crisis, noting that Hasina was “digging her heels” in.
He described the situation as “an unprecedented popular uprising by all measures” and highlighted the unmatched ferocity of state actors and regime loyalists in history.
Protesters in Dhaka were seen destroying a statue of Hasina’s father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, with hammers, according to social media videos verified by AFP.
In many instances on Sunday, soldiers and police did not intervene to stop the protests, unlike previous rallies that ended in deadly crackdowns.
Videos verified by AFP showed demonstrators in Dhaka waving a Bangladeshi flag atop an armored car while soldiers watched.
Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Washington-based Wilson Center, remarked, “Let’s be clear: The walls are closing in on Hasina: She’s rapidly losing support and legitimacy.” He added, “The protests have taken on immense momentum, fuelled by raw anger but also by the confidence that comes with knowing that so much of the nation is behind them.”
In a significant rebuke of Hasina, former army chief General Ikbal Karim Bhuiyan, alongside other senior former officers, demanded the government “immediately” withdraw troops and allow protests, stating, “Those who are responsible for pushing people of this country to a state of such an extreme misery will have to be brought to justice.”
Current army chief Waker-uz-Zaman told officers on Saturday that the military “always stood by the people,” according to an official statement, though it did not explicitly state the army’s position on the protests.
The anti-government movement has drawn support from diverse segments of society in Bangladesh, a nation of about 170 million people, including film stars, musicians, and singers.
Prime Minister Hasina, who has ruled since 2009 and won her fourth consecutive election in January, faces accusations from rights groups of using state institutions to solidify her power and suppress dissent, including through extrajudicial killings of opposition activists.
The protests initially began over a quota scheme that reserved over half of all government jobs for specific groups. Despite the scheme being scaled back by Bangladesh’s top court, the protests have persisted.
