Roving Periscope: Yunus visits Dhakeshwari temples; court books Hasina for murder
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: A week after she fled the country she led for over 15 years, former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed has begun to face music from those who toppled her government: a murder case.
Aping Pakistan’s kangaroo courts, a Bangladesh court has ordered a probe in a murder case allegedly involving Sheikh Hasina and six others, the media reported on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Nobel Peace Laureate Muhammad Yunus, who took charge as the chief advisor to the interim government on August 8, visited the famous Dhakeshwari Temple in the national capital to assuage the hurt sentiments of the harassed minority, after Islamists, led by Jamaat-i-Islami, destroyed over 280 religious places and establishments of the Hindus, and killed and raped many, across 48 districts of the South Asian nation within a week. Yunus also met representatives of Hindu students and community leaders to reassure them of safety and security soon.
The anti-Hindu pogrom triggered worldwide outrage as the Hindus staged anti-Bangladesh demonstrations in several countries, including India, forcing the new Home Minister-in-charge, Sakhawat Hossain, to apologize to the Hindu community for not being able to protect them. He said the Muslim majority must protect the Hindu minority, acknowledging a failure.
A week after she fled to India, a murder case has been filed against Bangladesh’s ousted Prime Minister and six others over the death of one Abu Sayed, a grocery shop owner, during July’s violent clashes. His July 19 death in police firing in Dhaka’s Mohammedpur area sparked countrywide outrage and led to the fall of her government, the Daily Star reported. He died when police shot indiscriminately at students and common people during the quota protests.
This is the first to be filed against Hasina, 76, after she resigned and fled to India last week following widespread protests against her political outfit Awami League-led government over a controversial job quota system.
Hasina’s former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader have also been booked. In addition, former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, former DB chief Harun ur-Rashid, former DMP Commissioner Habibur Rahman, and former DMP joint commissioner Biplob Kumar Sarker have also been accused.
Sheikh Hasina had to flee Dhaka on Monday last following explosive protests led by the students’ wing of Jamaat-i-Islami. The protests that began in early July were initially peaceful but soon turned violent as Islamist forces reportedly infiltrated the students’ protests.
The interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus took charge as chief advisor (equal to prime minister) on August 8.
Amir Hamza Shatil, a resident of Mohammadpur, filed the case against Hasina and others with the Court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate. In his complaint, Shatil mentioned that Abu Sayeed was killed in indiscriminate police firing on Julu 19, on the directive of the IGP and the then Home Minister. The complainant was not close to the victim, but being a Bangladeshi citizen, he filed the case voluntarily, the report said.
In the weeks of turmoil before her overthrow, more than 450 people lost their lives across Bangladesh.
Shatil said that, by Bangladeshi law, police must accept “the murder case against the accused persons,” as directed by the Dhaka Metropolitan Court.
The four senior police officers were all appointed by the Hasina government but had left their positions after the turmoil.
Numerous human rights violations, including the extrajudicial execution of Hasina’s political rivals, were attributed to her government. Three days after her overthrow, Yunus returned from Europe to lead a provisional government tasked with enacting significant democratic reforms.
The 84-year-old is recognized for lifting millions of Bangladeshis out of abject poverty and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his groundbreaking work in microfinance.
As “Chief adviser” to a caretaker government consisting of all, except retired Brigadier-General Sakhawat Hossain, who serves as home minister, he assumed office and declared his intention to hold elections “within a few months.”
Hossain declared on Monday that the Awami League, led by Hasina, would not be prohibited by the government. As per reports, he said, “The party has made many contributions to Bangladesh — we don’t deny this. When the election comes, (they should) contest the elections.”
