After Hasina, Bangladesh students gun for prez

A prominent students’ organisation, which spearheaded the protests against Sheikh Hasina’s government in Bangladesh, on Tuesday staged demonstrations in Dhaka, demanding the removal of President Mohammed Shahabuddin over his comment on the resignation of the deposed prime minister.

In an interview with Bangla daily Manab Zamin last week, Shahabuddin said he does not have any documentary evidence of Hasina resigning as PM before she fled the country in August amidst student-led mass protests.

The Anti-discrimination Student Movement, which spearheaded the campaign that led to the ouster of Hasina, rallied in front of the Central Shaheed Minar here, demanding Shahabuddin’s resignation.

“The president is an ally of fascism. He was in favour of genocide. We demand his resignation,” Nasir Uddin Patwari, a protest leader, said.

Some of the protesters also said the president might face a campaign against him. A group of protesters under the banner of Shadhinota-Shorbobhoumotto Rokkha Committee (Committee to protect independence and sovereignty) also staged a sit-in protest at the Dhaka University campus, demanding Shahabuddin’s resignation and calling for the termination of the Constitution and the formation of a “revolutionary government”.

The protesters also demanded the disbanding of Hasina’s Awami League party and its allies from political activities. They later marched towards Bangabhaban, the president’s official residence. A prominent leader of the group, Rafiq Khan, called Shahabuddin a “culprit” as he was “unlawfully” appointed by “killer Hasina”.