DHAKA:
Thousands of students gathered in Bangladesh on Thursday to mark the one-month anniversary of the fall of longtime former prime minister Sheikh Hasina after deadly protests.
Students, teachers and families of those killed in the riots took part in the ‘March for Martyrs’ holding the national flag and chanting slogans such as ‘Blood of martyrs is our strength’.
The anti-government protests began in July as a student-led movement against public sector job quotas and escalated into a national uprising against Hasina.
More than 1,000 people have died in the unrest, which forced Hasina to resign and flee to India on August 5, shortly before her official residence was stormed by mobs. The violence continued for several days after her escape.
An interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus replaced Hasina’s administration, with a mandate to restore stability after the country’s deadliest violence since independence in 1971, implement reforms and hold new parliamentary elections.
Yunus urged the students to continue their studies.
“Schools, colleges and universities have reopened and I encourage you to return to your classrooms. A well-educated and capable generation is essential to securing the gains of the revolution,” Yunus said in a statement marking the anniversary of the fall.
“Hundreds of students and people from all walks of life made the ultimate sacrifice for one of the most glorious revolutions in history,” he added.
Amir Ali, whose son was killed during the protests, said his child’s name was not on the official list of martyrs. “I came here to honor my son and the victory achieved through his sacrifice,” he said as he joined others in commemorating the martyrs.
Nahid Islam, 26, a key protest organizer who now serves in Yunus’ cabinet, said: “We have a new Bangladesh in exchange for their blood. We are alive for them. Freedom of speech is back.”
Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal resigned on Thursday following widespread resignations and appointments by the new government. The administration has forced out the chief justice, the governor of the central bank and the police chief who oversaw the student crackdown.
The United Nations human rights office announced last Friday that it would send a fact-finding mission to Bangladesh at the request of the interim government to investigate alleged human rights violations during the recent deadly violence.
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