DHAKA (AP) – Bangladesh’s interim government headed by Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus said it will contain vandalism and arson taking place across the country. The development comes amid concern from a major opposition party over attacks on a historic house linked to ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Mobs targeting supporters of Hasina have vandalised homes and businesses in various parts of the country since Wednesday night. Many of the establishments belonging to former lawmakers, Cabinet members and the leaders of Hasina’s Awami League party were set on fire, apparently as part of a coordinated campaign involving the former home of Bangladesh’s independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman – Hasina’s father – in Dhaka, the capital.
The interim government said Wednesday’s attack was sparked by Hasina for regularly making “provocative” remarks from exile to create instability in Bangladesh. The protesters started storming the house one hour before Hasina began to address her supporters from India.
Hasina fled the country to India on August 5, 2024 amid a student-led mass uprising that ended her 15-year rule.
Early on Friday, Yunus’ press office in a brief statement warned that stern actions would be taken against such acts of violence.
Late on Friday, another statement attributed to Yunus said the interim leader called on all citizens “to immediately restore complete law and order and to ensure there will be no further attacks on” properties associated with the family of Hasina and her supporters.
The statements came more than 24 hours after the attack on the building from where Rahman declared Bangladesh’s independence from Pakistan in 1971. The Wednesday night attack followed a daylong campaign on social media by Hasina critics and student leaders. They declared a “bulldozer procession” toward Rahman’s house, which was turned into a museum by Hasina. As the protesters stormed the building, police stood by. A team of soldiers later attempted to stop them but then left.
An intelligence official in Dhaka told The Associated Press that there were reports of some 70 attacks across Bangladesh since Wednesday following the vandalism and arson in Rahman’s home. The country’s leading English-language Daily Star reported on Friday that acts of violence targeting Hasina’s supporters took place in at least 20 districts. Channel 24 TV station in Dhaka reported violence in at least 35 districts across the country. The station said the village home of a veteran politician from Hasina’s party and former Bangladesh president, Abdul Hamid, was one of the targets.
Despite calls for a halt, new attacks were reported late on Friday.
