Bangladesh issues arrest warrant for Sheikh Hasina over mass killings of student protestors

A Bangladeshi court on Thursday issued an arrest warrant for former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina over the mass killings of student protestors in July and August.

Mohammad Tajul Islam, chief prosecutor of Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal said, “The court has… ordered the arrest of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, and to produce her in court on November 18.”

The prosecution has also requested arrest warrants against 50 other individuals allegedly involved in the mass killings during the student protests against the Hasina-led Awami League government.

The court has so far received 60 complaints of enforced disappearance, murder and mass killings against the exiled leader and her Awami League colleagues.

Hasina’s 15-year rule saw widespread human rights abuses, including the mass detention and extrajudicial killings of her political opponents.

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“Sheikh Hasina was at the helm of those who committed massacres, killings and crimes against humanity from July to August”, Islam said, calling it a “remarkable day”.

Meanwhile, Hasina has not appeared in public since she fled Dhaka and sought refuge in India.

The violent student protest

Students, frustrated by shortages of good jobs, had been demanding an end to a quota that reserved 30 per cent of government jobs for relatives of veterans who fought in Bangladesh’s War of Independence in 1971.

Around 300 people died in the demonstrations that began as protests against employment quotas but spiralled into a movement seeking Hasina’s overthrow.

B’desh cancels national holidays linked to Liberation Day

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The Bangladeshi interim government under Muhammad Yunus has cancelled all national holidays associated with Hasina’s father Mujibur Rehman and Liberation Day.

The move invited criticism from observers with many claiming that the government is trying to downplay Bangladesh’s War of Independence in 1971.

The Awami League said, “The illegal Yunus govt wants to erase everything related to the history of the birth of Bangladesh by pressing the reset button,” adding that the administration is trying to implement Pakistan’s ideology in the country.

With inputs from agencies