 "Protesters in Bangladesh gather to demand the resignation of President Mohammed Shahabuddin after his comments that he had no documents proving that former prime minister Sheikh Hasina had resigned before fleeing the country. Source: AP.")
Protests return in Bangladesh in a mere three months, but this time, the target is different. Similar to the resignation demand of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, agitators this time have congregated in large numbers in the country wanting President Mohammed Shahabuddin to step down from the post.
Scenes from Dhaka showed scores of people staging demonstrations in front of the Bangabhaban, the presidential palace and even attempted to enter the official residence of the president but were stopped by the police deployed there.
The protesters have set 24-hour deadline for the president to step down.
Who are protesters demanding Bangladesh President’s resignation?
On Tuesday evening, the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, which led the campaign to remove Hasina, held a protest rally at the central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka demanding Shahabuddin’s resignation from the Bangladesh’s president.
They have announced their 5-point demands with the foremost being the resignation of the president.
Why are Bangladesh protesters demanding President’s resignation?
The protesters have been demanding Shahabuddin’s resignation for his recent interview to a local daily in which he said that he did not have any documentary evidence of Hasina’s resignation as prime minister before she fled Bangladesh on August 5 amidst anti-government protest over job quota.
Demands of protesters
Hasnat Abdullah, one of the coordinators of the Anti-Discrimination Students Movement, said that a deadline for Shahabuddin’s removal has been laid in their five-point demand which also includes the scrapping of Bangladesh’s 1972 Constitution.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“Our first point (of the five-point demand) is immediate scrapping of the ‘pro-Mujb (Bangladesh’s founding leader) 1972 Constitution’ which kept Chuppu (president’s nickname) in office,” Hasnat Abdullah said.
He further said: “The (1972) Constitution will have to be replaced by writing a new one against the backdrop of 2024 mass upheaval."
Hasnat Abdullah also said that the protestors would “return to the streets with full force” if the government failed to meet the demands by this week.
‘Will remove Chuppu on Wednesday or Thursday’
Hasnat Abdullah said with full confidence that President Shahabuddin will be removed by this week, specifically by Wednesday or Thursday.
“We will remove Chuppu on Wednesday or Thursday,” he said.
“Decisions regarding the next president will be made based on consultations with all political parties. If we remove Chuppu without determining who the next president will be, neighbouring countries might seize the opportunity to conspire against us; they could interfere with our internal affairs at any time, citing the absence of a president. Thus, we will select the next president based on the advice of the political parties oppressed for the past 15 years,” Hasnat Abdullah further said.
‘Shahabuddin loses eligibility to remain in post’
A report by Prothom Alo quoted Saifuddin Muhammad Emdad, a protester under the banner “Raktim July ‘24”, as saying: “After two and half months of Sheikh Hasina’s resignation, the president is saying that he didn’t get any resignation letter. He lost his eligibility to remain in the post by saying this."
“The only solution to such a comment is his resignation. We will leave the road as soon as he resigns. Otherwise, we won’t leave.”
‘Won’t stop protesting until Shahabuddin resigns’
Another protester, Ariful Islam, quoted by Prothom Alo, said: “President Shahabuddin is a cohort of Sheikh Hasina. He said Sheikh Hasina didn’t resign from his dream of her return to the country. So we will not leave the road until Shahabuddin resigns.”
Protesters are staging demonstrations separately under different banners, including “inqilab mancha”, “Raktim July ’24” (a platform of persons injured during the student movement against discrimination), Ziaur Rahman Samajkalyan Parishad and Anti-fascist Student-People Platform.
On Tuesday evening, they blocked the adjacent roads between Motijheel and Gulistan and chanted various slogans against the president.
Around 8:30 pm, some protesters attempted to break through the barricades and enter Bangabhaban. It was then, the police fired sound grenades, later prompting army troops to intervene and then send policemen inside the palace.
The protestors, however, continued shouting “Bhua, bhua (Fake, fake)” slogans.
The situation eased a bit after the military, using loudspeakers, requested the protesters to leave the Bangabhaban gate.
Who is Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin?
Mohammed Shahabuddin, natively known as Chuppu, is Bangladesh’s 16th President.
A jurist civil servant and politician, Shahabudin was elected unopposed in the 2023 Bangladesh presidential election in the nomination of the Awami League.
With inputs from agencies.