Bangladesh updates: EU, UN, US call for calm, urge peaceful democratic transition

The situation in the nation of 170 million people is in flux after Hasina’s resignation as prime minister.
BenarNews staff
2024.08.05
Dhaka and Washington
Bangladesh updates: EU, UN, US call for calm, urge peaceful democratic transition Protesters climb on top of a statue of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh's founding father and parent of Sheikh Hasina, who resigned as prime minister and fled the country after weeks of deadly protests, in Dhaka, Aug. 5, 2024.
[Abu Sufian Jewel/AFP]

This completes our live updates, please see: Bangladesh’s Sheikh Hasina resigns as PM, flees; army says interim govt to be formed

-Updated at 3:20 p.m. ET on 2024-08-05

The European Union on Monday called for an “orderly and peaceful” transition to democratic rule in Bangladesh, after Sheikh Hasina resigned as prime minister and fled the country.

Following the address to the nation by Chief of Army Staff, General Waker-Uz-Zaman, the EU calls for calm and restraint, said a statement by the EU’s high representative. It is vital that an orderly and peaceful transition towards a democratically elected government is ensured, in full respect of human rights and democratic principles. The statement further said the EU was saddened by the tragic unlawful killings of recent days and hoped they would be impartially investigated. Accountability for human rights violations is crucial. Those who have been arbitrarily detained should be released immediately,” the EU said.

-Updated at 3:20 p.m. ET on 2024-08-05

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said Monday that he “stands in full solidarity with the people of Bangladesh” and called for their human rights to be fully respected, announced Farhan Haq, his deputy spokesperson.

[Guterres] urges calm and restraint by all sides and emphasizes the importance of a peaceful, orderly and democratic transition, Haq said. He continues to underscore the need for a full, independent, impartial and transparent investigation into all acts of violence.

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Protesters set fire to the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum, the founding President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s old residence that had been converted into a national monument, in the Dhanmondi neighborhood in Dhaka, Aug. 5, 2024. [Fahad Kaizer/AFP]

-Updated at 2:46 p.m. ET on 2024-08-05 

In Washington on Monday, the U.S. State Department said that following reports of Sheikh Hasina’s resignation, the focus should be on finding those responsible for the people killed in recent weeks.

“With respect to violence and deaths that have occurred it is vital that we have full and transparent investigations to ensure accountability for these deaths,” said Matthew Miller, spokesman for the State Department, in a daily press briefing. “It is important that we focus on the Bangladesh people's democratic aspirations. ... We want to see the Bangladesh people decide the future of the Bangladesh government.” The U.S., Miller added, urged all parties to refrain from further violence. “Too many lives have been lost over the course of the past several weeks, and we urge calm and restraint in the days ahead,” Miller said. “We welcome the announcement of an interim government and urge any transition be conducted in accordance with Bangladesh's laws.” He also had words of praise for the Bangladesh Army. “We have seen reports that the army resisted calls to crackdown on protesters and if these are true that is a positive development,” Miller said.

-Updated at 1:40 p.m. ET on 2024-08-05 

Deadly clashes continued on Monday, with at least 54 people killed in Dhaka and other districts around the country, according to a tally of figures provided by officials at hospitals in these places. These lives were lost a day after Bangladesh was plunged into the deadliest day of violence in recent weeks of political tumult, with at least 98 people killed nationwide on Sunday.

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Anti-government protesters relax in chairs after storming the residence of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina after she resigned and fled, Dhaka Aug. 5, 2024. [K.M. Asad/AFP]

-Updated at 1:15 p.m. ET on 2024-08-05 

A statement from Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin’s office said he had “decided to unanimously free” imprisoned ex-prime minister and opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Khaleda Zia.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said the decision was made after a meeting held by the president with the army chief and representatives of various parties. He also said the “parliament will be dissolved and an interim government will be formed soon.” Additionally, student leaders and activists imprisoned since July 1, will also be released, he said. “It has also been decided that all political parties and student leaders will work to bring the law and order situation under control.”

-Updated at 12:50 p.m. ET on 2024-08-05  

Many Bangladeshis would be feeling a sense of victory after Hasina’s resignation, Human Rights Watch’s Asia Deputy Director Meenakshi Ganguly told Reuters news agency. 

“They will feel that they have won today because a lot of people have lost their lives in this fight, which really began peacefully over quotas in government jobs, but escalated because of mishandling by the government, by the absolute arrogance of the political leadership,” Ganguly told Reuters. “These last three terms of the Sheikh Hasina government have really damaged institutions, independent institutions, including the judiciary, the National Human Rights Commission, the police. Everything had become tainted through political pressure.”

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This March 25, 2020 photo shows Bangladesh opposition leader Khaleda Zia (right), whose release the president ordered after Sheikh Hasina quit as prime minister and fled the country. [Rubel Rashid/AFP]

-Updated at 12:30 p.m. ET on 2024-08-05 

Independent institutions need to be rebuilt in Bangladesh, said Meenakshi Ganguly, Human Rights Watch’s Asia deputy director, to Reuters news agency.

Of course, that will be led by an elected government. But in the interim, what we do want to see most immediately is a non-partisan investigative system that looks into all the violence that has occurred and prosecute those responsible, irrespective of which side they belong to,” she said. “But if now there is a tit for tat, that will only lead to further violence. So instead, there should be a law, there should be faith in the justice system. And the justice system should restore that faith.”

-Updated at 12:25 p.m. ET on 2024-08-05

Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval met with Hasina after she landed at an airport near New Delhi having fled Bangladesh by helicopter, reported India’s state news agency Press Trust of India (PTI). Diplomatic sources told the agency that the former Bangladesh prime minister landed at the Hindon Air Force base in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad, around 19 miles km from the Indian capital.

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This June 22, 2024 photo shows India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (left) speaking with the then-Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina in New Delhi. [India Press Information Bureau via AFP]

-Updated at 12:15 p.m. ET on 2024-08-05 

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seen as an ally of the Hasina government, called a meeting at his residence with the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) to discuss the unfolding political situation in its neighboring nation Bangladesh, PTI said. The Indian state of Meghalaya, meanwhile, imposed a night curfew in the areas sharing more than 400 km (200 miles) border with Bangladesh, PTI said.

-Updated at 12:15 p.m. ET on 2024-08-05 

One Bangladeshi citizen, Rozina Akhter, the guardian of a student of Residential Model College, called Hasina’s resignation amid nationwide protests against her and her administration, a triumph for the people. “This is a new victory for us. New Independence,” Rozina told BenarNews. “She [Hasina] wanted Bangladesh to dictate [to]. But people have taught her a lesson.”

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Protesters display Bangladesh's national flag as they climb on top of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's office in Dhaka after she fled the country, Aug. 5, 2024. [K.M. Asad/AFP]

-Updated at 11:40 p.m. ET on 2024-08-05 

Thousands of protesters stormed Hasina’s residence, Gonobhaban, around 2.30 pm local time as they chanted “Hasina has fled.”

Unrestrained by army and security personnel, demonstrators climbed to the top of Gonobhabon and unfurled the Bangladesh flag. Some also carried out items from Hasina’s former residence, including books and photos, as others vandalized the vehicles parked in the driveway as well as outside Gonobhaban.

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Protesters celebrate Sheikh Hasina’s resignation as prime minister, in Shahbag near Dhaka university in the Bangladesh capital, Aug. 5, 2024. [Munir Uz Zaman/AFP]

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