Angry protesters set Home Minister’s residence on fire in Dhaka

Dhaka: Local media in Bangladesh reported on Monday that “thousands of protesters” have vandalised the residence of the country’s Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal in Dhanmondi, an upscale area in Dhaka, following the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

“Witnesses reported that thousands of protesters broke through the entrance and entered the minister’s residence. Smoke was billowing from inside the house, and vandalism was taking place within the premises,” Dhaka Tribune reported.

Last week, Asaduzzaman Khan announced Hasina government’s decision to ban Jamaat-Shibir, the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami, and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) citing their role in the ongoing student protest in the country.

Earlier in the day, Bangladesh Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman announced that Hasina has resigned, and an interim government will be formed soon to run the country,

In a televised address to the nation, Zaman also urged the citizens to keep their trust in the Bangladesh Army, asserting that the defence forces will ensure peace in the coming days.

The Army chief also said he will meet President Mohammed Shahabuddin soon to chart the future course of action.

Meanwhile, several reports indicated that Hasina left for a “safer place” after hundreds of protesters entered Ganabhaban – the official residence of the Prime Minister in Dhaka.

It was reported that over 100 people were killed and more than 1,000 injured in the clashes that took place between police and the protesters on Sunday.

“With yesterday’s count, the death toll in anti-government protests crossed 300 in just three weeks, making it the bloodiest period in the history of Bangladesh’s civil movement,” the country’s leading daily ‘The Daily Star’ reported.

The student-led non-cooperation movement put immense pressure on the government led by Prime Minister Hasina over the past many weeks.

The students had been protesting against a 30 per cent reservation in government jobs for relatives of freedom fighters who wrested independence for Bangladesh from Pakistan in a bloody civil war in 1971 in which, according to Dhaka officials, three million people were killed in the genocide by Pakistani troops and their supporters.

After the Supreme Court slashed the reservations to 5 per cent, student leaders put the protests on hold, but the demonstrations flared up again because the students said the government ignored their call to release all their leaders, making the resignation of PM Hasina their primary demand.

IANS