Injured protesters who ousted Hasina rallied in front of a rehabilitation hospital in Dhaka on November 13, 2024. AFP file

Interim leader Muhammad Yunus revealed on Sunday that approximately 1,500 people perished in the protests that led to the downfall of Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina this year, with an additional 3,500 possibly forcibly abducted during her 15-year tenure. The economist and Nobel peace laureate, who is tasked with organizing elections, provided an estimate higher than the previous official count of about 1,000 deaths in the student-led demonstrations, which faced a brutal crackdown.

The protests, initially a student-led movement against public sector job quotas in July, escalated into some of the most severe unrest since Bangladesh's independence in 1971, compelling Hasina to flee to India. “Every day, new names are being added to the list of martyrs,” Yunus stated in a national address marking 100 days of the interim government, promising to prosecute those accountable for the violence.

Yunus' government has pledged to ensure justice for victims of what he termed the “autocratic regime’s wrath.” He mentioned that a commission investigating forced disappearances had documented 1,600 cases as of October, with the total potentially surpassing 3,500. Yunus reiterated his government’s commitment to seeking Hasina's extradition from India. “We will prosecute all the crimes committed over the past 15 years,” he said, noting efforts to bring those responsible for the disappearances, killings, and July-August violence to international courts.

He announced that a roadmap for the next general election in the country of 170 million people would be disclosed once electoral reforms were finalized. Political parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, have been urging the interim government for a clear plan to hold a national election promptly. In September, Army Chief General Waker-uz-Zaman, whose refusal to support Hasina during the student protests led to her flight, told Reuters that democracy should be restored within a year to a year-and-a-half, but called for patience.

Source link:   https://www.khaleejtimes.com