Dhaka erupts over demand for president resignation, three students wounded

DHAKAL: Slogan-shouting student protesters in Bangladesh tried to break through the security barricade in front of Prez Mohammed Shahabuddin's official residence in Dhaka late Tuesday to demand his resignation, culminating in a baton-charge by army and police that left three of them wounded.

The trigger for the protest, reminiscent of the mass uprising that toppled the erstwhile Awami League government in August, was over Shahabuddin's purported remark suggesting that there was no "documentary evidence" of ex-PM Sheikh Hasina formally resigning before fleeing the country on August 5.

Till 11.50pm, the protesters were parked in front of the gates to Bangabhaban, the presidential residence. An explosion was reported amid the chorus of slogans. The congregation of protesters baying for a presidential change came a day after interim government's law adviser Asif Nazrul accused Shahabuddin of perpetuating the "lie" spread by Hasina's son Sajeeb Wazed Joy about his mother not even getting time to officially resign.

Students also staged a demonstration at Dhaka's Shahbagh intersection to press the administration to accede to five demands, including rewriting the constitution, banning Awami League's student wing Bangladesh Chhatra League by the end of the week, a new proclamation of the republic, and declaring the last three national elections - 2014, 2018, 2024 - illegal. The interim government's council of advisers invited a student delegation to a round of talks Wednesday, agitation coordinator Hasnat Abdullah said. In the evening, students blocked Dhaka's Gulistan road near Bangabhaban.

The president appealed to all to refrain from destabilising or embarrassing the interim government by creating any fresh controversy on a "resolved issue".

BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said the interim government was playing "hide and seek" over the arrest of members of the erstwhile Hasina cabinet.