Violence returned to Bangladesh on Sunday (August 25) night when clashes broke out between students and paramilitary force (Ansar) members in the capital city Dhaka.
At least 50 people are believed to have been injured during the confrontation.
The clash broke out around 9:20 pm as the students and the people tried to drive away the demonstrators demanding nationalisation of their jobs, witnesses told The Daily Star.
According to reports, the Ansar members were blocking the secretariat gates despite assurance from the government that their demands would be met.
At least 40 injured took treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital till 11:00pm, Bachchu Mia, inspector of DMCH police outpost, told the Bangladeshi newspaper.
The situation turned violent after over a thousand students and others, many of them equipped with sticks, went to the Secretariat, hearing that Ansar members blocked the Secretariat even after getting assurance of fulfilling their demand, said witnesses.
Later, army personnel were seen at the spot. The situation started getting normal after 10:00pm, and Gate-3 of the Secretariat was opened at 10:30pm so that officials who were stuck inside could go home, witnesses told the newspaper.
Nahid Islam, information and broadcasting adviser, said the protest by the Ansar members was a part of the conspiracy.
“We will take legal action against those involved in the conspiracy,” he told The Daily Star.
Maj Gen Abdul Motaleb Sazzad Mahmud, director general of Ansar and VDP, told The Daily Star, “Those who continued the demonstration even after getting the assurance are not Ansar members. They are outsiders … they came with an additional set of clothes and their intention was different.”
He said lawful action would be taken against them.
Following Sunday’s clashes, Bangladeshi authorities have prohibited any form of assembly, procession or protest in the areas surrounding the Secretariat and interim government Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus’s official residence, State Guest House Jamuna.
More than 100 Ansar members, who were trapped in the Secretariat after the clashes, have been taken to Shahbagh police station, media reports said.
Bangladesh is currently being ruled by an interim government under the leadership of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.
The South Asian country is witnessing major political turmoil after former PM Sheikh Hasina-led government toppled amid violent protests against job quota and her administration.
Hasina was forced to escape to India.
The interim government took oath after her departure and fall of the Awami League government earlier this month.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s interim government, headed by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus, revoked the diplomatic passport of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday, media reports said.
The move to cancel Sheikh Hasina’s documents leaves the former Bangladeshi leader in potential limbo.
The decision came on the same day a United Nations team arrived in Dhaka to assess whether to investigate alleged human rights violations.
More than 450 people were killed, many of whom died in police fire, during the weeks leading up to Sheikh Hasina’s ouster, with crowds storming her official residence in Dhaka and ending her 15-year regime.
