Bangladesh Still Stares At Uncertainty, Officers Resign, Violence Continues

1. A caretaker government led by Nobel winner Muhammad Yunus has been sworn in to steer the country through these tumultuous times, but it’s yet to make its presence feel in a country marred by protests.
2. Yunus, the interim caretaker backed by the military, called for calm during his visit to Rangpur yesterday as he embraced the mother of a student shot dead by the cops. He has also appealed for religious unity amid reports of attacks on the minorities in Bangladesh since the ouster of Sheikh Hasina.
3. The latest in the string of resignations is of the country’s central bank chief. Bangladesh Bank Governor Abdur Rouf stepped down yesterday, three days after over 100 bank officials staged protests outside his office, demanding his resignation. Rouf has cited health reasons for stepping down, reported The Daily Star.
4. Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan, seen as a loyalist of ousted premier Sheikh Hasina, was forced out of his office yesterday as students surrounded the Bangladesh Supreme Court and gave him an hour’s ultimatum to step down. Five more judges of the top court resigned later in the day.
5. Justice Syed Refat Ahmed, the seniormost judge of the High Court division of the Supreme Court, was appointed the country’s 25th Chief Justice by President Mohammed Shahabuddin last evening.
6. The chief of the country’s market regulator has also resigned. Prof Shibli Rubayat-Ul Islam, the chairman of Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission, had not been turning up at work for several days. He, too, cited health reasons for stepping down.
7. Meanwhile, attacks on minorities, especially Hindus, in Bangladesh has raised concerns. Chittagong city saw a massive rally yesterday, attended by tens of thousands of Hindus, demanding safety and equal rights as citizens of the country.
8. Incidents of violence, too, continue to be reported from across Bangladesh. Five army personnel were injured and a military vehicle was torched during a clash at an Awami League procession in Gopalganj last afternoon.
9. Bangladesh has reported arson, killings and multiple incidents of persecution of minority communities across 52 districts since Sheikh Hasina’s resignation as the Prime Minister on August 5. Two protesters also suffered injuries.
10. Ms Hasina fled the country the same day amid fears of being mobbed after protests intensified following the death of over 400 agitators in clashes with the cops. Her residence was stormed by the protesters hours after she left the complex in a military helicopter. She landed at an airbase in Uttar Pradesh, hours later.

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