Bangladesh fresh protests forces Chief Justice to ...

Bangladesh fresh protests forces Chief Justice to resign

Bangladesh's Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan has been forced to resig following new protests by a group of students and other demonstrators, as the country’s interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus started functioning days after a mass uprising forced Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign and flee to India.

Asif Nazrul, law, justice and parliamentary affairs adviser to the interim government, said in a video message posted on Facebook that his office received the resignation letter and they would forward it to the country’s figurehead President Mohammed Shahabuddin for further procedures.

Five other top judges in the Supreme Court also resigned in an attempt by the new government to reorganise the judiciary.

A key student leader Asif Mahmud – who was appointed as an adviser at the Ministry of Youth and Sports – urged his supporters to gather at the court premises to press for an unconditional resignation, in a Facebook post in the morning.

The students say the judiciary should perform without any influence from politicians and other authorities.

“We all believe that these justices have not only favoured the previous government, but we also believe they have been in the pockets of that party. So, we don’t want any corrupt justices in the judiciary,” said Tahsim Uzzaman, a 26-year-old student of governance and English literature. “We want a whole new system – the entire point of the movement is no discrimination and that’s not possible if there is still corruption in place.”

On Thursday, Yunus was sworn in, and 16 other members were included in his interim Cabinet, who were drawn mainly from civil society and included two student protest leaders after the president dissolved Parliament. New Cabinet members were chosen after talks earlier this week between student leaders, civil society representatives and the military.

On Saturday, Yunus visited the family of a student who died in the northern district of Rangpur, triggering nationwide protests and violence. The death of the 25-year-old Abu Sayeed became a symbol of protest as he spread his two hands, inviting police to open fire on him. He then fell and doctors declared him dead later. The video spread quickly on social media and the protests spread.

Yunus was accompanied by two student leaders who were included in the interim Cabinet.

“We have to stand the way Abu Sayeed stood," he said after visiting the family.

"Abu Sayeed’s mother is everyone’s mother. We have to protect her, protect her sisters, protect her brothers. Everyone has to do it together,” Yunus added.

Protests by students began in July against a quota system for government jobs that critics said benefitted people with connections to Hasina’s party.

She resigned and fled to India on Monday after the protests turned into a movement against her government, leaving more than 300 people dead including students and police officers in the ensuing violence.