Protesters demand removal of Bangladesh president over comments on Hasina's resignation

Dhaka: A prominent students' organisation, which spearheaded the protests against Sheikh Hasina's government in Bangladesh, on Tuesday staged demonstrations in Dhaka, demanding the removal of President Mohammed Shahabuddin over his comment on the resignation of the deposed prime minister.

In an interview with Bangla daily Manab Zamin last week, Shahabuddin said he does not have any documentary evidence of Hasina resigning as prime minister before she fled the country in August amidst student-led mass protests.

The Anti-discrimination Student Movement, which spearheaded the campaign that led to the ouster of Hasina, rallied in front of the Central Shaheed Minar here, demanding Shahabuddin’s resignation.

"The president is an ally of fascism. He was in favour of genocide. We demand his resignation," Nasir Uddin Patwari, a protest leader, said.

Some of the protesters also said that the president might face a campaign against him.

A group of protesters under the banner of Shadhinota-Shorbobhoumotto Rokkha Committee (Committee to protect independence and sovereignty) also staged a sit-in protest at the Dhaka University campus, demanding Shahabuddin’s resignation and calling for the termination of the Constitution and the formation of a “revolutionary government”.

The protesters also demanded the disbanding of Hasina’s Awami League party and its allies from political activities. They later marched towards Bangabhaban, the president's official residence. A prominent leader of the group, Rafiq Khan, called Shahabuddin a “culprit” as he was “unlawfully” appointed by "killer Hasina".

“We request him to resign immediately and vacate the Bangabhaban. Otherwise, we will start another movement like the one in July,” he said.

In his interview with the Bangla Daily, Shahabuddin said he heard that Hasina had resigned as prime minister before she fled Bangladesh, but he does not have documentary evidence.

Despite numerous efforts, the president said, he had failed to find any documents. “Perhaps she did not have the time,” Shahabuddin said.

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, 84, became Bangladesh's interim government's Chief Adviser on August 8 after Prime Minister Hasina fled to India on August 5.

Narrating the events of August 5, Shahabuddin told the daily that at around 10:30 am, a call came to Bangabhaban from Hasina's residence, informing him that Hasina would meet him. However, "within an hour, another call came, saying she was not coming”.

Shahabuddin said before he administered the oath of office to Yunus and his advisory council members on August 8, he had sought the opinion of the Supreme Court, which advised him go ahead in view of the extraordinary situation.

The interim government's Law Affairs Adviser Asif Nazrul on Monday accused the president of “falsehood”, saying his remarks were “tantamount to violation of his oath of office”. He said if Shahabuddin remained firm on his comments, the interim government would need to think whether he was still qualified to hold his office.

In a televised address on August 5, Shahabuddin said, "Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has tendered her resignation letter to the president and I have received it.”

Meanwhile, the president's office issued a statement urging people not to reignite any controversy over a “settled issue”.

“This is a clear statement from His Excellency the President that, all the answers regarding the resignation and departure of the Prime Minister (Hasina) in the face of the students-people mass revolution, the dissolution of the Parliament and all the questions raised in the public mind about the Constitutional validity about the incumbent Interim Government are reflected in the order of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in Special Reference No-01/2024, dated August 8, 2024,” it said.

According to Constitution expert Shahdhin Malik, an “unnecessary debate is going on over the documentary evidence of Hasina’s resignation letter amid the existing reality".

“After the toppling of Sheikh Hasina’s government, the interim government has been formed on the basis of the Supreme Court’s opinion...no debate is required about it,” he said.