Ousted Bangladesh PM Hasina urges supporters to make public show of strength

Hasina’s call came hours after a court in Dhaka opened a murder investigation into her, two top Awami League figures and four senior police officers.
The case accuses the seven of responsibility for the death of a grocery store owner who was shot dead on Jul 19 as police violently suppressed protests.
The interim government, led by 84-year-old Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, signalled it would not interfere with the investigation.
Hasina’s government was accused of widespread human rights abuses, including the extrajudicial killing of thousands of her political opponents.
Yunus returned from Europe three days after Hasina’s ouster to head a temporary administration facing the monumental challenge of steering democratic reforms.
The 84-year-old won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his pioneering work in microfinance and is credited with helping millions of Bangladeshis out of grinding poverty.
He took office as “chief adviser” to a caretaker administration – all fellow civilians bar home minister Sakhawat Hossain, a retired brigadier general – and has said he wants to hold elections “within a few months”.
Sakhawat said Monday that the government had no intention of banning Hasina’s Awami League, which played a pivotal role in the country’s independence movement.
“The party has made many contributions to Bangladesh – we don’t deny this,” he told reporters.
“When the election comes, (they should) contest the elections.”
The new administration has stressed it wants to put Bangladesh on a different path.
Its foreign minister Touhid Hossain told a briefing of more than 60 foreign diplomats late Monday it was “very serious about human rights”, and vowed not to “allow any violence or damages to occur”.
“All those committing such crimes will be investigated,” he said.
The unrest and political change have also shaken Bangladesh’s critical garment industry, which accounts for around 85 per cent of its US$55 billion in annual exports, but he assured diplomats that foreign investments would be protected.
“This is a temporary crisis,” Touhid added. “Everything will come back in the right way, as competent people are in charge.”