Dhaka, Bangladesh – A day after Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year autocratic rule ended, Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, took on a sombre and weird look.
Town’s streets, which had been crammed with jubilant crowds following Prime Minister Hasina’s fall round 2pm (08:00 GMT) on Monday, have been now notably much less busy, with fewer automobiles and pedestrians.
Most placing was the entire absence of police – no constables, officers or visitors sergeants have been seen within the metropolis of about 20 million residents.
In lots of areas, visitors was being managed by folks of their early 20s. On the Bijoy Sarani intersection, a serious crossroads resulting in the airport and parliament, about 5 or 6 younger males have been directing visitors with bamboo sticks, even a cricket bat.
One man with a pointed goatee managed the movement of vehicles heading in the direction of the Tejgaon Industrial Space by waving a bamboo stick, first directing visitors in the direction of the airport after which permitting automobiles certain for Tejgaon to proceed in an orderly method.
The scene the place there as soon as stood an iconic bronze statue of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the nation’s father and Hasina’s father, had additionally dramatically modified.
On Monday night time, a throng of individuals used ropes to topple the statue and dismantled its base utilizing hammers and chisels. Enthusiastic crowds then moved in to gather items of the overturned statue.
“It jogged my memory of the video of Saddam Hussein’s statue being pulled down,” mentioned Asraf Ul Jubair when he shared a video of the scene on Fb.
It was an analogous scene on the Mohakhali intersection, one other sometimes busy space of town, the place younger folks have been directing visitors.
One in every of them, Rabbi, who didn’t present his surname or age, smiled when requested about his function. “There aren’t any police… ‘shob bhagse’ – which implies they [the police] have all vanished out of concern,” he defined.
Monday night time violence
On Monday night time, after the large crowds celebrating Hasina’s fall had dispersed, a wave of violence erupted. Teams armed with sticks and sharp weapons moved by way of varied elements of Dhaka, attacking people affiliated with Hasina’s Awami League get together.
Mahbubul Haque, a resident of Dhanmondi, an Awami League stronghold, informed Al Jazeera that round midnight, a bunch of individuals arrived in a automotive and started vandalising the gate of an house constructing throughout from his house.
The constructing was occupied by a outstanding mental recognized for his sturdy help of Hasina’s controversial actions, such because the suppression of scholars through the quota protest.
“At one level, they began firing weapons, and we have been terrified,” Haque recounted. “Then some armed forces arrived, and so they fled within the automotive. It’s horrifying.”
The violence continued all through the night time, with tons of of movies of assorted assaults throughout the nation circulating on social media and going viral.
This led to widespread hypothesis, together with claims that Hindu houses in Muslim-majority Bangladesh have been being burned, and that police have been firing bullets from police stations somewhere else as indignant mobs tried to enter and burn these down.
Jumanah Parisa, a third-year pupil at Brac College, informed Al Jazeera that she stayed up all night time studying and watching movies about occasions. She felt panicked. “We didn’t protest to make this land lawless,” she mentioned.
On Monday, clashes throughout the nation resulted in a minimum of 119 deaths – the deadliest day within the week-long protest. As a result of the police are seen as corrupted by the Hasina administration, many police stations have been focused by protesters. Furthermore, Hasina’s shut ties with the Indian authorities had led to rumours Indian companies have been serving to her authorities suppress the protests.
Whereas some protest movies depicted atrocities like arson and violence, the hypothesis surrounding them was typically exaggerated, based on Qadaruddin Shishir, a fact-checking editor for AFP, who spent Sunday night time debunking claims and posting clarifications on social media.
“The photographs of burning temples are outdated,” Shishir defined to Al Jazeera. “Sure, there have been assaults on police stations attributable to grievances over police brutality, however the police concerned have been Bangladeshi, not Indian.”
In the meantime, photographs of individuals, together with madrassa college students, standing guard in entrance of temples and Hindu houses circulated broadly on social media.
Gobinda Chandra Pramanik, a pacesetter of the Hindu group in Bangladesh, informed Al Jazeera that Hindu temples have been protected and no Hindus have been killed. Nevertheless, he famous that many Hindu houses and companies have been attacked by mobs in over 20 districts.
“However these Hindus have been related to the Awami League get together and so they weren’t attacked due to their non secular id, reasonably due to their reference to Awami League,” mentioned Pramanik. “I haven’t heard any information {that a} common Hindu household with none political connection was attacked anyplace.”
“Anyway, legislation enforcement have to be instantly strengthened,” he mentioned. “In any other case, the state of affairs will spiral uncontrolled.”
‘We are going to go away no hint of the Awami League’
On Tuesday morning, the speak of the city was who would head the interim authorities.
In most households and locations, folks have been discussing that Muhammad Yunus, the nation’s Nobel laureate, goes to move the federal government as its chief adviser.
A lot of the metropolis in the meantime was calm, with no indicators of violence or confrontation.
Nevertheless, within the upscale Dhanmondi space, crowds continued to collect on the stays of the Awami League chairperson’s workplace, the Bangabandhu Museum and Hasina’s former residence, Sudha Sadan. These websites had been set ablaze by an indignant mob the earlier afternoon.
At midday, one other constructing beside the Bangabandhu Museum, which was beforehand used for Awami League gatherings, was burning.
“We are going to go away no hint of the Awami League within the nation,” a younger man, who declined to offer his identify, informed Al Jazeera whereas he struck the constructing with a hammer.
Highway No. 3A, which housed a number of Awami League buildings together with the get together chairman’s workplace, resembled a battle zone. At the least three buildings have been fully destroyed.
Yusuf Banna, a resident of the highway, informed Al Jazeera he had been in a state of panic all through the night time. “Folks had such intense anger towards the Awami League that it appeared unstoppable. I used to be frightened about my household’s security, as an indignant mob is unpredictable.”
Within the close by Kalabagan space, residents have been seen utilizing chisels and screwdrivers to deface a mural of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Sabur Ali, a middle-aged man, proudly informed Al Jazeera that he had been destroying symbols of the Awami League and Rahman since Monday midday.
Saiyeed Abdullah, a legislation graduate and social media influencer, referred to as for the speedy restoration of legislation and order. “We’ve got efficiently ousted a dictator and aspire to construct a simply nation. Whereas I perceive the grievances towards the Awami League and Hasina, permitting indignant mobs to manage the streets will not be sustainable,” he mentioned.
Abdus Shakur, a motor mechanic who spent Monday night time awake in entrance of Dhaka’s Dhakeshwari temple, informed Al Jazeera that citizen volunteers would guarantee no vandalism, communal violence or crimes happen within the absence of police or legislation enforcement.
“We expect a brand new authorities that won’t solely restore legislation and order but in addition present correct justice,” mentioned Shakur, 28. “Till then, we are going to stay vigilant on the streets.”