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.
The town’s streets, which had been stuffed with jubilant crowds following Prime Minister Hasina’s fall round 2pm (08:00 GMT) on Monday, had been now notably much less busy, with fewer autos and pedestrians.
Most hanging was the entire absence of police – no constables, officers or site visitors sergeants had been seen within the metropolis of about 20 million residents.
In lots of places, site visitors was being managed by individuals of their early 20s. On the Bijoy Sarani intersection, a serious crossroads resulting in the airport and parliament, about 5 – 6 younger males had been directing site visitors with bamboo sticks, even a cricket bat.
One man with a pointed goatee managed the circulation of vehicles heading in direction of the Tejgaon Industrial Space by waving a bamboo stick, first directing site visitors in direction of the airport after which permitting autos sure 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 evening, 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,” stated Asraf Ul Jubair when he shared a video of the scene on Fb.
It was an identical scene on the Mohakhali intersection, one other sometimes busy space of town, the place younger individuals had been directing site visitors.
One among them, Rabbi, who didn’t present his surname or age, smiled when requested about his function. “There are not any police… ‘shob bhagse’ – which implies they [the police] have all vanished out of worry,” he defined.
Monday evening violence
On Monday evening, after the large crowds celebrating Hasina’s fall had dispersed, a wave of violence erupted. Teams armed with sticks and sharp weapons moved by means of varied components of Dhaka, attacking people affiliated with Hasina’s Awami League celebration.
Mahbubul Haque, a resident of Dhanmondi, an Awami League stronghold, advised Al Jazeera that round midnight, a bunch of individuals arrived in a automotive and commenced vandalising the gate of an residence constructing throughout from his residence.
The constructing was occupied by a distinguished mental identified for his sturdy help of Hasina’s controversial actions, such because the suppression of scholars throughout the quota protest.
“At one level, they began firing weapons, and we had been terrified,” Haque recounted. “Then some armed forces arrived, they usually fled within the automotive. It’s horrifying.”
The violence continued all through the evening, with a whole lot 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 had been being burned, and that police had been firing bullets from police stations in other places as indignant mobs tried to enter and burn these down.
Jumanah Parisa, a third-year pupil at Brac College, advised Al Jazeera that she stayed up all evening studying and watching movies about occasions. She felt panicked. “We didn’t protest to make this land lawless,” she stated.
On Monday, clashes throughout the nation resulted in no less than 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 had been focused by protesters. Furthermore, Hasina’s shut ties with the Indian authorities had led to rumours Indian companies had 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, in accordance with Qadaruddin Shishir, a fact-checking editor for AFP, who spent Sunday evening 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 had been Bangladeshi, not Indian.”
In the meantime, photos 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 neighborhood in Bangladesh, advised Al Jazeera that Hindu temples had been protected and no Hindus had been killed. Nevertheless, he famous that many Hindu houses and companies had been attacked by mobs in over 20 districts.
“However these Hindus had been related to the Awami League celebration they usually weren’t attacked due to their spiritual id, reasonably due to their reference to Awami League,” stated Pramanik. “I haven’t heard any information {that a} common Hindu household with none political connection was attacked wherever.”
“Anyway, regulation enforcement have to be instantly bolstered,” he stated. “In any other case, the scenario will spiral uncontrolled.”
‘We are going to depart no hint of the Awami League’
On Tuesday morning, the discuss of the city was who would head the interim authorities.
In most households and locations, individuals had been discussing that Muhammad Yunus, the nation’s Nobel laureate, goes to go 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 assemble 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 depart no hint of the Awami League within the nation,” a younger man, who declined to provide his identify, advised Al Jazeera whereas he struck the constructing with a hammer.
Street No. 3A, which housed a number of Awami League buildings together with the celebration chairman’s workplace, resembled a battle zone. A minimum of three buildings had been utterly destroyed.
Yusuf Banna, a resident of the street, advised Al Jazeera he had been in a state of panic all through the evening. “Individuals had such intense anger in opposition to the Awami League that it appeared unstoppable. I used to be anxious about my household’s security, as an indignant mob is unpredictable.”
Within the close by Kalabagan space, residents had been seen utilizing chisels and screwdrivers to deface a mural of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Sabur Ali, a middle-aged man, proudly advised Al Jazeera that he had been destroying symbols of the Awami League and Rahman since Monday midday.
Saiyeed Abdullah, a regulation graduate and social media influencer, referred to as for the speedy restoration of regulation and order. “Now we have efficiently ousted a dictator and aspire to construct a simply nation. Whereas I perceive the grievances in opposition to the Awami League and Hasina, permitting indignant mobs to regulate the streets shouldn’t be sustainable,” he stated.
Abdus Shakur, a motor mechanic who spent Monday evening awake in entrance of Dhaka’s Dhakeshwari temple, advised Al Jazeera that citizen volunteers would guarantee no vandalism, communal violence or crimes happen within the absence of police or regulation enforcement.
“We predict a brand new authorities that won’t solely restore regulation and order but in addition present correct justice,” stated Shakur, 28. “Till then, we’ll stay vigilant on the streets.”