Restoring law and order in Bangladesh a priority, says caretaker government

Improving law and order in Bangladesh is a priority for the new caretaker government, the adviser to the interior ministry said on Friday, as the battered nation limps back to normality after Sheikh Hasina resigned as prime minister and fled.

Hasina flew to neighbouring India on Monday after weeks of deadly protests. An interim government, led by Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus, was sworn in on Thursday with the aim of holding elections.

Retired Brig. Gen. M. Sakhawat Hossain told the media the interim government will first try to improve law and order.

"And number two, bring back the confidence within the law enforcement agencies, which I feel has gone very drastically low," he said in a telephone interview.

Hasina's fall triggered both jubilation and violence as crowds ransacked her official residence in the capital Dhaka while statues of her father, independence hero Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, were defaced and brought down around the country.

Bangladeshi military personnel stand guard at an empty police station in Dhaka on Friday. AFP

Anarchy, vandalism, looting and attacks against minorities and their places of worship have gripped the country in the last few days, TV footage has shown.

Hossain said the administration was "very concerned" about reports of vandalism and attacks on minorities, although some were "slightly exaggerated".

Hindus constitute about 8% of Muslim-majority Bangladesh's 170 million people and have historically largely supported Hasina's Awami League party, which identifies as largely secular.

The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council wrote to Yunus on Friday imploring him to protect the minorities, saying hundreds of Hindu homes, businesses and temples have been attacked this week.

Hundreds of Hindus shouted slogans demanding peace during a protest march in Dhaka on Friday.

Commuters wait at a road crossing while Bangladeshi students control the traffic as police went on strike in Dhaka. AFP

Human Rights Watch said Yunus' government needs to address the lawlessness.

"It is crucial to immediately bring public order and protect vulnerable communities, including Hindu minorities, who have come under attack," said Meenakshi Ganguly, Asia deputy director for the human rights body.

In the absence of police, students have formed groups to guard neighbourhoods in Dhaka.

Television images showed students and youngsters, armed with sticks, controlling traffic at checkpoints and checking vehicles. They were also out at markets, checking food prices with vendors after reports of a steep rise.

Most police stations across Bangladesh have been deserted in recent days as police officers faced public outrage because of a crackdown on protesters in Hasina's last days in power, witnesses said. Weapons and ammunition were also stolen from the stations, local media reported.

Some plainclothes police returned to duty in Dhaka on Friday.

"Now they are being attacked, thanas (police stations) are being attacked. How will these poor fellows go about?" said Hossain.

Some plainclothes police returned to duty in Dhaka on Friday, according to a Reuters witness, with paramilitary forces seen guarding some police stations.

Out of six police stations in the Tejgaon division of Dhaka, three fully resumed operations on Friday. Work was ongoing to restore the three others, which were damaged.

"Today, we have resumed activities with the support of military forces. I request all citizens to visit the police station; we are ready to serve you," Azimul Haque, the deputy commissioner of the division, told the media.

The student-led movement started with demonstrations against quotas in government jobs before spiralling into violent protests to oust Hasina. About 300 people died and thousands were injured during the agitation.

A Bangladeshi student controls the traffic as police went on strike in Dhaka on Friday. AFP

Hasina will return to Bangladesh when the caretaker government decides on holding elections, her son said, but it was not clear if the 76-year-old would stand.

Speaking to the Times of India daily, her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy, who is based in the United States, said, "She will go back to Bangladesh the moment the interim government decides to hold an election."

Joy was not asked whether Hasina, who ran Bangladesh for 20 of the last 30 years, would contest the elections. "My mother would have retired from politics after the current term," he said.

Reuters