Protests, drama roll late into the night outside Bangabhaban to force president to resign

Two groups have emerged to press ahead with the protest outside the Bangabhaban in an attempt to force President Mohammed Shahabuddin's resignation.

After 11pm on Tuesday, the coordinators of the Anti-discrimination Student Movement, Hasnat Abdullah and Sarjis Alam, had sought two days from the protesters and urged them to leave the scene.

Later, around 11:45pm, one of the groups left the area while the other, led by Gano Adhikar Parishad leader Tarek Rahman, continued the protest late into the night and shouted slogans for the president’s resignation.

Earlier, around 10pm, another coordinator Abdul Hannan Masud also made a request to the protesters to leave the scene but later he also called the president to go after getting no response from them.

The president's remarks on whether Sheikh Hasina had resigned as prime minister sparked a debate two and a half months after she left the country in the wake of a mass uprising on Aug 5.

In an interview with Manab Zamin Editor Matiur Rahman Chowdhury, the head of state reportedly said he could not find the resignation letter.

The president has come under intense pressure after the news broke out in the outlet’s magazine.

Law Advisor Asif Nazrul claimed that President Shahabuddin had breached his oath by telling a 'lie', reiterating that there is a constitutional provision to remove him.

The Anti-discrimination Student Movement, which had overthrown the Hasina regime, has already demanded the president's resignation from a rally outside the Bangabhaban.

One of the groups asked him to resign within 24 hours and the other within a week.

POLICE BATON INJURES THREE

A commotion broke out in front of Bangabhaban surrounding the protest after the evening. The protesters tried to break through the barricades but the army personnel thwarted them.

At one point, around 8:30pm, police charged batons and used sound grenades on the demonstrators, leaving two students and an individual injured.

They are – Faisal Ahmed Bishal, an eleventh-grader at Shyampur Bohumukhi High School; Arif Khan, a 12th-grader at Cumilla Victoria College; and Shafiqul Islam Selim, a vendor.

The injured were taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital afterwards. Their wounds are not critical, the authorities said.

DMCH Police Outpost chief Inspector Md Faruk said, “The injured are under observation at the emergency department.”

After police left the scene in the wake of the protest, army personnel were placed to secure the presidential palace with armoured vehicles stationed at Bangabhaban.

SARJIS’S CALL

Standing outside the Bangabhaban with a mike provided by the army, Sarjis said they are taking two days – Wednesday and Thursday. If the president does not resign by then, they will launch a movement led by the members of the public.

At that time, Gano Adhikar Parishad leader Tarek and his supporters were chanting slogans demanding 'resignation by Tuesday'.

WE WANT RESIGNATION TODAY

Tarek told bdnews24.com: “Movement coordinator Masud came to evacuate everyone. We have said that we will not leave if the president does not resign.

"They asked us to go inside and have a meeting but we didn't agree."

"We have been beaten up in front of the president's residence, we BNP, Jamaat, traders and students are here, we will not move until he resigns,” he maintained.