5 August 2024 remained a dark chapter in the history of Bangladesh. Sheikh Hasina, a three-time Prime Minister, was forced to flee not only her government but also her country. From cities to remote villages, fundamentalists targeted minorities, especially Hindus.
Hindu temples burnt in many areas
From the night of 5th, Bangladeshi fundamentalists and miscreants tried to target minority Hindus living in 58 states of the country. There are many areas from Meherpur to Chittagong or Sherpur where Hindu temples were set on fire or vandalized. Aaj Tak’s team has reached ground zero to know the situation in Bangladesh after 5 days.
unrest in the atmosphere
As soon as we left Dhaka airport, we saw such a picture of Bangladesh which no one would have ever imagined. The picture of the city outside Dhaka International Airport is crowded, but there is an untold unrest in the atmosphere. There is no police presence anywhere in the entire Dhaka city.
School-college boys handling traffic
Law and order in the city has now been handed over to the Bangladesh Army. Along with the service, school-college going children of Bangladesh Scout Cadet Corps and other institutions are managing the traffic system on the roads with sticks in their hands. On the roads outside the airport, either the military is roaming around or a squad of armored vehicles has been deployed, while somewhere a soldier is standing in a bunker with a modern machine gun.
situation of confusion about the future
The number of people in the market which used to be crowded in the morning and evening has reduced. Army has been deployed. The youth were the first to start the movement against the Sheikh Hasina government regarding the quota law. Now an interim government has been formed under the leadership of Dr. Yunus, but there is confusion over what will be the future of Bangladesh.
Zahida, who has been monitoring the movement and the arrangements on the streets, told Aaj Tak that the future of Bangladesh is fine but she is worried that some people have targeted and attacked Hindus and their temples to defame the movement.
The condition of old Dhaka city is not good
Fakhruddin says that it is possible that the youth leaders of Sheikh Hasina’s party Awami League attacked the minorities in order to defame the movement, but these youth say that the situation is fine now and they themselves want to protect their Hindu brothers and sisters. For this, they have been deployed from villages to cities. The situation in old Dhaka city is also not very good. Schools, colleges and universities are at a standstill.
The youth are controlling the traffic on the roads with sticks in their hands. The police stations are deserted. Protests are taking place everywhere. On Saturday too, youth entered the Supreme Court and protested and demanded the resignation of the Chief Justice. Bar Council member and protestor Rakib told Aaj Tak that many Supreme Court judges were working at the behest of Sheikh Hasina government, hence they should resign. Under pressure, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court sent his resignation to the President and the protesters remained adamant in the Supreme Court premises till late evening and the security was directly handed over to the Bangladesh Army.
Demand for justice and security from the new government
Meanwhile, a large number of Bangladeshi Hindus have also taken to the streets. On Saturday evening, not hundreds but thousands of people from the Hindu community gathered in the capital Dhaka and demanded justice and security from the new government. Angered by the burning of temples, people of the Hindu community gathered in Dhaka and raised their voice for the safety of Hindus with slogans of Jai Shri Ram. Subroto, who came from Mirpur, said from Aaj Tak that the whole world is silent about the atrocities on Hindus, but Bangladesh is our country and we will not go anywhere from here..
Even today there is fear among the Hindus of Bangladesh
Charu Chandra Das, general secretary of the ISKCON temple in Dhaka, told Aaj Tak that in the areas where Hindu families were attacked, they asked for help and even today there is fear and worry among the Hindus of Bangladesh. However, he also said that the situation is becoming normal in many areas and now local people are also coming forward to help. The situation in Bangladesh seems to be a little normal compared to the last two days, but the lack of an active government, absent police on the streets and lack of law and order is definitely raising a question whether Bangladesh is moving towards anarchy.