Bangladesh unrest: PM Hasina must resign, face trial, says student leader
File photo.
Students Against Discrimination leader Nahid Islam, who has been leading the ongoing anti-government protests in Bangladesh, demanded on Saturday (Aug 3) that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina must resign and face trialfor a police crackdown on protesters in July.
"Sheikh Hasina should not only resign, there should be a trial for the murders, looting and corruption," Islam told a crowd of thousands of people in central Dhaka, the news agency AFP reported.
Protests againstcivil service job quotas sparked days of mayhem last month that killed over 200 people.
Civil disobedience campaign to continue
On Saturday, student leaderssaid they would carry on a planned nationwide civil disobedience campaign until Prime Minister Hasina stepped down. AFP reported that earlier in the day, Students Against Discriminationrebuffed an offer of talks with Hasina before announcing their campaign would continue until she resigned.
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The student group asked itscompatriots to cease paying taxes and utility bills from Sunday to pile pressure on the government. It also called ongovernment workers and labourers in the country's economically vital garment factories to strike.
'Hasina must go because...'
Speaking to AFP, a student leader said that Hasina must step down "because we don't need this authoritarian government."
"Did we liberate the country to see our brothers and sisters shot dead by this regime?" the student added.
Demonstrations began in early July over the reintroduction of a quota scheme -- since scaled back byBangladesh's top court -- that reserved more than half of all government jobs for certain groups.
Also watch |Bangladesh students call for nationwide civil disobedience
The protests had remained largely peaceful until attacks on demonstrators by police and pro-government student groups.
The government eventually imposed a nationwide curfew, deployed troops and shut down the nation's mobile internet network for 11 days to restore order. However, the clampdown failed toquell widespread rancour in the country.
(With inputs from agencies)