DHAKA: Sheikh Hasina, the deposed prime minister of Bangladesh, requested her supporters to stage a public demonstration of strength later this week, just hours after a court decided that a murder investigation into her that was connected to the unrest of the previous month could move forward.
After protesters flooded Dhaka’s streets last week, Hasina, 76, fled by helicopter to neighbouring India, where she is still living, bringing an abrupt end to her harsh 15-year rule. In the weeks of turmoil that preceded her overthrow, over 450 people lost their lives, and members of her Awami League party have since fallen to the ground.
Her government had declared Thursday to be a national holiday. It is the anniversary of her father, independence hero Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, being assassinated during a military coup in 1975.
Through her son, who is in the US, I am appealing to you to observe the National Day of Mourning on August 15 with appropriate respect and solemnity,” she said in a written statement to the media.
A mob set fire to and vandalised the landmark, which had served as her father’s museum until recently, just hours after she fell. Bangladesh’s interim government announced earlier in the evening that it would not celebrate the divisive holiday.
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