Bangladesh's deposed premier Sheikh Hasina demands 'justice', seeks probe into recent killings
Dhaka/New Delhi (PTI): Bangladesh's deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday demanded "justice", saying those involved in recent "terror acts", killings and vandalism must be investigated, identified and punished.
In her first public statement after her ouster on August 5, 76-year-old Hasina said several lives have been lost in violence in the name of agitation since July.
Hasina resigned and fled to India last week after weeks of deadly protests involving students against her government over a controversial quota system in jobs.
In a statement in Bengali posted by her US-based son Sajeeb Wazed Joy on his X handle, Hasina said that since July, several lives of students, teachers, policemen, journalists, leaders and activists of her Awami League and ordinary people were lost in violence and anarchy.
She mourned their deaths and sought eternal blessings for their souls and conveyed sympathy to the members of bereaved families.
"I sympathise with those like me who continue to live with the pain of losing near and dear ones. I demand a proper investigation to identify those involved in these killings and terror acts, and appropriate punishment for them," Hasina said, recalling the brutal assassination of her family members on August 15, 1975.
The interim government on Tuesday cancelled the national holiday on August 15, marking the assassination of the country's founder and Hasina's father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
In her statement, Hasina expressed grief over the burning down of the Bangabandhu Museum during the violence, saying the "memory and inspiration, which we had to live, was burnt into ashes”.
"This was an extreme defamation of someone...under whose leadership we became an independent nation. I seek justice from the countrymen for this act,” she said.
Hasina, who is currently in Delhi, urged Bangladeshis to observe the day peacefully, offering wreaths at the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum premises and through prayers.
Soon after Hasina resigned and left the country, an angry mob virtually set the museum on fire.
The museum was originally Bangbandhu's private residence, where he was killed along with his family members in a military coup staged by a group of junior officers while Hasina, her two minor children, and her younger sister Sheikh Rehana were in Germany on a short visit.
"I appeal to you, to observe with due fervour August 15 as the national mourning day. Pay your respect by offering wreaths at Bangabandhu Bhaban and pray, seeking peace for the departed souls,” she said.
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UP Police use tear gas to disperse crowd throwing stones during Sambhal mosque survey
Sambhal (UP) (PTI): Police used tear gas and "minor force" in the face of stone pelting by locals here on Sunday as tension escalated during a second survey of the Mughal-era mosque, claimed to be originally the site of an ancient Hindu temple.
Tension has been seething in Sambhal over the past few days after the Jama Masjid was surveyed last Tuesday on the orders of a local court following a petition that claimed that a Harihar temple stood at the site.
According to the local administration, a second survey by an "Advocate Commissioner" as part of a court-ordered examination into the disputed site began around 7 am and a crowd began gathering at the spot.
"Some miscreants came out of the crowd gathered near the site and pelted stones at the police team. The police used minor force and tear gas to bring the situation under control," Superintendent of Police Krishna Kumar Vishnoi said.
He said those who engaged in stone pelting and those who incited them will be identified and action taken against them.
District Magistrate Rajendra Pesia said, "Some miscreants resorted to stone pelting but the situation is peaceful now and the survey is underway."
Videos of youths throwing stones at police, purportedly near the site of the survey in Sambhal have surfaced on the Internet.
Supreme Court lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain, who is also the petitioner in the case, had said the Court of Civil Judge (Senior Division) ordered the constitution of an "Advocate Commission" to survey the mosque.
The court has said that a report should be filed after conducting a videography and photography survey through the commission, he had said.
The Central and Uttar Pradesh governments, the mosque committee and the district magistrate of Sambhal have been made parties in the petition concerning the mosque, Jain said last Tuesday.
Vishnu Shankar Jain and his father Hari Shankar Jain have represented the Hindu side in many cases related to places of worship, including the Gyanvapi Mosque-Kashi Vishwanath temple dispute.
Gopal Sharma, a local lawyer for the Hindu side, told PTI on Friday that in his petition filed in the court, he mentioned that "Baburnama" and the "Ain-e-Akbari" has confirmed that a Harihar temple was at the site where the Jama Masjid now stands.
He also claimed that the temple was demolished by Mughal Emperor Babur in 1529.
Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Zia Ur Rehman Barq had objected to the developments.
"The Jama Masjid of Sambhal is historical and very old. The Supreme Court had given the order in 1991 that whatever religious places are there in whatever condition since 1947, they will remain at their places," he had said.
The next date for hearing in this case is January 29.
VIDEO | Uttar Pradesh: Stones and slippers pelted in Sambhal when a survey team reached Shahi Jama Masjid to conduct a survey of the mosque.
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 24, 2024
(Full video available on PTI Videos - https://t.co/n147TvrpG7)#SambhalJamaMasjid pic.twitter.com/K4QGGpzlMK
