Student-led protest organizers are set to meet with army officials, demanding that they not accept a military-led government. The protesters are calling for Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus to lead the interim government.
As the country grapples with the aftermath of Hasina's resignation, we revisit an in-depth 2021 Al Jazeera investigation that exposed troubling connections between a criminal gang and Bangladeshi security forces, including links to the then-prime minister. The investigation revealed documents showing that the head of the army helped a convicted killer evade justice and that the military intelligence service secretly purchased spyware from Israel—a country Bangladesh does not recognize—to monitor political rivals.
In Bangladesh, the term "Razakar" is highly offensive, referring to those who supported the Pakistani military's actions during the 1971 Bangladesh liberation war and were accused of serious crimes. Sheikh Hasina, who is 76, was known for using this term to label anyone she saw as a threat or dissenter. Her decision to label students protesting for job quota reforms as "Razakar" was a controversial move that contributed to her downfall as prime minister.