Bangladesh unrest: 24 killed as mob torches hotel; Hindu homes and temples ‘targeted’ | Latest updates

PTC News Desk: A day after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and left the nation due to a brutal crackdown on a student-led movement, economist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus was selected to head the country’s temporary administration on Tuesday night.

Following her release from prison, BNP leader and former prime minister Khaleda Zia voiced worries about the widespread violence, vandalism, and robbery of public resources during the student rebellion, according to the Dhaka Tribune.

At least 24 people were killed, and more than 150 hospitalized yesterday after protesters sat the Zabeer International Hotel on fire in Jashore, Bangladesh ????????

▪︎ 5 August 2024 ▪︎#Bangladesh #BangladeshProtests #Jashore #ZabeerInternationalHotel pic.twitter.com/ADexMk0K1u

— DISASTER TRACKER (@DisasterTrackHQ) August 6, 2024

Khaleda Zia’s response coincides with claims that a mob in Bangladesh burned alive at least 24 people, including an Indonesian national, at a five-star hotel owned by an Awami League politician after the party’s leader, Sheikh Hasina, quit as prime minister and left the nation.

According to news agency PTI, the victims, who were primarily boarders, were burned alive late on Monday night when the mob set fire to the Zabir International Hotel in Joshor district, which is owned by district Awami League general secretary Shahin Chakkladar.

A Hindu organisation in Bangladesh, meanwhile, asserted that after Sheikh Hasina’s overthrow, hundreds of Hindu homes, places of business, and temples have been vandalised.

About 8 per cent of Bangladesh’s 170 million people are Hindus, and historically, they have tended to favor Hasina’s mostly secular Awami League party rather than the opposition coalition that includes a hardline Islamist party.

Sheikh Hasina’s Resignation: Top Updates

1. Sheikh Hasina’s plan to travel to London has encountered obstacles due to ‘uncertainties,’ making her unlikely to leave India for the next few days, according to media reports. Hasina, who arrived at Hindon Airbase on Monday in a C-130J military transport aircraft shortly after resigning as Prime Minister, has been relocated to an undisclosed location under tight security.
2. President Mohammed Shahabuddin has appointed Muhammad Yunus to lead Bangladesh’s interim government following meetings with student leaders and military chiefs, as reported by local media.

3. Yunus, 84, and his Grameen Bank, a microcredit organization, won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to lift millions out of poverty through small loans to the rural poor in Bangladesh. Yunus is currently in Paris for a medical procedure and is expected to return to Dhaka soon.
   
4. In a tragic incident, doctors at Joshor General Hospital confirmed they had counted 24 bodies in Zabir International Hotel. Surviving hotel staff fear more bodies may be found in the debris. Media reports indicate that an unidentified mob, opposed to the Awami League (AL) regime, set the hotel’s ground floor on fire, which quickly spread to the upper floors.
   
5. Similar reports have emerged from across the country, where angry mobs vandalized the residences and business establishments of many Awami League leaders and activists, including the central office on Bangabandhu Avenue in the capital.
   
6. “Our state’s resources are being wasted. This country is ours; we have to build this country,” said Khaleda Zia during a meeting with Maulana Mamunul Haque, Secretary General of Bangladesh Khilafat Majlis, on Tuesday.
   
7. Neighbouring India, which is now sheltering Sheikh Hasina after she fled from deadly protests, expressed concern over the attacks on minorities, their businesses, and temples at multiple locations.

8. The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC) reported that 200-300 predominantly Hindu homes and businesses have been vandalized since Monday, with 15-20 Hindu temples damaged. Up to 40 people have been injured, though not seriously, according to BHBCUC General Secretary Rana Dasgupta, as reported by Reuters.
   
   Also Read: Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus to head Bangladesh’s interim government supported by the military