Police in Bangladesh fired tear gas and rubber bullets on Tuesday to disperse supporters of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who were demanding her return from exile.
A police vehicle was set on fire in Gopalganj district, where activists of the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), the banned student wing of Hasina's Awami League, clashed with security forces. The nationwide protests began a day after Hasina said she had asked for a passport so she could return from exile in India.
Protesters lit burning tires on roads and tried to set up roadblocks, disrupting traffic in several parts of the country. Several passenger vehicles were set on fire in the run-up to the protest. In Faridpur, a 60-year-old bus driver died of smoke inhalation early Tuesday after people set his vehicle on fire. About 200 protesters briefly blocked traffic on the 6.2-kilometer Padma Bridge, which connects Dhaka with the southwestern region.
Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said any attempt to worsen law and order or create instability through a conspiracy from across the border in India would not be allowed to succeed. A senior BCL leader living in exile said the group's supporters were not responsible for the violence, blamed unknown miscreants and said the organization believes in peaceful protest.
Hasina fled to India after the uprising ended her 15-year rule. The United Nations has estimated that up to 1,400 people were killed, most of them by gunfire from security forces, during the 2024 protests. The Awami League's activities were banned after she left, and the party was barred from contesting the February general election.
A special tribunal sentenced Hasina to death in absentia last year after finding her guilty of crimes against humanity. She called the trial biased and politically motivated. She has said she wants to return in December and asked the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi for a passport.
The government has refused. Junior Foreign Minister Humaiun Kobir called her a fugitive criminal and said Dhaka wants India to hand her over under the extradition treaty. A state prosecutor said on Tuesday that the verdict would be carried out if she returned, because she had missed the chance to appeal.
