Former IT Minister Palak detained at airport:
Hasina rival Khaleda Zia released from house arrest:
Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus agrees to be interim chief advisor :
Former Bangladesh Telecommunication and ICT Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak was detained by airport authorities on Tuesday, as reported by Prothom Alo.
The former Minister along with his two aides, arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport around 3pm. He was stopped from boarding the plane and was taken into custody by Immigration officials. Meanwhile, the Bangladesh parliament was dissolved yesterday,
the Parliament’s office said, Reuters reported. Student protest coordinators had asked for the dissolving by 3 pm today, pushing for the formation of a new interim government at the earliest. Warning of a “strict programme”, they had asked “revolutionary students to be ready”.
The death toll in Bangladesh on Tuesday climbed to 440, with 100 more deaths reported after Sheikh Hasina fled the country, as per the local media, even as efforts were on by the Army to bring the situation under control in the violence-hit nation.
There were signs of a return to normalcy on Tuesday, with Police and Army patrolling the streets, BDNews24.com news said and added that schools were reopened after a long period of closure due to protests against Hasina over a controversial job quota system.
Bangladesh’s newspaper ‘Prothom Alo’ reported that at least 109 people were killed in clashes in different parts of the country, including Dhaka, during the anti-discrimination student movement on Monday.
Bangladesh student protest coordinators, in a Facebook video released early this morning, called for the formation of a new interim government with Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus as its chief advisor.
Agreeing to this, Yunus’ spokesperson said he will take up the role. Yunus who is currently an advisor for the 2024 Paris Olympics is expected to return to Bangladesh “immediately” after a minor medical procedures, his spokesperson was quoted as saying.
Bangladesh’s first woman Prime Minister Khaleda Zia is set to be released from house arrest after anti-government protests ousted her rival Sheikh Hasina from power on Monday. President Mohammed Shahabuddin ordered the immediate release of Zia, chief of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), after discussing the formation of an interim government with politicians and the Army. According to her doctors, Zia is suffering liver disease, diabetes and heart problems. She has largely remained away from politics over past many years. (Indian Express)