Dhaka, Nov 19: Bangladesh remained calm but tense on Tuesday as security forces maintained tight control across major cities following the Awami League’s call for a “nationwide total shutdown” to protest the death sentence of its chief and former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.Traffic remained thin, public movement was limited, and offices and educational institutions recorded low attendance amid fears of unrest.
Heavily armed police, Rapid Action Battalion personnel, and paramilitary units patrolled key areas, with checkpoints and barricades in place. The Awami League called for protests and resistance from November 19-21, denouncing the verdict as “politically motivated” and “malicious.”
Hasina, 78, was sentenced to death in absentia by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) for “crimes against humanity” linked to her government’s crackdown on student protests last year.
Former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal also received a death sentence. Hasina, currently in India, rejected the verdict as biased, claiming it was handed down by a “rigged tribunal” led by an “unelected government.”
Bangladesh’s interim government has warned media outlets against reporting statements by deposed PM Sheikh Hasina, citing national security and public order concerns.
The National Cyber Security Agency (NCSA) said her remarks could incite violence or disrupt social harmony, and warned that broadcasting content from convicted fugitives violates the Cyber Security Ordinance, punishable by up to two years’ imprisonment or fines.
Hasina, sentenced to death in absentia by the International Crimes Tribunal for crimes against humanity, denied the charges as politically motivated.
Bangladesh police arrested 1,649 people within 24 hours following former PM Sheikh Hasina’s death sentence by the International Crimes Tribunal for crimes against humanity.
Violence erupted nationwide, including vehicle fires, clashes in Dhaka’s Dhanmondi 32, and attacks on former President Abdul Hamid’s house. Security forces seized firearms, explosives, and detained Awami League leaders to prevent further violence.
Following Sheikh Hasina’s ouster in July 2024, Bangladesh’s interim government shifted foreign policy toward Pakistan while distancing from India, stoking anti-India sentiment to divert attention from domestic unrest.
Amid rising violence, lawlessness, and political instability, Dhaka blamed New Delhi for Hasina’s speeches and protests, despite India maintaining a non-interventionist stance, straining bilateral ties and fueling historical revisionism around the 1971 Liberation War.