Bangladesh Chief Justice Obaidul Hasan resigns following fresh student protests

Nazrul, an advisor in the new caretaker government, urged protesters to remain peaceful. “Don’t damage any public property,” he said in the post.

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Hasan’s decision comes after student protestors marched towards the apex court demanding a revamp of the judiciary, warning him of “dire consequences” if he did not resign. However, as soon as the news of Hasan’s resignation broke, protesters vacated the High Court premises at the army’s request at around 2:00 pm local time, Bangladesh daily – Prothom Alo reported.

Hassan has not yet commented on his resignation or the protests.

Speaking on behalf of the protesting students, Nazrul told journalists at the Secretariat, “We hope the chief justice will understand when a demand for resignation comes from the mass movement and how to honour that demand.”

“We have received only the resignation letter of the chief justice. There is no update about (resignation) of others,” he added.

Nazrul’s statement comes amid reports of Bangladesh Bank Governor Abdur Rouf Talukder resigning, as student protests in the nation expand to target more officials appointed during former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s tenure. However, Talukder’s resignation was not accepted given the importance of his position, Bangladesh Finance Ministry Advisor Salehuddin Ahmed said.

Earlier, four deputy governors had resigned after 300 to 400 bank officials protested alleging corruption among top officials.

The vice chancellor of Dhaka University, A.S.M. Maksud Kamal, also stepped down, as confirmed by the university. The university has been at the centre of deadly protests that began in July over job quotas and evolved into a campaign to oust Hasina.

The former Bangladesh PM had, on August 5, fled the country to land at Ghaziabad’s Hindon airbase, from where she was taken to a “safe shelter”.

The student uprising, which killed about 300 people in Bangladesh, many of them students, ended Hasina’s uninterrupted rule of 15 years in the South Asian nation of 170 million people.

Since her departure, the country has seen a shake-up in the security leadership, and the establishment of an interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.

– With inputs from agencies