Mobs wielding bamboo sticks and pipes thrashed supporters of Bangladesh’s toppled ruling party on Thursday, preventing them from gathering for their first rally since their leader fled the country.
The attackers, in Dhaka, the capital, were largely supporters of opposition parties that had endured abuse from former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s ruling Awami League. The student protesters who rallied to topple Ms. Hasina have become de facto police offers on the streets, but on Thursday they were mostly on the sidelines, broadcasting pleas for peace and calm that were ignored.
The violence — latest outbreak in the cycle of vengeance that has afflicted Bangladesh through many turbulent periods — highlighted one of the stark challenges facing the new interim government. And there have been other troubling signs that the government will struggle to keep order and bring justice.
In the week since Ms. Hasina was toppled by a student protest movement and fled to India, the purging of the former ruling party from the government has continued. Protesters have continued to call for the former prime minister to face justice for the deaths of about 500 people during the monthlong uprising, most of them in the crackdown that she unleashed.
At least two senior members of Ms. Hasina’s government were arrested by the security forces on Tuesday as they tried to flee the country by boat. When they appeared in court on Wednesday, their opponents prevented their lawyers from defending them, local news media reported, continuing a pattern of injustice that had long bent to those in power.
Bangladesh’s army chief also appeared to be confirming reports that some of the leaders of Ms. Hasina’s party were being housed in its quarters, saying the military would shelter anyone facing threat of “extrajudicial action.”
“We have given shelter to those whose lives are under threat,” Gen. Waker-uz-Zaman told reporters on Tuesday. “No matter what party, religion or opinion, we will do this.”
Leaders of the interim government, which is led by the Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, said they were facing multiple crises while trying to carry out a more fundamental overhaul of the state.
The interim government has struggled to get police officers, who vanished from their duties after facing retaliatory mob violence for their role in the hundreds of protester deaths, to return to work. The country’s long-persecuted Hindu minority has been gripped by fear of increased attacks.
The economy, largely reliant on a garment export industry, has also been on a downward spiral, with foreign reserves dwindling.
In addition to the challenges of restoring public services and reforming government institutions, “there is also a strong element of reconciliation at the same time — justice,” said Rizwana Hasan, a member of the cabinet and a spokeswoman for the interim government. Referring to the interim government, she said, “We have formed this advisory board standing on the dead bodies of no less than 500 people. It’s no easy task. It’s very depressing.”
Members of the toppled Awami League Party were trying to gather to mark the anniversary of the death of Bangladesh’s founding leader, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He was killed in a military coup that also massacred much of his family; Sheikh Hasina, his daughter, was one of the few who escaped.
The Awami League demonstrators planned to gather at Sheikh Mujib’s old house, which had become a museum. It had been set on fire the day Sheikh Hasina fled the country.
But as they tried to mobilize on Thursday morning, the roads leading to the site were blocked by mobs of people wielding bamboo sticks and green plastic pipes. They beat anyone they suspected of being with the Awami League, and sought to prevent the media from documenting their violence. Some of the thrashed men fled, while others were bloodied and dragged away.
Mohammad Shamsuddin, a member of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party — one of those long repressed by the ousted government — said they would not let the Awami League gather while the blood from Ms. Hasina’s crackdown was still fresh. He said they would stay on the streets and prevent their rallies until Ms. Hasina faced trial.
“Everyone has the right to protest,” he said. “But no one can protest on the side of the killers.”
Saif Hasnat contributed reporting.
Read More: Mobs Attack Bangladesh’s Toppled Party as New Leaders Struggle to Keep Order
