The attacks on Awami League and its former allies undertaken by the interim government also raises questions of credibility about the democratic and political reform process initiated by the interim government.
In an online address from exile, former PM Sheikh Hasina accused the interim government led by Nobel Laureate Mohammad Yunus of destroying the country by sheltering extremists.
The student movement has called the 1972 constitution, drafted after the 1971 war of liberation against Pakistan, as “Mujibist” and accused that it facilitated the prolonged rule of the Awami League.
The Workers’ Party of Bangladesh also demanded a withdrawal of false cases against left leaders including its president Rashed Khan Menon and their immediate release from prison
The interim government in Bangladesh has now arrested at least five journalists and filed cases of murder and crimes against humanity against dozens of others
Workers in Bangladesh have been protesting factory owners’ refusal to pay last month’s wages on the pretext of production shutdowns due to widespread protests against the Sheikh Hasina government
The presidents of the Workers Party of Bangladesh and the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal party have remained in police custody for over three weeks now
Rashed Khan Menon was arrested last week by the interim government in Bangladesh and accused of involvement in the death of anti-government protesters
Since Sheikh Hasina resigned, there has been a wave of targeted arrests and attacks on her party and its allies. Vijay Prashad warns that the interim government may steer the country away from the original sentiments of the protesting students
Rashed Khan Menon was arrested on Thursday in what is widely seen as part of a broader crackdown against allies of the ousted government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
Since Hasina stepped down on August 5, there have been increasing incidents of violence against members of her party and symbols of the Liberation War.
The technocratic interim administration also includes leaders of the student movement which was instrumental in forcing Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign and leave the country on August 5.