New demonstrations in Bangladesh as students call for Chief Justice to step down

Dhaka: Students are demanding the resignation of all justices, including the Chief Justice, from the Supreme Court, a day after rallies in Bangladesh prompted Sheikh Hasina to step down as prime minister.
Hundreds of demonstrators, the majority of whom are students, have surrounded the Supreme Court of Bangladesh and are calling for the Chief Justice to step down immediately. The Chief Justice may have left the premises, according to accounts, as the scene quickly got out of control.

The Chief Justice scheduled a full court meeting without consulting the newly established interim administration, which set off the demonstrations. Outrage and calls for accountability resulted from student protestors' allegations that the court's judges are involved in a conspiracy.

The planned full-court meeting was unexpectedly canceled as tensions grew. Unfazed, protesters kept encircling the Supreme Court, giving the Chief Justice a one-hour deadline to resign.

Days prior, student-led protests against government hiring practices led to Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus assuming leadership of a provisional administration.

Over a month of bloody protests that toppled the 76-year-old prime minister Sheikh Hasina's dictatorial government resulted in the deaths of at least 450 people.

Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, a prominent member of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, stated that Hasina must face the law in light of accusations of murder, forced disappearance, money laundering, and corruption.

On August 5, Hasina, one of the leaders with the longest tenure in Asia, resigned and left Bangladesh due to pressure from millions of protesters who had taken to the streets for weeks to demand she step down.

Bangladesh appointed an interim administration on Thursday, headed by economist Muhammad Yunus, who was awarded the Nobel Prize. Elections must be called within ninety days, according to the constitution, but Yunus, the president, and the military, which supports the interim administration, have not stated when they will take place.