A tea seller walks looking for customers in front of anti-government graffitis on a vandalised mural depicting Bangladesh’s founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. (Image: AFP)
Bangladesh interim government announced the decision on Tuesday to cancel the August 15 public holiday, observed to pay respects to assassinated Bangladesh founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
The Bangladesh interim government on Tuesday announced that the public holiday on August 15 which commemorates the death of founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman has been cancelled.
The advisory council of the interim government announced the decision. Muhammad Yunus met several political parties, barring the Bangladesh National Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami, who gave mixed opinions on the cancellation of the public holiday.
Bangladesh has observed August 15 as National Day of Mourning to commemorate Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who was murdered on that date in 1975.
“Cancelling the general holiday of August 15 announced on the occasion of National Mourning Day was approved in the meeting of the advisory council today, based on broad consensus in the dialogue of the political parties with the advisory council,” Bangladeshi news outlet Prothom Alo said in a report.
Meanwhile, Sheikh Hasina, the ousted former prime minister of Bangladesh and the daughter Mujibur Rahman, issued a statement demanding investigation into the deaths of people during the recent quota protests.
Tuesday’s statement was Hasina’s first public comment since her resignation.
She also urged people to pay homage to Dhanmondi 22, aka Bangabandhu Memorial Museum to commemorate the leader.
“I appeal to you to observe the National Day of Mourning on 15th August with due dignity and solemnity. Pray for the salvation of all souls by offering floral garlands and praying at Bangabandhu Bhavan,” she said in her statement released through the account of her son Sajeeb Wazed.
She asked supporters to “pray for the salvation of all souls by offering floral garlands and praying” at her childhood home in the capital Dhaka.
The landmark was until recently a museum to her father, but it was torched and vandalised by a mob hours after her fall.
She also demanded an investigation into killings and other criminal acts during the unrest that forced her out of office, with the culprits to be “identified and punished”.
