Calm but tense Bangladesh under tight security as Awami League calls shutdown after Hasina verdict

Bangladesh on Tuesday remained calm but tense as security forces kept a tight grip on the streets across major cities, following the Awami League's call for a "nationwide total shutdown” to protest the death sentence handed down to its chief and former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

No incident of violence was reported, while traffic in Dhaka and other major cities stayed thin and public movement was limited amid fears of possible unrest following Monday's high-profile verdict. "The transport flow is thin as the people preferred to stay indoors," a transport operator in Dhaka said.

Many offices and educational institutions recorded low attendance as people chose to stay indoors amid uncertainty. Heavily armed police, Rapid Action Battalion personnel and paramilitary units continued round-the-clock patrols, especially around government buildings, party offices and key intersections. Authorities kept security cordons in parts of the capital, while checkpoints and barricades remained in place.

Hasina's Awami League party, in a statement posted on social media on Monday, called for a "nationwide total shutdown" on Tuesday in protest against Hasina's verdict. It has also called for "nationwide demonstrations, protests, and resistance" from Nov 19-21.

"Our systematic democratic movement will continue until the fall of the illegal, unconstitutional government of killer–fascist (Muhammad) Yunus and the restoration of a democratic state system," the statement said. The party termed the verdict “politically motivated”, "malicious, retaliatory, and vengeful".

Hasina, 78, was on Monday sentenced to death in absentia by Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) for "crimes against humanity" over her government's brutal crackdown on student-led protests last year. It also handed the death sentence to former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal on similar charges.

Hasina has been living in India since she fled Bangladesh on August 5 last year in the face of the massive protests. Commenting on the verdict, Hasina denied the charges as "biased and politically motivated" and said the judgment has been made by a "rigged tribunal" established and presided over by an "unelected government with no democratic mandate".