A year after bloody uprising, B’desh far from political stability

Abdur Rahman Tarif was talking to his sister Meherunnesa over the phone when the voice on the other end of the call suddenly fell silent.

- ASSOCIATED PRESS

In that moment, Tarif knew something bad had happened. He rushed home, dodging the exchange of fire between security forces and protesters on the streets of Dhaka. When he finally arrived, he discovered his parents tending to his bleeding sister.

A stray bullet had hit Meherunnesa’s chest while she was standing beside the window of her room, Tarif said. She was taken to a hospital where doctors declared her dead.

Meherunnesa, 23, was killed Aug 5 last year, the same day Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to flee the country in a massive student-led uprising, which ended her 15-year rule. For much of Bangladesh, Hasina’s ouster was a moment of joy. Three days later, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus took over the country as head of an interim government, promising to restore order and hold a new election after necessary reforms.