Bangladesh uprising over but number of protests increases

The solo protest of Bangladeshi hunger striker Mahbubul Haque Shipon is hard to spot among the six other demonstrations under way on the same busy thoroughfare.

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Mr Shipon's country is emerging from a summer of upheaval after student protests sparked a revolution, culminating in premier Sheikh Hasina's August ouster.

Her government imposed restrictions on public assembly until it was no longer able to contain anger over rights abuses and widening inequality after 15 years of rule.

While many are hopeful that Ms Hasina's overthrow heralds a brighter future, the end of those restrictions has led to more protests in the capital Dhaka since her departure than during the uprising against her.

"I am here for the sake of the nation and for a great cause," Mr Shipon told AFP, four days after he dragged a mattress onto the kerb to begin his one-man campout.

The 47-year-old is calling for the ouster of Bangladesh's President still in office but suspect as a Ms Hasina appointee - and the scrapping of the Constitution he blames for the country's past woes.

As he vowed not to eat again until his demands were met, his words were drowned out by the clamour of numerous other protests being staged around him.

Government land office employees nearby chanted demands for higher pay and benefits, next to another man waging his own solitary protest urging protections for Sufi religious shrines.

Further down was a group forming a human chain to highlight the case of a university official subjected to anonymous death threats.