At least 91 people, including 14 policemen, were killed in street violence across Bangladesh on Sunday, and all roads leading to the Prime Minister’s residence were fortified amid fears of an attack on the premises.

Day One of a nationwide non-cooperation movement against Sheikh Hasina’s government witnessed widespread anarchy, with police stations and hospitals stormed and the death count in street clashes between protesters and supporters of the ruling Awami League rising by the hour.

Nineteen Awami League leaders and at least one journalist were killed, sources said. A mob murdered 13 officers at Enayetpur police station in Sirajganj.

“I have never seen such security around the PM’s residence. Up to 3km from Ganabhaban, it’s fully fortified,” a journalist from Dhaka said over the phone.

“I couldn’t spot a single person on the roads. It was eerie. The fear of an uncertain future is so palpable.”

An indefinite countrywide curfew was imposed from 6pm and the next three days declared as holidays. The authorities also ordered a shutdown of mobile Internet services besides deactivating Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram to reduce rumour-mongering.

Reports said the unrest had begun affecting vulnerable minority communities, particularly Hindus, in areas such as Sirajganj and Rangpur, where a local community leader was brutally murdered. Many minorities had their properties attacked and looted.

Long march

The security blanket around Hasina’s official residence, Ganabhaban, reflected fears of an attempt to attack the premises during Monday’s planned “long march”, with its slogan of “Chharte hobe khomota, Dhakai asho janata” — a call for a march to Dhaka and force a regime change.

The Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, a fledgling platform floated to demand quota reforms in government jobs, has called for Hasina’s resignation, expanding the scale and scope of the agitation besides pushing the country towards crisis.

“Some coordinators of the protest movement are planning to take the march to Ganabhaban.... Some anti-government YouTubers, settled abroad, have been talking about such a step for the last few days. I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow,” a source in the Bangladesh security establishment said.

The source said the armed forces and the special force that guards the Prime Minister and her immediate family members have taken position around the premises amid intelligence about a possible attempt at breaching the barricades on the approach roads.

“The situation is fragile. In most parts of the country, armed forces personnel were not seen. They were on the streets in Dhaka, but we don’t know how they will react during crunch time,” the source said.

On Sunday, a group of retired army officers, including former army chief Iqbal Karim Bhuiyan, urged the government to send the army back to the barracks.

The retired officers told a media conference that the patriotic military should not “accept any responsibility for the current situation”, the comment seen as a condemnation of the government and its decision to deploy the army since July 19 to quell the protests.

“Conspiracies are being hatched at different levels to confuse the armed forces and create more instability,” a source in the ruling establishment said.

Anarchy, brutality

Reports of deaths, grievous injuries to hundreds, and attacks on public and private property came from Dhaka, and from Rangpur, Bogura and Pabna in the north, Comilla in the east, Barisal and Feni in the south, and Magura, Jessore and Khulna in the west.

Sirajganj in the north witnessed an armed mob storm the Enayetpur police station and kill at least 13 policemen. Bangladeshi media said police headquarters had confirmed the news besides the killing of another policeman in Comilla. A police source said the killers piled the mutilated bodies at a corner of the police station.

“The brutality with which our colleagues were killed proves that criminals want to send out a message that the rule of law doesn’t exist. They are trying to create anarchy,” the source said, alleging efforts to demoralise the force.

The Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, a postgraduate medical institute in Dhaka, was stormed by armed mobs that ran wild for more than two hours, vandalising whatever they could. Even the doctors, nurses and paramedics were not spared.

“They came with all kinds of improvised arms. Some of them fired a few rounds after entering the campus. Such an attack on a medical facility, which is also a research centre, is unprecedented,” a urology professor said over the phone.

“The intruders didn’t look like students. They chased me and two of my colleagues. We ran up the stairs to the tenth floor and hid in an operation theatre.”

At least six Awami League leaders were beaten to death and several others left injured in a clash between ruling party supporters and protesters in Narsingdi on Dhaka’s outskirts.

Awami League leaders, their homes and the party’s offices were the main targets. In Dhaka, the party’s central office was attacked.

Hasina future

The political future of the country’s longest-serving Prime Minister — Hasina has been in power 21 years, from 1996 to 2001 and then from 2008 onwards — remained the biggest topic of discussion.

Speculation swirled around the possibilities of the formation of a national government or an army takeover.

“Frankly speaking, it is increasingly becoming difficult for her to continue as the demand for her resignation is getting louder,” said a strategic affairs expert in Dhaka. “I think the next few days, especially tomorrow, will be very important.”

The process of a change of government would, however, be complex in the absence of any organised force behind the protests, and in view of legal provisions that treat any unconstitutional power grab by the army as “treason”.

“Interested parties are busy with all these games. But there is little doubt that the feisty lady will put up a fight. The outcome would depend on the kind of support she gets from the armed forces and the response of the US and India,” the expert added.

Whatever the outcome, the developments have tarnished Hasina’s image, with her being blamed for the death of over 300 people, including students and babies.

While violence has been the most visible element of the protests, giving Hasina the opportunity to blame vested interests, a large section of civil society too has got involved in the movement.

“The involvement of elite society in the protest has surprised me. I saw women in Jimmy Choo shoes and carrying Prada bags at protest rallies in the upscale Gulshan and Banani areas of Dhaka,” said a barrister who had till a few months ago been an avowed Awami League supporter.

“I have seen students whose parents pay lakhs for their education in international schools shouting slogans.”

She explained her switch in loyalties: “I couldn’t bear the pain of so many lives being lost — the Prime Minister has to go.”

A well-known civil society member had a word of caution for all the ordinary citizens who have joined the protest spontaneously, demanding a change of government.

“These people are joining the protest in a kind of frenzy. They don’t know that they are empowering the BNP and the Jamaat who, if given a chance to run the country, would ruin Bangladesh,” the prominent citizen said, seeking anonymity.

“The secular and liberal people of this country will become the target if there is a change of guard.”