The fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government in Bangladesh on Monday led to scenes of jubilation among protestors, even as the country continued to witness widespread violence. Army chief Waker-Uz-Zaman said that the country would have a new interim government soon, and urged protestors to remain peaceful.

The student-led protests initially erupted last month against a controversial quota scheme for government jobs and then evolved into a broader agitation against Hasina’s administration.

Here are some of the top developments from Bangladesh.

  • Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus on Tuesday said that he is ready to lead the interim government in Bangladesh, AFP reported. “I am honoured by the trust of the protesters who wish for me to lead the interim government,” he told AFP. “If action is needed in Bangladesh, for my country and for the courage of my people, then I will take it.” Yunus also called for “free elections”. A day earlier, organisers of the student protests had proposed to appoint Yunus as the chief adviser to the interim government.
  • At least 135 persons died in Bangladesh on Monday in mob violence, police firings and arson, before and after Sheikh Hasina resigned as the prime minister and left the country, reported Dhaka Tribune. On Sunday, at least 93 persons were killed and over 1,000 injured in different parts of the country, reported The Daily Star.
  • Hours after Hasina left Bangladesh and landed in India with her sister, Bangladesh’s President Mohammed Shahabuddin ordered the release of jailed former prime minister and key Opposition leader Khaleda Zia, reported Al Jazeera. She is the chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. Zia has been in jail since February 2018 after her conviction in a corruption case.A press statement from the president’s office said that the decision to release the former prime minister was taken during a meeting led by Shahabuddin. Waker-Uz-Zaman, along with the heads of the Navy and Air Force, and top leaders of several Opposition parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the Jamaat-e-Islami party, attended the meeting.
  • Bangladesh’s Parliament was dissolved on Tuesday by the country’s president. This came hours after protesting student leaders set a deadline for the legislature to be dissolved, warning that a “strict programme” will be launched if their demand was not met, Reuters reported.
  • Bangladesh’s army chief said that an interim government will be formed and the deaths during the protests will be investigated. He urged protestors to have faith in the army. “I promise you all we will bring justice to all the murders and injustice,” he said. “We request you to have faith in the army of the country. I take full responsibility, and I assure you to not get disheartened.”
  • Hindu homes and business establishments were attacked by mobs in at least 27 districts on Monday, reported The Daily Star. Hindu houses and businesses are also being looted in some places, according to the report. “There are no areas or districts left where communal attacks have not taken place,” Monindra Kumar Nath, a senior joint general secretary of Oikya in Cox Bazar district told the newspaper. “We’re continuously getting reports from different parts of the country about attacks on houses and business establishments.”Amid the violence, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami leader Shafiqur Rahman urged political party workers and activists to play the role of “watchmen so that no one can create such a situation and attack people of different religions”.
  • Zunaid Ahmed Palak, the information technology minister in Hasina’s government, was on Tuesday barred from leaving Bangladesh by Dhaka airport authorities and taken into custody, Prothom Alo reported quoting unidentified officials. Palak has been criticised for shutting down the internet during the protests.
  • A curfew that was imposed to quash protests will be lifted on Tuesday, the Bangladeshi military said, reported AFP. “Offices, factories, schools, colleges... will be open” from 6:00 am Tuesday,” it said.
  • The United States on Monday called for all sides to avoid violence in Bangladesh. “We urge all parties to refrain from further violence,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters. “Too many lives have been lost over the course of the past several weeks, and we urge calm and restraint in the days ahead.”