bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

knowledgeQuestion

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

Bangladesh’s metro railway in the notoriously congested capital Dhaka resumed on Sunday, more than a month after it was closed during the peak of student-led protests that eventually toppled the prime minister.
Much in the troubled South Asian nation remains in political turmoil since the revolution that ousted Sheikh Hasina and ended her 15-year-long iron-fisted rule, but on Sunday, the trains at least were back on track.
Dhaka is one of the world’s most densely populated cities, and the railway is a critical transport link in the sprawling megacity of some 20 million people.
Banker Shaheen Sultana said she was delighted her commute to work was a “relaxed” affair after weeks of car-clogged gridlock on the roads.
“I am very happy that it is working again,” 40-year-old Sultana said, as she exited a station near her workplace in the city’s commercial heart. “It is a great relief.”
The elevated train network was closed in mid-July during the student-led protest.
In the deadly violence – which would see hundreds of people killed until Hasina quit and fled the country by helicopter on August 5 – the stations were vandalised by a mob.
The resumption of metro services is a key sign of a return to normal daily life.
Its reopening was ordered by the new caretaker government, led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, 84.

“In the absence of the metro I had to take the bus to work,” said Kaosar Khan, a speech therapist at a private hospital in the city.
“I faced massive traffic snarls,” Khan, 25, added. “It used to take two hours on the bus, but with the metro, I can reach my destination in 15 minutes”.
Hasina’s government was accused of widespread abuses, including the mass detention and extrajudicial killing of political opponents.
But Dhaka’s metro, inaugurated in 2022, is seen by many as one of the most significant infrastructure endeavours of Hasina’s otherwise tarnished tenure.
It was an instant hit in the congested city where commuting by road is a source of massive frustration.
Local researchers say the capital’s economy loses upwards of $3 billion each year in lost work time due to traffic jams, often worsened by regular street protests and monsoonal downpours.
Pictures released by Hasina’s office while she was still in office showed her weeping at the sight of a vandalised metro station in an outlying Dhaka suburb.

Hasina had called the line a “matter of great pride” when she opened it in December 2022, and during the protests, she was furious that it had been attacked.
“Who has benefited … Do I ride on the metro?” she asked at the time.
But others said Hasina’s government had exploited the attack on the metro, to shut it down as a warning.
“They wanted to say if you go against us, you will have to suffer the consequences,” said Mohammad Hridoy, 28, a technology worker waiting at the platform.
“The shutdown seemed more deliberate than necessitated by circumstances.”
On Sunday, some passengers said the metro attack was a blot on the reputation of the protesters.
“Why hurt the nation and destroy public property?” said Sharmin Sultana, 55, a housewife travelling with her young daughter, a yellow scarf covering her head.
“We should protect our national property, irrespective of party politics.”


Trump uses Diwali message to attack Harris and pledges to protect Hindus

6 dead as dozens of Rohingya refugees ‘stranded’ on Indonesia beach by traffickers

Bangladesh faces extended political crisis as doubts surface over Hasina’s resignation

Bangladesh plans to turn Sheikh Hasina’s old palace into a revolution museum

Bangladesh

Bangladesh transit rail back on track after protest closure

A metro train rides along a transit line in Dhaka on Sunday. Photo: AFP

Nobel laureate and Chief adviser of Bangladesh’s new interim government Muhammad Yunus. Photo: AFP

Ousted former prime minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina. Photo: AP

Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina resigns, sending ‘shock waves’ across the region

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year rule of the country ended on Monday as she fled weeks of deadly protests. 
Photo: AFP

Bangladeshi students hold placards expressing their opinions during a rally at Central Shaheed Minar, to demand justice for the victims killed in the recent countrywide violence during anti-quota protests. Photo: dpa

Men run past a shopping centre which was set on fire by protesters during a rally against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government demanding justice for the victims killed in the recent countrywide deadly clashes, in Dhaka, Bangladesh on Sunday. Photo: AP

Bangladesh army personnel stand guard during a curfew following clashes between police and Anti-Discrimination Student Movement activists amid anti-government protests in Shahbag area of Dhaka on August 5. Photo: AFP

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina delivers a joint statement at the Government House in Bangkok, Thailand, on April 26 2024. Photo: EPA-EFE

UN report: Bangladesh unrest kills more than 600 people

Members of the Nari Shakti Forum and their supporters take part in a protest march against alleged atrocities on Bangladeshi Hindus and other minorities, in New Delhi on Friday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Bangladesh court opens murder case against ex-PM Sheikh Hasina over police killing during unrest

The complainant blamed ousted PM Sheikh Hasina and six top figures, who had called for strong action to quell the violence, over the police killing of a man during civil unrest last month. Photo: AP

Men run past a burning vehicle during a rally against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government demanding justice for the victims killed in the recent countrywide deadly clashes, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on August 4. Photo: AP

Indian doctor’s rape-murder threatens veteran politician Mamata Banerjee’s grip on power

Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister of India’s West Bengal state, takes part in a protest rally to condemn the rape and murder of a doctor in her state’s capital, Kolkata, on August 16. Photo: AFP

Medical students, engineers and citizens attend a protest march against an alleged rape and murder incident as they demand justice, in Kolkata, India on Wednesday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal, is a feisty political leader, known for wearing an inexpensive white sari. Photo: Reuters

Bangladesh’s Yunus calls India’s PM Modi to assure him of safety of Hindus

A Hindu woman prays at the Dhakeshwari National Temple in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Hindus constitute about 8 per cent of Bangladesh’s population. Photo: AP

Hindu activists in Ahmedabad, India protest the attacks on religious places of Hindus in Bangladesh. Photo: Reuters

News

Asia

South Asia

Dhaka’s metro is seen by many as the success of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s government despite accusations of widespread abuses


Bangladesh’s metro railway in the notoriously congested capital Dhaka resumed on Sunday more than a month after it was closed.


Protests around the world

Human rights