EDUCATION and public transport in Bangladesh were seriously disrupted today after ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her formerly ruling Awami League called for a nationwide lockdown.

The call was made in protest at her trial over the crackdown on last year’s demonstrations, which left hundreds of people dead.

Ms Hasina, now in exile in India, faces charges of committing crimes against humanity while trying to crush the student-led uprising that ended her 15-year rule in August last year. 

A special tribunal in the capital Dhaka is expected to announce a verdict on Monday, chief prosecutor Tajul Islam said during a news conference today.

Ms Hasina’s now banned party urged its supporters and others to protest, while the government and opposition to the former prime minister vowed to stop them.

Schools in Dhaka and other major cities across Bangladesh switched to online classes and examinations while public transport was severely disrupted as the government heightened security precautions nationwide.

Dhaka has suffered incidents of vandalism this week and usually clogged streets remained mostly empty today.

A fire bomb was thrown at a government office in the Gopalganj district, which is Ms Hasina’s ancestral home and a stronghold for her party. 

An office of Grameen Bank, a small-loan institution founded by Bangladesh’s current interim leader Muhammad Yunus was torched on Wednesday in the country’s east, local media reported.

Mr Yunus took over three days after Ms Hasina’s fall on August 5 2024 and vowed to punish her.

Explosions of crude bombs and torched vehicles were reported over the past three days in Dhaka and elsewhere, indicating that political chaos will continue in Bangladesh, which has a history of such violence.

This morning, soldiers and other security personnel were deployed to guard the premises of the special tribunal, which is overseeing a case involving former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan and former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah al-Mamun.