Bangladesh's PM flees country after deadly protests, ending 15-year ...
August 5, 2024 — 8.46pm
Dhaka: Bangladesh’s Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, resigned on Monday, ending 15 years in power as thousands of protesters defied a military curfew and stormed her official residence.
Shortly after local media showed the embattled leader boarding a military helicopter with her sister, Bangladesh’s military chief, General Waker-uz-Zaman, announced plans to seek the president’s guidance on forming an interim government.
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has left the country after deadly protests, ending 15 years in power.Credit: AP
He promised the military would stand down, and to launch an investigation into deadly crackdowns that fuelled outrage against the government, and asked citizens for time to restore peace.
“Keep faith in the military. We will investigate all the killings and punish the responsible,” he said. “I have ordered that no army and police will indulge in any kind of firing.
“Now, the students’ duty is to stay calm and help us.”
The protests began peacefully as frustrated students demanded an end to a quota system for government jobs, but the demonstrations have since morphed into an unprecedented challenge and uprising against Hasina and her ruling Awami League party.
The government attempted to quell the violence with force, leaving nearly 300 people dead and sparking further outrage and calls for Hasina to step down.
Men run past a burning vehicle inside the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital, set on fire by protesters.Credit: AP
At least 95 people, including at least 14 police, died in clashes in the capital on Sunday, according to the country’s leading Bengali-language daily newspaper, Prothom Alo. Hundreds more were injured in the violence.
At least 11,000 people have been arrested in recent weeks. The unrest has also resulted in the closure of schools and universities across the country, and authorities at one point imposed a shoot-on-sight curfew.
Protesters at the weekend called for a “non-cooperation” effort, urging people not to pay taxes or utility bills and not to show up for work on Sunday, a working day in Bangladesh. Offices, banks and factories opened, but commuters in Dhaka and other cities faced challenges getting to their jobs.
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Hasina offered to talk with student leaders on Saturday, but a co-ordinator refused and announced a one-point demand for her resignation. Hasina repeated her pledges to investigate the deaths and punish those responsible for the violence. She said she was ready to sit down whenever the protesters wanted.
Authorities shut off mobile internet on Sunday in an attempt to quell the unrest, while broadband internet was cut off briefly on Monday morning. It was the second internet blackout in the country after the protests turned deadly in July.
On Monday, after three hours of suspension of broadband services, both broadband and mobile internet returned.
Hasina had said protesters who engaged in “sabotage” and destruction were no longer students but criminals. People should deal with them with iron hands, she said.
The 76-year-old was elected for a fourth consecutive term in a January vote that was boycotted by her main opponents, triggering questions over how free and fair the vote was. Thousands of opposition members were jailed in the lead-up to the polls, which the government defended as democratically held
AP
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