Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has stepped down and secretly left the capital of Dhaka after almost two months of violent protests in the country, CBS News reports.
Source: Britannica
Hasina reportedly departed to the Indian city of Agartala after leaving Bangladesh, seeking to be in a “safer place”. General Waker-Uz-Zaman, the current Chief of Army Staff, has confirmed her resignation in an address to the nation, adding that an interim government will be formed. He has also urged protesters to “stay calm” to restore peace in the country.
In response, some protest leaders said they would refuse a military rule.
The first riots in Bangladesh began in early July to protest against the country’s quota-based system for government job recruitment but soon turned into a full-scale campaign to oust Hasina, who has been in power for 15 years and was last re-elected for a fourth term in January.
Human rights organisations accuse Hasina’s administration for abusing state apparatuses to consolidate its grip on power and suppress dissent, including resorting to extrajudicial murders of opposition supporters.
Source: social media
The prime minister’s resignation comes amid a recent escalation in the ongoing protests that killed at least 93 people, including 14 police officers, over the past day, as per local media reports. Demonstrators and government supporters fought each other with sticks and knives, while security officers used guns to disperse the crowd.
Additionally, footage showing thousands of protesters storming Hasina’s residence in the capital has gone viral on social media.
The unrest brought together people from all walks of life in the South Asian country of around 170 million people, including film stars, musicians, and singers.
