Sheikh Hasina’s reported departure comes as fresh wave of violent protests erupts across country
DHAKA – The prime minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, has resigned and left the country, media reports say, amid some of the country’s worst violence since the birth of the south Asian nation more than 50 years ago.
In a briefing to reporters, Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman has announced that he is assuming control at what he called “a critical time for our country” and will establish an interim government.
“I am taking responsibility now and we will go to the president and ask to form an interim government to lead the country in the meantime.”
Celebrations erupted among the crowds who had been on the streets of the capital, Dhaka, for another day of protests amid reports that Hasina had been airlifted from the prime minister’s residence by military helicopter began to reach them.
It comes after a tense night when the internet was cut for several hours and residents told the Guardian of raids and gunshots, even in the most affluent areas, ahead of a planned mass protest called for Monday.
What began as student protests was over a quota system for government jobs they said disproportionately allocated jobs to the descendants of freedom fighters from the 1971 independence war.
But the government’s harsh crackdown on those protests have lead to hundreds of deaths which continued despite the supreme court overturning the quota law. Agence France-Presse reported 94 deaths on Sunday.
A curfew was put in place on Monday and offices and factories were closed but protesters have still taken to the streets. Bangladeshi TV channels showed jubilant protesters dancing and chanting at locations across Dhaka.
One protester sent the Guardian a video of a crowd marching and roaring in celebration, some of them waving Bangladeshi flags, near Shahbagh, where protesters had planned to gather.
“I feel out of this world, we’re dancing in the streets now,” she said. “People are celebrating, singing, dancing. I’ve never seen this many tears of joy. People are smiling and crying at the same time.”
theguardian.com
