General Zaman rules out imposition of curfew or emergency, asks people to trust army,
Dhakka(Webdesk);PM Hasina Steps Down, Bangladesh Army Chief Confirms Interim Government, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has resigned and left the country on Monday, media reports said, as more 300 people were killed in some of the worst violence since the birth of the South Asian nation more than five decades ago.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned on Monday and fled the country, multiple sources said, as more people were killed in some of the worst violence since the birth of the South Asian nation more than five decades ago.
Army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman said in a televised address that Hasina, 76, had left the country and that an interim government would be formed.
Media reports said she had flown in a military helicopter with her sister and was headed to the eastern Indian state of West Bengal just across the border. Another report said she was headed to India’s northeastern state of Tripura.
Reuters could not immediately verify the reports.
Television visuals showed thousands of people pouring into the streets of the capital Dhaka in jubilation and shouting slogans. Thousands also stormed Hasina’s official residence ‘Ganabhaban’, shouting slogans, pumping fists and showing victory signs.
Television visuals showed crowds in the drawing rooms of the residence, and some people could be seen carrying away televisions, chairs and tables from what was one of the most protected buildings in the country.
“She has fled the country, fled the country,” some shouted.
Protesters in Dhaka also climbed atop a large statue of independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Hasina’s father, and began chiselling away at the head with an axe, the visuals showed.
Student activists had called for a march to the capital Dhaka on Monday in defiance of a nationwide curfew to press Hasina to resign, a day after deadly clashes across the country killed nearly 100 people. About 150 people were killed in protests last month.
On Monday, at least six people were killed in clashes between police and protesters in the Jatrabari and Dhaka Medical College areas on Monday, the Daily Star newspaper reported. Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
Bangladesh has been engulfed by protests and violence that began last month after student groups demanded scrapping of a controversial quota system in government jobs.
That escalated into a campaign to seek the ouster of Hasina, who won a fourth straight term in January in an election boycotted by the opposition.
Bangladesh Unrest: Curfew Imposed and Rising Death Toll
The protesters blame Hasina’s government for the violence during the protests in July. Hasina’s critics and rights groups have accused her government of using excessive force against protesters, a charge the government denies.
The MSCI index of shares around the rest of the region lost over 2%.
Hasina, 76, and her government initially said students were not involved in the violence during the quota protests and blamed the Islamic party, Jamaat-e-Islami, and the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) for the clashes and arson.
But after violence erupted again on Sunday, Hasina said that “those who are carrying out violence are not students but terrorists who are out to destabilise the nation”.
The students group has declined Hasina’s offer for talks to resolve the crisis.
Demonstrations started at university campuses in June after the High Court reinstated a quota system for government jobs, overturning a 2018 decision by Hasina’s government to scrap it.
The Supreme Court suspended the high court order after the government’s appeal and then dismissed the lower court order last month, directing that 93% of jobs should be open to candidates on merit.
Experts also attribute the current unrest in Bangladesh to stagnant job growth in the private sector, making public sector jobs, with their accompanying regular wage hikes and privileges, very attractive.
The quotas sparked anger among students grappling with high youth unemployment, as nearly 32 million young people are out of work or education in a population of 170 million.
The flagging economy, once among the world’s fastest growing on the back of the country’s booming garments sector, has stagnated. Inflation hovers around 10% per annum and dollar reserves are shrinking.
Hasina retained power for a fourth straight term in a January general election boycotted by BNP, which accused her Awami League of trying to legitimise sham elections.
BNP said 10 million party workers were on the run ahead of the election with nearly 25,000 arrested following deadly anti-government protests on Oct. 28. Hasina blamed the BNP for instigating anti-government protests that rocked Dhaka ahead of the election and left at least 10 people dead.
