Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned on Monday and fled the country after a month of massive anti-government protests.
On Sunday, thousands of protesters stormed the presidential palace of Hasina, reportedly killing at least 90 people. The total death toll from the protests has now exceeded 300, most of them civilians shot dead by police.
Hasina, 76, has been in power since 2009 and is the longest-serving prime minister in Bangladesh’s history and the longest-serving female prime minister in the world. Reportedly She had stopped off in India on her way to exile in London, only to escape minutes before protesters broke into her residence.
Video from the capital Indicated Protesters gleefully ransacked her home, eating everything left in her kitchen. They even took her pets and livestock, stopping to take selfies as they walked through the gate with ducks and rabbits under their arms.
Hasina daughter Hasina, 28, had been living in Germany with her sister since the death of Bangladesh’s first independent leader, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. In 1975, Hasina’s parents and three siblings were shot dead by military officers in a military coup. Her sister, Sheikh Rehana, Reportedly He accompanied her as she fled the capital, Dhaka, by helicopter.
Hasina returned to Bangladesh after years of exile in India and was embroiled in a lengthy struggle with the military and opposition leaders before first winning election as prime minister in 1996 and serving in that position until 2001. The 15-year term that just ended was her second term in power.
Bangladesh’s politics have been bloody since independence from Pakistan in 1971, with factional leaders imprisoning each other and finding different ways to justify dictatorial rule. Hasina’s admirers credited her with improving the country’s infrastructure, giving education to women and nurturing vital industries. But critics said she was an autocrat with a penchant for silencing dissent, punishing opponents and rigging elections. Her defenders said her family’s tragic past made her rightfully fearful of being overthrown in a coup, while her critics accused her of cynically exploiting her history for political gain.
Both the US and the UK found He said the last re-election in January was “not credible, free or fair” because of “election day fraud” and “the arrests of thousands of opposition politicians.”
The unrest that led to the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina began last month when student groups staged protests at the Baloque building. Quota system The government quota system, instituted by Hasina’s father in the 1970s, was originally intended to reserve government jobs as a reward for “freedom fighters” who fought for independence from Pakistan, and for women who were abused by the Pakistani military during the struggle for independence.
As the number of ageing “freedom fighters” dwindled, the quota system became larger and more complex, including quotas for certain ethnic groups and those living in the poorest parts of Bangladesh, and, for no apparent reason, preferential treatment given to the children and grandchildren of freedom fighters.
Opposition politicians have accused Hasina and her Awami League of misusing the quota system to grant benefits to political allies. They cited Hasina’s emotional commitment to preserving the quotas for freedom fighters and their descendants as a prime example of her using tragedy for political gain. As Bangladesh’s economy stagnated, civil service jobs, with guaranteed salary increases and lavish perks, became a very attractive prize.
Student protests actually succeeded in getting the quota system abolished in 2018, but in June the Bangladesh High Court Returned The bill was passed in response to petitions from the families of freedom fighters, sparking new protests by students who eventually pressured the courts to reduce the quota from 30% to 5% of government employees.
This concession was not enough for the student protesters, so Hasina deployed security forces to Very brutal crackdownPolice attacked protesters with everything from tear gas to shotguns and finally Chinese-made assault rifles. There were numerous arbitrary arrests, including from journalists covering the events. The internet was shut down across the country on 18 July and remained unavailable for five days, with sporadic outages continuing in the most volatile areas.
The turning point in the crackdown came when the police killed In July, a student named Sheikh Asabur Yamin was killed. He was shot multiple times by police who, without any attempt to provide him medical treatment, callously dumped his body on top of an Armored Personnel Carrier (APC), removed him from the scene of his death, dragged his body off the roof and left him on the street.
Protesters redoubled their efforts and began calling for Prime Minister Hasina to step down. She responded: Blame She called the protesters “razakars,” an ugly insult that essentially means “traitors,” but denied using excessive force against them. She then called the protesters “terrorists trying to destabilize the country.”
Prime Minister Hasina has steadfastly rejected calls to resign. Her top officials have issued ominous warnings. Tweeted They showed “restraint” by only killing a few hundred traitors, and could have caused real “bloodshed” if they had been pushed too far.
The bloodshed finally escalated on Sunday when thousands gathered for what one opposition leader described as a “final protest”, with more than 100 people reportedly killed. Protesters drove through the capital, destroying buildings and setting vehicles on fire. Police and members of the ruling Youth League said: Attacked They attacked protesters with guns and machetes and ran them over with cars.
Hasina resigned when the conflict reached her residence. ran away With the help of Indian authorities, the plane was able to leave Bangladesh, to the surprise and joy of protesters who were reportedly shocked to see their sworn enemy gone.
Bangladesh Army Chief Gen. Waqar-Uz Zama announced Hasina’s resignation on Monday and said a caretaker government would be formed soon, but that he would remain in power until then.
“I take full responsibility and I ask for your cooperation,” he said in a televised address to the nation.
In his announcement, the general effectively imposed martial law, but also promised to order police and army officers to refrain from firing on civilians.
