Bangladesh PM resign, flee after weeks of protests

Fifteen-year rule of Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has come to an end today after she resigned and fled the country.

She exited office in the face of ongoing protests and sought asylum in India following weeks of deadly protests against the government.

Thousands of protesters stormed her official residence, Ganabhaban, in Dhaka as news broke that Hasina, 76, and her sister, Sheikh Rehana, had departed for a “safe shelter.”

Her resignation comes after thousands of protesters in the country stormed her official residence, defying a military curfew put in place after weeks of protests.

Hasina was elected for a fourth consecutive term in January and was Bangladesh’s longest-serving leader.

Social media videos seen by The Informer Media Group have shown the leader boarding a military helicopter and reported that the country’s military chief, General Walker-uz-Zaman, announced his intentions to seek the president’s guidance on forming an interim government.

Waker-uz-Zaman has called on protesters to “stay calm” to restore peace in the country.

H also announced his intentions for an investigation into the deadly police crackdowns on protests, which have killed over 200 demonstrators.

Bangladesh has been rocked by largely student-led protests that started in late June over a quota system for government jobs.

Under the system, 30% of jobs were reserved for families of veterans who fought in Bangladesh’s war of independence against Pakistan in 1971.

Although starting peacefully, the protests turned violent as students clashed with police and pro-government activists at Dhaka University, leading to hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries.

The country’s Supreme Court cut the veteran quota to 5% in July, however outrage over deadly protests crackdowns led to the students demanding the prime minister’s resignation.

A of yesterday, at least 95 were killed as protesters clashed with security officials and activists from the ruling party across the country, according to Bengali-language daily newspaper Prothom Alo.

Authorities shut off mobile internet yesterday to quell the unrest and imposed a military curfew in the country’s capital, which was defied by protesters who reportedly stormed the prime ministerial palace.