Sheikh Hasina flees Bangladesh after students storm palace
Sheikh Hasina Monday August 05, 2024 resigned as Prime Minister and fled from Bangladesh after protesting students supported by local masses stormed the palace
Dhaka: Sheikh Hasina Monday August 05, 2024 resigned as Prime Minister and fled from Bangladesh after protesting students supported by local masses stormed the palace.
Earlier, Hasina, who has led Bangladesh since 2009, and her sister were taken in an army helicopter to "safety".
Later, onboard another helicopter she fled the country and landed at the Hindon Air Force base in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad - around 30 km from Indian capital Delhi.
#SheikhHasina Monday August 05, 2024 resigned as Prime Minister and fled from #Bangladesh after protesting students supported by local masses stormed the palace. pic.twitter.com/yclMTw9oHh
— ummid.com (@ummid) August 5, 2024
Sheikh Hasina is expected to leave India for London later and take asylum in UK.
Hasina's resignation came as thousands of protesters took to the streets in the capital Dhaka - with thousands more set to follow.
More than 300 people, including a large number of students, were killed in the last two days alone when protesting students clashed with police and security forces demanding Hasina’s resignation.
Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country as students embarked on their “March to Dhaka” Monday.
Bangladesh founder's statue vandalised
Jjubilant crowds have taken to the streets in Bangladesh, celebrating the departure of long-term Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Crowds waved flags as some demonstrators danced on top of a parked tank in the capital Dhaka, AFP news agency reported.
Bangladesh's Channel24 broadcast footage of ecstatic protesters breaking into Hasina's official residence in Dhaka, with some waving to the camera as they streamed into the compound.
A statue of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in Ganabhaban - the Prime Minister's official residence, has been demolished by protestors. Sheikh Mujib was Sheikh Hasina's father and founder of Bangladesh.
Anti-government protests
Anti-government protests in Bangladesh sparked in the country last month with the students’ organizations and rights bodies demanding review of the quota system or reservation in the public sector jobs.
The protesters are demanding reforms in the 1971 law which provides reservation in government and civil services jobs.
As per the law, 50% of the government jobs would be filled not based on merit but through affirmative action favoring women and residents of less developed areas.
The most controversial section of this quota system is that 30% of civil service positions and public sector jobs are reserved for the relatives of those who fought for Bangladesh's independence in 1971 and are called war heroes.
The anti-government protests in Bangladesh last month had killed more than 200 people. Peace prevailed in the country after a court's ruling on the matter.
The students re-started their protest Sturday, declaring a campaign of civil disobedience and demanding resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Khaleda Zia Released
In another development, Bangladeshi President Mohammed Shahabuddin ordered the release of jailed former prime minister and key opposition leader Khaleda Zia.
The President's press team in a statement said that a meeting led by Shahabuddin had "decided unanimously to free Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia immediately".
Army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman, along with the head of the navy and airforce, and top leaders of several opposition parties including the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami party, attended the meeting.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh's Army Chief Waker-uz-Zaman in a televised address to the nation said an interim government would be formed. He added he was going to meet President Mohammed Shahabuddin, and was hoping that a solution would be found by the end of the day.
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