In the backdrop of fresh violence in Bangladesh that killed at least 300 people, Awami League supremo Sheikh Hasina resigned as the Prime Minister of the country on Monday. In a televised address to the nation, Army chief Waker-uz-Zaman said the military will form the interim government.
Hasina, along with her sister Sheikh Rehana, has left the country, following massive violent protests, landed in India and is enroute to New Delhi, sources said, adding that she will move to London next.
However, a senior official from the Bangladesh Prime Minister’s Office, who requested anonymity, told a news agency that she had left the official residence in Dhaka after violence erupted. “Her current whereabouts are unknown. The situation in Dhaka is highly sensitive, and the Prime Minister’s residence is under siege by a mob,” the official said.
Sheikh Hasina submitted her resignation letter to President Shahabuddin Ahmed at 12:00 noon. Millions of people have already started a victory march in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Dhaka airport has been sealed so that no minister can escape.
“Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina departed from Bangabhaban at around 2:30pm on Monday on a military helicopter, accompanied by her younger sister, Sheikh Rehana for a “safer place”, local media reported.
Shortly after local media showed the embattled leader boarding a military helicopter with her sister, Bangladesh’s military chief Gen. Waker-uz-Zaman announced plans to seek the president’s guidance on forming an interim government.
He promised that the military would stand down, and to launch an investigation into the deadly crackdowns that fueled outrage against the government, and asked citizens for time to restore peace. “Keep faith in the military, we will investigate all the killings and punish the responsible,” he said. “I have ordered that no army and police will indulge in any kind of firing,” the army chief added.
The protests began peacefully as frustrated students demanded an end to a quota system for government jobs, but the demonstrations have since morphed into an unprecedented challenge and uprising against Hasina and her ruling Awami League party. The government attempted to quell the violence with force, leaving nearly 300 people dead and fueling further outrage and calls for Hasina to step down.
