Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina resigns and flees country as protesters storm palace
Bangladeshi leader boards helicopter in wake of protests that began over government job quota system; military says will launch probe into crackdown in which some 300 were killed
How Bangladesh's protests ended Sheikh Hasina's 15-year reign
“One, two, three, four, Sheikh Hasina is a dictator!"
The words had become a rallying cry for young Bangladeshis in recent weeks - and on Monday their fury ended the prime minister's 15-year reign.
The 76-year-old Ms Hasina had ruled the South Asian nation of 170 million with an iron fist since 2009 - just a month ago, protests demanding her resignation would have been unthinkable.
But by Monday morning, she was stuck in a deadly stalemate. It had been several days since the top court scrapped the job quotas that originally sparked the protests in early July. But the agitation continued, morphing into an anti-government movement that wanted her out of power.
What finally tipped the scales was the ferocity of the clashes between the protesters and police on Sunday. Nearly 300 people are estimated have died in the violence so far but Sunday alone saw at least 90 people, including 13 police officers, killed - the worst single day of casualties incurred during protests in Bangladesh’s recent history.
Critics called it “carnage”, even as Ms Hasina stood her ground.
Bangladesh PM resigns and flees country: Follow live
And yet, tens of thousands took to the streets on Monday, many of them marching towards the capital Dhaka, in defiance of a nationwide curfew.
Bangladeshis, it appeared, no longer feared bullets. What had been a political movement was now a mass uprising.
Ms Hasina's decision to flee was also hastened by the military, which would have put pressure on her to step down. The army, which has ruled Bangladesh in the past and is still hugely respected, has an outsized influence over the country's politics.
The violence from the weekend as well as the prospect of facing fresh rounds of massive protests would have made the military establishment re-think its options.
Junior officers had already raised concerns about being asked to fire on civilians in a meeting with the military chief, General Waker-Uz-Zaman, on Friday.
What lies ahead is less clear but Gen Zaman is in talks with "various stakeholders", including opposition parties and civil society groups to find an "interim" solution, a high-level source familiar with the matter tells the BBC.
Getty Images
The protests have spread beyond students to become a wider movement
It is no surprise that Ms Hasina has fled to India. It's unclear what counsel she received from across the border but Bangladesh's giant neighbour has been a crucial ally of hers throughout.
It is partly why, as her popularity diminished, strong sentiment against India grew within Bangladesh.
Delhi always viewed its foothold in Bangladesh as key to the security of the seven landlocked states in India's north-east, most of which share a border with Bangladesh. Ms Hasina has given transit rights to India to make sure goods from its mainland make it to those states.
She also clamped down on anti-India militant groups based in Bangladesh, a key issue in India.
But in recent weeks, Delhi faced a dilemma - by backing its unpopular ally, it risked alienating a mass movement and damaging its long-term relationship with Bangladesh. Ms Hasina's resignation has solved that problem.
Sheikh Hasina: The pro-democracy icon who became an autocrat
Why is the Bangladeshi government facing so much anger?
The daughter of Bangladesh's founding president, Sheikh Hasina had been the world’s longest-serving female head of government.
Her father was assassinated with most of the family in a military coup in 1975 - only Ms Hasina and her younger sister survived as they were travelling abroad at the time.
After living in exile in India, she returned to Bangladesh in 1981 and joined hands with other political parties to lead a popular uprising for democracy that made her a national icon.
Ms Hasina was first elected to power in 1996 but later lost to her rival Begum Khaleda Zia of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in 2001.
She came back to power in 2009 in polls held under a caretaker government.
Her time in power was rife with accusations of forced disappearances, extra-judicial killings, and the crushing of opposition figures and her critics - she denied the charges, and her government often accused the main opposition parties of fuelling protests.
In recent weeks too, Ms Hasina and her party - the Awami League - blamed their political opponents for the unrest that gripped the country.
But this time, the anger was louder than ever before. It was certainly the most serious challenge Ms Hasina, who won a contentious election in January which the opposition boycotted, had faced during her years in office.
For weeks, she had refused to give ground, even calling the protesters "terrorists" at one point.
But the realisation that the force of the security establishment couldn't keep people off the steets does not augur well for any leader - least of all an embattled one.
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned on Monday, ending 15 years in power as thousands of protesters defied a military curfew and stormed her official residence.
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.”
“Now, the students’ duty is to stay calm and help us,” he 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.
Men run past a shopping center which was set on fire by protesters during a rally against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government demanding justice for the victims killed in the recent countrywide deadly clashes, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)
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.
At least 95 people, including at least 14 police officers, died in clashes in the capital on Sunday, according to the country’s leading Bengali-language daily newspaper, Prothom Alo. Hundreds more were injured in the violence.
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At least 11,000 people have been arrested in recent weeks. The unrest has also resulted in the closure of schools and universities across the country, and authorities at one point imposed a shoot-on-sight curfew.
Over the weekend, protesters called for a “non-cooperation” effort, urging people not to pay taxes or utility bills and not to show up for work on Sunday, a working day in Bangladesh. Offices, banks and factories opened, but commuters in Dhaka and other cities faced challenges getting to their jobs.
Protesters climb a public monument as they celebrate after getting the news of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s resignation, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)
Hasina offered to talk with student leaders on Saturday, but a coordinator refused and announced a one-point demand for her resignation. Hasina repeated her pledges to investigate the deaths and punish those responsible for the violence. She said she was ready to sit down whenever the protesters want.
Authorities shut off mobile internet on Sunday in an attempt to quell the unrest, while the broadband internet was cut off briefly Monday morning. It was the second internet blackout in the country after the protests turned deadly in July.
On Monday, after three hours of suspension of broadband services, both broadband and mobile internet returned.
Military personnel stand guard in front of a large cutout portrait of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during the national mourning day, declared by the Bangladesh government to remember victims of the recent countrywide deadly clashes, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)
Hasina had said protesters who engaged in “sabotage” and destruction were no longer students but criminals, and she said the people should deal with them with iron hands.
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The 76-year-old was elected for a fourth consecutive term in a January vote that was boycotted by her main opponents, triggering questions over how free and fair the vote was. Thousands of opposition members were jailed in the lead-up to the polls, which the government defended as democratically held.
Today, she is the longest-serving leader in the history of Bangladesh, a predominantly Muslim nation of over 160 million people strategically located between India and Myanmar.
Her political opponents have previously accused her of growing increasingly autocratic and called her a threat to the country’s democracy, and many now say the unrest is a result of her authoritarian streak and hunger for control at all costs.
Bangladeshi leader boards helicopter in wake of protests that began over government job quota system; military says will launch probe into crackdown in which some 300 were killed
How Bangladesh's protests ended Sheikh Hasina's 15-year reign
“One, two, three, four, Sheikh Hasina is a dictator!"
The words had become a rallying cry for young Bangladeshis in recent weeks - and on Monday their fury ended the prime minister's 15-year reign.
The 76-year-old Ms Hasina had ruled the South Asian nation of 170 million with an iron fist since 2009 - just a month ago, protests demanding her resignation would have been unthinkable.
But by Monday morning, she was stuck in a deadly stalemate. It had been several days since the top court scrapped the job quotas that originally sparked the protests in early July. But the agitation continued, morphing into an anti-government movement that wanted her out of power.
What finally tipped the scales was the ferocity of the clashes between the protesters and police on Sunday. Nearly 300 people are estimated have died in the violence so far but Sunday alone saw at least 90 people, including 13 police officers, killed - the worst single day of casualties incurred during protests in Bangladesh’s recent history.
Critics called it “carnage”, even as Ms Hasina stood her ground.
Bangladesh PM resigns and flees country: Follow live
And yet, tens of thousands took to the streets on Monday, many of them marching towards the capital Dhaka, in defiance of a nationwide curfew.
Bangladeshis, it appeared, no longer feared bullets. What had been a political movement was now a mass uprising.
Ms Hasina's decision to flee was also hastened by the military, which would have put pressure on her to step down. The army, which has ruled Bangladesh in the past and is still hugely respected, has an outsized influence over the country's politics.
The violence from the weekend as well as the prospect of facing fresh rounds of massive protests would have made the military establishment re-think its options.
Junior officers had already raised concerns about being asked to fire on civilians in a meeting with the military chief, General Waker-Uz-Zaman, on Friday.
What lies ahead is less clear but Gen Zaman is in talks with "various stakeholders", including opposition parties and civil society groups to find an "interim" solution, a high-level source familiar with the matter tells the BBC.
Getty Images
The protests have spread beyond students to become a wider movement
It is no surprise that Ms Hasina has fled to India. It's unclear what counsel she received from across the border but Bangladesh's giant neighbour has been a crucial ally of hers throughout.
It is partly why, as her popularity diminished, strong sentiment against India grew within Bangladesh.
Delhi always viewed its foothold in Bangladesh as key to the security of the seven landlocked states in India's north-east, most of which share a border with Bangladesh. Ms Hasina has given transit rights to India to make sure goods from its mainland make it to those states.
She also clamped down on anti-India militant groups based in Bangladesh, a key issue in India.
But in recent weeks, Delhi faced a dilemma - by backing its unpopular ally, it risked alienating a mass movement and damaging its long-term relationship with Bangladesh. Ms Hasina's resignation has solved that problem.
Sheikh Hasina: The pro-democracy icon who became an autocrat
Why is the Bangladeshi government facing so much anger?
The daughter of Bangladesh's founding president, Sheikh Hasina had been the world’s longest-serving female head of government.
Her father was assassinated with most of the family in a military coup in 1975 - only Ms Hasina and her younger sister survived as they were travelling abroad at the time.
After living in exile in India, she returned to Bangladesh in 1981 and joined hands with other political parties to lead a popular uprising for democracy that made her a national icon.
Ms Hasina was first elected to power in 1996 but later lost to her rival Begum Khaleda Zia of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in 2001.
She came back to power in 2009 in polls held under a caretaker government.
Her time in power was rife with accusations of forced disappearances, extra-judicial killings, and the crushing of opposition figures and her critics - she denied the charges, and her government often accused the main opposition parties of fuelling protests.
In recent weeks too, Ms Hasina and her party - the Awami League - blamed their political opponents for the unrest that gripped the country.
But this time, the anger was louder than ever before. It was certainly the most serious challenge Ms Hasina, who won a contentious election in January which the opposition boycotted, had faced during her years in office.
For weeks, she had refused to give ground, even calling the protesters "terrorists" at one point.
But the realisation that the force of the security establishment couldn't keep people off the steets does not augur well for any leader - least of all an embattled one.
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned on Monday, ending 15 years in power as thousands of protesters defied a military curfew and stormed her official residence.
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.”
“Now, the students’ duty is to stay calm and help us,” he 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.
Men run past a shopping center which was set on fire by protesters during a rally against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government demanding justice for the victims killed in the recent countrywide deadly clashes, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)
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.
At least 95 people, including at least 14 police officers, died in clashes in the capital on Sunday, according to the country’s leading Bengali-language daily newspaper, Prothom Alo. Hundreds more were injured in the violence.
Advertisement
At least 11,000 people have been arrested in recent weeks. The unrest has also resulted in the closure of schools and universities across the country, and authorities at one point imposed a shoot-on-sight curfew.
Over the weekend, protesters called for a “non-cooperation” effort, urging people not to pay taxes or utility bills and not to show up for work on Sunday, a working day in Bangladesh. Offices, banks and factories opened, but commuters in Dhaka and other cities faced challenges getting to their jobs.
Protesters climb a public monument as they celebrate after getting the news of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s resignation, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)
Hasina offered to talk with student leaders on Saturday, but a coordinator refused and announced a one-point demand for her resignation. Hasina repeated her pledges to investigate the deaths and punish those responsible for the violence. She said she was ready to sit down whenever the protesters want.
Authorities shut off mobile internet on Sunday in an attempt to quell the unrest, while the broadband internet was cut off briefly Monday morning. It was the second internet blackout in the country after the protests turned deadly in July.
On Monday, after three hours of suspension of broadband services, both broadband and mobile internet returned.
Military personnel stand guard in front of a large cutout portrait of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during the national mourning day, declared by the Bangladesh government to remember victims of the recent countrywide deadly clashes, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)
Hasina had said protesters who engaged in “sabotage” and destruction were no longer students but criminals, and she said the people should deal with them with iron hands.
Advertisement
The 76-year-old was elected for a fourth consecutive term in a January vote that was boycotted by her main opponents, triggering questions over how free and fair the vote was. Thousands of opposition members were jailed in the lead-up to the polls, which the government defended as democratically held.
Today, she is the longest-serving leader in the history of Bangladesh, a predominantly Muslim nation of over 160 million people strategically located between India and Myanmar.
Her political opponents have previously accused her of growing increasingly autocratic and called her a threat to the country’s democracy, and many now say the unrest is a result of her authoritarian streak and hunger for control at all costs.
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