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.
Thousands appeared to have entered Hasina’s official residence in Dhaka on Monday, following weeks of violent demonstrations and clashes with security forces.
Bangladesh’s military chief Gen. Waker-uz-Zaman addressed the nation confirming the ouster of the Prime Minister who was reported to have fled to India. He said a national transition government will be in place and investigations into human rights abuse investigated.
Over 300 people have been killed in the protests, which began peacefully in late June, as students sought an end to a quota system for government jobs, but turned violent after clashes between protesters and police and pro-government activists at Dhaka University.
The government’s attempts to quell the demonstrations with force, curfews and internet shutdowns backfired.
On Sunday, nearly 100 people were killed as the protesters clashed with security officials and the ruling party activists across the country.
Hasina, 76, 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.
She was 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. AP
