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The student protests, which began in Bangladesh in July, to scrap government job quotas spiralled into demands for Sheikh Hasina to quit. On Sunday, demonstrations turned violent leading to nearly 100 deaths. Hasina lost the support of the army and eventually stepped down and fled Dhaka read more
 "Why did Sheikh Hasina quit as Bangladesh PM and flee the country?")
Sheikh Hasina has resigned as the Bangladesh prime minister after 15 years in power. She fled the country after anti-government protests in which hundreds of people have been killed. File photo/Reuters
The anti-government protests in Bangladesh have led to an unexpected outcome – the ouster of its longest-serving prime minister. Sheikh Hasina has resigned and fled the country.
Reports say that Hasina and her sister have been taken by an army helicopter to safety. The whereabouts of the Bangladesh leader are unclear. However, she’s thought to be heading to India, according to reports.
For several weeks in July, Bangladesh was wracked by its most serious episode of civil unrest in decades. Then came peace, or so everyone thought. The violence and anger returned to the streets of Bangladesh on Sunday, forcing the authorities to cut off mobile internet and enforce a nationwide curfew for an indefinite period.
On Sunday alone, nearly 100 people were killed in the anti-government protests, which led United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk to express shock at the situation, saying: “I appeal urgently to the political leadership and to the security forces to abide by their obligations to protect the right to life, and the freedom of peaceful assembly and expression.”
On Monday, the situation took a deadlier turn. Protesters continued to clash with the police. Some demonstrators reportedly stormed Hasina’s residence in Dhaka.
So what led Sheikh Hasina to quit? We take a look.
Manic Monday
On Monday (August 5), protesters returned to the streets. As the situation spiralled, Hasina reportedly resigned.
News agency AFP reported that Hasina and her sister have left Gono Bhaban, her official residence.
According to Daily Star, the Bangladesh PM left Dhaka on Monday for a “safer place”. She is headed to India, with some reports saying that she has landed in Agartala, the capital of Tripura.
Thousands of protesters entered Gono Bhaban in Dhaka. According to news reports, the protesters entered the residence around 3 pm (local time).
In Dhaka, protesters defaced a statue of Bangladesh founder and Sheikh Hasina’s father Mujib-ur-Rahman, according to local news channels.
In a televised address to the nation, Army chief Waker-uz-Zaman said the military will form the interim government. He also called on the protesters to call off their agitations, saying that he takes “full responsibility” for the widespread violence in the country, reports The Indian Express.
The Bangladesh army reportedly gave Hasina 45 minutes to quit.
Sunday Bloody Sunday
On Sunday (August 4), nearly 100 people — the country’s leading Bengali-language daily newspaper, Prothom Alo reports 95 — died in fierce clashes between protesters and the supporters of the ruling party, the Awami League.
The clashes broke out on Sunday morning when a group of people attending the non-cooperation programme under the banner of the Students Against Discrimination faced opposition from the supporters of the Awami League, Chhatra League, and Jubo League activists.
The ensuing violence saw nearly 100 people dying in clashes, shootings and counter-chases across the country, leading Bengali-language newspaper Prothom Alo reported. Of the 95 dead, 14 are policemen — 13 died in Sirajganj’s Enayetpur police station, while one other died in Comilla’s Elliotganj. Reports state that more than 300 other policemen have been injured in the protests.
Visuals emerging from Dhaka showed demonstrators waving the Bangladeshi flag on top of an armoured car as soldiers watched on.
In Dhaka’s Shahbagh, hundreds of students and professionals blocked traffic on all sides. Moreover, protesters also gathered at the Science Lab intersection of the capital, chanting anti-government as well as anti-Hasina slogans.
The Daily Star newspaper also reported that several vehicles from Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) were torched on Sunday by unidentified people. People carrying sticks were seen vandalising private cars, ambulances, motorcycles, and buses on the hospital premises, triggering fear among the patients, their attendants, doctors and staff, the paper added.
Visuals from the protest sites across the country showed the police opening fire on the crowds with bullets, rubber bullets and tear gas.
The growing discontent within army
A group of Bangladesh’s former senior military generals on Sunday asked the government to withdraw the armed forces from the streets and send them back to barracks.
Amid the unrest, perhaps the worst of Hasina’s 15-year rule, a former army general, Iqbal Karim Bhuiyan, said, “We urge the government to undertake political initiatives to resolve the ongoing crisis. Do not destroy the good standing of our armed forces by keeping them engaged in a disgraceful campaign.”
He added, “The Bangladeshi armed forces have never faced off with the masses or trained their guns at the chests of their fellow citizens.”
General Nuruddin Khan (retired), a former army chief and energy minister, also said, “Time is ripe to immediately take the soldiers to barracks to prepare themselves for any eventuality as the time taken to transition from internal security mode to operational mode takes quite some time.”
Protesters’ one big demand
But why have the protests reignited? What do they want? Initially, in July, the protests had broken out after the High Court reinstated a quota system for government jobs. By this law, 30 per cent of government jobs would be reserved for the families of veterans who fought in Bangladesh’s war of independence against Pakistan in 1971.
As students protested that this law be struck down, Prime Minister Hasina labelled those opposing the job quotas as ‘ Razakars’ — who collaborated with the Pakistani army during the 1971 War of Independence — prompting thousands of students to leave their dormitories at Dhaka University to protest.
As protests swelled and the death toll rose, the country’s Supreme Court ruled that the veterans’ quota must be cut to five per cent, with 93 per cent of jobs to be allocated on merit. The remaining two per cent will be set aside for members of ethnic minorities and transgender and disabled people.
But even after the Supreme Court the anger against Hasina continued. The student protest which started with the demand to abolish civil service job quotas snowballed led into demands for Hasina to quit after over two decades in power.
The protesters called on Sheikh Hasina to resign, stating that she needs to take accountability for the violence that unfolded in July, leading to the deaths of 120 people.
Some also argue that the ruling on the quotas for ethnic minorities and disabled and transgender people has now been cut from a collective 26 per cent to two per cent, dealing a blow to these groups.
Furthermore, Nahid Islam, a coordinator of the anti-government protests, said that they continued their demonstration on Monday, pressing on their one-point demand for Hasina to resign.
Hasina digs in
At first, Hasina refused to budge.
She ordered a curfew from 6 pm on Sunday for an indefinite period. In a statement issued by Bangladesh’s home ministry, “Curfew imposed in the Dhaka Metropolitan area and all divisional headquarters, city corporations, municipalities, industrial areas, district and upazila headquarters.”
The administration also called for three days’ general holiday on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in a move to bring back peace and stability across the country. The government also ordered the shutdown of Meta platforms Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram. Mobile operators were ordered to shut down 4G mobile internet.
Prime Minister Hasina also issued a statement following the protests, saying that those engaging in “sabotage” across the country in the name of protest are not students but terrorists and asked people to suppress them with a firm hand.
“Those who are carrying out violence are not students but terrorists who are out to destabilise the nation,” she said after holding a national security panel meeting, attended by the chiefs of the army, navy, air force, police and other agencies. “I appeal to our countrymen to suppress these terrorists with a strong hand.”
Supporters of Hasina had at first ruled out her resignation, stating that a “peaceful campaign” had been hijacked by fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami and their student front Islami Chhatra Shibir being backed by ex-premier Khaleda Zia.
But with no support from the Army, Hasina had no choice but to quit and flee.
Possible long-term repercussions
The unrest across Bangladesh became a growing concern for Hasina and her grip on power. She ruled the country for over 15 years and returned to power for a fourth consecutive term in January in an election that was boycotted by her main opponents.
As Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Washington-based Wilson Center told AFP: “Let’s be clear: The walls are closing in on Hasina: She’s rapidly losing support and legitimacy.”
Also read: How Bangladesh protests pose a big challenge for PM Sheikh Hasina
Ali Riaz, an Illinois State University politics professor and expert on Bangladesh, also shared similar feelings, saying he was “deeply concerned” at the crisis. “This is an unprecedented popular uprising by all measures,” Riaz was quoted as saying by AFP. “Also, the ferocity of the state actors and regime loyalists is unmatched in history.”
In the end, Hasina could not keep up the fight. It remains to be seen where this leaves Bangladesh.
With inputs from agencies
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