DHAKA - Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year rule of the country ended on Aug 5 as she fled weeks of deadly protests and the military announced it would form an interim government.
She had sought since early July sought to quell nationwide protests against her government, but she fled after a brutal day of unrest on Aug 4 in which nearly 100 people died.
“We want a corruption-free Bangladesh, where everyone would have the right to express their opinion,” said Mr Monirul Islam, a 27-year-old man among thousands in the streets near the prime minister’s palace.
Army chief General Waker-Us-Zaman said in a televised address that Ms Hasina, 76, had resigned and the military would form a caretaker government.
“I am taking full responsibility,” the general said, dressed in military fatigues and cap.
“The country has suffered a lot, the economy has been hit, many people have been killed – it is time to stop the violence.
“I hope after my speech, the situation will improve,” he said, shortly after jubilant crowds stormed and looted Ms Hasina’s residence.
At least 20 people were killed during violence in the Bangladesh capital on Aug 5, a police inspector said at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
The career infantryman said he would talk to the president to form a caretaker government in the South Asian nation of some 170 million people. It was not immediately clear if he would lead it.
Mr Waker said he had held talks with the main opposition parties and civil society members but not Ms Hasina’s Awami League.
She took off in a military helicopter to neighbouring India, according to Bangladesh daily Prothom Alo. The chopper, also carrying her sister, reportedly landed in Agartala in north-eastern India. A top-level source in India said Ms Hasina was “transiting the country but was heading to London”.
‘Injustices will be addressed’
Millions of Bangladeshis took to the streets across the South Asian country, many celebrating peacefully.
Jubilant crowds waved flags, some dancing on top of a tank in the streets of Dhaka on Aug 5 morning, before thousands broke through the gates of Ms Hasina’s official residence.
Bangladesh’s Channel 24 broadcast images of crowds running into the compound, waving to the camera as they celebrated, looting furniture and books while others relaxed on beds.
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/s...to-address-nation-as-fresh-protests-break-out
