Bangladesh’s PM Sheikh Hasina resigns

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh’s prime minister resigned and fled the nation Monday, after weeks of protests in opposition to a quota system for presidency jobs descended into violence and grew right into a broader problem to her 15-year rule. Hundreds of demonstrators stormed her official residence and different buildings related along with her celebration and household.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s departure threatens to create much more instability within the densely populated nation on India’s border that’s already coping with a collection of crises, together with excessive unemployment, corruption to local weather change. Amid safety issues, the principle airport in Dhaka, the capital, suspended operations.

After the embattled chief was seen on TV boarding a navy helicopter along with her sister, the nation’s navy chief, Gen. Waker-uz-Zaman, sought to reassure a jittery nation that order could be restored — although consultants warned the street forward could be lengthy. He stated he met with opposition politicians and civil society leaders and would search the president’s steerage on forming an interim authorities.

A whole lot of 1000’s poured into the streets to have a good time Hasina’s resignation, waving flags and marching down avenues — however others attacked symbols of her authorities and celebration, ransacking and setting fires in a number of buildings.

“This isn’t simply the top of the tyrant Sheikh Hasina, with this we put an finish to the mafia state that she has created,” declared Sairaj Salekin, a scholar protester, on the streets of Dhaka.

Protests started peacefully final month as annoyed college students demanded an finish to a quota system for presidency jobs that they stated favored these with connections to the prime minister’s Awami League celebration. However amid a lethal crackdown, the demonstrations morphed into an unprecedented problem to Hasina, highlighting the extent of financial misery in Bangladesh, the place exports have fallen and overseas change reserves are working low.

Waker-uz-Zaman promised that the navy would launch an investigation into the crackdown that led to a few of the nation’s worst bloodshed because the 1971 battle of independence and fueled outrage in opposition to the federal government. He added that he ordered safety forces to not fireplace on crowds.

“Hold religion within the navy, we’ll examine all of the killings and punish the accountable,” he stated.

The navy wields important political affect in Bangladesh, which has had greater than 20 coups or coup makes an attempt. Nevertheless it was not clear if Hasina’s resignation or the navy chief’s requires calm could be sufficient to finish the turmoil.

Nahid Islam, a high scholar coordinator, instructed reporters late Monday that the motion would suggest a top level view for the brand new interim authorities — and they’d not settle for another resolution.

All through the day, individuals continued to pour into and out of Hasina’s official residence, the place they set fires, carried out furnishings and pulled uncooked fish from the fridges. In addition they massed outdoors the parliament constructing, the place a banner studying “justice” was hung.

Crowds additionally ransacked Hasina’s household’s ancestral home-turned-museum the place her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman — the nation’s first president and independence chief — was assassinated. They torched main places of work of the ruling celebration and the nation’s two main, pro-government TV stations — each of which had been compelled to go off air.

Elsewhere, protests had been peaceable, and 1000’s gathered Monday night outdoors the presidential palace, the place the navy chief, opposition politicians and the nation’s figurehead president met.

Hasina, in the meantime, landed in a metropolis in India on the border with Bangladesh, based on a navy official who spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of he was not licensed to launch the knowledge to the media. It was not clear the place she would go subsequent.

The 76-year-old was elected for a fourth consecutive time period in a January vote that was boycotted by her fundamental opponents. Hundreds of opposition members had been jailed within the lead-up to the polls, and the U.S. and the U.Ok. denounced the outcome as not credible, although the federal government defended it.

Hasina had cultivated ties with highly effective nations, together with each India and China. However beneath her, relations with United States and different Western nations have come beneath pressure, as they’ve expressed issues over human rights violations and press freedoms within the predominantly Muslim nation of 170 million individuals.

Her political opponents have beforehand accused her of rising more and more autocratic and have blamed the unrest on that authoritarian streak. In complete, she served greater than 20 years, longer than another feminine head of presidency.

Ali Riaz, an knowledgeable on Bangladeshi politics who teaches political science at Illinois State College, stated the nation is dealing with an extended street forward, as politicians and the navy will battle to revive calm whereas satisfying varied camps and reining in makes an attempt to settle scores.

“So the challenges on the method going ahead are daunting,” he stated, including that observers will likely be watching to make sure that the navy’s function stays that of mediator, given the historical past of military takeovers.

Protests have continued even after the Supreme Court docket final month dominated that the quota system — which put aside as much as 30% of presidency jobs for relations of veterans who fought in Bangladesh’s battle of independence in opposition to Pakistan — should be drastically reduce.

The talk has highlighted the truth that there’s a scarcity of high quality jobs for school graduates, who more and more search the extra steady and profitable authorities jobs. However there aren’t sufficient to go round — every year, some 400,000 graduates compete for round 3,000 jobs within the civil service examination.

The federal government tried to quell the demonstrations with power — leaving practically 300 individuals useless since mid-July — and that solely appeared to gas them.

Not less than 95 individuals, together with a minimum of 14 cops, died in clashes within the capital on Sunday, based on the nation’s main Bengali-language every day newspaper, Prothom Alo. A whole lot extra had been injured. Not less than 11,000 individuals have been arrested in latest weeks.

The unrest has resulted within the closure of faculties and universities throughout the nation, and authorities at one level imposed a shoot-on-sight curfew. Fears additionally rose amongst Hindus that they is likely to be focused within the unrest since they’re typically considered supporters of Hasina’s celebration.

Authorities additionally shut off cellular web on Sunday, and broadband web was reduce briefly Monday however companies had been restored later within the day.

Hasina’s son, Sajeeb Wazed Pleasure, instructed the BBC that he doubted his mom would make a political comeback, as she has previously, saying she was “so disillusioned in spite of everything her exhausting work.”

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Pathi reported from New Delhi.