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The embattled Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina has resigned from her publish and fled the nation after weeks of violent clashes left almost 300 folks useless.
Ms Hasina departed from the capital Dhaka at 2.30pm on Monday on a army plane, reported native newspaper Prothom Alo, which mentioned the prime minister and her sister had been heading to a “safer place”.
There was no rapid public assertion from Ms Hasina’s workplace, however military chief Waker-Uz-Zaman mentioned in an tackle to the nation that the prime minister had resigned and the military was in talks to kind an interim authorities.
A gripped public watched to see the place Ms Hasina would search refuge, with some studies indicating she was headed to neighbouring India, whereas others prompt she was travelling to Europe. Indian TV channel CNN News18 claimed she had landed in Agartala, the closest main Indian metropolis to Dhaka, whereas greater than 20,000 viewers on-line tracked a Hercules army transport on its manner from western Bangladesh in the direction of Delhi.
1000’s of scholar protesters, who’ve been demonstrating towards the Hasina authorities for weeks, rushed into the prime minister’s official residence in Dhaka on Monday after she fled, defying a curfew. Footage aired by native TV channels confirmed obvious looting and vandalism on the Ganabhaban residence, with protesters seen leaving carrying chairs and what gave the impression to be a settee.
The scenario remained tense with the deployment of safety forces to answer the protests, though Basic Zaman mentioned he had ordered police and the military to not hearth on any protesters. Sunday’s clashes between protesters and police left greater than 100 useless in complete, together with members of the safety companies.
Bangladesh, the fourth largest nation on the earth by inhabitants, has been on edge for weeks amid unprecedented protests that started over a controversial quota system for presidency jobs. The system assured a set proportion of roles to the descendants of fighters in Bangladesh’s struggle of independence – seen as a measure to appease Ms Hasina’s political base.
The protests had been paused briefly after the Supreme Court docket scaled again the quota system, however by that time nearly 200 had already been killed in clashes with the safety forces, who had been ordered to shoot protesters on sight. Demonstrators returned to the streets demanding an apology and Ms Hasina’s resignation.
Basic Zaman in his tackle promised that the army would launch an investigation into the lethal crackdown over latest days that has fuelled public outrage. He additionally requested residents for time to revive peace.
“Maintain religion within the army, we’ll examine all of the killings and punish the accountable,” he mentioned.
“I’ve ordered that no military or police will take pleasure in any type of firing.
“Now, the scholars’ responsibility is to remain calm and assist us,” he added.
Earlier protesters had known as for a march on Dhaka in defiance of a nationwide curfew.
Tanbirul Miraj Ripon, a Bangladeshi journalist, informed The Impartial that protest leaders and coordinators might be unlikely to simply accept the subsequent steps laid out by Basic Zaman, and would demand to be concerned within the choice of an interim authorities.
“This marks the top of dictatorship within the nation. However the folks right here need justice for the lots of of deaths,” he mentioned.
Web and broadband companies had been suspended early on Monday however restored forward of the overall’s assertion, which was delayed by greater than an hour amid studies of eleventh-hour talks between the military and Ms Hasina’s workplace.
Basic Zaman reportedly held a gathering with scholar leaders and a number of other politicians earlier than making the announcement.
The army had imposed an indefinite curfew forward of Monday’s occasions, which remained in place regardless of the protesters descending upon the prime minister’s residence, and the federal government had additionally introduced a public vacation from Monday to Wednesday. Courts had been to be closed indefinitely.
Ms Hasina’s resignation marks an finish to her 15 years in energy, simply months after an election in January that handed her a fourth time period. The vote was deeply flawed nevertheless, boycotted by all of the nation’s important opposition teams as they accused the federal government of a far-reaching and uncompromising crackdown on dissent.
Ms Hasina and her authorities had tried to take a tough line on the protests too, solely fuelling public anger additional by declaring all the protesters “terrorists”.
“Those that are protesting on the streets proper now aren’t college students, however terrorists who’re out to destabilise the nation,” she mentioned after a nationwide safety panel assembly.
Ms Hasina is the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the person who led Bangladesh to independence. Her rule had lengthy been marred with allegations of arbitrary detentions of opposition leaders and activists, crackdowns on free speech, management of the media and suppression of dissenting voices.
