Dhaka, Aug 5 (EFE).- Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina stepped down and left the country on Monday, following weeks of violence amid student protests that have left some 300 people dead.
Chief of Army Staff General Waker-Uz-Zaman, during a televised address to the nation, confirmed that Hasina had resigned, and announced that an interim government would be formed after consultation with President Md. Shahabuddin Chuppu.
“The honorable prime minister has resigned. Now we will run the country through forming an interim government,” Zaman said.
The army chief also promised justice for those killed during the violence during the student protests and urged the people to refrain from violence and vandalism and maintain peace.
“Please keep trust in the Army. I am taking all responsibility (to save your) lives and property. Do not lose hope. The many demands that you have will be fulfilled and peace and discipline will be restored in the country,” he said.
According to local media reports, Hasina, along with her younger sister Sheikh Rehana, left for neighboring India at around 2.30pm in a military helicopter.
Earlier during the day, thousands of people gathered in front of the prime minister’s official residence in Dhaka despite an indefinite curfew imposed the previous night.
Footage aired on local television channels showed large crowds entering Hasina’s residence after the news of her departure became public.
Hasina’s resignation comes a day after violent clashes between security forces and protesters that left at least 93 people, including more than a dozen police officers, dead.
This raised the death toll to more than 300 since the protests began in July. Sunday’s death toll was the highest for a single day since students took to the streets against the government’s controversial job policy. Authorities re-imposed an internet blackout and a curfew last night.
The violence escalated after protest leaders rejected an offer from Hasina on Saturday to open talks with the students, who instead demanded that she step down over the killings and the government’s brutal crackdown. The student protesters vowed to ensure the “fall of the government and the abolition of a fascist system.”
The protests began in early July after the High Court ordered the government to restore a 30 percent employment quota for descendants of freedom fighters from Bangladesh’s 1971 liberation war.
Protesters argued that the quota system was discriminatory and benefited supporters of the ruling Awami League, while the government defended it as a way to honor veterans of the liberation war.
The protests turned violent on July 15, with the first deaths reported the following day. A curfew was imposed on July 19, and the army was called in to control the situation.
The government launched a crackdown on protesting students and opposition political parties, arresting over 9,000 people last week, according to police and rights groups.
After days of clashes, the Supreme Court watered down the quota system, directing that 93 percent of government jobs should be open to candidates on merit and only 5 percent reserved for war veterans and their relatives.
But protesters continued demanding accountability for the violence that they blame on the government’s use of excessive force.
Hasina, who ruled the country for more than 15 years, had returned to power for a fourth consecutive term in January in an election boycotted by her main opponents. EFE
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