Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today resigned and left the capital Dhaka amid violent clashes as vast crowds of angry protesters demanded her resignation.
“She and her sister have left Ganabhaban (the Prime Minister’s official residence) for a safer place,” the source told AFP. “She wanted to record a speech. But she could not get an opportunity to do that,” the source said.
Hundreds of thousands of protesters defied curfew, marching on the capital’s streets and later storming the Prime Minister’s palace. Visuals showed crowds running into the premier’s official residence in Dhaka, waving to the camera as they celebrated.
Soldiers and police with armoured vehicles in Dhaka had barricaded routes to Ms Hasina’s office with barbed wire, AFP reporters said, but vast crowds flooded the streets, tearing down barriers.
Local media estimated as many as 400,000 protesters were on the streets but it was impossible to verify the figure.
Bangladesh’s army chief Waker-Uz-Zaman said an interim government will be formed after the prime minister resigned and fled the capital in the face of overwhelming protests. “We will form an interim government,” he said.
At least 98 people were killed in fierce clashes yesterday, taking the death count since protests erupted last month to over 300.
Rallies that began last month against civil service job quotas have escalated into some of the worst unrest of Prime Minister Hasina’s 15-year rule and shifted into wider calls for the 76-year-old to step down.
The demonstrations have grown into a wider anti-government movement across Bangladesh. It has attracted people from all strata of Bangladesh society, including film stars, musicians and singers. Songs calling for people’s support have spread widely on social media.
The protesters had earlier dismissed Ms Hasina’s invitation for dialogue aimed at quelling escalating violence and consolidated their demands into a unified call for her resignation.
