Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to resign on August 5 and flee to India after weeks of student-led anti-quota protests just 7 months after winning a disputed fourth term.
Students began protesting in July after the High Court reinstated a government job quota system that favored the children of war veterans.
The government responded by shutting down universities, imposing a nationwide curfew, cutting off the internet, and using security services to crack down on protesters.
At least 100 people were killed and thousands arrested as the Bangladesh security services cracked down on the anti-quota protests.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina doubled down labeling protesters who engaged in “sabotage” and destruction as criminals that should be dealt with iron hands.
Bangladesh’s army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman addressed the nation on Monday confirming that PM Sheikh Hasina resigned and that an interim government will run the country.
Following the news of Hasina’s resignation the homes of the former Prime Minister and other ruling party politicians were looted as protesters celebrated throughout the country.
Video showing Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fleeing from Dhaka to India in a military helicopter
Hasina’s entire family was murdered during the 15 August 1975 coup d’état which saw the assassination of her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman the founding president of Bangladesh.
She spent years in exile and only returned to Bangladesh in 1981 after being elected President of the Awami League, the party founded by her father.
Hasina was first elected as Prime Minister in 1996 and again in 2009, serving 20 years in office making her the world’s longest-serving female head of government.
She was recently re-elected Prime Minister after winning a 2024 general election boycotted by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party in protest over the arrest of Hasina’s political foes and a violent election campaign.
