Breaking: Bangladesh’s PM Sheikh Hasina resigns after army’s 45-minute ultimatum amid protests, headed to India

Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has resigned after an ultimatum from the army to resign in 45 minutes and has left the country along with her sister on August 5, 2024 for a ‘safer place’.

According to reports, she is reportedly travelling to India.

“She and her sister have left Ganabhaban (the Prime Minister’s official residence) for a safer place,” the source told AFP.

She departed from Bangabhaban at around 2:30pm on Monday in a military helicopter, with her younger sister, Sheikh Rehana for a “safer place.”, ANI reported. She has entered Indian airspace and the flight is above Hazaribagh right now, the flightradar 24 data showed.

The Army Chief of Bangladesh held a press conference and confirmed her resignation. He said that an interim government will be formed to run the country and the country’s economy has suffered massively due to violent protests.

“I am taking full responsibility,” the general said, dressed in military fatigues and cap, though it was not immediately clear if he would lead a caretaker government. “We will form an interim government,” Waker said in a broadcast on state television, adding that Sheikh Hasina had resigned.

Meanwhile, India’s Border Security Force (BSF) has issued a ‘high alert’ for all units along the 4,096 km India-Bangladesh border. Acting BSF Director General Daljit Singh Chawdhary and other senior officials have arrived in Kolkata to assess border security. The unrest, which has seen nearly 300 casualties, prompted Hasina to resign and flee Dhaka with her sister to seek refuge in India.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina departed from Bangabhaban at around 2:30pm on Monday on a military helicopter, accompanied by her younger sister, Sheikh Rehana for a "safer place.": Bangladesh media reports pic.twitter.com/cAzcRgwvul

— ANI (@ANI) August 5, 2024

How the protest unfolded?

Last month, at least 150 people were killed and thousands injured in violence sparked by student groups protesting against reserved quotas in government jobs.

The ‘Students Against Discrimination’ group, which was at the forefront of last month’s job quota protests, was leading the latest demonstrations.

The protests to reform the quota system paused after the Supreme Court scrapped most quotas on July 21. Protesters, however, returned last week demanding a public apology from Hasina for the violence, restoration of internet connections, reopening of college and university campuses and release of those arrested during the protests.

However progressively, the demonstrations turned into a campaign demanding Hasina’s resignation as demonstrators demanded justice for those killed last month.

The students’ group called for a nationwide non-cooperation movement starting Sunday with a single-point agenda – Hasina must resign.

The Blame-Game

The protesters blame Hasina’s government for the violence during the protests in July. Hasina’s critics and rights groups have accused her government of using excessive force against protesters, a charge the government denies.

Hasina, 76, and her government initially said students were not involved in the violence during the quota protests and blamed the Islamic party, Jamaat-e-Islami, and the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) for the clashes and arson.

But after violence erupted again on Sunday, Hasina said that “those who are carrying out violence are not students but terrorists who are out to destabilise the nation”.

he students group has declined Hasina’s offer for talks to resolve the crisis.

Demonstrations started at university campuses in June after the High Court reinstated a quota system for government jobs, overturning a 2018 decision by Hasina’s government to scrap it.

The Supreme Court suspended the high court order after the government’s appeal and then dismissed the lower court order last month, directing that 93% of jobs should be open to candidates on merit.

Experts also attribute the current unrest in Bangladesh to stagnant job growth in the private sector, making public sector jobs, with their accompanying regular wage hikes and privileges, very attractive.

The quotas sparked anger among students grappling with high youth unemployment, as nearly 32 million young people are out of work or education in a population of 170 million.

The failing economy, once among the world’s fastest growing on the back of the country’s booming garments sector, has stagnated. Inflation hovers around 10% per annum and dollar reserves are shrinking.