Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country on Monday after several hundred people were killed in clashes between protesters, ruling Awami League activists, and law enforcement agencies.
Following the government's resignation, the cabinet of the outgoing administration was dissolved. As soon as the government resigned, Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman announced the formation of an interim government to temporarily run the country and assured that elections would be held to form a new government with public representatives after meeting with the country's political parties. Leaders from all political parties except the outgoing ruling party, Awami League, joined the meeting.
Thousands of people took to the streets in various parts of the capital on Monday. Jubilant, cheering crowds stormed into the opulent grounds of the presidential residence unopposed, carrying out looted furniture and TVs. One man balanced a red velvet, gilt-edged chair on his head, while another held an armful of vases. Elsewhere in Dhaka, protesters climbed atop a statue of Hasina's father and state founder, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and began chiselling away at the head with an axe.
People organised processions from Jatrabari, Central Shaheed Minar, Badda, Uttara, Rampura, and Mirpur and marched towards Shahbagh around 1:30 pm on Monday. Additionally, thousands of protesters gathered at Shahbagh intersection, defying the curfew and police barricades. People were arriving from different locations. Earlier in the morning, the protesters tried to take position at Shahbagh but were barred by police.
Meanwhile, two processions from the engineering institute and Aziz Super Market marched towards Shahbagh intersection and joined the protesters around 1 pm. Processions also came from Pallabi, Mirpur 11, and 11.5, gathering at the Mirpur 10 roundabout before heading to Agargaon. A group of protesters moved towards Banani from Uttara in the capital, including students, parents, and local residents. They crossed Terminal III of the airport around 1:30 pm and continued forward.
The flight into exile marked the end of a 15-year second stint in power for Hasina, who has ruled for 20 of the last 30 years as leader of the political movement inherited from her father, assassinated with most of his family in a 1975 coup.
Earlier in the day, Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman announced Hasina's resignation in a televised address to the nation and said an interim government would be formed. He called for peace and promised justice for those killed in weeks of unrest. He said he had held talks with leaders of major political parties-excluding Hasina's long-ruling Awami League-and would soon meet President Mohammed Shahabuddin to discuss the way forward.
According to India's ANI news agency, Hasina, 76, landed at a military airfield near Delhi. Reuters could not immediately verify this, but commercial tracking services showed a Bangladesh Air Force plane leaving the country and flying west before it disappeared.
"The country is going through a revolutionary period," said Waker-Uz-Zaman, 58, who had taken over as army chief only on June 23. "I promise you all, we will bring justice for all the murders and injustices. We request you to have faith in the army of the country. I take full responsibility and assure you not to get disheartened," he said. "I request you all to be a little patient, give us some time, and together we will be able to solve all the problems. Please don't return to the path of violence and please return to non-violent and peaceful ways."
Bangladesh has been engulfed by violence since student protests last month against quotas, which reserve some public sector jobs for veterans of Bangladesh's 1971 independence war and are seen as favouring allies of the ruling party. The protests escalated into a campaign demanding the overthrow of Hasina and were met with a violent crackdown in which about 250 people have been killed and thousands injured.
She had won a fourth straight term only in January this year in an election boycotted by the main opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party led by her nemesis Begum Khaleda Zia. Hasina had ruled since winning a decades-long power struggle with Zia in 2009.
"Hasina's resignation proves the power of the people," said Tarique Rahman, the exiled eldest son of the two Zias who now serves as acting chairman of the opposition party. "Together, let's rebuild Bangladesh into a democratic and developed nation, where the rights and freedoms of all people are protected," he posted on X.
Student activists had called for a march to the capital Dhaka on Monday in defiance of a nationwide curfew to press Hasina to resign after clashes across the country on Sunday killed nearly 100 people.
On Monday, at least six people were killed in clashes between police and protesters in the Jatrabari and Dhaka Medical College areas, the Daily Star newspaper reported. Reuters could not verify the report.
Sunday's death toll, which included at least 13 policemen, was the highest for a single day from any protests in Bangladesh's recent history, surpassing the 67 deaths reported on July 19 when students took to the streets against the quotas. Last month, at least 150 people were killed and thousands injured in violence triggered by student groups protesting against the job quotas.
The government declared an indefinite nationwide curfew starting at 6:00 pm (1200 GMT) on Sunday and also announced a three-day general holiday starting from Monday. Over the weekend, there have been attacks, vandalism, and arson targeting government buildings, offices of Hasina's Awami League party, police stations, and houses of public representatives, local media reported.
Bangladesh Railway said it had suspended all services indefinitely due to the escalating violence.
Garment factories in the country, which supply apparel to some of the world's top brands, have also been closed indefinitely. The role of the country's army in tackling the violence has come into focus, with a group of retired military officers urging Hasina to withdraw troops from the streets and undertake "political initiatives" to resolve the crisis.
