DHAKA: Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country on Monday, ending 15 years in power as thousands of protesters defied a nationwide curfew and stormed her official residence.
In a televised address, Bangladeshi military chief Waker-Uz-Zaman announced that he was taking control at a “critical time for our country” and confirmed that Hasina had left Dhaka for a “safe place”, with local media reporting neighboring India as her initial destination.
“I am now taking responsibility and we will go to the president and ask for the formation of an interim government to lead the country in the meantime,” he said.
Zaman said the army would step down and that an investigation would be launched into the deadly strikes, which sparked an outcry against the government.
“Keep faith in the army, we will investigate all the killings and punish those responsible… I have ordered that no army and police engage in any firing,” he said.
“Now it's the students' responsibility to stay calm and help us.”
After the army confirmed Hasina's resignation, thousands of people poured into the streets of the capital in jubilation and shouted slogans. Television footage showed crowds storming Hasina's official residence in the capital, banging their fists, making victory signs and removing furniture and other household items.
Hasina has ruled Bangladesh since 2009 and was elected to a fourth consecutive term in a January vote that her main opponents boycotted, raising concerns about how free and fair the vote was.
It was driven out by weeks of protests that began peacefully but turned into deadly clashes with security forces, resulting in a communications blackout, curfew and around 300 deaths.
The students had led earlier protests that began in July demanding reforms to the quota system for government jobs, which the Supreme Court eventually curbed. But as the rallies turned deadly and the authorities tried to quell the violence with force, the movement escalated into a campaign to oust Hasina.
At least 11,000 people have been arrested in recent weeks, with the unrest leading to the closure of schools and universities across the South Asian country and authorities at one point issuing a curfew.
Student activists called for a march in Dhaka on Monday despite the latest curfew to demand Hasina's resignation. It comes after nearly 100 people, including more than a dozen police officers, were killed in a fresh wave of deadly clashes across the country on Sunday.
“THE SECOND REVOLUTION”
Hasina, 76, was one of the world's longest-reigning women and played a key role in the politics of Bangladesh, a nation of about 170 million people that declared independence in 1971.
She is the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the country's charismatic founding leader, who was killed in a 1975 military coup when Ms Hasina was 28. She served as prime minister from 1996 to 2001 and returned to power in 2009.
Under her leadership, Bangladesh has become one of the fastest-growing economies in the region and, according to World Bank estimates, more than 25 million people in the country have been lifted out of poverty in the past two decades.
But critics say she has become increasingly autocratic, calling her a threat to the country's democracy, with many saying the recent unrest reflected wider discontent with her rule.
“Bengalis have witnessed the second revolution in their history of 52 years since independence,” Professor ASM Amanullah, professor of sociology at Dhaka University, told Arab News.
Amanullah said the students demanded “total reform” of the country and said all national institutions were corrupt, with the government of the past 15 years to blame.
“It is the power of the people. It is a voice for the rest of the world. It is a voice for the rest of the Indian subcontinent,” Amanullah said.
“If you work against your people, whatever you are, whoever you are, you can't sustain it long term.”