New Delhi: Sheikh Hasina, the embattled prime minister of Bangladesh, has stepped down and left Dhaka along with her sister to a “safe place” in the wake of days of protests demanding her resignation. Protesters stormed her official residence, Gono Bhaban, soon after she left the capital city.
Hasina and her sister were headed to Agartala in Tripura, BBC Bangla reported earlier. But there is no confirmation on where the aircraft carrying her might land.
Sources told ThePrint that Hasina might be headed to Delhi, adding that she left Dhaka earlier in the day for a Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) base in Kurmitola.
Addressing the media, Army Chief Waker-Uz-Zaman announced Hasina’s resignation and said an interim government will be formed to oversee the country’s affairs. He also urged protesters to refrain from violence and assured them that their demands will be fulfilled.
Before his address, the army chief had been holding “open discussions” with various political parties in Bangladesh, including radical groups.
Student protesters renewed their protests against Sheikh Hasina’s government Friday, calling for justice for those protesters, who were killed during the July protests against the reservation for families of veterans from the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971.
Over 90 protesters were killed Sunday, after protesters began calling for her resignation. The student protesters announced a call for “non-cooperation”, while the Bangladesh government had imposed a curfew and announced a three-day government holiday.
This is an updated version of the report
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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