New Delhi: Bangladesh’s Army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman said Monday that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had resigned and a political transition was underway to form an interim government.
In a televised address to the nation, shortly after footage showed the 76-year-old Awami League leader fleeing the country in an army helicopter, Uz-Zaman said he had met representatives of all political leaders to propel the process for the next government.
Hasina reached out to New Delhi seeking safe passage into Indian airspace, a request that was immediately accepted, and is now travelling to London, ThePrint has learnt.
“We will now go to the President, where we will discuss the formation of the interim government. Trust us,” Zaman said, confirming that the “honourable Prime Minister has resigned”.
“Now we will conduct all activities by forming an interim government,” he added.
The political leaders invited for consultation Monday were from the opposition, namely the Bangladesh National Party (BNP), Jamaat-e-Islami, and the Jatiya Party. Civil society leaders were also present. Zaman made it clear that no talks were held with the Awami League.
The Army chief urged protesters to return home and ordered the police to not fire at demonstrators. He promised a thorough probe into the deaths of every protester killed in weeks-long deadly demonstrations against a controversial quota system in government jobs. The perpetrators will be brought to justice, he said.
In his address, Uz-Zaman said: “We will return peace to the country. We ask citizens to stop violence. We will investigate all killings that have happened over the past few weeks.”
The army chief also asked rioting students to calm down and go back home.
He appealed to demonstrators to maintain peace, asking the people to trust the Army. “You trust me, let’s work together. Please help. I won’t get anything by fighting. Avoid conflict. We have built a beautiful country together,” Uz-Zamman said.
He added there was no need to impose a nationwide curfew or declare an emergency.
Merely hours before the address, student activists stormed Hasina’s official residence Ganabhavan in Dhaka.
They had called for a march to Dhaka Monday, defying the nationwide curfew, to pressure Hasina to resign, a day after devastating violence killed nearly 100 people, in addition to the over 150 who were killed last month. At least six people were killed Monday morning in fights between protesters in the Jatrabari and Dhaka Medical College areas, local reports said.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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