Bangladesh PM flees as 300 die in protests
Ousted Hasina wants to seek asylum in UK
JUBILATION
BANGLADESH Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has fled the country after weeks of violent protests that have left almost 300 people dead.
Shortly after Hasina, 76, fled yesterday with her sister, her palace in Dhaka was stormed and looted by rioters who had ignored a military curfew to march in the capital.
Asian media reported that Hasina had flown by military helicopter to India, but was heading for the UK to seek asylum. Her sister Rehana was said to have UK citizenship already.
As news spread that Hasina had resigned after 15 years in power, thousands of protesters celebrated in the capital, waving Bangladeshi flags.
On Sunday, 90 people had been killed in a single day as protesters clashed with security officials and the ruling party’s activists across the country.
The unrest began in mid-july when students began to campaign against preferential quotas of government jobs being given to veterans of the war of independence from Pakistan in 1971. Things turned violent after clashes between protesters, police and progovernment activists at Dhaka University. Violence then swept through the country as the protests warped into a massive uprising against Hasina and her ruling Awami League party.
The government’s attempts to quell the demonstrations with force prompted further outrage as almost 300 people were killed, leading to demands for Hasina’s resignation.
Her decision to flee was hastened by the military, which pressurised her to
PATROL Army in Dhaka street yesterday step down. The tide turned when army officers began objecting to orders to open fire on protesters. Military chief General Waker-uz-zaman has now taken charge. He said: “Keep faith in the military, we will investigate all the killings and punish the responsible.
“I have ordered that no army and police will indulge in any kind of firing. Now, the students’ duty is to stay calm and help us.” The UK’S Foreign Secretary David Lammy has called for a Un-led investigation into the violence of the past few weeks.
Hasina, who was the world’s longestserving female head of government, won a fourth term in January in an election boycotted by the opposition over vote-rigging claims.
In 1975, her father, Sheikh Mujib Rahman, the first leader of independent Bangladesh, was assassinated, along with her mother and three siblings.
Hasina lived for years in exile in India, but returned to take over the Awami League. She is credited with building infrastructure and promoting female education and employment. But there were claims of violations of human rights and press freedoms.