Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has resigned and left the country on Monday, media reports said. "She and her sister have left Ganabhaban (the Prime Minister's official residence) for a safer place," the source told AFP.
According to Reuters, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was flown to India on Monday on a military helicopter as hundreds of thousands of demonstrators sought her resignation amid a deadly anti-government unrest.
After her departure, thousands of demonstrators apparently poured into the Prime Minister's official residence in Dhaka, according to reports from the Bangladeshi daily Prothom Alo. Speculations are rife that Sheikh Hasina has resigned as PM. According to sources, a military helicopter took off from the Bangabhaban with Sheikh Hasina at 2:30 p.m. local time, reportedly heading for West Bengal.
"Today around 2:30 pm the PM left Ganabhaban (PM's official residence) in an army helicopter. Her younger sister Sheikh Rehana is with her. She is headed towards West Bengal," reported Prothom Alo, citing sources.
However, there was no official confirmation about her quitting and leaving Dhaka.
Thousands of people joined the Anti-Discrimination Students' Movement's 'March to Dhaka' programme at the Mirpur 10 roundabout and moved towards Farmgate. Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman's who was made to make a televised address has been pushed back Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said as cited by Bangladesh publication The Daily Star.
Earlier on August 3, organisers of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement announced a single-point demand for the resignation of Hasina and her cabinet members. Nahid Islam, one of the key organisers, announced the demand at a rally at the Central Shaheed Minar.
The Anti-Discrimination Student Movement's announcement came after Bangladesh PM Hasina urged the agitating students to sit with her at Gono Bhaban to end the violence focused on the quota reform protests.
She said, "Doors of Gono Bhaban are open. I want to sit with the agitating students and listen to them. I want no conflict."
She made the remarks during a meeting with the central leaders of the Peshajibi Somonnoy Parishad (Professionals Coordination Council) at Gono Bhaban on Saturday. Meanwhile, the anti-discrimination student movement has announced that it will hold a "March to Dhaka" programme today to raise its one-point demand, which is the resignation of the Sheikh Hasina-led government. The Daily Star reported.
They urged students and people across the nation to participate in the march to Dhaka. Three coordinators of the movement--Asif Mahmud, Sarjis Alam, and Abu Baker Majumder, have confirmed their march, The Daily Star reported.
Initially, the "March to Dhaka" was set to take place on Tuesday. However, later, the march was rescheduled for Monday. In the wake of the deepening crisis, Bangladesh announced the shutdown of public and private offices, including banks, for three days, while students have scheduled a long march for today, setting themselves on a potential collision course with pro-government groups, according to The Daily Star report.
The new wave of protests comes as demonstrators raised only one demand: the resignations of Hasina and her cabinet members. They also initiated a campaign of non-cooperation at the same time, advising citizens not to pay taxes and migrant workers not to remit money home via banking systems.
At least 93 people were killed as a fresh wave of violence gripped Bangladesh. Over thousands have sustained injuries, many with bullets, the Daily Star reported on Monday.The situation in Bangladesh became more tense after members of the ruling Awami League poured into the streets to quell anti-government demonstrations, turning things violent.
The protests in Bangladesh have erupted due to demands for reforming the quota system that reserves civil service jobs for specific groups, including descendants of 1971 war veterans. The unrest intensified after students opposed a new policy allocating government jobs to descendants of freedom fighters, leading to violence, including attacks on state television headquarters and police booths in Dhaka.
(with inputs from ANI)
