For the first time ever in Bangladesh’s history, a prime minister — the head of the government — has fled the country after resigning in the face of a mass uprising demanding their resignation, following weeks of violent unrest, deaths and curfews.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina formally resigned finally, ending 15-year rule, and escaped by a helicopter on Monday afternoon with her sister Sheikh Rehana was with her, shortly before jubilant crowds stormed and looted Hasina's official residence, Ganabhaban, in Dhaka.
Hasina, also the president of Awami League, wanted to record a speech before she left but she could not get the opportunity to do that, according to sources.
The resignation came a day after at least 100 people were killed and hundreds injured in a new round of clashes between student protesters and Awami League supporters following demonstrations called by the former seeking the resignation of Hasina’s government.
Sources said that Hasina’s helicopter landed in India's Agartala, from where she went to New Delhi by another helicopter.
After the news of her resignation and escape spread, jubilation gripped the nation with people calling it "Victory” and comparing the situation with the independence after the 1971 Liberation war.
Hundreds of thousands of people were seen celebrating on all the streets across the Dhaka and in all major cities and district towns. People distributed sweets and brought out processions at each and every corner of the country.
However, there were many incidents of vandalism and arson at many Awami League offices in Dhaka and elsewhere, including the AL headquarters on Dhaka’s Bangabandhu Avenue, as people vented years of anger and frustration.
But by and large, it’s not been a violent celebration. It’s pretty much peaceful, with people out in the streets.
The demonstrators demolished many statues of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Hasina's father and an 1971 independence movement leader, at Ganabhaban and other places in the country.
Entrances to Dhaka were blocked in the morning, with army units and police deployed across the city. The internet was also completely shut down before being restored a few hours later.
The government had also announced a three-day "general holiday" - widely interpreted as a curfew - which closed down businesses and the courts.
However, this did not stop tens of thousands of people from converging on the city, heeding a call by protesting students to start a "Long March to Dhaka".
Student rallies started from July 1 and it escalated from July 19 demanding abolishment quotas in civil service jobs which later turned into a mass anti-government movement.
The total death toll from weeks of unrest now stands at over 300, most of them protesters shot by security forces and Awami League men.
The students protest was peaceful since the beginning of the movement but the government especially Sheikh Hasina’s arrogant decision made Bangladesh violent. Even, Awami League General Obaidul Quader ordered Bangladesh Chhatra League, a student body of the party, to face the movement.
Both police and many AL supporters were seen shooting at anti-government protesters with live ammunition. Police also used tear gas and rubber bullets.
The Chhatra League men firstly beat the students on the Dhaka University campus and later law enforcers agencies especially policemen fired bullets on the protesting students.
They also arrested hundreds of students, members of different political parties and journalists in connection with the student protest.
On July 18, the government had also switched off internet connections in an attempt to quell the protests. Broadband connectivity was restored a week later, while mobile internet services came back online days after.
But neither the internet blackout nor an indefinite nationwide curfew imposed on July 19 midnight was able to hinder the protesters across Bangladesh.
On July 22, the Supreme Court fixed 93 per cent on merit quota in government jobs and rest 7 per cent for freedom fighters and others. But the students placed a nine-point charter of demands including punishment to the killers of the students. But the government did not meet their demands.
Amid calls for her resignation, Hasina initially sounded defiant. Speaking after a meeting with security chiefs, she said the protesters were "not students but terrorists who are out to destabilise the nation".
Later, Hasina offered unconditional dialogue with the student leaders. “I want to sit with the agitating students of the movement and listen to them. I want no conflict," she said. But the student protesters rejected that offer.
The Students Against Discrimination, which spearheaded the quota reform movement since the first week of July, announced a one-point demand for Hasina’s resignation on August 3. They also called for the “Long March to Dhaka” programme on Monday after Sunday’s violence.
In response, the government imposed an indefinite curfew starting at 6pm on Sunday in the capital and other parts of the country.
On Sunday, the unrest began in different districts from the morning. Protesters started to gather in the capital's Dhaka University, Shahbagh, and Press Club, Mirpur, Uttara areas on the first day of the non-cooperation movement announced by the Anti-discrimination Students Movement.
