Cheering protesters stormed Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s palace on Monday after she fled, the culmination of more than a month of deadly anti-government protests.
Since late July, Bangladesh has been engulfed by protests and violence that has so far claimed the lives of at least 300 people, according to an AFP tally based on police, government officials and doctors at hospitals.
Protesting student groups have demanded the scrapping of a controversial quota system in government jobs, which escalated into a campaign to seek the ouster of Hasina, who won a fourth straight term in January in an election boycotted by the opposition.
Earlier today, students in Bangladesh called for a march to Dhaka in defiance of a nationwide curfew, a day after deadly clashes in the country killed at least 91 people.
A source close to Hasina, 76, had earlier told AFP she had left her palace for a “safer place”. CNN News 18, citing inputs obtained by it, reported that Hasina had fled to Finland.
Jubilant-looking crowds waved flags, peacefully celebrating including some dancing on top of a tank, as a source close to the embattled leader said she had left her palace in the capital for a “safer place”.
Hasina’s son urged the country’s security forces to block any takeover from her rule, while a senior advisor told AFP that her resignation was a “possibility” after being questioned as to whether she would quit.
“She wanted to record a speech, but she could not get an opportunity to do that,” the source close to Hasina told AFP.
Bangladesh’s army chief Wakeruz Zaman will address the nation on Monday afternoon, a military spokesman told AFP without giving further details.
Zaman told officers on Saturday that the military “always stood by the people”, according to an official statement.
The military declared an emergency in January 2007 after widespread political unrest and installed a military-backed caretaker government for two years.
‘Final protest’
Internet access was tightly restricted on Monday, offices were closed and more than 3,500 factories servicing Bangladesh’s economically vital garment industry were shut.
Soldiers and police with armoured vehicles in Dhaka had barricaded routes to Hasina’s office with barbed wire, AFP reporters said, but vast crowds flooded the streets, tearing down barriers.
The Business Standard newspaper estimated as many as 400,000 protesters were on the streets but it was impossible to verify the figure.
“The time has come for the final protest,” said Asif Mahmud, one of the key leaders in the nationwide civil disobedience campaign.
Students call for march to Dhaka
Protesting students in Bangladesh have called for a march to Dhaka in defiance of a nationwide curfew to press Hasina to resign.
Army tanks and police vehicles were on the streets of the capital on Monday, with security forces patrolling on foot, an online news channel showed. There was almost no civilian traffic, barring a few motorcycles and three-wheel taxis.
At least 91 people were killed and hundreds injured on Sunday in a wave of violence across the country of 170 million people as police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse tens of thousands of protesters.
Starting Sunday evening, a nationwide curfew has been imposed, the railways have suspended services and the country’s huge garments industry has closed.
Bangladesh has been engulfed by protests and violence that began last month after student groups demanded the scrapping of a controversial quota system in government jobs. That escalated into a campaign to seek the ouster of Hasina, who won a fourth straight term in January in an election boycotted by the opposition.
Sunday’s death toll, which included at least 13 policemen, was the highest for a single day from any protests in Bangladesh’s recent history, surpassing the 67 deaths reported on July 19 when students took to the streets against the quotas.
The government declared an indefinite nationwide curfew starting at 6pm (1200 GMT) on Sunday and also announced a three-day general holiday starting from Monday.
“The government has killed many students. The time has come for the final answer,” protest coordinator Asif Mahmud said in a statement on Facebook late on Sunday. “Everyone will come to Dhaka, especially from the surrounding districts. Come to Dhaka and take a position on the streets.”
The Bangladesh army urged everyone to obey the curfew rules.
“The Bangladesh army will perform its promised duty in line with the
Bangladesh constitution and existing laws of the country,” it said in a statement late on Sunday.
“In this regard, the people are requested to abide by the curfew as well as give full cooperation to this end,” it said, adding that the curfew was imposed to ensure the security of people’s lives, properties, and important state establishments.
Violence across country
Over the weekend, there have been attacks, vandalism, and arson targeting government buildings, offices of the ruling Awami League party, police stations, and houses of public representatives, local media reported. Violence was reported in 39 of the country’s 64 districts.
Bangladesh Railway said it had suspended all services indefinitely due to the escalating violence.
Garment factories in the country, which supply apparel to some of the top brands in the world, have also been closed indefinitely.
“In view of the prevailing situation, owners have decided to close all garment factories across the country, considering the overall safety of the workers,” the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association said.
The role of the country’s army in tackling the violence has come into focus with a group of retired military officers urging Hasina to withdraw troops from the streets and undertake “political initiatives” to resolve the crisis.
Chief of Army Staff General Wakeruz Zaman has said the army will always be there for the people’s interests and for any needs of the state. He was due to brief the media later on Monday but the briefing has been cancelled, the military spokesperson’s office said, without giving any reasons.
Critics of Hasina, along with human rights groups, have accused her government of using excessive force against protesters, a charge she and her ministers deny.
For the second time during the recent protests, the government has shut down high-speed internet services, mobile operators said. Social media platforms Facebook and WhatsApp were not available, even via broadband connections.
Last month, at least 150 people were killed and thousands injured in violence touched off by student groups protesting against quotas for government jobs.
The protests paused after the Supreme Court scrapped most quotas, but students returned to the streets in sporadic protests last week, demanding justice for the families of those killed and Hasina’s resignation.
Hasina has said that “those who are carrying out violence are not students but terrorists who are out to destabilise the nation”.
Tarique Rahman, the exiled acting chairman of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, said the protests were now a “bloody struggle between autocracy and democracy”.
“While the regime continues to escalate its crackdown…the nation implores the international community…to stand for truth and justice and to act from respective positions,” he posted on X.
