Bangladesh’s army commander, General Waqer ul-Zaman, said on Monday that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had fled the country.
“The commander confirmed that Sheikh Hasina had fled the country and said he would help form an interim government,” The Times of India reports.
Earlier, a number of media outlets reported that Sheikh Hasina had resigned as prime minister and fled Bangladesh.
The commander assured that the authorities will investigate all cases of deaths during the unrest and called for trust in the army. The general also called on his fellow citizens to avoid acts of violence and to adhere to law and order. Meanwhile, according to some reports, protesters set fire to the office of the prime minister’s Awami League party in Dhaka. Meanwhile, India’s border security forces have been put on high alert along more than 4,000 kilometers of the border with Bangladesh.
Protests in Bangladesh began in July at a university campus – students opposed the return of the practice of quoting 30% of jobs to family members of veterans of the country’s 1971 war of independence. This practice was abolished in 2018, but returned by court order in June of this year. Students recognized it as discriminatory, especially given the high unemployment in the country.
