Bangladesh’s prime minister has resigned and fled to India following weeks of deadly protests in the country.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, 76, and her sister took a military helicopter to India’s eastern state of West Bengal, according to media reports, which is just across the border. Another report, however, said she was headed to India’s north-eastern state of Tripura.
Thousands of people have stormed her official residence, shouting slogans, pumping fists and showing victory signs. Thousands more took to the streets of Dhaka to celebrate the resignation of the 15-year leader.
Bangladesh’s army chief, General Waker-Us-Zaman, addressed the country saying there would be a solution to the crisis “by tonight”.
He said he would talk to the president about forming an interim government, while also promising the military would stand down.
Waker-Us-Zaman vowed to launch an investigation into the deadly crackdowns that fuelled outrage against the government as nearly 300 people were killed in protests over the past month.
At least 95 people, including at least 14 police officers, died in clashes in the capital on Sunday, according to local news, while hundreds more were injured.
At least six people were reportedly killed in clashes between police and protesters in the Jatrabari and Dhaka Medical College areas on Monday.
The demonstrations began with students seeking to end a quota system for government jobs, but clashes with police and pro-government activists escalated into violence that left more than 200 dead last month.
That triggered more protests demanding accountability from the government, which have grown into calls for Ms Hasina -who won a fourth straight term in January in an election boycotted by the opposition – to step down.
Thousands of opposition members were imprisoned as she sought to run for a fourth term.
Ms Hasina, the daughter of independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, is the longest-serving leader in the history of the predominantly Muslim country of 160 million people.
Before being elected in 2009, she had already been prime minister between 1996 and 2001.
Her political opponents have previously accused her of growing increasingly autocratic and called her a threat to the country’s democracy.
Her father was assassinated in 1975 during an army coup. Most of his family members were killed, with the exception of his two daughters, Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana.
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