Statue of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman vandalized amid Dhaka protests

Dhaka: Amid unprecedented student-led protests, Sheikh Hasina has reportedly resigned as Prime Minister of Bangladesh and fled the country. Jubilant crowds waving flags filled the streets of Dhaka, and scores of agitators stormed 'Ganabhaban,' the official residence of the Prime Minister.

A section of the crowd also vandalised a statue of former Bangladesh President and the country's independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of Sheikh Hasina, in Dhaka.

According to the local media, as many as 4 lakh protesters were on the streets of Dhaka, though the exact numbers were yet to be ascertained. Earlier in an address to the nation, Bangladesh Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman announced that Sheikh Hasina has resigned as the Prime Minister, and an interim government will be formed soon to run the country,

General Waker-Uz-Zaman also urged the citizens to keep their trust in the Bangladesh Army, asserting that the defence forces will ensure peace in the coming days. The Army chief also said that he will be meeting President Mohammed Shahabuddin soon.

The developments followed after over 100 people were killed and more than 1,000 injured in the clashes that took place between police and protesters on Sunday. "With yesterday's count, the death toll in anti-government protests crossed 300 in just three weeks, making it the bloodiest period in the history of Bangladesh's civil movement," Bangladesh's leading daily 'The Daily Star' reported.

The student-led non-cooperation movement put immense pressure on the government led by Prime Minister Hasina over the past many weeks. The students had been protesting against a 30 per cent reservation in government jobs for relatives of freedom fighters who wrested independence for Bangladesh from Pakistan in a bloody civil war in 1971 in which, according to Dhaka officials, 3 million people were killed in the genocide by Pakistani troops and their supporters.

After the Supreme Court slashed the reservations to 5 per cent, student leaders put the protests on hold but the demonstrations flared up because the students said the government ignored their call to release all their leaders, making the resignation of Hasina their primary demand.

Source: IANS