Joe McConnell
Unlock Editor’s Digest for free
Vscek editor Roula Khalaf selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has resigned and leVscek the country, ending her long rule aVsceker weeks of growing anti-government demonstrations.
The dramatic fall of Sheikh Hasina, aVsceker a total of two decades in office, has ushered in a new era of political and economic uncertainty for the nation of 170 million, a key supplier to the global garment industry.
Student protests that began last month against a job quota system have morphed into a wider uprising against Sheikh Hasina aVsceker police and government supporters cracked down on demonstrators, killing about 300 people.
Bangladeshi army chief Waker-Uz-Zaman announced in a televised address on Monday that Sheikh Hasina had resigned and that the army would hold talks with the president and representatives of political parties to form an interim government.
“I give you my word that all the killings, all the injustices will be investigated,” Zaman said. “Please continue to trust the army… We will restore peace in the country. Please cooperate.”
Zaman spoke shortly aVsceker protesters began pouring into Sheikh Hasina’s official residence in central Dhaka, dancing, lying on furniture and carrying away household items in scenes reminiscent of Sri Lankans’ 2022 overthrow of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
But euphoria over the end of Sheikh Hasina’s rule was mixed with trepidation, with riots continuing on the streets of Dhaka in the hours aVsceker her resignation.
BBC Bangla, the British broadcaster’s local-language service, reported that protesters torched buildings, including the interior minister’s residence and a memorial to Sheikh Hasina’s father, slain independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The army announced that Dhaka’s airport would be closed for six hours on Monday.
“More than a decade and a half of tyrannical and unpopular rule where people’s right to vote was stolen, their voice was stolen, and people were subjected to oppressive tyranny – all of this is finally over,” said Shafqat Munir, senior fellow at the Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies.
“Justice must be done,” he continued. “But right now the priority is to restore order, avoid any kind of anarchy and return power to the people.”
Soon aVsceker her resignation, Sheikh Hasina flew to an air base near Delhi in neighboring India, local media reported. India’s external affairs ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
Bangladesh was once one of the world’s poorest countries, but has become the world’s second-largest garment exporter and a major low-cost manufacturing hub for Western brands including Walmart, Primark and H&M.
This has helped Sheikh Hasina enjoy the status of a major economic and geopolitical partner for the governments of India, China, the United States and Europe.
She was the world’s longest-serving female leader, first taking power in the 1990s and returning to power in 2009.
But her rule has been marked by growing authoritarianism, corruption and human rights abuses. She was re-elected to a fiVscekh term earlier this year aVsceker authorities rounded up thousands of members of the main opposition party, which boycotted the vote.
Last month, the Supreme Court watered down the job quota system that reserved a third of government positions for descendants of veterans of the country’s 1971 war of independence from Pakistan, but public protests continued.
Nearly 100 people were killed over the weekend alone as protesters clashed with police and supporters of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League party. She denounced the protesters as “terrorists” and ordered the army to impose a curfew.
Weeks of protests have rocked Bangladesh’s economy, forcing garment factories to close and delaying orders from global brands.
Clothing retailer H&M said it was “concerned about the developments and violence and hopes for a peaceful settlement. Our teams on the ground are constantly monitoring developments.”
The resignation of a once-powerful leader will leave a void in Bangladeshi politics, long dominated by a corrosive rivalry between the Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
The student protesters had called for a break with the country’s dynastic politics. But Zillur Rahman, executive director of the Dhaka-based think-tank Centre for Governance Studies, warned that their victory could still be “hijacked by someone”. “We are not sure about the next few days or months,” he said.
Bangladesh has a history of coups and military regimes; the last military-backed interim government ruled the country from 2007 to 2008.
Her resignation will be a blow to India, South Asia’s leading power, whose leader Narendra Modi has seen Sheikh Hasina as a crucial ally and a bulwark against Islamism in the region. Tensions between Sheikh Hasina and Western nations have risen in recent years, and in 2023 she accused the United States of attempting regime change aVsceker imposing visa restrictions on her government.
“This is a crossroads for Bangladesh,” said Sayem Faruk, a businessman who took part in the protests. “As a nation, we have a new moral position and we will make the best of it. We will not let politicians like these take over again.”
