Bangladesh PM resigns, flees country amid deadly anti-government protests

Thousands of demonstrators stormed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's official residence and other buildings associated with her party and family.

Bangladesh’s prime minister resigned and fled the country Monday, after weeks of protests against a quota system for government jobs descended into violence and grew into a broader challenge to her 15-year rule. Thousands of demonstrators stormed her official residence and other buildings associated with her party and family.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s departure threatens to create even more instability in the densely populated nation on India’s border that is already dealing with a series of crises, from high unemployment and corruption to climate change. Amid security concerns, the main airport in Dhaka, the capital, suspended operations.

After the embattled leader was seen on TV boarding a military helicopter with her sister, the country’s military chief, Gen. Waker-uz-Zaman, sought to reassure a jittery nation that order would be restored. He said he met with opposition politicians and civil society leaders and would seek the president’s guidance on forming an interim government.

He promised that the military would launch an investigation into the deadly crackdown on student-led protests that led to some of the country’s worst bloodshed since the 1971 war of independence and fueled outrage against the government. He added that he ordered security forces not to fire on crowds.

“Keep faith in the military, we will investigate all the killings and punish the responsible,” he said.

The military wields significant political influence in Bangladesh, which has had more than 20 coups or coup attempts. But it was not clear if Hasina’s resignation or the military chief’s calls for calm would be enough to end the turmoil.

Even after Waker-uz-Zaman spoke, people continued to pour into and out of Hasina’s official residence, taking furniture and pulling raw fish from the refrigerators.

Crowds also ransacked Hasina’s family’s ancestral home-turned-museum where her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman — the country’s first president and independence leader — was assassinated. They torched major offices of the ruling party and the country’s two leading, pro-government TV stations — both of which were forced to go off air.