Bangladesh PM's resignation 'best day for our lifetime' after deadly protests, Manitoba group leader says

Jubilation spread quickly among members of Winnipeg's Bangladeshi community on Monday as news broke that the South Asian country's prime minister had resigned and fled the country following weeks of protests against a quota system for government jobs that devolved into violence.

"People are very emotional. They say it is the best day for our lifetime," said Abdul Baten, acting president of the Canada-Bangladesh Association of Manitoba.

Baten said the news sparked an impromptu gathering in the early hours of Monday morning in a Winnipeg park, where some cried tears of joy after many sleepless nights over a deadly crackdown on the peaceful student protests.

"And all these things happened just because of our student community," he said. "We used to say that this generation … they do the Facebook and all other things. But this generation, they learn from each other, they share the information."

Protests from frustrated students demanding an end to a system they said favoured those with connections to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League party began peacefully last month, but later morphed into an unprecedented challenge to the party and Hasina's 15-year rule.

Attempts to quell the demonstrations with force, leaving nearly 300 people dead since mid-July, also fuelled outrage against the government.

The protests continued even after the Supreme Court last month ruled that the quota system — which set aside up to 30 per cent of government jobs for family members of veterans who fought in Bangladesh's war of independence against Pakistan — must be drastically cut. 

In parts of Bangladesh, thousands of demonstrators stormed Hasina's official residence and other buildings associated with her party and family. But in other areas, protests were peaceful, with thousands gathered Monday evening outside the presidential palace, where the military chief, opposition politicians and the country's figurehead president met.

Crowds also ransacked Hasina's family's ancestral home-turned-museum where her father was assassinated in 1975, as well as the house of the country's chief justice and Hasina's previous personal home in Dhaka, the capital. They torched two major offices of the ruling party. 

Fears also rose among Hindus that they might be targeted in the unrest since they are generally thought to be supporters of Hasina's party.

It's a fear shared by Sutirtha Saha, whose Hindu family still lives in Bangladesh. 

"People basically in Bangladesh associate Hindu people with the ... former party," he said. "It has always been like this, it's always synonymous with Hindus being pro-Awami League ruling party and pro-India. 

"This is what people think," said Saha. "Sometimes they consider us as outsiders, they think we are more Indians than Bangladeshi, which is not true. Our language is Bengali, we were born there and we have been brought up there and I don't know why people would assume otherwise." 

Saha said his parents live in a part of Bangladesh where it's known that some Hindu families live. He said he watched earlier in the day on security camera footage as his family's home in the country was attacked.