New Delhi: Sheikh Hasina, the leader of Bangladesh, arrived at the Hindon Air Base in Ghaziabad on Monday, just hours after resigning as the country’s Prime Minister and leaving Dhaka for Delhi.
Hasina traveled to India aboard a military transport plane of the Bangladesh Air Force, as thousands of protesters stormed and vandalized ‘Ganabhaban,’ the official residence of the Prime Minister in Dhaka.
Reports suggest that Hasina plans to leave for London soon. In a related incident, the house of Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal was reportedly set on fire in Dhanmondi, an upscale area of the Bangladesh capital.
As Hasina departed for India, Bangladesh Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman confirmed her resignation and announced that an interim government would be formed to manage the country’s affairs.
The Army chief also mentioned that he would meet President Mohammed Shahabuddin soon to discuss the future course of action.
Over 100 people were reportedly killed and more than 1,000 injured in clashes 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,” reported ‘The Daily Star,’ a leading Bangladeshi newspaper.
The student-led non-cooperation movement has put significant pressure on Prime Minister Hasina’s government over the past several weeks.
The protests were initially sparked by a 30% reservation in government jobs for relatives of freedom fighters from the 1971 war of independence.
After the Supreme Court reduced the reservation to 5%, student leaders paused the protests but resumed them, accusing the government of ignoring their demand to release all detained leaders.