Photos: Bangladesh PM flees the country after weeks of deadly protests

By Omkar Khandekar

Published August 5, 2024 at 6:18 PM EDT

Students clash with police during a protest over a controversial quota system for government job applicants in Dhaka, Bangladesh on July 18.

Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina stepped down after tens of thousands of protestors converged in the capital Dhaka demanding her resignation.

This follows the weeks of protests over job quotas that saw clashes between protestors and ruling party supporters, and several instances of police brutality. The death toll from the crackdown ran into hundreds, and precipitated calls for Hasina’s resignation.

On Monday evening, the country’s army chief Waker-Uz-Zaman in a televised address announced the formation of an interim government. He called for peace and promised justice for the families of those killed.

As news of Hasina’s exit spread, jubilant protestors stormed her residence and looted furniture, TVs and fish. Some also vandalized a statue of her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, better known as the ‘father of the nation’ for leading its independence from Pakistan in 1971.

Hasina and her Awami League Party ruled Bangladesh since 2009. While the country experienced a healthy economic growth in this period, critics accused her of manipulating elections and persecuting her political opponents.

On Monday evening, many Indian media outlets reported that she had flown to New Delhi and would be seeking political asylum in London.