Bangladeshi President orders release of ex-PM Khaleda Zia after Hasina’s resignation

Bangladeshi President Mohammed Shahabuddin has ordered the release of jailed former Prime Minister and key opposition leader Khaleda Zia, hours after her arch-rival Sheikh Hasina was ousted.

The president’s press team said in a statement that a meeting led by Shahabuddin had “decided unanimously to free Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia immediately”.

“The meeting has also decided to free all the people who have been arrested during the student protests,” the statement added.

Sheikh Hasina leaves the country

Earlier, Hasina Wajid resigned following protests that began last month over government job quotas. The demonstrations have since escalated into nationwide unrest amid a crackdown by authorities.

Army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman announced Hasina’s resignation in a televised address to the nation and said an interim government would be formed.

Reports indicate that thousands of protesters are now storming Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s official residence in Dhaka.

Here is the video of it:

Shocking visual coming from Bangladesh 🇧🇩 Protestors in Sheikh Hasina house after PM escaped from country #BangladeshBleeding | #SheikhHasina | #Bangaldesh | #BangladeshProtests | #BangladeshViolence pic.twitter.com/3dFW5qGgaz

— IQBAL (@Iqbal00999) August 5, 2024

According to a government source who spoke to Reuters, Sheikh Hasina and her sister have been relocated to a “safe shelter” away from her official residence. Law Minister Anisul Huq also commented to Reuters, saying, “The situation is highly volatile. I am not fully aware of what is happening.”

People take to the streets to celebrate the resignation

According to Al Jazeera, students and families with their children are out celebrating, while also seeking confirmation on whether she has left the country or resigned.

Where is Sheikh Hasina now?

Media reports said Hasina flew in a military helicopter with her sister and was headed to the Indian state of West Bengal just across the border. However, CNN News 18 reported she had landed in Agartala, the capital of India’s northeastern state of Tripura.

Bangladeshi protesters vandalise Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s statue

The protesters vandalised Hasina’s father and former Bangladesh President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman statue in Dhaka.

According to international media reports, more than thousands of protesters are on the streets and it is impossible to verify the exact figure.

Backstory

Bangladesh has been engulfed by protests and violence that began last month after student groups demanded the scrapping of a controversial quota system in government jobs. That escalated into a campaign to seek the ouster of Hasina, who won a fourth straight term in January in an election boycotted by the opposition.

At least 91 people were killed and hundreds injured on Sunday. Later, a nationwide curfew was imposed.

Over the weekend, there had been attacks, vandalism, and arson targeting government buildings, offices of the ruling Awami League party, police stations, and houses of public representatives, local media reported.

The role of the country’s army in tackling the violence has come into focus with a group of retired military officers urging Hasina to withdraw troops from the streets and undertake “political initiatives” to resolve the crisis.

Critics of Hasina, along with human rights groups, have accused her government of using excessive force against protesters.