Bangladesh army steps in as PM Sheikh Hasina quits, flees protests

Protesters pose in front of Bangladesh's prime minister residence after longtime leader flees country

"This civilian dictator was more dictatorial than previous military dictators"

(Image credit: K M Asad / LightRocket via Getty Images)

What happened

Bangladesh's longtime prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, resigned and fled to India on Monday amid escalating student-led protests that her government had tried to crush with force, leaving hundreds dead. Army chief Gen. Waker-uz-Zaman said he was temporarily taking control of the country to restore order as protesters stormed and ransacked Hasina's official residence and other buildings tied to her family and party, including the museum honoring her father, the country's founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Who said what

"Keep faith in the military," Waker-uz-Zaman said in an address to the nation. "We will investigate all the killings and punish the responsible." He said Parliament would be dissolved and a national government formed as soon as possible, followed by new elections.

The protests, which began in opposition to a quota system that gave most civil service jobs to allies of Hasina, grew into a challenge to her increasingly authoritarian rule. "We are finally free of a dictatorial regime," constitutional lawyer and legal activist Shahdeen Malik said to The New York Times. "This civilian dictator was more dictatorial than previous military dictators."

What next?

After two decades in power, Hasina is unlikely to make another comeback, her son, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, said to the BBC, adding his mother was "so disappointed after all her hard work."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.