Bangladesh’s longest-serving Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has resigned from her post and fled to India on Monday as anti-quota protests by students rocking her nation reached a pinnacle. An interim government is being formed under the leadership of the Army and other political parties.
In scenes similar to the toppling of the Rajapaksa regime in Sri Lanka, thousands of protestors have taken over the official prime ministerial residence. Ms. Hasina’s government has come under fire for its killing of over 300 people, mostly protestors since last month, who have been demanding an end to the quota system for jobs.
The mass agitation against Sheikh Hasina, who won her last three elections almost unopposed, sprung in June after the Bangladesh High Court nullified Ms. Hasina’s executive order that had dissolved all quotas in the civil services. Bangladeshi students, who have been demanding an end to the 30% quota in jobs for freedom fighters and their descendants, were upset with the court’s order and took to the streets.
