Student leaders in Bangladesh have called for the formation of a new interim government with Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus as its chief adviser, as protest coordinators are set to meet the country’s army chief on Tuesday morning.
It comes as Bangladesh‘s prime minister Sheikh Hasina, 76, resigned on Monday and fled to India after weeks of deadly protests. Later reports suggest she left India for London on Monday night.
At least 56 people were killed in violence on Monday, as protesters stormed the official residence of the prime minister, shouting slogans, pumping fists and showing victory signs.
Thousands more took to the streets of Dhaka to celebrate Ms Hasina’s resignation of her 15 years in power.
Bangladesh’s army chief, General Waker-Uz-Zaman promised the military would stand down. He also vowed to launch an investigation into the deadly violence that left nearly 300 people dead in the past month.
The demonstrations began with students seeking to end a quota system for government jobs, but clashes with police and pro-government activists escalated into widespread violence.
That triggered more protests demanding accountability from the government, which had grown into calls for Ms Hasina – who won a fourth straight term in January in an election boycotted by the opposition – to step down.
Thousands of opposition members were imprisoned in the run-up to the most recent election.
Ms Hasina, the daughter of independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, is the longest-serving leader in the history of the predominantly Muslim country of 170 million people.
Before becoming prime minister in 2009, she had already been in the role between 1996 and 2001.
Her father was assassinated in 1975 during an army coup. Most of his family members were killed, with the exception of his two daughters, Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana.
Her political opponents have previously accused her of growing increasingly autocratic and called her a threat to the country’s democracy.