Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has resigned and fled the country, as students targeted her office.
Dozens of people were killed on Sunday in protests throughout Bangladesh, as demonstrators called for the resignation of the prime minister after weeks of violent upheaval led by student protesters.
At least 85 people, including police officers, were killed in violence that erupted around the country on Sunday, according to a post on X by the opposition political party, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, which has been banned by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government.
Protests broke out last month with students demonstrating against a quota system that earmarked 30% of government jobs for the families of veterans who fought in Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence against Pakistan.
The demonstrations turned violent, leading to the deaths of about 200 people.
Last month the Supreme Court ruled that the quota be slashed to 5%, with 93% of jobs to be filled based on merit. The other 2% would be allocated for disabled, transgender people or those belonging to ethnic minority groups.
Hasina called for the country’s people to respond to “anarchists with iron hands,” the state news agency reported
She accused the students of being “terrorists”.
[Photo: Screenshot Sky News]