The ongoing student protests in Bangladesh saw their deadliest day on Monday with at least 109 people killed, bringing the general death toll of the protests to over 440. On Sunday, at least 94 people, including 13 or more police personnel, had been killed.
As a result of the protests, Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned, ending her 15-year rule, and is reported to have fled to India in a military helicopter. The PM had responded to the protests by imposing nationwide curfews and cutting off access to phones and internet for weeks, in a harsh crackdown.
Following Hasina’s resignation, army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman has temporarily taken control of the country. The student protesters are now demanding Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus lead the government.
Last month, students in Bangladesh staged massive anti-government protests, demanding an end to a ‘quota system’ for government jobs amid rising unemployment. The protests soon turned into a widespread uprising against Sheikh Hasina’s government.
Bangladeshi protesters stormed the PM’s residence and up to 400,000 people flooded the streets of Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka on Monday for “victory celebrations”, defying the nationwide curfews that had previously been brutally enforced by police and military.
Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, voiced deep concern over the situation and called for an impartial, independent and transparent investigation into all alleged human rights violations, offering support from his office in this regard.
UNICEF has reported at least 32 children killed and many more injured and detained in the protests. The Bangladeshi Army has announced military rule in the country.
