Bangladesh’s student-led protesters marched to the country’s capital, Dhaka, en masse on Monday morning, defying a new curfew amid some of the worst violence Bangladesh has ever seen. Within hours the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, had resigned and fled the country in a helicopter, bringing her 15 years in power to an abrupt end.
The army chief, Waker-Uz-Zaman, announced that he would be assuming control and, after discussions with political parties (excluding Hasina’s Awami League) and civil society groups, has promised to form an interim government. But whether a new government will address the protesters’ demands for state reform remains to be seen.
There is also concern about whether public anger against members of Hasina’s government can be contained. Protesters stormed and ransacked the prime minister’s official residence, while mobs reportedly torched some TV stations, attacked political leaders’ homes, and looted shops.
