Bangladesh Violence 2024: PM Sheikh Hasina flown to India in a military chopper after agitation intensifies manifold

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was flown to India in a military helicopter on August 5, 2024 after she resigned amid a deadly anti-government stir, an international news media agency reported citing local sources. Thousands of protestors reportedly flooded into the Prime Minister official residence in Dhaka after her departure, a local media agency reported.

A local media agency of Bangladesh reported that Hasina’s military chopper took off from her official residence Bangabhaban at 2:30PM. Sheikh Hasina was accompanied by her younger sister Sheikh Rehana in the chopper to Agartala, India Protestors forced opened the gates of Gono Bhaban and entered the premises of Hasina’s residence at 3:00PM today.

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Bangladesh Army Chief General Waker-us-Zaman is set to address the nation after violent clashes left more than 100 people dead and hundreds more injured. The announcement came as hundreds of student activists took to the streets for a protest march in a defiance of a nation-wide curfew.

Even as protestors began their long March to Dhaka, the army chief was holding talks with leaders of various political parties including the ruling Awami League and the opposition BNP and other stakeholders of at the army headquarters. The clashes broke out on August 4, 2024 morning between protestors demanding resignation of PM Sheikh Hasina and supporters of the ruling party across the various regions of Bangladesh.

During the protests, the clashes erupted between police and the students with security agencies firing tear gas shells and stun grenades to disperse the violent mob. According to the Bangladeshi police, a total of 14 cops have been killed across the country during the clashes. Out of them as many as 13 were killed in Sirajganj’s Enayatpur Police Station and one was killed in Comilla’s Elliotganj, an Indian media agency reported.

Meanwhile 300 cops have been wounded. The intensity of the confrontations to take drastic measures including cutting off mobile internet services and imposing a nationwide curfew for an indefinite period. Amid escalating violence Bangladesh Railways has been suspended all services indefinitely along with various garment factories an international media agency reported.

In order to ensure public safety, the Bangladeshi administration has announced a three-day public holiday starting from today, local media outfits explained. The protests on August 3, 2024, witnessed the participation of unidentified people and activists of right-wing Islami Shashontantra Andolon, who erected barricades on multiple major highways and within the capital city, an international media agency said, citing local officials.

Calling the protestors as terrorists, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina asked people to suppress the sabotage across the country in the name of protest. The United Nations human rights activists Volker Turk criticised the clashes and stated that total number of people killed since protests began in early July to at least 300 according to an international media tally.

In the wake of fresh violence in Bangladesh, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued an advisory to Indian nationals asking them to be exercise extreme caution and restrict their movements. It also asked its citizens to refrain travelling to Bangladesh until further notice.

The Bangladeshi Army in a statement that did not explicitly say whether they supported the protestors stated they stand by the people. Army Chief Waker-uz Zaman told officers that the Bangladeshi Army is a symbol of people’s trust, and it has always stood by the people and will continue to do so for the sake of people and state.