Nobel Prize Winner Chosen to Lead Bangladesh’s Military-Backed Interim Government

1. Student leaders whose protest campaign culminated in Ms Hasina’s ousting met with Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman and President Mohammed Shahabuddin late last evening, and the decision was made “to establish an interim government with Muhammad Yunus as its head,” the President’s office declared.

2. The Bangladeshi Army has reorganized several generals, demoting some perceived as close to Sheikh Hasina, and dismissing Ziaul Ahsan, a commander of the feared Rapid Action Battalion paramilitary force. Former Prime Minister and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, 78, was also liberated from years of house detention yesterday.

3. Rights groups have claimed that hundreds of Hindu residences, enterprises, and temples have been desecrated since the downfall of Sheikh Hasina’s government.

4. Ms Hasina, 76, was compelled to step down as Prime Minister Monday evening after prolonged protests over a jobs quota led to the deaths of over 400 individuals. She departed Dhaka reportedly after the Bangladesh Army presented her with a 45-minute ultimatum.

5. Ms Hasina landed at the Hindon airbase, near Delhi, on Monday in a Bangladesh military aircraft and is unlikely to leave India for the next couple of days, individuals familiar with the situation said.

6. Sources had indicated she desired to travel to London to seek asylum, but her son Sajeeb Wazed has refuted the speculation. Inquired about numerous reports concerning the UK’s “silence” regarding her asylum request and the US revoking her visa, Mr Wazed stated, “The reports about her requesting asylum are inaccurate. She has not requested asylum anywhere. Therefore, the notion of the UK or US not yet responding is false.”

7. Foreign Minister S Jaishankar announced yesterday that the government is allowing Sheikh Hasina time to “recuperate” and inform them of her future plans. “She requested approval to come to India at very short notice. We simultaneously received a request for flight clearance from the Bangladesh authorities,” he stated.

8. Mr Jaishankar also briefed all party leaders on the situation in the violence-stricken nation and the measures taken by the Indian government to address the potential security, economic, and diplomatic consequences of this situation.

9. He mentioned that the government is in contact with the Bangladeshi Army to guarantee the safety of Indian citizens and minorities in Bangladesh amidst the violence.

10. The protests against the government that began in June over civil service job quotas escalated into some of the most severe unrest during Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year term and transitioned into broader demands for the 76-year-old to step down.

Post a comment