How Bangladesh’s protesters ended a 15-year reign

“One, two, three, 4, Sheikh Hasina is a dictator!”

The phrases had turn out to be a rallying cry for younger Bangladeshis in latest weeks – and on Monday their fury ended the prime minister’s 15-year reign.

The 76-year-old Ms Hasina had dominated the South Asian nation of 170 million with an iron fist since 2009 – only a month in the past, protests demanding her resignation would have been unthinkable.

However by Monday morning, she was caught in a lethal stalemate. It had been a number of days because the high courtroom scrapped the job quotas that initially sparked the protests in early July. However the agitation continued, morphing into an anti-government motion that wished her out of energy.

What lastly tipped the scales was the ferocity of the clashes between the protesters and police on Sunday. Practically 300 individuals are estimated have died within the violence to this point however Sunday alone noticed at the very least 90 individuals, together with 13 law enforcement officials, killed – the worst single day of casualties incurred throughout protests in Bangladesh’s latest historical past.

Critics referred to as it “carnage”, at the same time as Ms Hasina stood her floor.

Bangladesh PM resigns and flees nation: Comply with dwell

And but, tens of 1000’s took to the streets on Monday, lots of them marching in the direction of the capital Dhaka, in defiance of a nationwide curfew.

Bangladeshis, it appeared, now not feared bullets. What had been a political motion was now a mass rebellion.

Ms Hasina’s choice to flee was additionally hastened by the army, which might have put strain on her to step down. The military, which has dominated Bangladesh up to now and continues to be vastly revered, has an outsized affect over the nation’s politics.

The violence from the weekend in addition to the prospect of going through recent rounds of large protests would have made the army institution re-think its choices.

Junior officers had already raised issues about being requested to fireside on civilians in a gathering with the army chief, Basic Waker-Uz-Zaman, on Friday.

What lies forward is much less clear however Gen Zaman is in talks with “numerous stakeholders”, together with opposition events and civil society teams to search out an “interim” answer, a high-level supply accustomed to the matter tells the BBC.

It’s no shock that Ms Hasina has fled to India. It is unclear what counsel she acquired from throughout the border however Bangladesh’s large neighbour has been an important ally of hers all through.

It’s partly why, as her recognition diminished, robust sentiment in opposition to India grew inside Bangladesh.

Delhi at all times seen its foothold in Bangladesh as key to the safety of the seven landlocked states in India’s north-east, most of which share a border with Bangladesh. Ms Hasina has given transit rights to India to verify items from its mainland make it to these states.

She additionally clamped down on anti-India militant teams based mostly in Bangladesh, a key problem in India.

However in latest weeks, Delhi confronted a dilemma – by backing its unpopular ally, it risked alienating a mass motion and damaging its long-term relationship with Bangladesh. Ms Hasina’s resignation has solved that downside.

The daughter of Bangladesh’s founding president, Sheikh Hasina had been the world’s longest-serving feminine head of presidency.

Her father was assassinated with many of the household in a army coup in 1975 – solely Ms Hasina and her youthful sister survived as they had been travelling overseas on the time.

After dwelling in exile in India, she returned to Bangladesh in 1981 and joined fingers with different political events to steer a preferred rebellion for democracy that made her a nationwide icon.

Ms Hasina was first elected to energy in 1996 however later misplaced to her rival Begum Khaleda Zia of the Bangladesh Nationalist Occasion (BNP) in 2001.

She got here again to energy in 2009 in polls held below a caretaker authorities.

Her time in energy was rife with accusations of pressured disappearances, extra-judicial killings, and the crushing of opposition figures and her critics – she denied the costs, and her authorities usually accused the principle opposition events of fuelling protests.

In latest weeks too, Ms Hasina and her occasion – the Awami League – blamed their political opponents for the unrest that gripped the nation.

However this time, the anger was louder than ever earlier than. It was actually essentially the most severe problem Ms Hasina, who gained a contentious election in January which the opposition boycotted, had confronted throughout her years in workplace.

For weeks, she had refused to provide floor, even calling the protesters “terrorists” at one level.

However the realisation that the drive of the safety institution could not hold individuals off the steets doesn’t augur properly for any chief – least of all an embattled one.