A senior advisor to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday acknowledged the “possibility” of the embattled leader resigning when asked about her potential departure.
“The situation is such that this is a possibility, but I don’t know how it will happen,” the aide, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, said. This report came shortly before the Bangladesh army chief addressed the nation on Monday, as fresh protests broke out in the country for PM Hasina’s resignation.
Student activists had called for a march to the capital in defiance of a nationwide curfew to press Hasina to resign, a day after deadly clashes across the country killed nearly 100 people.
As protesters began to march in some places, armoured personnel carriers and troops patrolled the streets of the capital, Reuters TV showed. There was little civilian traffic, barring a few motorcycles and three-wheel taxis. Police hurled sound grenades in some parts of the city to disperse small groups of protesters, Prothom Alo outlet reported.
Elsewhere, thousands of protesters had surrounded law enforcement officers stationed in front of a key building, it said. Army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman would address the people, it said, citing the office of the military spokesperson. “Until then, the public is requested to refrain from violence and be patient,” it quoted the spokesperson’s office as saying.
Bangladesh has been engulfed by protests and violence that began last month after student groups demanded scrapping of a controversial quota system in government jobs. That escalated into a campaign to seek the ouster of Hasina, who won a fourth straight term in January in an election boycotted by the opposition.
At least 91 people were killed and hundreds injured on Sunday in a wave of violence across the country of 170 million people as police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse tens of thousands of protesters. Starting Sunday evening, a nationwide curfew has been imposed, the railways have suspended services and the country’s huge garments industry has closed.
(With agency input)
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