Tens of thousands of protesters flooded the streets of Dhaka, Bangladesh, in a mixture of jubilation and fury after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned on Monday, ending her 15-year tenure and fleeing the country.
The demonstrations, initially sparked by students demanding an end to a controversial quota system for government jobs, escalated into an unprecedented nationwide uprising against Hasina and her ruling Awami League party. The discontent, partly fueled by January’s election that saw the incarceration of thousands of opposition members, turned the peaceful protests into a powerful movement.
The government’s response was severe, with security forces unleashing violent crackdowns that resulted in nearly 300 deaths, inflaming public outrage even more. Hasina had referred to the protesters as criminals, urging forces to suppress them with an “iron hand.”
Over the weekend, the protesters intensified their efforts, calling for a “non-cooperation” movement to disrupt the country’s functioning by refusing to pay taxes, utility bills, or go to work. The weekend’s clashes left dozens of people dead in the overwhelmingly Muslim nation of over 160 million people.
As tensions escalated, protesters defied a strict military curfew on Monday, marching into the heart of the capital. This time, the troops retreated, and with the restoration of internet services, spontaneous celebrations erupted. Thousands of demonstrators stormed the prime minister’s official residence as Hasina fled.
The scenes in Dhaka were unprecedented. Protesters climbed public monuments and celebrated their perceived victory over an administration they felt had long overstayed its welcome. Meanwhile, some demonstrators vandalized Hasina’s residence, parading through the streets with items taken from the house, including a sari.
In parallel, the city bore the scars of the violent protests, with burnt buildings, injured citizens being rushed to hospitals, and vandalized monuments. Among the most poignant images was of a devastated Nizam Uddin, standing in front of his burnt shop, a casualty of the chaos.
The protests had turned intense in July, with university students demanding justice for those killed in clashes nationwide and calling for the reopening of their campuses. The situation frequently boiled over into violent confrontations with police, with numerous injuries and detentions.
As of Monday, while the streets of Dhaka were alive with the sounds of celebration, the ramifications of this upheaval were still being felt. Bangladesh Television’s studio lay charred, and symbols of the old regime, including portraits of the nation’s founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, were defaced or destroyed.
This monumental shift in Bangladesh’s political landscape was underlined by the sight of protesters carrying soldiers on their shoulders and cataloguing their victory with photo albums taken from Hasina’s home. The sentiment was clear: a fervent and impassioned call for change had finally been heard.
