Bangladesh unrest: The recent protests in Bangladesh are an unprecedented moment in the country’s history as well as Sheikh Hasina’s life, as the 77-year-old leader’s 15-year-old reign ended tumultuously when she was forced to flee the country and seek refuge in India. What makes it more dramatic are reports of a rift between the Army, which announced an interim government on Tuesday, and Hasina’s administration the night before she fled.
It has now come to light that Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman held a meeting with his generals and decided that troops would not open fire on civilians to enforce a curfew, against Hasina’s orders, two serving army officers familiar with the matter told Reuters. Zaman then reached out to Hasina’s office, the day before she left, and conveyed that his soldiers would not be able to implement the lockdown she called for, an Indian official briefed on the matter said.
The official said the message was clear in the Army Chief’s action – that Hasina no longer had the military’s support. This is definitely an unprecedented moment in Hasina’s 15-year rule, during which she brokered little dissent before coming to such a chaotic end on Monday. Army spokesman Lt Col Sami Ud Dowla Chowdhury confirmed the Sunday evening discussions, which he described as a regular meeting to take updates after any disturbance.
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