Uprising in Bangladesh: Student Protests Force Prime Minister to Resign & Flee to India, 100s Killed

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has resigned and fled the country after weeks of student-led protests against government nepotism, corruption and repression. The demonstrations have been met with lethal police force, resulting in over 300 deaths. Hasina, the daughter of Bangladesh’s first president, had led the country since 2009. Though the protests were initially focused on nepotism in the quota system for government jobs, the violent crackdown expanded protesters’ demands, including calling for Hasina’s ouster. It was “amazing” to see this demand fulfilled in “just two days,” says our guest Taqbir Huda, a researcher at Amnesty International. Bangladesh’s military has agreed to hand power to an interim government, though Huda warns that the country’s previous history of military rule could pose a danger to maintaining democracy.