Rahul Roy-Chaudhury & Viraj Solanki
A 17-member interim government, led by Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus as its chief advisor, took charge in Bangladesh on 8 August following the shock ouster of its longest-serving leader, 76-year-old Sheikh Hasina. Hasina resigned as prime minister on 5 August following weeks of deadly student-led protests. Her ouster has significant political and security implications for the fourth-largest Muslim-majority country of over 170 million people, as well as for its neighbour India.
The end of Sheikh Hasina’s rule
Sheikh Hasina’s sudden departure from Dhaka to neighbouring India resulted from months of growing anger in Bangladesh. After the January 2024 general election, perceived as flawed by the West, critics accused Hasina’s government of becoming increasingly arrogant.
The turning point came in June 2024, when Bangladesh’s High Court re-instated a quota reserving 30% of government jobs for relatives of veterans from Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence. With government jobs in high demand due to elevated graduate unemployment, students protested the quota, which they also viewed as favouring supporters of Hasina’s Awami League party. The Supreme Court eventually reduced the quota in late July to 5%.
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