BANGLADESH PM FLEES COUNTRY AFTER 15YEARS IN POWER

“It means don’t allow any unelected government to come in power for one minute, it is your duty.”

Before hundreds of people broke past the gates of Hasina’s official residence on Monday morning, jubilant crowds had waved flags, and some had even started dancing on top of a tank in the streets.

Channel 24 in Bangladesh aired footage of revelers rushing into the complex and waving to the camera.

Some others destroyed statues of the nation’s independence hero, Sheikh Mujibur Rahma, who is Hasina’s father.

A military spokesperson informed AFP that Waker-Uz-Zaman, the head of Bangladesh’s army, would address the country on Monday afternoon without providing any other information.

Prior to the demonstrators storming the compound, Hasina’s son pleaded with the nation’s security services to prevent any challenge to her 15-year rule.

According to an official statement, Waker informed officers on Saturday that the armed forces “always stood by the people.”

Following months of intense political turmoil, the military proclaimed an emergency in January 2007 and created a caretaker administration with military support that lasted for two years.

Since taking office in 2009, Hasina has ruled Bangladesh. In January, she won an election for the fourth time in a row with no real opposition.

Rights organizations accuse her government of abusing state institutions, including the unlawful deaths of opposition activists, in order to maintain its hold on power and crush dissent.

The reinstatement of a quota system that allocated over half of all government positions to particular groups sparked protests.

Despite the fact that Bangladesh’s top court has reduced the scheme, the protests have become more intense.

On Monday morning, barbed wire blocked the path to Hasina’s office in Dhaka by soldiers and police in armored vehicles, but large crowds poured into the streets, knocking down the barricades.

It was impossible to confirm the Business Standard newspaper’s estimate of the number of protestors on the streets, which reached up to 400,000.

“The time has come for the final protest,” said Asif Mahmud, one of the key leaders in the nationwide civil disobedience campaign.

In several cases, soldiers and police did not intervene to stem Sunday’s protests, unlike during the past month of rallies that repeatedly ended in deadly crackdowns.

“Let’s be clear: The walls are closing in on Hasina: She’s rapidly losing support and legitimacy,” Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Washington-based Wilson Center, told AFP.

“The protests have taken on immense momentum, fuelled by raw anger but also by the confidence that comes with knowing that so much of the nation is behind them,” he said.

In a hugely symbolic rebuke of Hasina, a respected former army chief demanded the government “immediately” withdraw troops and allow protests.