Bangladesh protest: Hasina eyes UK asylum, Indian states on alert — key updates

Violent protests in Bangladesh forced Sheikh Hasina to resign as prime minister on Monday. Mass celebrations ensued in Dhaka, the nation’s capital, as Hasina stepped down, fled to India and reportedly sought asylum in the United Kingdom. After the prime minister’s ouster, Bangladesh is preparing to welcome an interim government.
The developments in Bangladesh prompted India to step up its security on the border. India shares a 4,096.7 km-long border with Bangladesh. It is the longest border India shares with any neighbouring country.
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Here’s all you need to know about what’s happening in Bangladesh and India amid the unrest:
1. At least 300 people died in protests that erupted in Bangladesh a month ago, new agency AFP reported. Students took to the streets to protest against the civil service job quota system that favoured children of war veterans.
2. Following mass protests, the Supreme Court of Bangladesh had scaled back, but didn’t do away with, the 30 per cent reservation in government jobs allocated to the descendants of freedom fighters from the 1971 Bangladesh independence war. The revised system allotted 5 per cent reservation to descendants of independence fighters.
3. The Supreme Court’s move was not enough as protesters demanded Sheikh Hasina’s resignation as the prime minister. In a significant development, Hasina stepped down as the PM and flew to India, reportedly to Tripura’s capital Agartala. This ended her 15-year rule in the country.
4. Bangladesh’s Army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman confirmed in a broadcast to the nation on state television that Hasina had resigned and the military would form a caretaker government. According to Al Jazeera, he said he would seek the president’s guidance on forming an interim government. It is expected that the army and other political parties will lead Bangladesh to a free and fair election.
“I’m taking all responsibility (of the country). Please cooperate,” he said in a televised address. The Army chief said he had met political leaders and told them the Army would take over responsibility for law and order.
5. As the protests continued in parts of Bangladesh, thousands of protestors stormed the prime minister’s official residence, Ganabhaban, on Monday. Billows of smoke were seen as people set fire to a vehicle inside the Ganabhaban.
Others later stormed Parliament. Bangladesh’s Channel 24 broadcast images of crowds running into the prime minister’s compound, grinning and waving to the camera, looting furniture and books, or relaxing on beds. Other buildings associated with her party and family were also attacked.
 
6. Hasina, who reached India on Monday, will reportedly remain in India until she is granted political asylum in a third country. According to News 18, Hasina is seeking asylum in the UK. It is learnt that Hasina has been moved to a safe location and it is unlikely that she would leave India on Monday night, PTI reported.
1. India has stepped up its security around borders as Hasina landed at Hindon airport in Ghaziabad on Monday. Meghalaya imposed a night curfew along international border with Bangladesh, the deputy chief minister said. The Assam government also issued “high alert” to all its districts sharing border with the neighbouring country, a senior official said.
Besides, the Indo-Bangladesh border region in West Bengal has been put on high alert on Monday. Earlier in the day, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appealed to the people of the state to maintain peace and avoid provocation.
2. Amid the turmoil in Bangladesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security, news agency PTI reported. PM Modi was joined by other members of the CCS, including Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
3. Hours after Hasina landed at the airbase near Delhi in a C-130J military transport aircraft of the Bangladesh Air Force, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval met her, sources told PTI. The details of the meeting are not immediately known.
4. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar briefed PM Modi about the rapidly unfolding situation in Bangladesh. It is learnt that Jaishankar also apprised Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi of the developments.
News agency IANS reported that LoP Rahul Gandhi met Jaishankar in the Parliament House complex, “and they discussed recent developments in Bangladesh.” Sources in the Congress told PTI, “Gandhi met Jaishankar on the sidelines in the Lok Sabha, Parliament House complex, and discussed the recent developments in Bangladesh.”
5. Hasina is likely to meet her daughter Saima Wazed, who is based in Delhi. Wazed is working as the World Health Organisation’s regional director for South-East Asia. There is no official word on Hasina’s arrival in Delhi.
6. Air India and IndiGo cancelled scheduled flights to and from Dhaka with immediate effect on Monday.
7. India decided to provide a safe passage through the Indian airspace to Hasina’s aircraft following a request from Dhaka, the sources cited above told PTI.