Chief of the Bangladesh Army
Ending the violence will meet their demands, Bangladesh army chief Waker-Uz-Zaman told protesters on Monday, adding that he will form an interim government after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the capital before of overwhelming protests.
“We will form an interim government,” Waker said in a broadcast to the nation on state television, assuring protesters that their demands would be met.
“The country has suffered a lot, the economy has been hit, many people have been killed – it is time to end the violence,” he added.
“I hope that after my speech the situation will improve.”
Waker, a career infantry officer who spent nearly four decades in the military, was named to the military’s top job as Army chief of staff earlier this year.
“If the situation improves, there is no need for an emergency,” he said, promising that the new authorities would “prosecute all murders” after weeks of deadly protests.
“Now the students’ job is to stay calm and help us,” he said.
Hasina, who has ruled Bangladesh since 2009, defied weeks of demands that she resign but fled after a brutal day of unrest on Sunday in which nearly 100 people died.
Protests broke out against the reintroduction of a quota scheme that reserved more than half of all public jobs for certain groups.
Protests grew despite the scheme being scaled back by Bangladesh’s top court.
In a highly symbolic rebuke to Hasina, a former army chief demanded that the government “immediately” withdraw troops and allow protests.
The anti-government movement has attracted people from across society in the South Asian country of around 170 million people, including movie stars, musicians and singers.
The 76-year-old prime minister fled the country by helicopter, reports say, shortly after protesters stormed her palace in Dhaka. Multiple reports say she is heading to an undisclosed location in India.
Bangladesh’s Channel 24 broadcast footage of crowds rushing to the complex, waving at the camera as they celebrated.
Others destroyed statues of Hasina’s father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahma, the country’s independence hero.
Ms. Hasina won her fourth consecutive election in January after a vote without genuine opposition.
(With AFP inputs)
This story originally appeared on Ndtv.com read the full story
