#Bangladesh, #SheikhHasina, #BangladeshPM, #SajeebWazed, #AwamiLeague, #BangladeshProtests, #BangladeshViolence
Dhaka/IBNS: Bangladesh Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina’s son Sajeeb Wazed has claimed his mother is still the Prime Minister of the country as she didn’t get time to formally resign before fleeing to India following violent anti-quota protests by students.
Wazed told Reuters, “My mother never officially resigned. She didn’t get the time.”
“She had planned to make a statement and submit her resignation. But then the protesters started marching on the prime minister’s residence. And there was no time. My mother wasn’t even packed.
“As far as the constitution goes, she is still the Prime Minister of Bangladesh,” he told the news agency.
Wazed claimed the President had dissolved the Parliament in consultation with the military chief and opposition leaders.
The formation of an interim government without the formal resignation of the Prime Minister “can be challenged in court”.
The claim has been made on a day protesting students demanded the resignation of all judges including the Chief Justice.
The students have surrounded the Bangladesh Supreme Court demanding an immediate resignation of the Chief Justice.
The protests were triggered after the Chief Justice had called a full-court hearing without any consultation with the newly-formed interim government, which is headed by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus.
The court hearing was abruptly called off following the protests.
Reports claim the Chief Justice, who has been given an hour to resign by the protesters, might have fled his residence.
Signalling the beginning of a new era after 15 years of Sheikh Hasina’s regime, Yunus took oath as the head of the interim government in Bangladesh on Thursday.
In the last few weeks, Bangladesh witnessed deadly protests which began with students protesting against the job quota and then it slowly spiralled into a mass movement that demanded Hasina’s resignation as the Prime Minister.
The violence led to the death of over 500 people with 232 lives lost since Hasina fled the country.
The showdown took a new turn when Hasina was forced to resign which led to the toppling of her government and ending her 15-year rule.
Hasina escaped to India in a helicopter.
Following Hasina’s resignation and Army’s takeover, violence further escalated with the protesters barging into the Prime Minister’s residence, bringing down tall leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s statue, looting, setting houses and government properties on fire.
Several Hindu families were allegedly attacked in the country, which was set free from Pakistan in 1975.
