Bangladesh‘s parliament has been dissolved a day after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced from power.
Ms. Hasina resigned and fled the country following weeks of student-led protests that escalated into deadly unrest.
The dissolution of parliament, a key demand of the protesters, paves the way for the establishment of an interim government.
Bangladeshis are now waiting to see what unfolds next, as the country’s military chief holds talks with political leaders and protest organizers.
Local media reported that more than 100 people died in violent clashes across Bangladesh on Monday, the deadliest day since the mass demonstrations began.
Hundreds of police stations were also set on fire, prompting the Bangladesh Police Service Association (BPSA) to declare a strike “until the security of every member of the police is secure.”
The group also blamed the authorities, claiming they were “forced to fire.”
Overall, more than 400 people are believed to have died, as the protests were met with harsh repression by government forces.
The protests, which started in early July with peaceful demands from university students to abolish quotas in civil service jobs, snowballed into a broader anti-government movement.
Weeks of unrest culminated in the storming of the prime minister’s official residence, shortly after Ms. Hasina fled to neighboring India, ending nearly 15 years of rule.
Bangladeshi politicians are under pressure to form an interim government to avert a power vacuum that could spark additional conflict.
Within hours of her resignation, Bangladesh’s army leader, Gen. Waker-uz-Zaman, announced on state television that an interim administration would be constituted, adding that “it is time to stop the violence.”
Student leaders have made it plain that they will not accept a military-led government, urging Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus to serve as the interim government’s senior adviser.
Mr Yunus, who agreed to take up the role, said: “When the students who sacrificed so much are requesting me to step in at this difficult juncture, how can I refuse?” He is returning to Dhaka from Paris, where he is undergoing a minor medical procedure, according to his spokesperson.
Meanwhile, former Prime Minister and key opposition leader Khaleda Zia has been released from years of house arrest, according to a presidential statement. Ms. Zia, who chairs the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), boycotted the elections in 2014 and 2024, arguing that free and fair elections were impossible under Ms. Hasina’s administration.
The BNP has long demanded that elections be held under a neutral caretaker administration, a possibility now more likely following Ms. Hasina’s departure, a demand she had always rejected.
Ms. Zia, 78, served as Prime Minister of Bangladesh from 1991 to 1996 but was imprisoned in 2018 on corruption charges, which she claimed were politically motivated. She is not the only opposition figure to be released after years of detention.
Activist Ahmad Bin Quasem was also released, according to his lawyer Michael Polak. Rights groups claim that Mr. Quasem was taken by security forces in 2016, one of hundreds of forced disappearances under Ms. Hasina’s rule.
“There were many points during his detention that he was feared dead, and the uncertainty was one of the many tools of repression utilised by the regime,” Mr Polak explained, adding they hoped the decision to release political prisoners “is a positive sign of their intentions”.
“Unfortunately, the good news won’t be shared by all,” he told the BBC, stating that a number of political prisoners had died in custody. At least 20 more relatives of political prisoners gathered outside a military intelligence unit building in Dhaka earlier today, still desperate for news about their loved ones, according to the AFP news agency.
“We need answers,” Sanjida Islam Tulee, a co-ordinator of Mayer Daak (The Call of the Mothers) campaign group, told the news agency.
Across the border in India, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said he was “deeply concerned till law and order is visibly restored” in Bangladesh, with which India shares a 4,096-km (2,545-mile) border and has close economic and cultural ties.
He provided the first formal confirmation that Ms Hasina requested to fly to India on “very short notice” and “arrived yesterday evening in Delhi”.
India also sent more troops to the border with Bangladesh. “Our border guarding forces have also been instructed to be exceptionally alert in view of this complex situation,” Mr Jaishankar said.