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The situation in the South Asian country of Bangladesh has suddenly changed.

On August 5, faced with large-scale demonstrations and chaos across the country, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to resign and fled the Prime Minister's Office by helicopter with her sister.

Bangladesh's Dhaka Forum website said Hasina had arrived in India that day and was preparing to seek asylum in the UK.

Whether in terms of her life experience or her experience in governing, Hasina is a legendary figure.

Her father is Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the "Father of the Nation" of Bangladesh.

When the British ended their rule in South Asia and implemented the partition of India and Pakistan, they assigned the Bangladesh region to Pakistan. Because it was in the east, it was also called East Pakistan. However, after the Indo-Pakistani War in 1971, Pakistan was forced to recognize the independence of Bangladesh. Rahman was a founding father and the first president of Bangladesh, and later served as prime minister.

In August 1975, the Bangladeshi military launched a coup, and Rahman and 15 of his relatives and domestic servants were assassinated at home. Hasina and her sister escaped the attack while on vacation in Germany, and then took refuge in India.

Hasina returned to Bangladesh in 1981 and joined politics, becoming the leader of the Awami League. She served as Prime Minister of Bangladesh from 1996 to 2001.

Since 2009, Hasina has led the People's Alliance to four consecutive elections. She has also served as prime minister for 15 consecutive years, longer than India's Indira Gandhi and Britain's Margaret Thatcher, becoming the longest-serving woman in world politics.

In their reports on the 5th, the Indian Express website and Singapore's Straits Times website both called Hasina the "Iron Lady" of Bangladesh and mentioned the economic achievements during Hasina's administration.

The Indian Express reported that Hasina liberated Bangladesh's economy in the early days of her administration and introduced a large amount of foreign investment, especially the garment industry, which developed rapidly and became one of the world's garment centers. Her emphasis on national education and health also won wide acclaim.

The Straits Times reported that when Bangladesh gained independence in 1971, it was one of the poorest countries in the world. During the 15 years that Hasina served as prime minister, Bangladesh's average annual growth rate exceeded 6%. In 2021, its per capita income exceeded that of India, and the number of poor people dropped significantly. Currently, 95% of Bangladesh's 170 million people have access to electricity.

But Hasina's rule has also brought some controversy. The Indian Express website reported that Hasina's relationship with the Bangladeshi judicial system was not good during her rule, and the two sides often had disputes. Hasina's high-pressure policy towards political opponents has also caused domestic dissatisfaction and some international criticism. She has won elections several times, but has also been accused of cheating and intimidating opponents during the election.

However, this time, it was the increasingly violent demonstrations in recent weeks that forced Hasina to resign and go into exile.

The demonstration was initially sparked by Bangladeshi college students and university teachers' opposition to the government's "civil service quota" system.

In order to achieve social fairness, the Bangladeshi government reserves some civil service and government-related positions for specific groups, such as ethnic minorities, poor areas and women, but some of these positions are also reserved for so-called "freedom fighters" and their families.

"Freedom fighters" refer to soldiers who made contributions in Bangladesh's struggle for independence. Initially, the Bangladeshi government reserved some government positions for these soldiers, and later for their sons or grandchildren.

It is this part of the civil service quota that has caused strong dissatisfaction among some college students and university teachers in Bangladesh. There were protests over this in 2018, when the Hasina government decided to suspend the quota system.

But in June this year, the Bangladesh High Court ruled that the government's decision was invalid, which means that the quota for the families of "freedom fighters" will continue to be retained, but the quota will be reduced.

In mid-July, students and teachers from some universities marched to protest against the "civil servant quota" system. A Bangladeshi expert told PBS that although the number of quotas was decreasing, Hasina adopted her usual tough policy in the face of demonstrations. She not only accused the demonstrators of being "terrorists", but also ordered the Internet to be cut off, imposed a curfew, and required the military and police to take tough measures against the demonstrators.

The confrontation between the two sides has become increasingly fierce, with more than 300 people killed in the past few weeks, including 90 deaths on August 4 alone.

The situation deteriorated rapidly, with protest organizers calling on people to refuse to pay taxes, water and electricity bills, and go to work to protest the government. Many protesters stormed Hasina's Prime Minister's Office, and riots and looting also occurred on the streets.

Faced with this situation, the "Iron Lady" Hasina finally announced her resignation. The video released by Bangladesh 24 TV station showed that many demonstrators stormed Hasina's official residence and celebrated wildly, while some looted the televisions and furniture there.

At present, the Bangladesh military has announced the formation of an interim government and held talks with protesters and representatives of various political parties. It also promised to investigate "every case of the killing of protesters."

But the situation is already like this, and many people are worried about whether the parties will seek revenge or whether they can really calm down and seek compromise. Some people are also worried about the emergence of military rule.

Text丨Qian Kejin, international commentator of Yangcheng Evening News