Bangladesh Parliament dissolved; Khaleda released from house arrest; Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus to lead interim government as chief adviser

DHAKA: President Mohammed Shahabuddin dissolved Bangladesh's parliament after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina(76) fled the country amid student protests and pressure from the military. This is a prelude to the formation of an interim government.

Begum Khaleda Zia, 78, former prime minister and opposition Bangladesh National Party (BNP) chairperson and several other opposition leaders, who were kept under house arrest by Sheikh Hasina, were released. Ahmad bin Qasim, son of Jamaat-e-Islami leader Mirqasim Ali, who was hanged in 2016, lawyer and prominent BNP leader Ahmed bin Qasim was also released.

The anti-discrimination student movement, which issued an ultimatum to dissolve parliament before three o'clock today, also demanded that Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus lead the interim government. Yunus assured the students that he would lead the government as chief adviser. He is in Paris for the Olympics.

In a video message, student leaders Nahid Islam, Asif Muhammad and Abubakar Masumdar stated that they will not accept a government led or supported by the military and that a government should be formed as per their suggestion. Army Chief General Waker-uz-Zaman interacted with student leaders. He announced that he was taking over the administration and would form an interim government.

Sino-Pak conspiracy in London and Saudi

LONDON: It is reported that there is a conspiracy in London and Saudi Arabia with the connivance of Pakistan and China to overthrow the government of Sheikh Hasina and bring the pro-Chinese BNP to power. It is said that it is this conspiracy that ignited the anti-reservation movement. It also includes months of planning by Jamaat-e-Islami. The agitation was funded by Chinese agencies operating in Pakistan.

Bangladeshi intelligence sources say that Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh National Party leaders, Khaleda's son Tariq Rehman and ISI officials held talks in Saudi Arabia. More than 500 posts against Hasina were circulated through anti-Bangladesh X accounts to fuel the agitation. Many accounts were from Pakistan. Protests against reservation escalated into a riot in which 300 people were killed. Chhatrashibir, the student wing of the anti-India Jamaat-e-Islami, ignited the agitation. The aim of Jamaat-e-Islami was to turn the student agitation into a political movement. Most of the videos circulating against Hasina were created through Khaleda's BNP accounts. It was given technical excellence through US-centric accounts.

Hasina safe

• Sheikh Hasina will remain in India as Britain's permission is delayed
• The Bangladesh flight that brought Hasina returned today morning
• Sheikh Hasina arrived in India accompanied by Rafale aircraft
• There has been a massive reshuffle at the top levels of the Bangladesh Army in the context of political changes