Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Dhaka (Agenzia Fides) - "Now that the protesters have got what they wanted, we hope that the situation will calm down," a local source in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, where today, August 5, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed resigned, tells Fides. "After days of violent protests that were bloodily repressed, the Prime Minister resigned and left the country," says the source, who requests anonymity for security reasons. The Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, General Waker-uz-Zaman, announced the formation of an interim government pending new elections. "The intervention of the army was in the air," reports the observer, "Senior retired military officers had appealed yesterday (August 4) to the military to return to the barracks and not to repress the protesters".
The demonstrations were started by students to protest against the quota system proposed by the government in the civil service. Over time, the protests spread to other groups such as freelancers and professors, and the demands became louder and louder, culminating in the call for the resignation of the Prime Minister, who has since gone into exile in India. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 5/8/2024)
AFRICA/KENYA - Bishops: “No to the petition to remove President Ruto from office; our name was included without consulting us”
AMERICA/VENEZUELA - Presidential elections, Bishops appeal not to desert the polls
ASIA/HOLY LAND - Gaza schoolchildren are denied exams and a future
ASIA/VIETNAM - The legacy of Pope John XXIII shapes studies at the Academy in Vinh
AFRICA - Alliance of Sahel states: irreversible rupture in the Economic Community of West African States?
AFRICA/CHAD - After explosion in ammunition depot: official report speaks of nine dead and 46 injured