Pakistan stands with Bangladesh, hopes for a swift return to normalcy: FO

Pakistan said on Wednesday that it stands in solidarity with the people of Bangladesh and was hopeful for a peaceful and swift return to normalcy.

“We are confident that the resilient spirit and unity of the Bangladeshi people will lead them towards a harmonious future,” the Foreign Office said in a press release.

Bangladesh has been engulfed by protests and violence that began last month after student groups demanded the scrapping of a controversial quota system in government jobs.

More than 100,000 protest to demand Bangladesh PM step down

That escalated into a campaign to seek the ouster of Sheikh Hasina, who has been in power for 15 years and most recently swept to a fourth straight term in January.

More than 400 people have been killed in the violence.

Hasina finally fled aboard a helicopter on Monday after the military turned against her.

Later, the same day, Bangladesh’s army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman said in a broadcast to the nation on state television Hasina had resigned and the military would form a caretaker government.

“The country has suffered a lot, the economy has been hit, many people have been killed – it is time to stop the violence,” said Waker, dressed in military fatigues, shortly after jubilant crowds stormed and looted Hasina’s residence.

Moreover, student leaders, who spearheaded the movement against Hasina, who had ruled since winning a decades-long power struggle with Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia in 2009, said early on Tuesday that they want a new interim government with Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus as its chief adviser.

“Any government other than the one we recommended would not be accepted,” Nahid Islam, one of the key organisers of the student movement, said in a video on Facebook with three other organisers.

“We wouldn’t accept any army-supported or army-led government.

“We have also had discussions with Muhammad Yunus and he has agreed to take on this responsibility at our invitation,” Islam added.