Sheikh Hasina’s Sarees, Paintings At Palace Stolen By Mob After She Flees

DHAKA: Sarees, tea cups, TV sets, paintings were among the many things stolen by protesters who stormed Sheikh Hasina’s palace in Dhaka Monday.

Protests in Bangladesh that began as student-led demonstrations against government hiring rules in July culminated Monday in the prime minister fleeing and the military announcing it would form an interim government.

At least 300 people were killed in more than a month of deadly protests that ended the rule of 76-year-old Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The protests escalated despite the scheme being scaled back by Bangladesh’s top court.

Bangladesh’s Channel 24 broadcast images of crowds running into the compound, waving to the camera as they celebrated, looting furniture and books while others relaxed on beds.

Social media images showed jubilant protesters riffling through the drawers and her belongings.

Some pictures from the site showed the protesters enjoying a feast, others carrying a huge fish. A man was also seen wearing a saree, allegedly belonging to the former prime minister.

Protesters also smashed a statue of Hasina’s father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the country’s independence hero.

The mobs also attacked the homes of Hasina’s close allies, witnesses told news agency AFP.

Sheikh Hasina’s 15 consecutive years in power were marked by an economic rebirth but also by the mass arrest of political opponents and human rights sanctions against her security forces.

Ms Hasina, 76, won a fifth term as prime minister in January but the opposition boycotted a vote it said was neither free nor fair.

She promised last year to turn all of Bangladesh into a “prosperous and developed country” but around 18 million young Bangladeshis are out of work, according to government figures.

Bangladesh has a long history of coups.

The military declared an emergency in January 2007 after widespread political unrest and installed a military-backed caretaker government for two years.