PM Modi Chairs Key Meet Over Bangladesh Unrest

Bangladesh's army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman said in a broadcast to the nation on state television that Ms Hasina, 76, had resigned and the military would form a caretaker government.

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India News

The Cabinet Committee on Security met at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's official residence this evening amid the turmoil in neighbouring Bangladesh - where its Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country amid massive protests over job quotas

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman were present in the meeting.

Separately, PM Modi was also briefed on the situation in Bangladesh by S Jaishankar. Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, who is the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, has also spoken to Mr Jaishankar.

Ms Hasina, who first came to power in 2009, had sought to quell nationwide protests against her government since early July but she fled the country after brutal unrest on Sunday in which nearly 100 people were killed.

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Bangladesh's army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman said in a broadcast to the nation on state television that Ms Hasina, 76, had resigned and the military would form a caretaker government.

Sheikh Hasina's plane - a Bangladesh Air Force C-130 military transport - landed at an airbase near Delhi on Monday evening. National Security Adviser Ajit Doval called on the former prime minister. 

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She is expected to leave for London later, sources told NDTV, where she may seek political asylum. 

Ms Hasina, who won a fifth term as prime minister in January, may not return to politics, her US-based son and former Chief Advisor Sajeeb Wajed Joy has told BBC's World Service's Newshour program.

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Disappointed by the strong public sentiment against her government despite her efforts to transform the country, she has decided to quit, he told BBC.

Demonstrations began over the reintroduction of a quota scheme that reserved more than half of all government jobs for certain groups.

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

At least 94 people were killed on Sunday, the deadliest day of the unrest, with protesters and government supporters battling each other with sticks and knives, and security forces opening fire.

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The latest violence took the total number of people killed since protests began in early July to at least 356, according to news agency AFP count based on police, government officials and doctors at hospitals.

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.

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