The end was abrupt and unforgiving for one of Asia’s longest-serving leaders.
After enduring weeks of protests demanding her resignation, Sheikh Hasina saw her 15-year rule as Bangladesh’s prime minister unravel over the course of a bloody weekend that left scores of people dead. It culminated Monday with a mob ransacking her residence and the military forcing her to flee the country.
Her sudden departure marked the end of a run that saw Hasina, 76, turn Bangladesh into both an economic success story and a case study in the pitfalls of authoritarian rule. Even as surging exports of garments and other goods lifted millions out of poverty, her increasing suppression of political opponents sowed the seeds of her downfall.
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