Pakistan sought for a “peaceful and swift return to normalcy” on Wednesday, expressing solidarity with the people of Bangladesh following the tragic demonstrations that ended former prime leader Sheikh Hasina’s government two days prior.
The announcement coincides with the anticipated formation of a caretaker administration led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus at the request of organizers of student protests.
Protests against public sector employment quotas for families of veterans of Bangladesh’s 1971 independence struggle, which opponents saw as a way to reserve positions for supporters of the ruling Awami League party, gave rise to the movement that toppled Hasina.
The Foreign Office (FO) released a statement stating, “The government and people of Pakistan stand in support with the people of Bangladesh, sincerely hoping for a stable and swift return to normalcy.”
It said, “We are confident that the resilient nature and solidarity of the Bangladeshi people will guide them toward a peaceful future.”
Earlier, Bangladesh’s parliament was dissolved, the President Mohammed Shahabuddin’s office stated in a statement, one day after the country’s leader, Sheikh Hasina, resigned and left her position owing to widespread demonstrations.
A “strict program” will be implemented if the deadline for dissolving parliament is not fulfilled, as protesting student leaders threatened to do just that only hours before the parliament was dissolved.
