Bangladesh unrest: India suspends all train services between the two nations

 The Indian Railways on Monday cancelled trains between India and Bangladesh amid massive protests against the Sheikh Hasina government that claimed more than 106 lives in the last two days. Authorities from the Indian Railways said that the Kolkata-Dhaka Maitree Express and Bandhan Express between Kolkata and Khulna have been cancelled.

The ripples of tensions in Bangladesh were felt in India on Monday as the latter suspended all train services after embattled prime minister Sheikh Hasina fled, bringing a turbulent end to the past few days’ raging protests that took the country by storm. The five-day-a-week Maitri Express service between Kolkata and Dhaka, which has been suspended for the previous fifteen days, will continue to be cancelled. In a similar vein, the two-day-per-week Bandhan Express service between Kolkata and Khulna would be discontinued permanently.

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 autocratic rule of 76-year-old Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

At least 11,000 people have been arrested in recent weeks. The unrest has also resulted in the closure of schools and universities across the country, and authorities at one point imposed a shoot-on-sight curfew. 

Hasina offered to talk with student leaders on Saturday, but a coordinator refused and announced a one-point demand for her resignation. Hasina repeated her pledges to investigate the deaths and punish those responsible for the violence. She said she was ready to sit down whenever the protesters want.

Meanwhile,  Bangladesh’s army chief Waker-Uz-Zaman said Monday he would “form an interim government” after the prime minister resigned and fled the capital in the face of overwhelming protests. “I am taking full responsibility,” the general said, dressed in military fatigues and cap, although it was not immediately clear if he would head 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,” he added.