Author: Rashaad Shabab, Reader in Economics, University of Sussex

Sheikh Hasina ruled Bangladesh with an iron fist for over 15 years. But on Monday August 5 she was forced to resign and flee the country as hundreds of thousands of people marched on the capital Dhaka and stormed her residence. Until the very end, Hasina tried to hold on to power through the use of brute force. The final fortnight of her rule was marked by a violent crackdown on protesters that resulted in the deaths of 440 people. What started as a non-partisan student movement for the removal of a system that allocated 56% of government jobs through…