Lessons from turmoil in Bangladesh

Over the last three weeks, I have been trying to follow as closely as possible the dramatic situation unfolding in Bangladesh.

As I write this, Sheikh Hasina is no more the Prime Minister of the South Asian country.

The violent protests were triggered by the decision of a High Court in Bangladesh to reinstate extremely generous public jobs quota for the descendants of the martyrs and veterans, who had fought the independence war against Pakistan.

Disenfranchised students, alienated from a system that is corrupted and rife with governance malpractices, protested to assert their rights at getting the jobs available.

Initially peaceful, the protests soon turned into a violent and bloody mayhem with the state machine showing total brutality.

Indeed, the state’s reaction was harsh, vicious, ruthless and cruel.

Law enforcement agents and members of the students’ wing of the Awami League, the thuggish BCL, showed no mercy, no containment.

As a consequence, extreme violence was unleashed. And then, finally, the regime fell.

Abu Sayed, an unarmed student standing with his arms stretched in defiance, was savagely shot dead.

Student leaders were taken away from their homes in the middle of the night and even those recovering in hospitals were forcibly removed from their beds despite the pleas from doctors and family members.

The result was hundreds of students killed and thousands jailed. The picture is complex due to the fact that Bangladesh could be defined as a semi-authoritarian regime governed by the same person, Prime Minister Hasina and her party, the Awami League, for 15 years.

Indeed, there have not been competitive elections since 2011 and the Awami League has become an overtly dominant party.

Geoffrey Macdonald, a Senior Advisor for the International Republican Institute and a Visiting Scholar with the US Peace Institute wrote, just a few months ago, an analysis on the current political situation in Bangladesh.

It was fittingly entitled “A Perilous Moment for Bangladesh’s Democracy” as the author describes the features of a polity that de facto could soon increasingly become close to resembling a single party system.

The opposition parties, especially the Bangladesh National Party and the Islamist Jaamat, have been at the receiving end of the government’s crackdowns over the last decade, and are now unable to operate freely, allegedly joined in the protests.

For the government, they were the main culprits, the cause for the violence that ushered in.

According to an official narrative that the former ruling party was spinning, they were even plotting to take over the official residence of PM Hasina.

In the end, the mass movement driven by students but filled by common people did the job.

Law enforcement officers also paid a high price as some of them even got killed and wounded.

The situation has been even more chaotic and difficult to understand with the government officially banning the internet for over 150 hours.

While it is hard to put all the pieces together, what is certain is that too many students paid with their lives and this should have never happened.

The internet ban is something I experienced firsthand. Over the last two weeks, I tried to access local news outlets from Bangladesh multiple times, to no avail. 

Then I contacted a promising academician from Dhaka, someone I had met in the course of an international conference. A brilliant scholar, he refused to comment on the developments, even anonymously.

He felt ashamed about what was unfolding in his country but it was too sensitive, too risky to comment.

His refusal was an indicator that it is indeed a dangerous time for democracy and liberties in the country.

At the end, last week, I got in touch with Jahed Salim, a senior reporter with Massranga Television, who was willing to share his views.

During our interaction, the situation was getting much better and no one was forecasting the fall of the Awami League.

“After the imposition of curfew, normalcy seems to be returning to the whole country, including the capital Dhaka. With the easing of curfew, offices, courts and business establishments have reopened. Till now we have not received any reports of disturbances in the whole country” he shared via email.

I asked Jahed if there would be some sort of accountability and justice for what happened.

“A judicial inquiry has been arranged into the early riots, especially the killings by the police on July 17. In this case, I think action will be taken according to the inquiry report. But the violence also took place with the brutal killing of members of law enforcement agencies. I feel that the government is very strict on this matter”.

Indeed, despite the limited freedom of expressions, newspapers like the Daily Star have been unequivocally adamant at demanding accountability.

Hasina, after further escalating the tensions by calling the students “traitors”, had exercised restraint, with a promise to deliver justice. She also paid a visit to some of the youths wounded in the violence.

It was all too late.

Yet, apparently many in Bangladesh harbor doubts on bringing to justice those who disproportionately used force, especially against unarmed students.

“The issue of BCL, the former ruling party youth organization, will probably be seen “politically”. I don't think anyone will be brought to justice,” Jahed had explained me.

The latest developments indicate that there will be accountability and the members of the BLC will pay a heavy price, but hopefully their punishment will follow the rule of law rather than the chaos and hatred of revenge.

The involvement of opposition parties in the protests is now almost an indisputable fact. They saw an opportunity and exploited it by causing destruction.

“Although it is called a students’ movement, the main opposition parties got involved. This has been observed in the past few movements. Since they cannot go on the streets due to the sternness of the government, they infiltrate various movements and try to achieve their interests,” Jahed explained.

“There was a real possibility that external forces comprising members of some of the opposition parties would carry out such brutality if given the opportunity. Because they have been conducting activities underground for a long time. However, the students’ movement had no idea that it would become like this. It is very painful.”

I asked him if there was any possibility that the protest focused on employment quotas, would turn into something with a far more broadened and radical agenda, the overthrow of the ruling party.

He had rejected that possibility but what happened is the opposite.

People in Bangladesh have started expressing a strong antipathy and dissatisfaction against PM Hasina and her party.

Those who dared to oppose the government in the past were at risk of facing serious consequences.

Let’s not forget that in January Nobel Laureate and Grameen Bank founder Professor Muhammad Yunus was convicted to a six-month jail term due to some bogus charges of money-laundering, tax evasion and corruption in some.

Now Prof Yunus is going to play a key role in the interim government.

In this case, my interlocutor proved wrong but many were thinking the same. Over the weekend, there was a turning point with people expressly demanding the PM’s resignation, something that was not seen as a possibility just a few days ago.

“It seems that the students will not go for any attempts at pulling down Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from power. However, those who are on the opposition that are trying to use the opportunity. They have already called on everyone to unite in a one-sided demand for the downfall of the government”.

Yet what happened in Bangladesh showed how protests can quickly turn into something much bigger.

In the case of Bangladesh, a peaceful mass movement by students turned into a bloody crackdown by the authorities and then it turned into a real revolution.

If, after the initial violence, there was a different reaction, a real remorse, the Awami League could have introspected and saved itself

In the last days before her fall, Sheikh Hasina tried to make amends with the students, inviting them to the palace but the lid was already open, years of ruthless governing could not be undone with a belated request of dialogue.

What is happening in Bangladesh is extremely concerning.

What unfolded in Bangladesh has been brutal and traumatic, a black chapter for the whole of South Asia.

This is unfortunate because democracy is way too important, not only for the young citizens of Bangladesh but also for all the citizens of South Asia.

Nepalis should take note of what is happening not that far from home.

They should re-assert their commitment to upholding one of their most precious, though sometimes often undervalued assets: Democracy and rule of law based on justice and fairness.

Now a new chapter is opening for Bangladesh and hopefully the high-stake confrontations among parties, nepotism and violence of the past will be undone and democracy now will have a real chance to flourish.

Views are personal