Why the larger purpose of Bangladesh protests is not served yet

They say a week is too long in politics, but things can change in a flash, even for nations. In a dramatic afternoon last August, the Sheikh Hasina government was dethroned after weeks of chaos and bloodshed. An interim government, led by Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel winner, has since been taken over. The quest for a new order was so strong as those calamitous days showed, but the big question is: Has anything changed on the ground? How has life been for Bangladeshis? Our correspondent traversed across Dhaka to gauge the mood.

Here is the first of a two-part series. Here is the second part.

The return of Dhaka’s infamous traffic snarl, the large presence of women at a swanky bar-cum-restaurant at the capital’s Green Road, or the big gathering of Hindus at a Vishwakarma Puja pandal at Dhakeshwari National Temple can be misleading.

Beneath the veneer of hustle and bustle and the apparent markers of a thriving modern-liberal society, the country is undergoing a churn to redefine its national identity—an unsettled agenda of its independence that has kept Bangladesh in a state of constant flux since its birth.

A watershed moment

“In 1971, we succeeded in liberating our country as a sovereign geographical entity. But the process of nation-building never took place because collectively, as a society, our understanding of the complex relationship between the polity and the law is vague…. The sociopolitical aspiration of the people at large has never been realized or addressed by the State,” Farhad Mazhar, a leading poet-philosopher of Bangladesh, told The Federal.

Terming the July-August uprising a watershed moment for Bangladesh, the septuagenarian thinker said toppling a fascist regime was not the sole purpose of the insurrection. It has created an opportunity to build a new Bangladesh based on the concept of popular sovereignty to uphold and sustain the aspirations and hopes of the people, he said, underscoring the larger goal of enforcing a regime change.

Ultimate form of self-determination

His opinion assumes greater significance, as many vanguards of the Anti-Discriminatory Students Movement (ADSM) that overthrew the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League regime and installed an interim government were inspired by his political philosophy.

Incidentally, the septuagenarian thinker penned a book in Bengali in August last year that was titled Gaṇaabhyutthan O Gaṭhan: Bangladesher Gaṇarajanaitik Dharar Bikas Prasange (Mass uprising and Construct: The Development of Bangladesh’s Mass Political Trend).

In the book, Mazhar stressed the need to build a political society, rueing its absence in Bangladesh, and argued that the constituent power attained by the people through mass uprising is the ultimate form of self-determination.

The man who inspired students

It’s not a mere coincidence that within a year of its publication, the insurrection happened.

The idea of enforcing a change through non-institutionalized actions had been increasingly resonating in campus narratives.

Mehraf Shifat, one of the coordinators of Jahangirnagar University's ADSM, said several study circles have been formed on university campuses across Bangladesh in the past couple of years to mobilise opinion about the need for a new political order.

There was a growing realisation that students needed to take the lead to bring about a structural change in the polity as electoral democracy became a farce, said the student leader, who is inspired by Mazhar.

People were left with “no choice”

“The Awami League regime had left the people with no choice but to rise in revolt. Apart from being authoritarian and corrupt, it was hegemonizing opinions and ideas by imposing its narrative about everything, from history to culture.

“On the other hand, other major political parties, too, had failed to live up to people’s expectations when they were in power in the past,” he pointed out, giving the context to the student-led movement in which at least 800 protestors laid their lives.

The undoing of Hasina government

The movement, though started with the demand to change Bangladesh’s job reservation system, was fuelled by a sense of frustration over the overall dominant culture prevailing in the country for decades.

The uninterrupted 15-year rule of the Awami League further reinforced the culture. The throttling of democracy, muzzling of dissent, corruption, gross human rights violations, promotion of crony capitalism, and clientelist politics overshadowed the infrastructural development the country achieved in a decade and a half. More importantly, its economic success story started unravelling after the Covid-19 pandemic, deepening the sense of hopelessness.

The government’s brutal crackdown on the anti-quota protest and Sheikh Hasina’s incendiary remark terming the protestors “Razakars” further spiked the underlying frustration and helped the stir to transform into a full-fledged people’s movement.

Birth of a civil movement

“We were not expecting such a momentous outcome. It was its (the government’s) own undoing. Killings of innocent citizens reinforced the belief even among the common people that it had completely lost the legitimacy to govern,” said another coordinator of the students’ movement, Nazifa Jannat.

Thereon, the demand for meritocracy turned into a civil movement to end all forms of indiscrimination. The call immediately got traction, encouraging the students to up their ante, demanding the resignation of Sheikh Hasina.

Opposition political parties, social influences, and even some foreign embassies allegedly played their part in escalating the protest.

Did BNP-Jamaat play a role?

Nevertheless, the broad consensus that propelled the movement was a strong desire for a Bangladesh free of discrimination.

People of all religions, ethnicities, classes, and political backgrounds joined hands, setting aside, albeit temporarily, their ideological, political, and social differences.

The quest for a new order was so strong that the young cadres of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami — two political outfits that got a taste of power in the past — had to take part in the movement concealing their party affiliations.

This is very vital to understand the ideological framework of the uprising, said Oliur Rahman, a lecturer at the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh.

“Leaders of the BNP and the Jamaat are now claiming overwhelming participation of their young members in the movement. They did participate in it though there can be differences of opinion about the extent of their involvement. The question is, why were they evasive about their participation then? Is it because they knew the mass support for the movement could wane if their participation become apparent?” he asked.

Army’s backing of protesters

The decisive phase came when the army threw its weight behind the protesters. Bangladesh Army chief, General Waker-Uz-Zaman, who is otherwise related to Hasina by marriage, reportedly made it clear that troops would not enforce curfew by opening fire on their “own people”.

The mood in the army became clear to all when soldiers were seen mingling with the protesters, shaking hands in various parts of the country on August 4, a day before Hasina left the country.

By night, police had withdrawn from many posts and security barricades, emboldening radicals and miscreants who had already infiltrated among the protesters, as it was evident from the mob-induced jailbreak in Narsingdi on July 19. The mob freed 826 prisoners, including members of terror groups Ansarullah Bangla Team and Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh.

Larger purpose not served

The equilibrium of the movement completely shifted by August 4, as leaders of the ADSM were no longer in complete control, a senior Dhaka-based journalist said, wishing anonymity. By August 5 afternoon, when a frenzied mob stormed into Hasina’s official residence, ironically named Ganabhaban (People’s Residence), it was a free-for-all.

Violence broke out across Bangladesh. Police, Awami League functionaries, and minorities, who are generally considered as the party’s supporters, were indiscriminately attacked, completely derailing the dream of building a democratic and discrimination-free Bangladesh.

“The goal of the mass uprising to overthrow a corrupt and oppressive regime was achieved with Hasina’s ouster on August 5. But the larger purpose was not served,” said the journalist.

Four days of lawlessness

There was complete anarchy for the next four days, until Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus took oath as the chief advisor to the interim government on August 8.

Many in Bangladesh, in private, question the army’s role during this period of vacuum. For four days, there were virtually no law enforcers in the country, as police decamped their posts, leaving police stations unmanned.

It was the people who organised themselves to guard their localities to maintain a semblance of law.

Naturally, such a civilian initiative proved inadequate, resulting in a series of attacks on Awami League supporters and minorities in the aftermath of an uprising that had an avowed goal of ending discrimination in society.

When army went silent

By remaining mostly dormant in enforcing the rule of law, the army advertently or inadvertently harmed the larger cause of the movement, felt a section of the civilians.

Attacks on minorities, in particular, evoked strong reactions from liberal intellectuals, political parties, and anti-religious discrimination groups. There were instances of members of BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami, Leftist parties, students, and well-meaning people from majority community providing protection to the vulnerable community.

The attacks on minorities, who are largely perceived in Bangladesh as the Awami League’s vote bank, had two dimensions. Some members of the communities were attacked because of their political affiliation. But many more innocent members of the community and their place of worships were targeted purely out of communal hatred.

Atrocities against minorities

“The law-and-order situation in the country deteriorated drastically during the intervening period of the Hasina government’s fall and the assumption of office by the interim government led by Nobel Peace Laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus on August 8,” the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (BHBUC) said in a press statement.

“Taking advantage of this situation, a section of opportunistic miscreants has attacked, vandalized, looted and set fire to minority-community houses, places of worship, and business establishments across the country. Land has been forcibly occupied and is still getting occupied forcibly. In some areas, women have been raped and tortured, and innocent people have been tortured and killed,” the BHBUC press statement read.

The council is an apex umbrella organisation of the country’s three main religious minority communities.

Here is the second part

Have you read our other special stories on Bangladesh?

➤ What led to the stunning downfall of Sheikh Hasina?

➤ What should India do after Hasina's exit?