The streets of Bangladesh‘s capital Dhaka erupted into jubilation on Monday after Prime Minister Hasina resigned and fled the country by helicopter after weeks of deadly anti-government unrest.
Hasina’s sudden exit ended a 15-year rule marked by curbs on civil liberties and the heavy-handed use of security forces to quell dissent, critics and rights groups say.
Bangladesh’s army chief, General Waker-uz-Zaman, said in a national address that the army would form an interim government, but student protest leaders called on Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus to lead the interim administration.
Later on Tuesday, a source at the Yunus Center think tank in Dhaka confirmed to CNN that its founder had agreed to return to Bangladesh to fulfill the protesters’ request that he become head of an interim government, and the country’s main opposition party had offered all support to the protesting students.
What began as peaceful student protests against civil service job quotas turned into a nationwide effort to force Hasina out of office after demonstrators faced a government crackdown that killed about 300 people, according to local media and agencies.
Hasina blamed the violence on the opposition and imposed an internet blackout and an indefinite curfew across the country.
Her response infuriated protesters and eventually forced the country’s longest-serving female head of government to hastily flee the country with her sister to India as mobs stormed her official residence, smashing walls and looting its contents.
Why did the people of Bangladesh take to the streets?
July 1 At the prestigious University of Dhaka, students began protesting to demand the abolition of the government’s quota system, according to which 30 percent Civil servant positions are reserved for veterans who fought in 1971. In the Bangladesh war of independence from Pakistan, for relatives.
Many representatives of the current political elite of the country are representatives of that generation, including Sh. Hasin, in 1975. the daughter of the assassinated Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, widely regarded as the founder of modern Bangladesh.
Reserved posts have been linked to job security and higher wages, with protesters saying the quota system is discriminatory and favors supporters of Hasina’s ruling Awami League party.
The reason for the anger was the high unemployment rate in the country, especially among the youth. Bangladesh has seen rapid economic growth under Hasina, but it has slowed since the pandemic, and Bangladesh is suffering from high inflation and depleted foreign exchange reserves. Out of 170 million population more than 30 million does not work or study.
July 15 protests turned violent, and the government’s increasingly deadly response fueled their anger, even after the Supreme Court overturned most of the controversial quotas for government jobs and internet blocking was lifted.
At least 91 people were killed and hundreds injured in clashes between police and protesters on Sunday, the highest single-day toll of any protest in the country’s recent history.
“Blood in Front of My University”
After Hasina’s resignation on Monday, celebrations soon turned violent, with protesters setting fire to several buildings, including the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum – the ancestral home of Hasina’s father, Mujibur Rahman – and the offices of the Awami League, witnesses told CNN.
“It all turned ugly very quickly,” said the 23-year-old. Raiyan Aftab, a student at BRAC University, who said police fired on protesters outside the university. “They were shooting at everyone. Blood is flowing in front of my university now. There are about 30 bodies… I couldn’t sleep all night.”
Across the capital, anti-government protesters were attacked by police and military, witnesses said. Police opened fire on protesters outside the Dhaka Medical College, according to a CNN cameraman at the scene.
Students and protesters gathered outside the Dhaka University campus and the national capital’s Shaheed Minar, also known as the Martyr’s Tower, were beaten by the police.
“I went to Shaheed Minar with my friends to celebrate. It was epic. Thousands of people gathered there, everyone walked, regardless of class, heritage, religion, we were all together, all the students met with flags and everything. It was a historical moment, said R. Aftab. “But it didn’t last long.”
Meanwhile, images emerged online of youths guarding Hindu temples after misinformation spread online and a mob attacked the temple, according to the Meherpur ISKCON temple director.
Sh. Hasina’s legacy
The demonstrations have become Hasina’s biggest challenge since she secured a fourth consecutive term in January. elections that were boycotted by the main opposition party in protest at what it said was a widespread crackdown on its ranks.
On Tuesday, Bangladeshi President Mohammed Shahabuddin announced the release of opposition leader and former prime minister Khaleda Zia, a long-time rival of Sh. Hasina, who ran for office in 2018. was jailed on bribery charges, which she denies. The president said other student protesters and those arrested on “false cases” had also been released.
Hasina’s political career has spanned decades since she returned from exile in the early 1980s, when her father and most of her family were killed. 1990 she led a popular democratic uprising against military rule and has since survived several assassination attempts.
She became prime minister for the first time in 1996. and worked for one term, and in 2008 returned to power and ruled Bangladesh with his Awami League party until Monday.
Human rights groups have warned that Hasina and her government are moving towards a one-party system, while critics have raised concerns about increased reports of political violence, voter intimidation and harassment of media and opposition figures.
Rights groups say Hasina’s government has clamped down on freedom of expression online, arrested journalists, artists and activists, and reported cases of arbitrary detention and torture under Hasina’s rule.
But Hasina has been able to weather many of the previous protests against her rule, especially during elections, so her resignation after five weeks of unrest was seen as sudden and unexpected.
Young people who saw their peers being shot and killed, motivated by bleak job prospects and tired of corruption and repression could not be stopped by curfews, internet blocking or security forces.
“It’s very possible that this is the first successful revolution led by Generation Z,” Sabrina Karim, an associate professor at Cornell University specializing in the study of political violence, told CNN.
The military may also have played a role in Sh. Hasina’s resignation. S. Karim said in a statement that “it seems that the military was not always a united force supporting Sh. Hasina’s regime.”
“While numerous photos and videos have been circulated showing soldiers using lethal force and shooting unarmed protesters, some members of the military have called for an independent UN-led investigation into these atrocities,” she said. “In addition, some members of the military announced yesterday that they will not use lethal force against the protesters gathered in the capital.”
What’s next?
Bangladesh’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate microfinance pioneer Muhammad Yunus will lead an interim government after longtime Prime Minister Sh. Hasina steps down after mass protests, the presidency announced Wednesday.
The appointment comes shortly after student leaders called on Yunus, 84, who has helped lift millions of South Asians out of poverty, to lead the country.
The decision was taken at a meeting of President Mohammed Shahabuddin with army, navy and air force commanders and student leaders.
“(They) decided to form a provisional government headed by Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus, Shahabuddin’s office said in a statement. – The President asked these people to help overcome the crisis. In order to overcome the crisis, it is necessary to quickly form a temporary government”.
Mr. Yunus will be named chief adviser, according to Haid Islam, one of the leaders of “Students Against Discrimination” who attended the meeting.
Shahabuddin agreed that the interim government “would be formed in the shortest possible time”, Islam told reporters, describing the meeting as “productive”.
But other details about the planned government, including the role of the military, have been few.
Mr Yunus, currently in Europe, told AFP on Tuesday that he was ready to lead an interim government.
“If action is needed in Bangladesh, for the courage of my country and my people, I will take it,” he said in a statement, also calling for free elections.
Acquitted before returning to the homeland
A Bangladeshi court on Wednesday overturned the conviction of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Yunus, a day before he was due to return to his homeland to lead an interim government.
“Professor Mohammed Yunus and three of his colleagues have been acquitted of labor charges,” one of his lawyers, Khaja Tanvir Ahmed, told AFP. “Earlier this year, the court sentenced them to six months in prison.”
He was convicted in January on charges related to labor law violations, but was immediately released on bail pending an appeal and later traveled abroad.
All four have denied the charges and the courts have been accused of following the orders of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government, prompting the case to be criticized by watchdogs including Amnesty International as politically motivated.
“The Labor Court upheld the appeal and acquitted them,” said the lawyer.
Dubbed the “banker for the poorest of the poor,” Yunus, 84, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his work lending small sums of money to rural women to invest in farm tools or business equipment and increase their incomes.
However, due to his prominence in Bangladesh, he attracted Sh. Hasina’s displeasure. More than 100 criminal cases have been brought against Mr. Yunus, but the only conviction was in a labor case.
After weeks of mass protests, on Monday Sh. Hasina resigned and fled to India.
Fear of the unknown
While Hasina’s resignation has been celebrated, some Bangladeshis have expressed concern about the path ahead as the country tries to fill the leadership vacuum.
“Sh. Hasina may have resigned, but Bangladesh still has a long way to go,” said 25-year-old student Faiza Chowdhury. “Until our religious and ethnic minorities are protected, and until justice reaches them, the nation will not be free.”
Protester Aftab was cautious about the possibility of the military retaining power.
“We have to remember that for the last 15 years, the army has done nothing. They protected this regime, so they can’t just come to power and become the good guys. We know who they are and what they are going to do,” he said.
Others were more optimistic. Another Bangladeshi studying in New York told CNN that “Gen Z made everything possible. They are the future of Bangladesh and they can create a better future.”
Prepared by CNN.
2024-08-09 00:19:41