Dhaka Uprising

Pakistanis are keenly following the developments in Bangladesh. There is a lot of speculation about how a movement by a motley group of students led to the overthrow of a robust autocratic regime in Bangladesh on its own. Pakistanis have a shared history with Bangladeshis, and their independence movements are interlinked in more ways than one. As such, they need to understand what is happening on the streets of Dhaka. Here are some pointers to help us understand the current events in Bangladesh:

Educated youth reject the quota system and refuse to stay subservient to the ruling class.

The students’ movement started with their frustration at the inability to compete for lucrative government jobs. More than half of these jobs were reserved under various quotas, the largest being the 30 percent allocation for the descendants of those who fought for Bangladesh’s independence. This 30 per cent quota had been scrapped in 2018 after student protests, but the high court reinstated it in 2024, soon after Sheikh Hasina’s fourth consecutive victory in a questionable election.

Unequal distribution of fruits of economic growth due to crony capitalism and excessive corruption.

Student leaders demand merit in all spheres of governance and have taken a hard line against nepotism and favouritism-based quotas. They want their government to ensure that public sector systems are fair.

The last few decades have witnessed unprecedented advances in Bangladesh’s economic and social indicators. However, despite the spectacular economic growth (averaging around 7.5 % per annum), successive governments have failed to curb nepotism and corruption. Unemployment among the educated and skilled youth shot up, and they decided to take matters into their own hands.

The role of social media in connecting people

Bangladeshi Gen-Z’s successful campaign against the Awami League government has also been fueled by their instant reach to the people across all corners of the country. Pictures and videos of police brutalities travelled instantly around the country and among the diaspora abroad.

By the time the Govt reacted by censoring the press and blocking social media by shutting down the internet and mobile phone networks, the students’ bravery had already galvanized the country. As Hasina’s police cracked down hard, the anger of the entire population boiled over. It seemed everyone was joining the protests irrespective of their past political affiliations, and this morphed into a broader movement for justice.

Hasina’s arrogance in her brutal crackdown, coupled with the army’s refusal to come to Hasina’s rescue by killing civilians for the sake of a corrupt regime.

Following weeks of bloody riots in which around 300 students laid down their lives in a standoff against PM Sheikh Hasina Wajid, the longest-serving prime minister of the country since its creation in 1971. After ruling the country with an iron fist for 15 years, she was forced to flee the country.

On August 5, 2024, at 9:30 am, despite a curfew, hundreds of thousands of protestors flooded the streets of Dhaka and began to march towards the PM house. At a hurriedly summoned security meeting that morning, the police chief warned the PM (visibly angry at the inability of the police to control the riots) that the people’s anger had gone entirely beyond their control. The army chief reportedly also refused to come to her rescue. As the clock ticked on, reports of unrelenting protesters moving towards the PM house began to pour in. In the end, Sh. Hasina was given 45 minutes to flee as her security could no longer be guaranteed. She submitted her resignation to the president and proceeded towards Tejgaon cantonment to board a helicopter, which took her across to Agartala in India. Within the following hour, angry mobs broke through the gates of the PM house and started to vandalise it.

The Modi factor

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s treatment of Muslims in India has reopened an old fault line in the Indian subcontinent. The ghosts of the bloody partition of British India may be ready to rear its head again in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh was founded in 1971 with the help of an Indian military intervention. Linguistic ties between Indian West Bengal and Bangladesh afforded additional goodwill between the two neighbours.
But after Modi’s Hindu nationalist BJP party came to power in 2014, that goodwill began to wane. In 2019, the Modi government passed controversial anti-Muslim citizenship laws. Indian Home Minister Amit Shah infamously called Bangladeshi migrants ‘termites’ during an election rally in West Bengal.

Violent protests erupted when Modi arrived in Dhaka in March 2021 to mark the country’s 50th anniversary. Twelve people were killed in what turned out to be a significant embarrassment for the Hasina administration.

Amid claims that India “covertly” helped Hasina win the election in parts of Bangladesh, New Delhi reportedly used its influence to tone down U.S. and European criticisms of the Bangladeshi election process.

A recent article in the Indian press talks about how ‘India over-invested in Hasina and under-invested in Bangladesh’ and is now panicking. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh’s Sheikh Hasina long ignored democratic norms to maintain close ties. Post Hasina’s ouster, the Indian press has raised fear of backlash against Bangladeshi Hindus, fed by possible misinformation emanating from within Hindu-majority India itself.

What to expect next?
Some believe the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh participated gleefully in the lethal violence in the lead-up to Hasina’s ouster. However, both BNP and Jamaat have denied that. Bangladeshi student leaders, on their part, reiterated that they were seeking fundamental changes in the country. They seem to distrust all the country’s mainstream political parties, including the Awami League, BNP, and Jamaat.

The students’ decision to ask Professor Muhammad Yunus, a respected economist, to lead an interim administration reflects their desire for a break from a political past dominated by either the Awami League or the BNP.

It is worth noting that Indian news outlets, which often operate under the shadow of the BJP, have been fixated on the Bangladeshi Islamist party. TV commentators never tire of theorizing how the Pakistan-backed political parties have brought down Sheikh Hasina’s government. Members of the BJP have expressed fears that Jamaat may take control in Bangladesh. It is not difficult to see how these fears may reflect their own ways of using religion in politics. This will continue if India is unable to regain its grip on Bangladesh.

Challenges for the new leadership
Overthrowing a government is one thing, but establishing a better and lasting alternative is another. A decentralised youth-led movement for change has achieved spectacular success. But they will still have to navigate the challenges ahead to deliver the goods.

The students have chosen good counsel in the shape of respected advisors who will have to deliver their aspirations paid for by the blood and tears of the youth. The advisors’ expertise and wisdom will be required to manage those tempted to take advantage of the power vacuum for their benefit, be it the military or the political parties.

Maintaining law and order and curbing the extrajudicial cycle of vengeance in a slowing economy is immediately required to reassure a restive population. This can not be achieved through goodwill alone.

Bangladesh shares a 4000-mile border with India, which surrounds it from all sides. In addition, Bangladesh’s geo-political importance to China and the USA has grown due to many factors in that part of the world. Only time will tell how the new leadership and a handful of idealistic youth will succeed in balancing the strategic hegemony of international powerbrokers with the democratic aspirations of its people. Recent history of how the uprising in Sri Lanka or the Arab Spring ended will undoubtedly be in the minds of all those who care.

How it ends for Bangladesh will likely have a ripple effect on the subcontinent, including Pakistan. Let us pray it ends well for the Bangladeshis, which will auger well for all in South Asia.

A Glimpse of Bangladesh Uprising

Patriotic Bengalis have finally demolished the statue of Pakistani General A.A.K. Niazi, surrendering East Pakistan to India in Bangladesh. The monument, which symbolized the country’s painful history, was seen as a reminder of the Indian military intervention in 1971. Many Bangladeshis viewed it as a humiliating representation of their nation’s defeat and resented its presence. The destruction of the statue is seen as an act of defiance and a rejection of the perceived Indian influence in their country’s affairs. The demolishers, driven by nationalist sentiment, aimed to erase a painful reminder of their country’s past and assert their sovereignty. What is unfolding in Bangladesh in recent days is indeed momentous!