After every earthquake, there are aftershocks. The political earthquake of August 5 in Bangladesh, which led to regime change in Dhaka and the unceremonious exit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from power after weeks of student agitation, is causing back-to-back aftershocks, augmenting a crisis.
Aftershocks of the political earthquake in Bangladesh include a paradigm shift reversing Sheikh Hasina’s hold over power for 15 years. It’s not only anger and antagonism, particularly in the student community, which faced the worst repression by security forces, but general people at large want to erase the symbols of Sheikh Hasina, Awami League, and the father of the nation, Sheikh Mujibur Rehman. When the outrage of the student community and the general public against Sheikh Hasina in Bangladesh reached its peak, the outcome was a popular revolt. The turning point was on August 4 when thousands of students and the general public from Ghazipur, located on the outskirts of Dhaka, reached the capital with their aim to storm the Prime Minister’s House and other residential quarters of top Awami League leaders, including ministers and police held responsible for massacring around 400 students. When, on August 5, the news about the convergence of thousands of agitators near the Prime Minister’s House reached the Chief of Army Staff, he called Sheikh Hasina. He presented two options: facing the agitating mob or resigning, leading to her safe exit.
The die was cast, and Sheikh Hasina was perceived as a popular leader with a two-thirds majority in the Assembly following the dubious January 2024 general elections. Instead of facing the challenge, decided to resign and escape to India. That sealed her political fate, and in the post-August 5 era, reports about extra-judicial killings and massacre of students, along with countless corruption and nepotism, led to the filing of criminal and murder cases against her. The same War Crimes Tribunal, which was established by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina more than a decade ago, will now conduct her trial on charges of assassination and other acts of extra-judicial killings.
The interim government, led by well-respected economist and Nobel Laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus, has given a go-ahead signal to investigate extra-judicial killings and large-scale repression. How far Sheikh Hasina, who is now under the patronage of the Indian President Narendra Modi, can escape from cases being filed against her is yet to be seen. But one thing is clear: from enjoying absolute power and having a mindset of sheer arrogance, Sheikh Hasina is now facing the music reflecting the aftershocks of Bangladesh’s political earthquake.
While criticizing Sheikh Hasina, Dr. Muhammad Yunus lamented that in her 15-year rule, she destroyed state institutions like the judiciary, bureaucracy, and police. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which faced the wrath of political suppression and victimization during Sheikh Hasina’s government, warned the Modi regime to keep its hands off Bangladesh and stop interfering in its internal affairs. It is argued that anti-Indian sentiments, because of the unabated support of the Modi regime to Sheikh Hasina while in power and also in the asylum, are running high. The interim government accuses Hasina of compromising Bangladeshi sovereignty to the extent that New Delhi deepened its influence in the instruments of power. It is alleged that the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) became so influential in Bangladesh that no promotion beyond the rank of colonel in the army and joint secretary in the bureaucracy was possible without its endorsement. The same was the case with the police and judiciary.
Certainly, Bangladesh is at a crossroads following the removal of Sheikh Hasina’s government from power and her escape to India. Students’ revolt against Awami League’s government, which led to regime change, is unprecedented in Bangladesh’s history. Now, those at the helm of affairs in Bangladesh are seriously thinking of calling for the extradition of Sheikh Hasina for trial under charges of corruption, extra-judicial killings, and mass killings during student agitation.
The writer is Meritorious Professor of International Relations and former Dean Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Karachi. He can be reached at moonis.ahmar59@gmail.com
Well written