Several challenges for Prof Yunus’ interim government in Bangladesh

The collapse of the autocratic regime of Sheikh Hasina, amid the student protests which sparked a mass upsurge in the streets of Dhaka and elsewhere was predicted weeks ago.

By Saleem Samad

The student protests all over the country turned into mass uprisings after police and ‘helmet bahini’ (armed vigilantes recruited from Awami League’s youths) swooped upon the student protest on various campuses in the country. The triangular clashes killed 200 students and bystanders in the first few days of the end of July. The blood spilt on the streets hashtag #JulyMassacre was trending for a couple of weeks.

In the development of events, amid curfews, thousands of defiant guardians, relatives and well-wishers of those arrested, wounded and killed joined the upsurge, which boosted the morale of the protesters. A new interim government was sworn in on Thursday under the leadership of charismatic Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus, including two student leaders.

After the autocratic government was overthrown in the student uprising, several challenges came in the front for the days ahead, which may not be an easy road to “restore democracy”, as Yunus described in an interview with an Indian newspaper.

The challenges at the frontiers are (unlucky) seven: law and order; economy; military, elections; justice; religious freedom; and freedom of expression. The Awami League regime ruled the country for 15 years and was adamant about remaining in power by blocking the internet, indefinite curfew and firing on protesters, which backfired. The tens of thousands were agitated and expressed their anger through supporting the student protests.

The enraged students called for a Long March (towards Gono Bhaban, the official residence of Sheikh Hasina), to protest the killing – like shooting birds of their fellows and comrades. The Long March was the final hours of the tyrant regime of Hasina to collapse.

The military in a statement hinted that they would not fire upon the students and would stand with the people for a “peaceful transition” of power. The deaths in the streets climbed to four hundred during the protests from mid-July to the first week of August, the protesters retaliated against the autocratic government of Awami League.

Moments after Hasina fled the country, in the absence of law enforcement agencies (police fled their posts in fear of facing the wraths of the mobs) widespread loot, plundering, arson and vandalism began to pour into the media. Some were settling their scores, others in vengeance and many occurrences were revenge attacks. Thousands of criminals, teenage gangs others joined the protesters to vandalise, loot and plunder.

There were widespread attacks on religious communities, especially the Hindu community and Ahmadiyya Muslims. Both communities were soft targets of the radicalised Sunni Muslims for decades accusing them of receiving blessings from the Awami League.

However, the perpetrators of persecution of Hindus and Ahmadiyya have never faced the music of justice since 1991, despite Hasina being in power for the fifth term. The interim government’s priority would be to provide security and ensure the safety of the religious communities and their properties.

The international media is agog with news and photos of attacks on Hindus and desecration of temples. A score of fake news and cropped videos became viral in Indian media and social media, according to the BBC fact checker team. Unfortunately, there were hardly any posts on social media and formal media on the attacks on Ahmadiyya Muslims that occurred since the fall of Hasina’s regime.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the first country to congratulate the new interim government headed by Dr Yunus. He also hopes for an early return to normalcy in Bangladesh, ensuring the safety and protection of Hindus and all other religious communities.The law enforcement agencies’ cooperation is essential with the interim government. Regrettably, law enforcement officers and personnel have vanished after mobs showed their vengeance against police forces deaths of hundreds of their compatriots and the detention of thousands of people, and the majority did not have any party affiliation.

Three things, the police demonstrated their fury over the students and protesters. They were brutal in suppressing the people’s uprising. Exercised excessive force to stump the protesters and lastly, mass arrests of more than 10,000 people, one-fourth were students and the rest were innocent bystanders, passersby, rickshaw pullers, vendors and small vendors.

Those affected and witnessed the brutalities of the police were obviously enraged and quickly turned into a mob and swooped upon the police forces and also ransacked the police stations. Firearms and bullets were looted from the thanas. Well, it is taking time for the authorities to remobilise and instill confidence among the police personnel to return to work. The military is indeed another challenge to the civilian leadership. It could not be predicted how much control the army would have on the interim government and vice-versa.

As the military establishment is concerned, the institution has decided to act as non-partisan and promised not to interfere in politics and would support facilitating holding the elections in each constituency.

The election of last January, in which Sheikh Hasina became the Prime Minister for the fifth term, was flawed, according to election observers and independent media. The international community came down heavily on holding a farcical election, which was held minus the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) or others.

The autocratic regime detained thousands of senior, mid-level, local leaders and supporters blaming them for terrorism, etc.

The Generation Z (Gen Z) who joined the student protests have witnessed how the elections were held. The security intelligence was engineered to hold carrots in front of several Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) and BNP politicians to defect and join a shadowy political party to participate in the 2024 January elections. Unfortunately, all those who defected from JeI and BNP lost the election.

On the economic front, Bangladesh’s average annual growth has been over 6 percent. Bangladesh surpasses India in per capita income in 2021; But despite this, economic inequality has increased in the country. The rich and poor gap has widened. Not everyone got the benefits of economic growth. The disadvantaged populations in both rural and urban areas were left out of human development.

The export-oriented factories inflicted severe dents during the protest campaign. Bangladesh is the second largest market for top apparel retailers in the world. Garment factories were closed during the violence caused to fail in meeting the export deadline. There are three and a half thousand garment factories in Bangladesh. About 85 per cent of the country’s annual exports of 5.5 trillion dollars are generated from garment exports.

Indefinite curfews, internet shutdowns and street protests have caused unaccounted financial loss to millions of people of different shades in social and commercial life. Justice delayed is justice denied. Justice for the people remains a far cry in the absence of the rule of law. Delivery of justice to the poor remains another challenge. Those arbitrarily detained more than 10,000 suspects need to get justice on priority.

The implementation of the rule of law and independence of the judiciary are on the priority list. Most importantly, the interim government has promised to overhaul the system through reforms which have been moth-eaten into the government.

The new government echoed the military chief announcement that all deaths during violent student protests would be investigated and the perpetrators would be brought to justice. Meanwhile, the government in a major shakeup has either sacked or removed scores of top officers in key positions in the police administration, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and other law enforcement agencies. Removing rogue officers will shake the police administration like an earthquake. Effective police reforms should be in the offing.

Both freedom of expression and freedom of the press were gagged by draconian cybercrime laws, which were twice rechristened but remain a repressive law, according to rights groups.

Amnesty International once again called on the new interim government to repeal all laws that restrict freedom of expression.

The iron lady Hasina, like her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, could not digest critiquing. She slammed independent press, critics, dissidents, and opposition, which were deemed challenging her authority.

Hundreds of journalists and news organisations were attacked by Awami League hooligans. Scores of scribes were arrested under cybercrime laws and several newspapers and television were shut down, without showing any reason. Editors of the independent newspaper The Daily Star and Prothom Alo faced years of legal harassment.

Freedom of religion is another challenge in a majoritarian Sunni Muslim nation. Despite Bangladesh has secular constitution, the religious communities face persecution, discrimination and hatred in society. The Hindus, Ahmadiyya Muslims, Buddhists, Christians and Adivasis intermittently face atrocities of the radicalised Sunni Muslims.

During the 15 years of Hasina, her government never stood up to prosecute the perpetrators responsible for vandalising homes and business establishments, and desecration of temples, (Ahmadiyya) mosques, churches and pagodas. According to the Hindu, Buddhist, and Christian Unity Council and also human rights investigations, the perpetrators were goons of the Awami League. However, the government and political leaders blamed the opposition BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami for all crimes committed against religious communities.

Finally, the celebrated inventor of micro-credit Dr Yunus categorically said he would ensure that vibrant Gen Z should be on the frontline of all helms of affairs of the functionaries in the country.

This is called participation of the youths and capacity building of the future leaders of the country – a bottom-up approach to human resource development.

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