[🇧🇩] Bangladeshi PM Hasina Flees country amid deadly riots

[Saif]

Students vow to resist attempts of counter-revolution

They urged all to remain on the streets until their victory, what he described as an initial achievement for now, is solidified.

en.prothomalo.com

Students vow to resist attempts of counter-revolution
CorrespondentDhaka University
Published: 14 Aug 2024, 23: 19

Ashraful Alam

There have been reports that the Awami League and its allies may attempt a ‘counter-revolution' on 15 August. If anyone makes such an attempt, they will be crushed under the wave of masses.

Coordinators of the Students Against Discrimination (SAD), which led the recent mass-uprising and toppled the Sheikh Hasina government, conveyed the warnings from a harmony rally at Shahbagh intersection in Dhaka on Wednesday.

Apart from them, leaders and activists of different student organisations, including Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal and Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir, attended the rally, under the banner, ‘Unity for Bangladesh’.

Sarjis Alam, a key coordinator of SAD, told the rally, “The fascists are trying to stage a counter-coup in Bangladesh. What can be more ridiculous than this! If there are any such attempts, you will not find anyone to attend your absentee funeral prayer (Gayebana Janaza). If you dare to stare at the uprising of students and masses, a crowd of millions will crush you.”

He said Bangladesh achieved independence after 16 years. If anyone stares at this, they will not be allowed in this country.

Sarjis also urged all to remain standby, to take to the streets until the power is handed over to an elected government.

Another SAD coordinator, Hasnat Abdullah, said all should be cautious so that those who have carried out assaults throughout the last 16 years cannot succeed in any conspiracies. There are reports that the fascists and their allies will attempt to take to the streets to stage a coup. If they try to do so, the students will respond forcefully.

He urged all to remain on the streets until their victory, what he described as an initial achievement for now, is solidified.

Addressing the rally, Abu Baker Majumder, another key coordinator, said, “Sheikh Hasina was forced to leave power due to the movement of students and people, but her allies continue to conspire. Following the successful revolution, allies of Awami League carried out assaults on our brothers from minority groups. We will not let them succeed.”

All left-leaning student organisations, including Chhatra Union and Samajtantrik Chhatra Front, actively participated in the previous programmes of the anti-discrimination student movement. They, however, were conspicuously absent in the rally on Wednesday.

Leaders from Chhatra Dal and Chhatra Shibir spoke on the occasion.

Ganesh Chandra Roy, president of Chhatra Dal’s Dhaka University unit, vowed to resist any conspiracies collectively. He accused Sheikh Hasina and her supporters of trying to instigate communal unrest. "We are all Bangladeshis, and we will stand together to prevent any conspiracy.”

Sibgatullah, central literature secretary of Chhatra Shibir, called for unity among all religious communities in Bangladesh and expressed a firm stance to combat any attempts to destablise the situation.

Akhtar Hossain, central convener of the Ganatantrik Chhatra Shakti, said those defeated by the uprising are now conspiring to destabilise the country. "We will resist all conspiracies and remain committed to our goal of a harmonious Bangladesh."​

 

[Saif]

Column by Mahfuz Anam: Mindless killing changed everything

Blinded by unquestioned power, the government is refusing to accept the new reality.

www.thedailystar.net

Column by Mahfuz Anam: Mindless killing changed everything
Blinded by unquestioned power, the government is refusing to accept the new reality

It must be investigated as to what led to such a large-scale killing in the hands of law enforcers. PHOTO: PALASH KHAN

The prime minister and several ministers keep on asking: since the quota reform has already been implemented, why are the students still demonstrating? The repetition of this question only proves how blind to facts and disconnected with the people the government and Awami League leaders are. They are denying or seem to be oblivious to the fact that over 200 killed—the government itself admits to 150—and thousands injured by the indiscriminate firing by the police and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) has totally changed the situation. In one eye hospital in Dhaka, during the violence, nearly 400 people who sustained eye injuries were treated, 300 of whom had to be admitted, and 250 had to undergo eye surgery. The majority of them had pellet (a particular type of ammunition used by police during the recent violence) wounds in one or both eyes. Imagine what the total figure could be like. We have no count yet of how many will have to amputate one or both arms or legs due to gunshots, and how many more will have to be operated upon. How many will really return to normal life? Everything points to mindless violence that cannot be termed as police action to quell unrest that emanates from usual demonstrations in our part of the world. The evidence is of a mindset of "shoot at sight," as announced by an AL leader.

Today's issue is seeking justice. Justice for the massacre of students and other citizens, the unleashing of a killing machine that the police and BGB turned out to be, the large-scale arrests, the "block raids," the house-to-house search, the false cases, and the insults of terming the demonstrators in general to be agents of destruction and anti-Bangladesh forces.

The all-encompassing issue that has alienated the students and enraged the people is the atmosphere of fear under which all students, youth, politically involved citizens, and people in general are having to live. (A father called this author and said, "I have a school-going son. I become tense with every sound of a car stopping near my house at night".)

The killings definitely stand as the most brutal retaliation by a government on any civic movement in the post-liberation Bangladesh history—and may be that of the subcontinent. We shudder at the thought of how a civilian government could allow its law enforcers to attack its own people with such brutality. The killing was not just an event, but one that took place over several days. Wasn't there any reflection, any afterthought and reassessment at the end of the first, second or third day that such heartless and continuous killing of one's own people must stop?

What brought the party that led us during the Liberation War to this? Over 15 years of unaccountable power, greed, cronyism, wealth accumulation, abuse of authority, and the attitude that they are above the law.

Of all the deaths, the most heart-rending is perhaps the story of Riya Gope, a six-year-old in Nayamati, Narayanganj, who was playing on the rooftop of their four-storey building. On July 19 afternoon, when police started firing on the demonstrators on the street near her house, her father Dipak Kumar Gope rushed to the roof to get her; he was carrying his daughter back to their flat when a bullet struck the child's head. She died at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) on July 25. How could a bullet hit someone on the roof of a four-storey building unless the police took an aim to do so? Was Riya a threat? The explanation will most likely be that it was an accident. But can that be acceptable when she was in her father's arms on the roof of a four-storey building?

Use of helicopters to fire sound grenades and tear gas shells is a new element we saw in crowd-handling by the law enforcers this time around. However, there are disturbing accounts from the public, reporters and especially photographers that rifle shots were fired from these helicopters upon demonstrating crowds. On July 18 and 19, around mid-morning, helicopters hovered over Mayor Hanif Flyover, Shanir Akhra, Kajla and Signboard areas, sometimes sweeping down as they flew and fired on the crowd gathered below. These helicopters were clearly marked with the insignia of our law enforcers.

The case of Sumaiya Akter in Narayanganj adds credibility to this claim. She was 20 years old and the mother of a healthy two-month-old daughter. Hearing the sound of the helicopter and that of the clashes going on outside, following her mother, Sumaiya ventured out to the veranda of her sixth floor apartment to see what was going on. She got hit by a live bullet and died soon after. Where could the bullet come from? Given the height and the location of the apartment, the most likely possibility is that the shot came from a helicopter, as claimed by her family. This gives substance to claims by many others that they saw gunshots coming from helicopters.

How can a protesting crowd be fired upon from the air by their own government? Firing from helicopters is known to occur only when operating in an "enemy" territory or a location captured by armed terrorists. How can our own BGB or Rab or police fire upon our own people in such a manner?

We demand a credible and thorough investigation on the use of helicopters and their firing on demonstrators. While the judicial investigation to probe all deaths should continue, a separate and fast-track probe must be conducted to reveal the truth on this specific matter.

It must also be investigated as to what led to such a large-scale killing in the hands of law enforcers. Who made the threat assessment, and how? At what stage were they allowed to open fire on demonstrators, and who gave the orders to shoot? The rifles used were all modern and sophisticated. BGB used weapons meant to protect our borders. How could they be allowed to tackle student demonstrators with the same weapons? The investigation should also consider whether or not excessive force and disproportionate firepower were used against the demonstrators, none of whom have so far been seen to carry firearms. They were all carrying sticks and iron rods.

It is our considered view that the government and the ruling party continue to live in their own bubble and underestimate the depth of the people's grievances that has resulted from the killings of students and the public. We also feel that peace will not return to the campuses and the streets until justice is done and convincingly seen to be done. Force can be used to "calm" the situation, but it will be temporary. The lengthier the period of uncertainty, the more grievous will be its impact on our economy and the country's international acceptability.

Those who are used to using power to get their way are usually not aware of its limits. We have used Ansar, police, Rab, BGB and even the army, and an extreme measure like curfew. What has been the result? Yes, brutality, death, arrests and harassment can be further ratcheted up. But all that will generate more resentment, deeper hatred, and critical desperation. Such use of force may, at best, show a superficial show of calm, but will never solve our real problem of "power corrupting and absolute power corrupting absolutely" (adopting Lord Acton's time-honoured observation).

We urge the government to no longer hide behind convenient narratives that stand totally contradicted by facts. We further urge them to examine the brutality with which the demonstrators have been treated and the death and injuries that ordinary students and the people have had to suffer, and respond to the call for justice. We also urge them to stop befooling themselves as facts are in people's hands due to modern technology. Yes, there could be a lot of false news and videos in the digital sphere. But there are many credible ones too. Wisdom should compel the government not to brush them aside, which it will do only at its own peril.

Mahfuz Anam is the editor and publisher of The Daily Star.​

 

[Saif]

Bangladesh’s iron lady Sheikh Hasina falls after 15yrs in power, flees to India

Bangladesh’s iron lady Sheikh Hasina falls after 15yrs in power, flees to India

www.newagebd.net

Bangladesh’s iron lady Sheikh Hasina falls after 15yrs in power, flees to India
Ahammad Foyez 05 August, 2024, 17:56

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina resigned on Monday and fled the country, ending her 15-year rule amid an unprecedented student-led mass uprising against her authoritarian regime.

She left her Ganabhaban official residence by a military helicopter with her sister Sheikh Rehana before the army chief, General Waker-Uz-Zaman, confirmed her resignation at a press conference in front of his Dhaka cantonment office.

Thousands of people stormed to the prime minister’s Ganabhaban residence in jubilation soon after she left and some climbed atop a statue of the country’s founding president, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

She reached India, where Hasina and her family were sheltered, Indian daily The Hindu reported hours after the ousted Bangladesh ruler fled the country.

Before confirming Hasina’s resignation, Waker-Uz-Zaman said that he had invited representatives of different political parties and discussed with them the formation of an interim government.

‘We had a nice discussion. I think this discussion would be fruitful. And we will run the country through forming an interim government,’ said Waker-Uz-Zaman, adding that they would go to president Md Shahabuddin Chuppu to discuss the formation of the new government.

Waker-Uz-Zaman confirmed that representatives of all major parties, except the Awami League, were present at the meeting.

He assured all of arranging trials for all killings and injustices and said that he would take responsibility for saving people’s lives and properties.

‘Do not lose your hope. The many demands that you have we will fulfil that and will restore peace and discipline in the country,’ he said, urging all to refrain from vandalism, killing, and clashes.

At noon, Inter-Services Public Relations announced that the army chief would address the nation, asking protesters to keep their patience until then.

As street barriers were removed in Dhaka, thousands of protesters rushed to Shahbagh Square in anticipation of Hasnina’s fall.

Waker was supposed to address the nation at 2:00pm but later it was deferred to 3:00pm.

He finally skipped the address and instead held a press conference, which triggered wild jubilation among the protesters and opposition supporters.

Following the resignation of Hasina, who was labelled as a fascist and dictator by protestors, hundreds of thousands of people also entered the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban.

The mob set fire to different entities, including AL offices, police stations, and media houses, following Hasina’s fall.

After forming a government in January 2009, Hasina, until Monday, ignored all local and international criticisms against her misrules, including serious violations of human rights, snatching of freedom of expression, enacting various draconian laws, massive corruption, destroying of all democratic institutions, and ruination of the electoral system.

She ignored all political demands for fair elections and was elected in the 2014 general election, with 153 lawmakers winning unopposed amid a boycott of all opposition parties.

Ballot boxes were filled up well before voting in the 2014 general election, and her latest parliament was formed in 2024 in a one-sided general election that was levelled as a dummy election.

At the latest, her government carried out a massive crackdown on students and other protestors when the Student Movement Against Discrimination, a platform of anti-quota protestors, demanded reform of the quota system in public service.

Around 350 people were killed in the July massacre against protesting students and ordinary people that started with the Bangladesh Chhatra League, the student wing of the then-ruling Awami League of Sheikh Hasina, carrying out an attack on agitators on July 15.

The attack added fuel to the student protests, which turned into civil unrest due to the mass killings and mass arrests of agitators.

Students presented nine-point demands, including an unconditional public apology from Sheikh Hasina by accepting responsibility for the killing of more than 200 people in violent clashes between July 16 and July 21 and their aftermath.

Students also sought the removal of her home minister, law minister, road transport and bridges minister, and education minister, assurance of justice for the killing of students; freeing all arrested students; and withdrawal of false cases against them.

Without addressing the demands, the authority picked up and detained six key coordinators of the student movement unlawfully between four and six days at the detective branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police.

The six coordinators—Nahid Islam, Sarjis Alam, Hasnat Abdullah, Asif Mahmud, Nusrat Tabassum, and Abu Baker Mojumder—observed a 32-hour hunger strike at the DB office before they were freed amid growing local and international criticism.

Later, at a mass rally at the Central Shaheed Minar on Friday, they announced a one-point demand for Sheikh Haisna’s resignation, as their nine-point demands were not addressed.

People flood the Shahbagh crossing in the capital on Monday to celebrate the resignation of Sheikh Hasina as prime minister and her fleeing from the country. — Sony Ramany​

 

[Vikings]

@Bilal9 , bhai , I'm wondering where some of my recent posts gone? Is that same for you and others? As far I can remember I replied to your post about the interim government. But it's absent from my latest activities.

Also it looks the forum was down. Are those posts lost?

 

[Bilal9]

@Bilal9 , bhai , I'm wondering where some of my recent posts gone? Is that same for you and others? As far I can remember I replied to your post about the interim government. But it's absent from my latest activities.

Also it looks the forum was down. Are those posts lost?

Not sure bhai - I will ask @TheNewb77 bhai. I was not involved in the forum re-start.

 

[Saif]

Hasina fled to save herself, leaving her father destroyed

The simple term to describe political changes that have taken place around the world is "revolution." There was a time when the communists would use the term "revolution" very frequently, whether relevant or not. Now they don't even utter the word. The political change of power that occurs from...

en.prothomalo.com

Hasina fled to save herself, leaving her father destroyed
Mohiuddin Ahmad
Updated: 20 Aug 2024, 19: 12

Vandalised mural of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at the ground floor of demolished Bangabandhu Museum at Dhanmondi 32 Zahidul Salim

The simple term to describe political changes that have taken place around the world is "revolution." There was a time when the communists would use the term "revolution" very frequently, whether relevant or not. Now they don't even utter the word. The political change of power that occurs from time to time is often violent. Change of power comprises two sides, the victors and the defeated. The victors call it revolution, the defeated call it conspiracy.

A one-party rule (BKSAL) descended upon the country in 1975. There was no provision kept in the constitution for change of government. The constitution stated that if there was to be any change, that would be in accordance to the wishes of the president. On 15 August power changed hands through a massacre. President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was killed along with his family.

The 1975 uprising was transpired by an angered and provoked section of the ruling party. A section of the army joined hands with them

Sheikh Mujibur's government was toppled at a time when its popularity was in the dregs. There was a time when Sheikh Mujib was at the pinnacle of popularity. He had attained that position even before he went to power. There are few such instances in history, but the changes that took place in just a couple of years were unimaginable to many. And five decade on, the events were repeated on 5 August 2024. Surrounded by sycophants and opportunists, Sheikh Hasina thought things would continue this way forever. Even 24 hours before her downfall she perhaps could not perceive what public anger accumulated over the years could do.

The military coup of 1975 was unprecedented in our history. The military coups that took place before during the Pakistan rule had been bloodless. In 1975 it was a bloody military coup. Those who carried it out referred to it as a revolution. Later Awami League referred to it was a national and international conspiracy. My simple analysis is that the 1975 uprising was transpired by an angered and provoked section of the ruling party. A section of the army joined hands with them.

In 1971 Sheikh Mujib was the people's leader. In 1975 he was the ruler. In 1971 the Pakistan army wanted to suppress the people's movement and aspirations by whisking away Sheikh Mujib. That did not work. The 1975 move was an uprising against Sheikh Mujib's rule. While the people were not directly involved in the uprising, it had their support. Other than the ruling party, almost all other political parties supported the 1975 coup.

In 1990 we saw power changing hands again. A wave of enthusiasm and euphoria swept over the people -- we had overcome the state of military rule, in uniform or out, and had entered the realm of democracy. But it didn't take long for that bubble to burst. We have seen a continuity of autocratic rule in the garb of democratic government.

The one-party rule which we had seen from the seventies did not change even after the so-called switch over to democracy. We saw the rule of an individual. It was Khaleda, then Hasina, then Khaleda and their families that held the country hostage. Then 1/11 came along and shook things up a bit. But the politicians learnt nothing from 1/11.

Post 1/11, it was the Sheikh Hasina government that ruled the country at a stretch from 2009 to 2024. Three farcical or one-sided elections were held in this span of time. Sheikh Hasina would decide how many seats her party would get and how many the opposition would be given. We haven't seen or heard of such a situation anywhere. The government was run by one person, her family, her kith and kin, sycophants and goons. The people were simmering in anger, but found no way to give voice to their ire.

The political parties of the conventional ilk in country could hardly do anything. They held rallies and processions, they were attacked and injured, then beat a retreat. When the student movement took off in the name of quota reforms, it was not perceived that this movement would take on such massive proportions. The strategy adopted by the government to suppress this movement was the strategy of absolutely irrational rulers. Sheikh Hasina's stay in power, to a great extent, depended on the police force. But that protection broke down. The students simply marched on, ready to take bullets in their chests. Sheikh Hasina then called in the army. The army decided not to stand against the people. And Hasina's house of cards came tumbling down.

The question may also arise as to how justified it is to express any mourning for Sheikh Hasina's autocrat father killed five decades ago, while the blood of those who were killed to fulfill her lust for power still remains fresh. This is a new discourse.
The anger of the people, the manner in which this ire was manifest, went even beyond Sheikh Hasina, Awami League and her sycophants, and fell upon Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Sheikh Mujib had gradually prepared the people of this country for independence. His house on Dhanmondi Road 32, which had been made into a museum, was vandalised.

For 15 years we had seen that every year on the morning of 15 August, Dhanmondi Road 32 was blocked on either side because the prime minister would be coming to lay wreaths at Bangabandhu's mural. Once she finished paying her respects, the road would be opened. All government officials were obliged to go there with banners. The party leaders and activists would hire people from all over to come there in exchange of money. The people were not participants in this display of mourning. On 15 August this year we saw similar people with sticks, bamboos and poles, taking over the road and beating up people.

The deceased Sheikh Mujib has had to pay the price of the anger, the ire and the frustration against Sheikh Hasina and her various strategies to cling on to power. Hasina has fled and saved herself, destroying her father Sheikh Mujib.

The language of protest in this country is manifest in damaging vehicles, setting fire to the homes of the opponents, beating up the opponents. But the question will arise today or tomorrow whether the burning of the house on Road 32 can be categorised as the same.

In 1971 people thronged the house on Road 32, arriving there in streams. In 1975 the bloody coup took place there, and later the house was set on fire. Many might gain a sort of sadist pleasure in siding with the attack, with slogans against fascism. They are unwilling to risk mob popularity by stating that this event may cast a slur, however minor, on the recent mass uprising.

Then again, the question may also arise as to how justified it is to express any mourning for Sheikh Hasina's autocrat father killed five decades ago, while the blood of those who were killed to fulfill her lust for power still remains fresh. This is a new discourse. Sheikh Hasina's rule was riddled with flaws. Innumerable people were victim of her arrogance and her vengeance. There is need for such evil politics to come to an end.
In recent years Awami League spread hatred about their political opponent Ziaur Rahman, the founder of BNP. They denied that Ziaur Rahman has been a freedom fighter. This hurt many people and so naturally there will be counter reaction to that. That befell the house on Road 32. Nothing healthy emanates from the politics of hate.

* Mohiuddin Ahmad is a writer and researcher​

 

[Bilal9]

Hasina fled to save herself, leaving her father destroyed

The simple term to describe political changes that have taken place around the world is "revolution." There was a time when the communists would use the term "revolution" very frequently, whether relevant or not. Now they don't even utter the word. The political change of power that occurs from...

en.prothomalo.com

Hasina fled to save herself, leaving her father destroyed
Mohiuddin Ahmad
Updated: 20 Aug 2024, 19: 12

View attachment 7694

Vandalised mural of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at the ground floor of demolished Bangabandhu Museum at Dhanmondi 32 Zahidul Salim

The simple term to describe political changes that have taken place around the world is "revolution." There was a time when the communists would use the term "revolution" very frequently, whether relevant or not. Now they don't even utter the word. The political change of power that occurs from time to time is often violent. Change of power comprises two sides, the victors and the defeated. The victors call it revolution, the defeated call it conspiracy.

A one-party rule (BKSAL) descended upon the country in 1975. There was no provision kept in the constitution for change of government. The constitution stated that if there was to be any change, that would be in accordance to the wishes of the president. On 15 August power changed hands through a massacre. President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was killed along with his family.

The 1975 uprising was transpired by an angered and provoked section of the ruling party. A section of the army joined hands with them

Sheikh Mujibur's government was toppled at a time when its popularity was in the dregs. There was a time when Sheikh Mujib was at the pinnacle of popularity. He had attained that position even before he went to power. There are few such instances in history, but the changes that took place in just a couple of years were unimaginable to many. And five decade on, the events were repeated on 5 August 2024. Surrounded by sycophants and opportunists, Sheikh Hasina thought things would continue this way forever. Even 24 hours before her downfall she perhaps could not perceive what public anger accumulated over the years could do.

The military coup of 1975 was unprecedented in our history. The military coups that took place before during the Pakistan rule had been bloodless. In 1975 it was a bloody military coup. Those who carried it out referred to it as a revolution. Later Awami League referred to it was a national and international conspiracy. My simple analysis is that the 1975 uprising was transpired by an angered and provoked section of the ruling party. A section of the army joined hands with them.

In 1971 Sheikh Mujib was the people's leader. In 1975 he was the ruler. In 1971 the Pakistan army wanted to suppress the people's movement and aspirations by whisking away Sheikh Mujib. That did not work. The 1975 move was an uprising against Sheikh Mujib's rule. While the people were not directly involved in the uprising, it had their support. Other than the ruling party, almost all other political parties supported the 1975 coup.

In 1990 we saw power changing hands again. A wave of enthusiasm and euphoria swept over the people -- we had overcome the state of military rule, in uniform or out, and had entered the realm of democracy. But it didn't take long for that bubble to burst. We have seen a continuity of autocratic rule in the garb of democratic government.

The one-party rule which we had seen from the seventies did not change even after the so-called switch over to democracy. We saw the rule of an individual. It was Khaleda, then Hasina, then Khaleda and their families that held the country hostage. Then 1/11 came along and shook things up a bit. But the politicians learnt nothing from 1/11.

Post 1/11, it was the Sheikh Hasina government that ruled the country at a stretch from 2009 to 2024. Three farcical or one-sided elections were held in this span of time. Sheikh Hasina would decide how many seats her party would get and how many the opposition would be given. We haven't seen or heard of such a situation anywhere. The government was run by one person, her family, her kith and kin, sycophants and goons. The people were simmering in anger, but found no way to give voice to their ire.

The political parties of the conventional ilk in country could hardly do anything. They held rallies and processions, they were attacked and injured, then beat a retreat. When the student movement took off in the name of quota reforms, it was not perceived that this movement would take on such massive proportions. The strategy adopted by the government to suppress this movement was the strategy of absolutely irrational rulers. Sheikh Hasina's stay in power, to a great extent, depended on the police force. But that protection broke down. The students simply marched on, ready to take bullets in their chests. Sheikh Hasina then called in the army. The army decided not to stand against the people. And Hasina's house of cards came tumbling down.

The question may also arise as to how justified it is to express any mourning for Sheikh Hasina's autocrat father killed five decades ago, while the blood of those who were killed to fulfill her lust for power still remains fresh. This is a new discourse.
The anger of the people, the manner in which this ire was manifest, went even beyond Sheikh Hasina, Awami League and her sycophants, and fell upon Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Sheikh Mujib had gradually prepared the people of this country for independence. His house on Dhanmondi Road 32, which had been made into a museum, was vandalised.

For 15 years we had seen that every year on the morning of 15 August, Dhanmondi Road 32 was blocked on either side because the prime minister would be coming to lay wreaths at Bangabandhu's mural. Once she finished paying her respects, the road would be opened. All government officials were obliged to go there with banners. The party leaders and activists would hire people from all over to come there in exchange of money. The people were not participants in this display of mourning. On 15 August this year we saw similar people with sticks, bamboos and poles, taking over the road and beating up people.

The deceased Sheikh Mujib has had to pay the price of the anger, the ire and the frustration against Sheikh Hasina and her various strategies to cling on to power. Hasina has fled and saved herself, destroying her father Sheikh Mujib.

The language of protest in this country is manifest in damaging vehicles, setting fire to the homes of the opponents, beating up the opponents. But the question will arise today or tomorrow whether the burning of the house on Road 32 can be categorised as the same.

In 1971 people thronged the house on Road 32, arriving there in streams. In 1975 the bloody coup took place there, and later the house was set on fire. Many might gain a sort of sadist pleasure in siding with the attack, with slogans against fascism. They are unwilling to risk mob popularity by stating that this event may cast a slur, however minor, on the recent mass uprising.

Then again, the question may also arise as to how justified it is to express any mourning for Sheikh Hasina's autocrat father killed five decades ago, while the blood of those who were killed to fulfill her lust for power still remains fresh. This is a new discourse. Sheikh Hasina's rule was riddled with flaws. Innumerable people were victim of her arrogance and her vengeance. There is need for such evil politics to come to an end.
In recent years Awami League spread hatred about their political opponent Ziaur Rahman, the founder of BNP. They denied that Ziaur Rahman has been a freedom fighter. This hurt many people and so naturally there will be counter reaction to that. That befell the house on Road 32. Nothing healthy emanates from the politics of hate.

* Mohiuddin Ahmad is a writer and researcher​

The lesson received from the 1975 Sheikh Mujib family assassination and also what happened after the ouster of the Sheikh's daughter is that the people in Bangladesh will sometimes suffer the effects of tyrants silently for a few years, but once their patience wears out - then watch out!

The difference in 2024 is (hopefully) that the student movement will put into effect organizational processes (by changing out the constitution if need be) to halt any repeat of the crony capitalism, corruption and kleptocracy. The people in Bangladesh in 2024 are not the same like their grandparents in 1975. In the last twenty years, the new generation "Z" have become far more politically aware and far more educated due to social media and the Internet. They will not stand for or exchange one kleptocrat for another - any longer. Sheikh Hasina escaped the wrath of the people this time - the next kleptocrat should take a lesson and not try their luck next time - because there may be no escape then.

I was personally astonished how courageous even ten year olds have become, kids who lost their limbs -sitting and smiling in hospital beds, yet so resolved that they would not fear dying again to establish their rights. I have never seen such resolve anywhere else globally. When someone is not afraid of death, no tyrant can hold them back.

 

[Saif]

‘Gang of 4 behind Hasina’s fall’

Her inner circle cut her off from ground reality, an AL leader tells an Indian newspaper

www.thedailystar.net

‘Gang of 4 behind Hasina’s fall’
Her inner circle cut her off from ground reality, an AL leader tells an Indian newspaper

FILE PHOTO

An Awami League leader has blamed Sheikh Hasina's inner circle, who he described as the "Gang of Four that cut her off from the ground reality", for her fall and departure, reports The Indian Express.

The Indian Express spoke to several leaders of the party who feel Hasina has abandoned them in such a situation that put their lives in danger with angry mobs targetting their homes and businesses.

"We were able to get out of our homes just in time, when the Army chief was addressing the nation around 3pm and people were glued to TV screens," one of the Awami League leaders told the Indian newspaper. "My family and I would have been lynched and burnt alive had we been caught," another leader, who was a minister, said.

The Indian Express said some of the Awami League leaders regretted the turn of events, especially the firing at the students and protesters in July, and then on August 3-4 when people came out on the streets.

One of the leaders alleged that Hasina stopped listening to them, as he blamed her inner circle "the Gang of Four".

He named Hasina's son and ICT adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy, private industry and investment adviser Salman F Rahman, Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader and the then home minister Asaduzzaman Khan.

"This Gang of Four led to her downfall. She had blind faith in these people, and lost the political instinct that she had in the past," The Indian Express quoted him as saying.

The Awami League leaders also described not bringing the BNP on board for the elections in January as Hasina's "major mistake".

Citing sources, the newspaper said some AL leaders were put in touch with Tarique Rahman, the BNP acting chairman in exile in London, through intermediaries.

But Hasina did not greenlight the proposal to establish a backchannel with Tarique in January 2023, a year before the elections. Tarique was convicted of plotting the grenade attack that targeted Hasina at an Awami League rally in 2004.

"We could sense the anger among the people due to corruption, chandabaaji (extortion), police atrocities… and getting BNP on board for the elections would have taken that steam off. We could have still won and kept the party in power," the AL leader told The Indian Express.

Even during the protests in early July, the AL leaders' bid to make Hasina meet the student movement leaders had failed, it said, citing sources.

"The last nail in the coffin was when the Detective Branch picked up the student leaders in July and released them after intimidating them and extracting a commitment to withdraw the agitation," the newspaper wrote. "The tactic backfired, and the students made it public how they had been forcibly asked to withdraw the agitation. This triggered a chain of events, leading to her flight from the country."

The Bangladesh Army in a statement said it had provided shelter to 626 people from different walks of life, including 24 political leaders, five judges, 19 civil administration officials and 28 police officers, after the downfall of Hasina. Several top AL leaders, including members of her cabinet, have been arrested in cases over killings during the protests.

Those who spoke to The India Express also feel the party, which spearheaded Bangladesh's struggle for independence after its formation 75 years ago, still has the ability to turn around despite the existential crisis.

Fir this to happen, they told the Indian newspaper, Hasina should nominate people on the ground who have a connection with the people. "This is going to be a long haul," one of the leaders said, talking about the future first steps …. People are still angry… We have to give them time."​

 

[Saif]

আন্দোলনে ছাত্রদের ওপর গুলি চালানো তিন হেলমেটধারী আটক

কোটা সংস্কার আন্দোলনে গত ১৫ জুলাই ছাত্র জনতার ওপর নির্বিচারে গুলি চালানো ৩ জনকে নিউ মার্কেট এলাকা থেকে আটক করেছেন বৈষম্যবিরোধী শিক্ষার্থীরা। তারা হলেন আসিকুল ইসলাম (৩৭), আমিনুল ইসলাম সুমন (৩৭) ও মো. সোহেল (৩২)। জানা গেছে, ওই ৩ জনকে আটক করে ঢাকা কলেজের ভেতরে নিয়ে গণধোলাই দেওয়া হয়। এ সংবাদ পে

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

আন্দোলনে ছাত্রদের ওপর গুলি চালানো তিন হেলমেটধারী আটক
এফই অনলাইন ডেস্ক
Published :
Aug 22, 2024 22:10
Updated :
Aug 22, 2024 22:10

কোটা সংস্কার আন্দোলনে গত ১৫ জুলাই ছাত্র জনতার ওপর নির্বিচারে গুলি চালানো ৩ জনকে নিউ মার্কেট এলাকা থেকে আটক করেছেন বৈষম্যবিরোধী শিক্ষার্থীরা। তারা হলেন আসিকুল ইসলাম (৩৭), আমিনুল ইসলাম সুমন (৩৭) ও মো. সোহেল (৩২)।

জানা গেছে, ওই ৩ জনকে আটক করে ঢাকা কলেজের ভেতরে নিয়ে গণধোলাই দেওয়া হয়।

এ সংবাদ পেয়ে নিউমার্কেট থানার পুলিশ সেনাবাহিনীর সহযোগিতায় তাদের উদ্ধার করে চিকিৎসার জন্য ঢাকা মেডিক্যাল কলেজ (ঢামেক) হাসপাতালে নিয়ে আসে। ঘটনার সত্যতা নিশ্চিত করেছেন নিউমার্কেট থানার এসআই মো. কামাল উদ্দিন।

এদিকে আহতদের প্রাথমিক চিকিৎসা দিয়ে নিয়ে যাওয়ার সময় শিক্ষার্থীরা বেশকিছু সময় তাদের গাড়ি আটকে বিক্ষোভ করেন। পরে এক পর্যায়ে শিক্ষার্থীদের বুঝিয়ে তাদেরকে থানায় নিয়ে যাওয়া হয়।

শিক্ষার্থীরা জানান, ছাত্রলীগ-যুবলীগ ও তাদের অঙ্গ সংগঠনের হেলমেট পরা পিস্তল হাতে নিয়ে বৈষম্য বিরোধী আন্দোলনে শিক্ষার্থীদের গুলি করে হত্যা করেছে। তাদের পিস্তল হাতে নিয়ে গুলি করার ফুটেজ ও ছবি আমাদের মোবাইলে আছে।​

 

[Saif]

August 5 in retrospect: A narrow escape from total surrender to autocracy

I HAVE lived outside Bangladesh for roughly two decades. Over the years, I have met people from many parts of the world with different backgrounds. For more than a decade I have been teaching at International Islamic University Malaysia that has academics and students from about one hundred...

www.newagebd.net

August 5 in retrospect: A narrow escape from total surrender to autocracy
Md Mahmudul Hasan 27 August, 2024, 00:00

Jubilant crowd in the streets of Dhaka after the fall of Sheikh Hasina on August 5. | New Age/Md Saurav

I HAVE lived outside Bangladesh for roughly two decades. Over the years, I have met people from many parts of the world with different backgrounds. For more than a decade I have been teaching at International Islamic University Malaysia that has academics and students from about one hundred countries. When meeting people from countries under autocratic rule, I have seen terrified and trembling faces and heard stories of deceit, cruelty, violence and bondage.

One day, one of my international students came to my office for consultation. After giving them advice on matters relating to their education, I asked them about human rights situations in their country. I anticipated hearing a verbal reply, but I was struck by their silence. Although the student didn’t utter a single word, I got my answer. Holding back their tears, they then managed to explain in brief how life was in their country.

The student told me that their fathers, brothers and other male relatives had been drifting in and out of prison for no crime. The stressful existence of those men outside jail is no less horrifying than their life behind bars. Often, they have to remain in hiding — away from home — for days, weeks and months, leaving vulnerable women and children alone. They are not perceived as supporters of the autocratic government of their country, and that was enough for the police or ruling party thugs to hound them.

On another occasion, I was talking with another international student from a different country which is also under tyrannical rule. They had graduated from International Islamic University Malaysia a long time ago and came back to Malaysia for further education. Their decision to return to Malaysia seemed to be for both education and security reasons. They found life back home intolerable.

I had some idea about their country, as it was often in the news. But I wanted to hear from the horse’s mouth. So, in my characteristic style, I asked them how life was in their country. A deep sigh of anguish and sadness followed. A great burden of anxiety and disappointment rippled through their expression, as they tried hard to remain composed. They stared straight, as their eyes were filled with gloom. After collecting themselves, they said that peace remained elusive in their country, as persecution was rampant.

‘Why,’ I asked.

There must have been a long list of reasons why they experienced economic and political difficulties back home, but they chose to share an innocuous one.

They replied, ‘Living costs have gone through the roof and competition in the job market has been increasingly fierce.’ The conversation became delicate and difficult to navigate. It had an abrupt end.

Their country is resourceful and hence there was no reason for prices of basic commodities to shoot up. Citizens knew well how their country was being robbed by inept and corrupt rulers but were unable to raise their voices in protest. Public protests were banned in their country, and even a hint of dissent was met with imprisonment or execution.

What I learnt from my exchanges with people from various countries is that citizens under repressive regimes live in slavery-like conditions.

In the past when I heard stories of sufferings under autocratic rule, I had a sense of complacency as I thought that I understood them. But I was wrong.

The myriad dimensions of victimhood under totalitarianism became clearer to me when electoral democracy in Bangladesh was sent into exile and Hasina’s autocracy finally held absolute sway over its 170 million people.

We came to understand the full extent of the wretchedness that citizens endure under a despotic system. We saw how people belonging to opposition parties were tortured and killed by security forces or by rampaging thugs of Hasina’s ruling party.

But how about the rest of us who are not involved in party politics? Were we spared the wrath of Hasina’s totalitarianism? Weren’t we shocked by the agony of seeing our country drifting into a horror-filled land? Weren’t we gripped by fear and uncertainty and unable to break free from the juggernaut of a narcissistic regime? Weren’t many Bangladeshis forced to pretend to love the ruling party even though they were full of resentment and bitterness against the regime?

Is it all over? Aren’t we still affected by the economic misfortune caused by massive corruption and capital flight on Hasina’s watch?

In short, we were on the verge of despair when Hasina’s 15-year rule bore all the hallmarks of totalitarianism. Except for a privileged few belonging to the ruling party and the government, most Bangladeshis — including ordinary Awami League affiliates — were forced to surrender to Hasina’s autocracy.

We had no clue how to achieve liberation from the morass of fear until our young people rallied around the anti-discrimination student movement. They took to the streets en masse in countrywide protests. Initially, we in Bangladesh and in its diasporas made different predictions about the outcome of the student movement. Given Hasina’s mounting record of repression against dissent voices, we were very worried about the safety of our young people.

With the connivance of security forces, Hasina had managed to squash the first wave of student-led protests. What we now know is that from 16 July until she resigned and left our country on August 5, 2024, her security forces and party men killed about one thousand young people through shootings in broad daylight. At one point, she emerged as victorious and was under the illusion that everything was under control.

In an apparent move to embolden her, foreign envoys were lining up to meet her. On July 31, 2024 one envoy of a South Asian country and on August 1, 2024 another of a European nation called on Hasina at Gono Bhaban. Both praised her for restoring normalcy and stability in the country.

I don’t think those diplomats were unaware that, translated in real terms, normalcy meant mass slaughter of our young people and the maiming of thousands of them. We saw in utter helplessness teenage students handcuffed and humiliated and girls hounded and crammed into police vans. Students were arrested from campuses, streets and their houses.

Then came the second wave of the revolution on August 5, 2024. The police used force again on that morning, but our brave and valiant youths conquered the fear of death. They refused to surrender to Hasina’s autocracy. She fell and fled early in the afternoon.

Had things turned out differently on that day and Hasina managed to cling to power by spilling more blood on the streets, our fate would have been sealed for a very long time. More foreign envoys would have gone to Gono Bhaban to congratulate her and to take advantage of our country in all possible ways. She would have removed all guardrails, and we would have forgotten our dreams of freedom for a foreseeable future. Hasina’s autocracy would have gained normalcy, and a section of our intellectual elites would have continued to give her epistemic cover-ups.

Freedom is not free. We should never forget that our students and young people have paid for it with pools of blood. Our country occupies a small area in the world map, but has a large population. It was a price worth paying for the freedom of all Bangladeshis.​

 

[Saif]

Hasina falls, lands in India & leaves behind a sputtering economy

I acknowledge that I have borrowed the first half of the title of this article from the Daily Telegraph (online) of India. It is not surprising that that Sheikh Hasina landed in India. During her 15-year rule, India has enjoyed very close ties with her authoritarian regime. In fact, she was greatl

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Hasina falls, lands in India & leaves behind a sputtering economy
Muhammad Mahmood
Published :
Aug 26, 2024 22:25
Updated :
Aug 26, 2024 22:25

I acknowledge that I have borrowed the first half of the title of this article from the Daily Telegraph (online) of India.

It is not surprising that that Sheikh Hasina landed in India. During her 15-year rule, India has enjoyed very close ties with her authoritarian regime. In fact, she was greatly emboldened by India to consolidate her repressive regime to achieve its objectives in Bangladesh.

Former Indian Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor told the Indian TV channel, NDTV, “Hasina ji has had (good) relationships with all Indian leaders. She is a friend of India, and India is a friend of hers”. It now appears that Hasina has no other taker around the world other that the “biggest democracy of the world” because of her repressive authoritarian political past. In fact, it is the people’s uncertain economic future that primarily drove them to push back against state violence unleashed by Hasina.

In fact, India’s unqualified support for Hasina clearly demonstrates complicity. According to the Washington Post, India even pressed the US to go easy on Sheikh Hasina before her ouster. After Indian lobbying, Washington toned down its criticism of Hasina. Yet, with all the Indian machinations to keep her in power, she fled the country much in the same style of other deposed dictators before her.

Bangladesh is entering a period of political uncertainty, with a high risk of both violence and economic instability. Hasina has left behind a terrible economic mess for the interim government to deal with.

Bangladesh has achieved an annual average growth rate of about 6 per cent over last two decades or so. The quality of statistical information provided by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) has always been of questionable quality, especially relating to GDP and human development indices. But the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have given their seal of approval to the growth figures.

According to a World Bank (WB) report (October 4, 2023) “Bangladesh has an inspiring story of growth and development, aspiring to be an upper -middle income country by 2031.” No wonder Hasina even drummed up her aspiration of Bangladesh to become a developed, prosperous and higher-income country by 2041. The IMF assured its continuing support to achieve this aspiration of Hasina.

The positive nod from the two multilateral organisations also largely reflects that the Hasina regime was supposedly adhering to the path outlined in the “Wahington consensus” in pursuing the “trickle down” approach to economic growth. However, such an approach along with mega corruptions (mostly through graft, overblown project costs and other corrupt means) only succeeded in shifting income upward creating a new social class of billionaires where Hasina and her immediate and extended family members also belong. In fact, Hasina’s regime was a pure kleptocracy under the veneer of a neo-liberal economic system.

This relatively high growth was largely achieved through mostly infrastructure investments comprising a very selected set of mega projects. While such investments helped propel economic growth, these mega projects also opened opportunities for mega corruptions benefitting her cronies and family members.

Rising income inequality coupled with stagnant- to- declining household income along with high levels of youth and graduate unemployment and very widespread underemployment clearly point out that economic growth achieved under the Hasina regime cannot be considered as inclusive growth.

During Hasina’s 15 years of repressive and corrupt rule, she over-exercised her power and patronage and saw the flourishing of high levels of white-collar crimes including an unprecedented scale of financial corruption. These financial corruptions resulted in an annual illicit outflow to the tune of US$6 billion, notwithstanding massive siphoning off billions of dollars annually through trade mis-invoicing. Her rule also saw an endemic corruption at all levels of government, particularly in law enforcement agencies.

Hasina’s own immediate family has also been alleged to be deeply involved in financial corruptions, not to mention the extended family. It has been alleged that her niece (a Labour member of the British Parliament) and her sister (a British citizen) were involved in various financial corruptions involving real estates, graft, and influence peddling. Similar allegations have also been levelled against her son in the US.

More recently it has been alleged that Hasina received US$6 billion from the Russian company involved in building the Rooppur nuclear power plant in Bangladesh as a kickback arranged by her same niece who is a junior minister in the current UK government. Hasina’s niece and her mother (Hasina’s sister) received 30 per cent of this Russian bribe money and Hasina pocketed the remaining 70 per cent.

According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), about 67 per cent of Bangladesh’s 170 million people are aged between 15 and 64 and more than a quarter are aged 15-29. The Bangladesh Labour Force (BLF) Survey 2022 finds that close to 60 million people, accounting for 84.9 per cent of the total working population in Bangladesh are employed in the informal sector. It is also noteworthy that the report also points out that out of the total employed women in Bangladesh, 96.6 per cent are in informal employment. According to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) 18.7 per cent of the population lived below the national poverty line in 2022.

Informal sectors in all countries are typically characterised by a high incidence of poverty and severe decent work deficits. It thrives mostly in a context of high unemployment, underemployment, poverty, gender inequality and precarious work. Informal employment arrangements are in practice or by law not subject to national labour legislation or entitlement to social protection or other employment guarantees. Therefore, the informal sector is marked by very lowly paid and precarious jobs.

Not surprisingly during Hasina’s rule poverty and unemployment were rapidly rising. Now 18 million young people, including university graduates, are currently without work. According to the BBS, approximately 40 per cent of youths in Bangladesh do not have jobs and are not receiving education or job training. An estimated 400,000 university graduates are competing for the 3000 civil service jobs that become available each year.

The economy is facing challenges at multiple fronts such as rising inflation, balance of payment deficit along with a budget deficit, declining foreign exchange reserves, contraction in remittances, a depreciating currency, rising income inequality and the demand-supply imbalance in the energy sector.

With inflation hovering around 10 per cent with food price inflation at around 10.5 per cent annually, Bangladesh is now in the grip of a cost-of-living crisis. Official inflation figures published by the BBS show that Bangladesh’s inflation rate was to 11.66 per cent in July compared to 9.72 per cent in June with food price inflation at 14.10 in July.

Now added to these challenges is the banking sector crippled by loan defaults i.e., non-performing loans (NPL). The NPL ratio in Bangladesh was recorded at 8.8 per cent in March 2023, amounting to BDT 14,963.46 billion (USD 136.92 billion), exhibiting an upward trend from the previous quarter’s ratio of 8.2 per cent. In December 2022, the total amount of NPLs stood at around Tk 1.21 trillion, which means total NPLs jumped by 20.7 per cent year-on-year. The accumulation of NPL is heightening the threat to the stability of the financial system

Over the last three years both exports and imports decelerated. Bangladesh’s external debt reached US$ 99.3 billion in March 2024 accounting for 23.6 per cent of the country’s GDP in December 2023. While Bangladesh’s external debt level remains within the IMF’s debt sustainability limit, the burden of debt servicing is on the rise thus creating a financial stress which is further compounded by the country’s low foreign exchange reserves and the continuing negative balance in the financial account in the balance of payments..

A country’s long-term credit rating as assigned by major credit rating agencies offers a comparative insight into the country’s credit worthiness and financial stability over an extended period. Now with the rising interest payment liability, external debt burden is also rising coupled with an inadequate policy response to stem falling exchange reserves resulting in all the three major rating agencies downgrading Bangladesh’s credit rating. This will create further stress on external debt servicing.

The corrupt and crony capitalist system that flourished under the Hasina regime has caused significant structural damage to the economy creating a formidable challenge for the interim government. As the country celebrates the departure of Hasina, the immediate need is to stabilise the political situation in the country as the precondition for stabilising the economy and to contain inflation which is the single most formidable challenge now facing the interim government.

Further ahead, to address the economic mess left behind by the Hasina regime, the interim government will need to concentrate on how to build enhanced state capacity and reorient its economic policy approach by focusing on building a competitive Bangladesh not only based on price competitiveness but also through innovation by harnessing the new technological frontiers using skilled labour with an emphasis on fairer distribution of income. Such a reorientation of economic policy will enable the country to achieve sustainable economic growth and development in the long run.​

 

[Saif]

July 2024 uprising: The lions need their own historians

It is inspiring to see Gen Z carving out its own pathway by taking concrete actions rather than resorting to empty rhetoric

www.thedailystar.net

July 2024 uprising: The lions need their own historians
​

.

​

As if in a “tryst with destiny”, they responded to their calling by taking to the public streets en masse. PHOTO: NAIMUR RAHMAN

"Until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter." — Chinua Achebe

July 2024 will go down in the history of Bangladesh as the beginning of the end of the most ruthless regime ever, marking the "cruellest month(s)" in a political "Wasteland," the country had already morphed into. While the body politic was far from moribund, it was finally "mixing" the people's short- and long-term "memory" of woefully bad governance gone awry—no longer able or willing to choose its enemies wisely (the name of the game in politicking, or the art of priming the politics of crime)—with a resurgence of a collective "desire" to break free from a Gargantuan impasse thrust upon them.

To university and college students across the country, who had been relentlessly sidelined, silenced, and subalternised year after year, "something [was always already] rotten" "in the state of" Dhaka (to alliterate with "Denmark"). Consequently, there was a tipping point, where "To be, or not to be, that was [no longer] the question." In their perception and interpretation, "'twas [no more] nobler in the mind to suffer/the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" than "to take arms against a sea of troubles/And by opposing end them," without worrying about "for whom the bell tolls" next. As if in a "tryst with destiny" (Nehru), they responded to their calling by taking to the public streets en masse.

Unlike Tiananmen Square in China or Tahrir Square in Egypt, this newfound popular uprising in Bangladesh, led by a student collective unaffiliated with corrupt and/or corruptible partisan, vicious, or vindictive politics, turned public streets into battlegrounds, tentacling across urban, peri-urban, and suburban areas nationwide. This was notably achieved by suburbanising the metropolis and metropolitanising the suburban—marginalising the centre and centring the margin—an epiphany held in abeyance for too long.

The student collective radically reimagined how inclusive and participatory governance and leadership could be orchestrated on the march, inspiring a "rhizomatic"—decentralised, dynamic, fluid, interconnected, multiplicitous, and open-ended—cognitive schema, rather than an "arborescent" or hierarchical, rigid, and linear one, to borrow from Deleuze and Guattari. They deserve kudos for reclaiming the historic role of student movements in pre- and post-liberation Bangladesh from the stranglehold of successive military and political governments, which imposed old, weary policies impervious to change. As Tagore's poem "Ore shabuj ore amar kancha, adhmorader gha mere tui bancha" exhorts, they resuscitated and rejuvenated the half-dead by jolting them out of their doldrums.

The disenfranchised people melted into one unstoppable force of fortitude and steadfastness. PHOTO: AMRAN HOSSAIN

Succinctly put, the students not only thought outside the box but also took a quantum leap of imagination. Benedetto Croce's deceptively anti-historical dictum that "all history is contemporary history" played out in the open. The disenfranchised people, driven by the power of resilience and righteousness of cause, and galvanised by the discourse of equity and inclusivity, orchestrated by Gen Z (with even Gen Alpha joining forces), melted into one unstoppable force of fortitude and steadfastness. They took live bullets and endured merciless beatings from law enforcement carrying out orders from a rogue chain of command—not with disdain, but in stride. When the military eventually backed out of the regime's coercive span of control, it turned into a perfect storm, tipping the balance in favour of the people.

The tinderbox had been building up for at least a decade. The state apparatus was defined by "necropolitics" (Achille Mbembe), where draconian power was deployed to violate civic space and human rights, beefing up surveillance and exclusionary practices, underpinned by "biopolitics" (Foucault) to suppress opposition and decide who deserved to live and who needed to die. Violations by the repressive regime included a crackdown on freedom of the press and expression (Digital Security Act, 2018 and Cyber Security Act, 2023), regulatory overreach on the right to hold public meetings by opposition parties, rampant election rigging, extrajudicial killings by crossfire, and enforced disappearances. The regime secretly bought the Pegasus spyware and the SpearHead surveillance system from Israel in 2018, using a Bangkok-based middleman, while Bangladeshi intelligence officers were trained in Hungary by Israeli experts to eavesdrop on ordinary citizens, opposition officials, and protesters. Its preferred exclusionary practice of "biopolitics" was instantiated by the infamous torture chamber Aynaghar (House of Mirrors), which mirrored its song/lyric namesake by the Swedish death metal band Arch Enemy—a haunting labyrinthine house with endless corridors and deceptive mirrors. The notorious Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib prison paled in comparison. The country became a massive "Panopticon," where all dissenting Homo sapiens were reduced to Homo sacer (Giorgio Agamben), or accursed men reduced to bare life, who could be killed with impunity without the right to embrace martyrdom.

The repressive government, led by arguably the country's most primed prime minister, was blinded by delusions of grandeur to be trigger-happy. Systematically dismantling all democratic institutions by pivoting on crony capitalism, demonocracy, disinformation, and kleptocracy, the regime mindlessly masked mounting misappropriations, embezzlements, capital flights, and depleted national exchequer bringing the country to the brink of bankruptcy with the belaboured narratives of mega-development. It widened the gap between the super-rich, who colluded with the corrupt government to accumulate enormous wealth at the expense of the dispossessed majority, with total impunity. The regime's intent to hold on to power indefinitely ignored or underestimated that it was always already embattled, if not beleaguered and besieged beyond belief and presupposition. As Foucault astutely observed, "Where there is power, there is resistance."

As competing narratives vied for control in the run-up to July 2024, the hunters—representing the regime—kept winning the controlling narrative to write the history of the hunt for decades until they could not. The tipping point came out of nowhere, like an iceberg in the ocean before the Titanic, reducing the regime to Neurath's boat, adrift and irrecoverable at sea. In other words, the experience of successfully hunting down all forms of opposition by crafting, manipulating, and weaponising a dualistic Manichean narrative of good (us) versus evil (them) to glorify its history was upended when it picked the wrong enemy: Gen Z, the new breed of lions in the body politic—able, agile, foresightful, and unencumbered, ready to take control of their destiny and history by speaking truth to power (revealing that the empress had no clothes). They learned fast from this Goliath in the road safety movement of 2018. As the deposed ex-prime minister, presided over hundreds of deaths of her own people with appalling abandon, she ran out of strategy unawares. Her abrupt and unforeseen loss of power and consequent exile came as a stark reminder of our inescapable brush with mortality when we least expect it, as captured by Emily Dickinson, "Because I could not stop for death/He kindly stopped for me."

Now that people's power has tipped the balance against the reign of terror, the journey to earn the much-coveted "holy grail" of democracy has transformed into a threshold marking the end of a new beginning. This "window of opportunity" rarely available to most nations must not be tinkered with or squandered. The roads taken by the unbroken stream of people on the long march from every nook and cranny of the periphery to the centre are now going to get longer and more arduous to return from. The watchword for this historic moment may be extracted from Chinua Achebe, "Until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter." The hunting ground remains open and largely unguarded even as the new interim government takes over to embark on the daunting task ahead. The guarded optimism at this transition is that we are off to a good start, and, hopefully again, it is far from an open season for the hunters. However, this well-earned window of opportunity, calling for bold, new, and paradigmatic changes and initiatives, may be ephemeral.

Students took on the roles of traffic wardens and street-cleaning crews. PHOTO: RASHED SUMON

What still haunts us most includes the arson of public and private properties, vandalism, revenge killings, and attempts to destabilise community harmony (the term "minority" needs to be retired as the nation regroups under the rubric of equity and equality). The absence of law enforcement, vilified by the past regime, exemplifies how institution after institution has been systematically rendered extractive and dysfunctional to serve the regime's vested interests, blurring the boundaries between the state and the ruling political party. It is heartening that students nationwide continue to lead by example, pioneering in volunteerism and vanguardism, with full community support, illustrating how to rebuild the dilapidated institutions by the bootstraps. This includes keeping tabs on marketplaces to lower the prices of goods and services, protecting the houses and places of worship of minority communities, preventing break-ins, plundering, pillaging, and vandalism with success (even with the use of drones), and taking on the roles of traffic wardens and street-cleaning crews. These activities are poised to bring the fragmented and fractured community back together.

History is aptly compared to a palimpsest, where layers of the past are rewritten, often at the expense of erasing what came before. This practice, particularly when driven by self-serving motives, can carry a heavy price. The downfall of Sheikh Hasina's repressive regime, culminating in her ignoble ouster from the country, is a stark testament to this disingenuous approach. By attempting to glorify her father through the manipulation of national history and the monopolisation of its nuanced narratives, Hasina overplayed her hand. Surrounded by sycophants who created an echo chamber, she became blind to her moral decline, a descent that ultimately led to her downfall—one she can no longer disown. August 15, the day when Bangladesh's founding father was tragically gunned down along with almost all members of his family, now stands in ironic contrast to the narrative of his once-illustrious daughter. Her transformation into a nemesis of her father's legacy, through crimes against humanity, will be indelibly inscribed in the history of Bangladesh.

Benedetto Croce's remarkable parable, where history is likened to "a silkworm that continues to spin its cocoon patiently by itself," even "when people stop wearing silk," illustrates how history assiduously connects our future with our past, even as we remain fixated on the present. The treacherous roads ahead will require more than mere maintenance, as we must remain committed to the promises we've made, understanding that there are still "miles to go before we sleep." The new lions in the body politic have taken the first steps, but the road to democracy remains long and treacherous, fraught with dangers and snares, requiring the hard work of our united will. The heavy lifting has just begun.

Currently, in the face of a colossal climatic nightmare caused by an unforeseen cloudburst resulting in torrential rainfall, millions of mostly marginalised people in eastern Bangladesh find themselves stranded, marooned, and caught between life and death, submerged under water. In response, the nation has once again united, finding a silver lining in the worst imaginable adversity. With one voice, the rallying cry resounds, "Help is on the way." In this dire situation, it is inspiring to see Gen Z carving out its own pathway by taking concrete actions rather than resorting to empty rhetoric—a habit typical of the previous government's functionaries. Kudos to the members of the armed forces who are leading by example. Even as the beginning of the end and the end of the beginning come to fruition, the beginning never ends, as it remains an endless journey toward new beginnings. The sunrise will keep the lions going, sundown after sundown.

Dr Faridul Alam teaches at the City University of New York.​