A typical story of how dictators run their country and how their downfall happens.
It may sound familiar, but this is the story of Bangladesh, not Israel-Palestine or Russia-Ukraine either western vs Islamophobia.
In Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina was in power from 1996 to 2000, and again since January 2009 to till the date like any dictator, story of corruption and nepotism are hallmarks of her legacy.
From police to the Court, word councilor to city mayor, janitor to minister each and every desk dances on her tune.
In January 2024, she won a historical victory. But that was not an election. Only the Awami League was walk in the election. All other opposition parties were not allowed to participate in hence.
Transparency International declared those elections as one-sided and raised fear of one-party rule.
According to Transparency International, the Election Commission, sometimes by compulsion in the name of Constitutional and legal compulsion and on occasions by design, played the role of a key catalyst for the realization of the agenda of the one-sided election.
A few months before the elections, through her handpicked judiciary, Sheikh Hasina got more than 1,500 opposition leaders convicted. Using the Cyber Security Act, the government intimidated media outlets & jailed journalists. The government even jailed Mohammad Younas, a Nobel laureate.
Sheikh Hasina accused the opposition of recent student protests. Initially, student protests were de-centralized and without any leadership. And the opposition has no control over it. She tried to lure the students that things were in the court hence stopping the protests. But they did not.
On July 7, students started nationwide protests by blocking the roads and trains across all the main cities of Bangladesh. It was a peaceful protest but on July 14, she declared them anti-state. She called them ‘Razakars’.
Who are Razakars? These are those people who in the 1971 Bangladesh liberation war helped the Pakistani army and are considered traitors.
Indicate students as Razakars was the highest anti-state tag by Sheikh Hasina to the students. That hurt the sentiments of the students and protests got intensified. The student came up with a rebuttal, “tumi ke ami ke, Razakar, Razakar” (who are you nor who I’m; traitor of independency, traitor of independency)
Name-calling is an old tool of dictators to delegitimize which may demotivate them. But that gave the movement a new momentum. Sheikh Hasina party loyalists attacked the protesters and things went out of hand. Attackers used guns which killed many protesters.
On July 18, Bangladesh shut down mobile internet for security reasons, and a curfew was imposed in the cities.
On July 19, army troops were deployed. According to some estimates, More then 800 protesters have died and 25,000 got injured.
What is next?
Sheikh Hasina has backed down from her quota initiatives, but students are not backing off. They want her to resign, and judgment all those responsible for violence.
They vow to continue their movement until democracy is restored in the country like an another victory as 1971 in 2024.
