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TAugust 6 marked a new beginning for more than 170 million people Bangladeshafter the authoritarian government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was finally overthrown weeks of bloody protests in which hundreds were killed.
The protests began as a student movement against plans to reform employment for public sector jobs, but quickly turned into a popular revolution against the Awami League government. Hasina fled to India by helicopter as angry mobs marched on the presidential palace.
Her ouster created a power vacuum in Bangladesh that was quickly filled by a new interim government, as Hasina critic and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus returned to the country to be named interim leader. The 84-year-old microfinance pioneer faced an almighty task – restoring democracy to a nation wracked by violence and whose economy was in shambles.
Almost five months later, the streets of Dhaka have come alive, schools and colleges have reopened, the police who refused to work in the days immediately following Hasina’s ouster have returned, and remittances from abroad – worth about 5 percent of GDP – have returned. stabilized.
But Bangladesh remains on edge, with growing discontent over the Yunus government’s failure to address the economic crisis and international concern over attacks on religious minority groups. The The UK government revised its travel guidance this month,warning that “terrorists are likely to try to carry out attacks” in Bangladesh, as he advised citizens not to travel “anything but essential.”
For better or worse, Hasina’s ouster was necessary, says Rafiqul Islam, a 19-year-old student at the University of Dhaka who was one of the thousands who took part in the demonstrations that led to her downfall. He and others bravely confronted the police, who were ordered to fire on protesters to quell the unrest.
The increasing number of deaths among the students and the eventual refusal of the security forces to carry out those orders made it clear that Hasina could not continue. The Yunus administration revealed in November that around 1,500 people had died in protests and that as many as 3,500 may have been forcibly abducted during Hasa’s rule.
Islam says he has more faith in the interim government to turn the country’s fortunes around than in Hasina’s 15-year regime capable of such brutality, but admits he is disappointed by the Yunus administration’s handling of the economy and rising tensions with neighboring India, a powerful ally that has played a key role role in the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be a miracle change in the situation in Bangladesh, but it’s not getting better,” he says The Independent. “We need an elected government.”
Islam points to the fact that the Yunus administration has no legal basis for its existence – Hasina amended the constitution in 2011 to remove the provision for interim governments. It’s an irregularity supported by the military and popular faith, Islam says, and when that initial optimism fades, the country could plunge back into chaos.
Sehnaz Khan, a resident of Chittagong City, which witnessed a series of conflicts between religious groups in recent weeks, he hopes that the sacrifice of hundreds of protesters will not be in vain. She is excited about the future, but says rising food prices and massive power outages have added another worry for her family of four, who survive on her income.
“If [we don’t get] a better life, we want our old lives back,” says the primary school teacher. “I used to be able to feed my whole family three meals a day. Considering the price of rice and other necessities, we barely get by for two meals.”
Bangladesh’s foreign exchange reserves fell by $1.23 billion to $18.61 billion by the end of November this year, according to data from the central bank. The country recorded the highest inflation in four months at 11.38 percent in November, mainly due to higher food prices, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics found.
Hailed as the fastest-growing economy in South Asia in recent years, Bangladesh’s development story has been called into question after a white paper concluded that the Hasina administration had massaged GDP numbers. Researchers estimate GDP growth at around 3 percent from 2018 to 2019, compared to 7 percent as claimed by official statistics.
Apart from economic problems, critics say Yunus has not set a timeline for holding new elections and has not done enough to protect either religious minorities in the Muslim-majority nation or members of the Awami League.
The targeted violence has driven hundreds of Bangladeshi minorities and members of the former ruling party out of the country, with many taking refuge in India. Authorities say there have been 88 cases of violence against minorities in the five months since Hasina’s ouster, though they have received wide coverage, particularly in neighboring India.
Yunus described this as “exaggerated propaganda” from a country whose government has closely supported Hasina for many years.
“The transitional government could certainly have done more in the days and weeks after Ms Hasina’s ouster to restore order and provide security to Hindu communities. The violence we saw was hardly a surprise,” says Dr Ian Hall, a professor at Brisbane’s Griffith University. The Independent.
Political parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led by former prime minister Khaled Zia, are pressuring the interim government to come up with a clear plan for holding national elections.
Army chief General Waker-uz-Zaman told Reuters in September that democracy should be restored within a year to a year and a half, but urged patience.
Yunus insisted this month that polls can only be held after electoral reforms are implemented. He suggested that elections could be arranged in the first half of 2026.
“It’s been four months since the prime minister was ousted, but Yunus’s promise to hold polls within six months of taking over has already been exposed as hollow,” said a senior Awami League member holed up in India, who spoke on condition of anonymity. . “It seems that he is in no hurry to give up power. He enjoys it. He always wanted to have a political party, but he didn’t succeed, so now is his moment to shine,” adds the former minister.
Hasina’s son Sajeeb Wazed Joy, who lives in the US, has given interviews to Indian media saying his mother will return to Bangladesh “the moment the caretaker government decides to hold elections”.
Yunus said “the past is gone” but also responded to public anger against Hasina by canceling public holidays honoring her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, one of the nation’s founders. Last month, his portrait was removed from the office of the president of Bangladesh, and new banknotes were issued with his image removed.
Some Bangladeshis say there has been too much focus on correcting past mistakes. “These are misplaced priorities,” says Raju Poddar, a clothing store owner in Dhaka. “No one wants to remember the brutal past, but the government must focus on making the present peaceful. The continuous protests, the attacks must stop.”
The success of the Bangladesh revolution and the Yunus government that followed will be judged primarily by whether the lives of ordinary Bangladeshis have improved – but there are still calls to account for a regime that has systematically suppressed dissenting voices for 15 years.
Another point of contention with India is the Yunus government’s formal calls for Hasina to be extradited back to Bangladesh to face trial for alleged crimes against humanity committed during the protests. India confirmed receipt of the request but declined to comment further.
“Yunus is quite measured towards New Delhi,” says Dr. Hall. “It is time for New Delhi to reconsider its tendency to take sides in the domestic politics of its neighbours.”