© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Paani lagbe, paani (do you need water)?” A Master’s student at a private university in Bangladesh, Mir Mahfuzur Rahman Mugdho was distributing water among student protestors in mid-July, when he was shot dead by the police.
Mugdho was among hundreds of people who were killed in Bangladesh in a span of less than three weeks in July-August. The university student’s paani line became a raging catchphrase in the country’s student-led protests against job quotas that transformed into a popular uprising against Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina, eventually leading to her quitting and fleeing the country on August 5.
The protests — in which students played a pivotal role in bringing down a government that has been in power for more than 16 years — mark a turbulent chapter for a country that has had more than its share of upheavals in its 53 years as an independent country.
Today, wall after wall carries writings, graffiti and art that stand witness to what has been a bloody battle against the authorities — arguably the worst since the 1971 liberation war that led to Bangladesh’s independence from Pakistan.
By all accounts, Hasina’s authoritarian turn came after her win in the 2014 elections, her second term in power since her win in December 2008. In her first term, she had been feted for bringing in political and economic stability as the country grew at the rate of 7 per cent. She had also cracked down on the far-right Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh for their alleged involvement in terrorist activities directed against India.
She soon turned the screws on the BNP, the principal Opposition party that was in alliance with the Jamaat, pursuing corruption cases against BNP chief Khaleda Zia, her bête noire and widow of former army chief Gen Ziaur Rahman who had plotted the assassination of her father and Bangladesh’s founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Over a decade, starting 2014, Hasina tightened her hold over almost all national institutions — including the judiciary, police, election commission, civil administration and the media — filling them with those aligned with her party, the Awami League.
In Dhaka, they say she would do a “DNA test” — metaphorically, a forensic examination of the individual’s past associations. If a dotted line linked someone to any of her rivals, the person would not be considered for posts and positions.
One of Hasina’s top advisors on investments, Salman F Rahman, who is now among those arrested since the fall of the Awami League government, is accused of allegedly using his influence to get bank loans for his business group as well as for others. “His reputation took a severe hit as many familiar with his wrongdoing described him as ‘the father of loan delinquencies’ in Bangladesh,” The Daily Star report said.
The media also came under severe attack — major newspapers, including The Daily Star and Prothom Alo, faced the brunt. Soon, space for dissent shrank, government advertisements were cut off, and access to the Prime Minister’s Office and its events were allegedly blocked.
One of the top editors of a popular daily, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that one fine day, they realised their subscriptions in all government offices, universities and colleges, Army establishments, and government-run hotels were stopped.
Prothom Alo Editor Matiur Rahman said, “After 2009 and especially after the 2014 elections, Hasina’s government slowly and gradually started to curb press freedom. They stopped ads, jailed journalists… they did all this through the intelligence establishment. During this time, 45 cases were filed against me and I was asked to go to different districts for court hearings.”
Daily Star’s Editor Mahfuz Anam wrote in a column on August 16, “The student-led people’s movement toppling an autocratic government reminds me of a song by Sabina Yasmin: ‘Shob kota janala khule dao na, ami gaibo gaibo bijoyeri gaan (Open all windows, I want to sing the song of victory)’. Though it was in praise of our Liberation War, it resonates in my heart today. Suddenly, we are living in a world without barriers of thought. Many of us had forgotten how to speak freely. We would always either switch off or put our mobile phone in the adjoining room, because of the surveillance regime that we lived under. Self-censorship became embedded in our subconscious.”
Her critics say Hasina made the party about herself and her family, projecting themselves as the sole contributor to the liberation of Bangladesh.
Prof Tasneem Siddiqui, professor of political science in Dhaka University, said, “She had this language — my father, my family and I…in every speech of hers…there was no ‘we’ in her language. BNP leader Emran Saleh Prince said, “She portrayed her father as the mahanayak (super hero), and everyone else as maha danab (monster).”
It was in this backdrop that the quota protests — against reservation in jobs and educational institutions for descendants of freedom fighters — took place. By the end of July, at least 150-200 people were killed in clashes between the protesters and the police.
Besides the police, the government unleashed the Chhatra League, the ruling Awami League students’ wing, on the protesters. Given their clout, the Chhatra League was already unpopular among a large section of students. They say that in most universities, students wouldn’t get a bed or a room without being on the right side of the Chhatra members.
Amid reports of indiscriminate firing at protesters and common people, the toll rose. Graffiti on the walls of Dhaka memorialised the new ‘martyrs’ — among them a four-year-old girl and Mahfuzur Rahman Mugdho, the youth who was shot dead while distributing water on the streets.
On August 3, Army chief Wakr-uz-Zaman called a meeting of senior officers — while generals and officers based in Dhaka attended in-person, those who were posted outside Dhaka attended by video conferencing. In the meeting, a woman officer from outside Dhaka raised the issue of children being killed. That day, the message to the Army top brass from their own officers was clear: they cannot fire at their own people.
From there on, events unravelled at a rapid pace: more protests and deaths followed on August 3-4, the protesters thronged the streets of Dhaka on August 5 defying curfew orders and the Army drew the line at firing on the protesters. Eventually, Hasina was left with no choice but to make a hurried exit. Having landed in Delhi and denied refuge in the UK, she plans to stay in India as long as it takes.
“This was the first Gen Z revolution,” Rehana Sultan, a private university student in her 20s, said as she painted graffiti on the walls at Bijoy Soroni, where a golden statue of Sheikh Mujib was brought down.
More mayhem followed. The police — until then the face of the state machinery — faced the brunt as police stations were burnt and personnel beaten up. The mob also attacked houses of Awami League leaders and their offices, pro-Hasina government media houses, and the Indian cultural centre, which was looted and burnt down. Reports of attacks on minorities were also reported.
At the Dhaka airport immigration, this correspondent heard police officers discussing how they have had to come to the airport in plain clothes. The law and order system had completely broken down.
“Since there were no policemen at the police stations, some of these miscreants got a free run. They took advantage and looted the people, especially vulnerable minorities,” said Kishore Kumar Roy, an advocate and a Hindu minority leader.
Revenge became the order of the day. On August 16, a BNP leader announced that if any television channel or newspaper aired or published pictures of Hasina, they would “be set on fire”. His logic was that earlier, during the Hasina regime, photographs of Tarique Rehman (Khaleda Zia’s son) could not be published.
The interim government led by Prof Muhammad Yunus, who took over on August 8, has tried to set the house in order. Yunus urged students to ensure that minorities are not targeted. The Daily Star quoted him as saying, “You have been able to save the country. Can’t you save some families?”
Soon, he got down to business at Jamuna guest house — a white colonial-era building meant for state guests. While the PM’s residence is still being repaired and renovated, with the students working on restoring and recovering the looted items, he formed a new Cabinet of “advisors”.
Parallely, a ‘clean-up’ of the system has begun. Since August 5, many of the officials seen as aligned to Hasina were forced to resign — the chief justice, top officials in the police, army and civil service. Many stepped down on their own. The Awami League leaders, meanwhile, have gone into hiding and a hit list of intellectuals have also been circulated. Many spoke to The Indian Express and said that their lives and that of their families were in danger.
The interim government under Prof Yunus, meanwhile, had started asserting itself. “I am absolutely amazed how Yunus is asserting his independence. He has the confidence, he has the aura to tell the army to back off,” BNP leader Abdul Moyeen Khan said.
Alex Counts, who has worked with Yunus, 84, for decades as co-founder of the Grameen Foundation, said, “Yunus is eager to inspire and empower the next generation of politicians, political parties, and leaders. He believes that the old guard needs to step aside and make way for new ideas and new leaders who will be focused more on the future than on the past.”
Counts calls Yunus “both a big-picture and the details guy”. “I have worked with him for 40 years now, and he is very demanding at times, but he is also forgiving if you make mistakes. He is especially forgiving of emerging young leaders who are committed to learning from their mistakes,” he said.
Despite the formidable reputation he brings to the table, Yunus faces the daunting task of rebuilding the country’s political setup in a short span of time. He has the unenviable job of heading an army-backed government while navigating demands from the student-people alliance, which has, since the protests, emerged as a dominant pressure group.
But Counts seemed confident that Yunus was up for the task, as he called him “an incrementalist by nature”. “He understands that progress most often results from making small steps in the right direction every day. His main question seems to be, are we doing at least a little better than we did yesterday,” he said.
A revitalised Opposition, led by the BNP, has been holding meetings, and is getting on the streets. Although weakened after a decade-and-a-half of being crushed by the Hasina regime, it flexed its muscles on August 15, prevailing upon the interim government to cancel the national mourning day to mark the day Mujib was assassinated.
The Jamaat-e-Islami, which was de-registered in 2013 and was banned on August 1 (at the peak of the protests), is also eyeing a return. Mia Golam Parwar, secretary general of Jamaat-e-Islami, said, “We have asked the interim government to revoke the ban order.”
Then there is another player in the mix: neighbour India, which has been quietly and warily watching the transition of the country.
Hasina’s critics view India as her only ally and benefactor, one which supported her during her 16-year rule and where she has now sought refuge.
BNP leader Abdul Moyeen Khan said, “Rather than insisting and sticking to the notion by a segment of Indians that their policy towards Bangladesh was correct and should be pursued more vigorously even after the pathetic ouster of the despotic Awami League Regime in Bangladesh, it is high time for them to reconcile with the reality on the ground in Bangladesh and reformulate it. Otherwise India will continue to be sidetracked by Bangladeshis like in other countries in the South Asian region.”
A Bangladeshi analyst said that some bit of anger towards Hindus is also because of the anger towards India and Hasina. “…that these Hindus have kept her in power, along with India,” she said. But for now, India has its hands tied. While it is hosting its “preferred partner”, it also has to deal with the new players in the neighbourhood.
In his first meeting with the Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka, the interim government’s foreign affairs advisor Touhid Hossain conveyed that Bangladesh wants to work closely with India to promote bilateral relations but added that deposed premier Sheikh Hasina’s public statements from India are “not conducive” towards that.
Prothom Alo Editor Rahman said, “If Hasina is active politically from Indian soil, there would be an impact on bilateral relations… this has been conveyed (to India) by the Bangladesh government.”
Back in Dhaka, the path ahead appears tricky. As Ashikur Rehman, a political analyst, said, “The role of the interim government is critical. They must focus on comprehensive institutional reforms focusing on strong institutional checks and balances. They must rid institutions of partisan bias, bring in a referendum on a strong accountability-focused constitution and introduce a possible limit of four years and two terms for the prime minister… In short, we must remove the fangs from a draconian state.”
Counts, a long-time associate of Yunus, says, “Yunus believes in the power of creating social fiction — that if you think a social problem can have a solution, even if it sounds highly implausible, maybe by talking or writing about it, you can plant the seed in the mind of a young innovator, or groups of young innovators, who can work for decades to make it a reality.”
