Sheikh Hasina held power in Bangladesh for more than 15 times. However, as hundreds of thousands of people marched on the capital, Dhaka, and stormed her home on August 5, she was forced to resign and flee the country.
Hasina used brute force to maintain control until the very close. 440 people were killed in a violent assault on protesters during her last weekend of power.
What started as a learner activity without political affiliation to end a program that imposed limits on 56 % of government work eventually turned into a popular revolt that overthrew a tyrant.
The country’s leader, Mohammed Shahabuddin, the military forces and political events are now in the process of establishing a momentary” caretaker” state. Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel laureate, will serve as the head of the new government. Hasina’s state had been the target of a long-running criminal abuse after announcing plans to form a” citizen power” political party in 2007.
Other people include a former chancellor of the Bangladesh Bank, Salehuddin Ahmed, as well as human rights activists, doctors, scientists and representatives from the student movement, the military and minority groups.
Bangladesh’s primary caretaker government was formed in 1991 to handle the transition to democracy after the fall of Hussain Muhammad Ershad’s defense dictatorship. The agreement was commonly regarded as a success and was formalized by a constitutional amendment that established caretaker governments ‘ oversight of votes in 1996, 2001, and 2006.
But in 2011 Hasina’s congress changed the law and abolished the custodian system. The choice led opposition parties to ban following elections, sealing Bangladesh’s transition to a one-party position.
The country is in a truly crucial position right now. On the one hand, there is enthusiasm that the new generation of leaders will put the nation on the verge of diverse political institutions that protect all of its citizens ‘ rights and freedoms.
On the other, there are issues that traditional religious celebrations, including the largest Islamist party in Bangladesh, Jamaat-e-Islami, properly capitalize on the power pump to fuel section. This may set Bangladesh on a direction where the right of religious and ethnic minority, ladies and LGBTQ people may become compromised.
Cause for concern
More than 90 % of Bangladesh’s population is Muslim. They primarily adhered to a reasonable version of Islam that greatly relied on Mystical spiritual practices.
However, Saudi Arabia has supported temples, madrasas, and other Muslim organizations over the years in Bangladesh. Additionally, the government’s community in the UK, who are primarily from the Sylhet region in northeast Bangladesh, have established a worldwide Muslim identity and maintained close ties to the region.
Hasina’s program has also cruelly detained and unlawfully detained hundreds of religious opposition party members. At least 61 people were killed in conflicts with security forces in Dhaka during a Hefazat-e Islam rally calling for stronger Muslim laws in 2013.
Under the Hasina regime, it is possible that spiritual parties ‘ abuse may have unintentionally increased their support among the electorate. Since independence from Pakistan in 1971, the voting reveal of Jamaat-e-Islami had been declining. In 2008, the year the group last contested an election, it won a mere 4.7 % of the ballot and only two out of the 300 elected seats in parliament.
Due to the time difference, it is challenging to assess the current level of support for Bangladesh’s spiritual events. But following Hasina’s exit, there have been widespread reports of stealing and theft, targeting the properties of some ethnic minority people of her Awami League party. Despite common misconceptions, it is reported that some members of the public from spiritual and ethnic minorities have also been attacked.
People from all over the country mobilized to defend minority groups as this media spread. Pictures of students, local mosque imams, members of the public manning churches and minority communities ‘ house were all over social media. On X, the hashtags# HindusAreSafeInBangladesh and# MinoritiesAreSafeInBangladesh were both popular.
Since then, countless volunteers have aided in the restoration of damaged websites. The area around the regional parliament building was cleaned up by students from both mainstream and Muslim schools. Additionally, student leaders managed to locate and return 40 firearms that had been taken from the legislature garrison.
Despite the positive impact of these works, how can the Bangladeshi condition been reinvented to safeguard all of its citizens ‘ rights? The recent events have demonstrated how political Bangladesh’s essential organizations have become.
Initial protests were sparked by the judiciary’s flip-flopping on work quotas at the government’s peril. They were reinstated just and later peeled back after being eliminated in 2018. Additionally, colleges failed to shield student activists from aggressive retaliations from Awami League student organizations.
Law enforcement organizations also used excessive force, kidnapping, and abuse against protesters. Armed protesters were frequently targeted with assault rifles, rocket launchers, and gunfire from officers helicopters.
To safeguard the civil liberties and human rights of all Bangladeshis, including those of its minorities, the interim government will need to carry out a thorough reform of these organisations.
It will need to protect the right to protest and foster a setting where parties are n’t drawn to stoke ethnic and religious divisions. Future governments wo n’t be able to commit the atrocities committed by the Hasina regime until they start these reforms.
Rashaad Shabab is Reader in Economics, University of Sussex
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