The making of the Bangladesh revolt

As dawn broke on Saturday morning, July 20, 2024, a disturbing scene unfolded at the Monsoor Nagar Housing Estate in Savar Upazila on the outskirts of Dhaka. Eight to 10 men in plainclothes claiming to be from the Detective Branch (DB) of Bangladesh Police surrounded the home of 70-year-old Abul Khair, who fought in the 1971 War of Independence. The armed and aggressive officers began shouting and demanding Khair to open the gate, saying they would break it down if he did not. Soon, they forced their way in, confiscated the family’s phones and detained Khair’s two sons, Arif Sohel, 27, and Mohammad Ali Jovel.

While Jovel was released, Sohel went missing for the next 36 hours. None of the police stations the family approached denied his detention; neither did they show his arrest, the family said. He was reportedly beaten and denied food. The family says that for this brief period Sohel was another victim of ‘enforced disappearances’, which Bangladeshis say is a common tactic used by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government to suppress dissent. Then, he was officially shown as arrested and put on a seven-day remand in a case that his family says was fabricated. “The behaviour of the law enforcement agencies was similar to that of the Pakistani army during the Liberation War,” says Sohel’s father.

Sohail is a student and the convener of the Jahangirnagar University Students’ Anti-Discrimination Movement that has swept the nation since July 1. Students were protesting against the decision of Dhaka Supreme Court on 5 June To restore the 30% government job quota for descendants of veterans of the 1971 independence war (this quota was withdrawn in 2018).

Student unrest

Like many other movements around the world, including the Mandala movement in India Thousands of Bangladeshi students took to the streets in protest of the commission and at Tiananmen Square in China. They demanded the abolition of the quota and the establishment of a merit-based system instead. However, the anti-quota protests were fueled by fears that members of the Awami League, the political party that led Bangladesh’s independence movement against Pakistan, would benefit from it.

The student protests were met with a brutal response from the government. Civilian raids were carried out, in which thousands of students, opposition leaders and others were arrested for allegedly being involved in the anti-student movement and discrimination against them. A curfew was imposed at midnight on 19 JulyPictures of army and police firing on students emerged from across the country. India said it was an “internal matter” of BangladeshThe Just as Hasina’s government described it of India Citizenship Amendment Act In 2022. In fact, Hasina was the first state guest to visit India This year the Bharatiya Janata Party government has come to power for the third time.

When the violence broke out, about 300 Indian students pursuing MBBS degrees returned home. The internet was shut down and it became difficult to contact friends and relatives. So far 439 people have died in the violence. Prothom Alo‘The Times of India’, a leading Bangladesh newspaper, said.

Under pressure from students, the Supreme Court on July 21 reduced the quota to 5%, which included an additional 2% reservation for ethnic minorities. “We fought against discrimination and students won the battle even at the cost of their lives,” says Sifat Hasan Sakib, one of the organisers from Dhaka’s state-run Jagannath University. “We want a peaceful atmosphere on university campuses, which has been missing for a long time because of the Bangladesh Chhatra League, the student wing of the Awami League. Regular student union elections can play an important role in protecting students’ rights.”

Students say the Bangladesh Chhatra League dominates student life on campus, grants privileges only to its members, and occupies positions that no other student organisation is allowed to occupy. Abdullah Al Mamun, a recent graduate from the English department of Dhaka College, expressed his disappointment, “There was no option but to take to the streets in protest… Sheikh Hasina often boasted about economic development, but at the same time she allowed the Chhatra League to destroy the education system in Bangladesh,” he said.

He says the integrity of job exams was compromised. “Leaking of exam papers was common. Also, the viva boards were biased, often favouring candidates affiliated with the Student League. This left ordinary students with little hope of getting a job. The system was rigged against us.”

Bangladesh’s turning point

Just as the 1857 revolt was inspired by a long history of disillusionment with British oppression, the student movement emerged from a deep political and social resentment against authoritarianism and human rights violations. Thousands of people from across the country joined it and it was so strong that it was widely appreciated. Hasina was forced to resign There has been a threat to flee the country in the presence of the three army chiefs on 5 August 2024. The former Prime Minister, elected for the fifth time in January 2024, arrived in India and there still existsHis future plans are uncertain.

When she stepped out of her official residence, Ganabhaban, people stormed her palatial premises. The world saw people steal suitcases and deep freezers, but also goats, fish and a baby German Shepherd. Statues of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Hasina’s father, who is considered the founding father of Bangladesh, were vandalised, the video of which went viral.

Army chief General Waqar-uz-Zaman called for calm and on 6 August 2024 it was announced that Muhammad Yunus, the 84-year-old pioneer of microfinance won the Nobel Prize in 2006would like to lead the interim governmentWhich includes 16 advisors including two student representatives. The Hasina government had filed more than 200 cases of corruption against the founder of Grameen Bank.

It wasn’t just student politics that brought down the Hasina government. According to Bangladeshi human rights organisations, security forces have committed over 600 killings. enforced disappearance Although some were later released, appeared in court, or were said to have died during armed confrontations with security forces, about 100 people were still missing, he said.

These actions have angered the people. For example, Brigadier General (suspended) Abdullahil Aman Azmi was released from a detention center called Ainaghar (mirror house) on the morning of 6 August after eight years of imprisonment. Azmi is the son of the late Ghulam Azam, the former Ainaghar … a title of muslim kings (Head) of Jamaat-e-Islami, a religion-based political party founded in 1941 and with roots in present-day Pakistan. He was reportedly forcibly picked up from his residence on August 23, 2016, and has been missing since then. The Hasina government had repeatedly denied the existence of Aynagar and 23 other detention camps where political opponents were allegedly held.

Hasina government on August 1, 2024… Jamaat-e-Islami bannedSaying it was a threat to public safety. Jamaat is a key ally of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which was jailed on corruption charges at the time but has now been released. “They (Jamaat and BNP) used students as their shield,” Hasina said when Italian ambassador Antonio Alessandro met her, reports news agency PTI.

Matiur Rahman Akanda, a member of the Jamaat’s central executive committee and the party’s media and publicity secretary, called the 2024 polls a “dummy election”.

After the fall of the Hasina regime, families of political prisoners held in secret prisons under her regime have gathered in front of the Director General of Police Intelligence (DGFI) headquarters. “We have come to know from Brigadier General Abdullahil Aman Azmi, a former army officer who was released recently, that there are many more people in that Aynagor. We went to the DGFI office to find out who all are lodged there and to talk about the issue,” said Sanjida Islam Tuli, co-founder of Mayar Dak, an organisation of families of victims of enforced disappearances. Their demand is that the prisoners be released together and not separately.

Stifling the media

Bangladeshi media has often accused the government of stifling freedom of expression and assembly. According to a research paper by the Centre for Governance Studies (CGS), at least 451 journalists have been prosecuted since the Digital Security Act (DSA) came into force and 255 of them were prosecuted for their journalistic reports. Of the accused, 209 journalists are associated with national-level Bangladeshi media and 197 are associated with regional media outlets. At least 4,520 people have been charged in 1,436 cases filed between October 2018 and September 2023, the CGS found.

Raihan Hossain, a journalist with Bangladeshi online news outlet Jago News, says journalists in Bangladesh face huge challenges, especially when reporting on sensitive issues such as extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and corruption.

“Journalists who dared to investigate and report on these issues often faced severe threats,” he says. “Those in power did everything they could to silence us, using intimidation and fear to prevent any negative coverage. It was a constant battle, and many of us were put in positions where our safety was at risk simply for trying to do our jobs.”

He said the government’s apparent “favouritism” towards certain media outlets further complicated the situation. “Newspapers aligned with the government’s agenda were given numerous perks and privileges, while those that attempted to maintain journalistic integrity were often denied the necessary resources. This made it difficult for independent journalism to thrive, as the government’s influence on the media landscape created an environment where only voices supporting the official narrative could flourish.”

Rise in minority violence

Violence against Hindu minorities has also increased since Hasina was ousted from power. According to the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC), 200-300 Hindu homes and business establishments were vandalised and 15-20 temples were damaged. Several people have been injured.

“Some of those whose homes have been attacked may be directly involved in Awami League politics, but 98% are Hindus who are not involved in political activities,” says Rana Dasgupta, general secretary of the BHBCUC Oikya Parishad. He hopes the interim government will restore stability and protect minorities. Student and Jamaat leaders have issued statements urging supporters to protect temples and churches, while diplomats and rights groups have expressed concern over reports of attacks on minority groups.

Monzurul Islam, president of the Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, says they do not consider any group in the country to be a minority or a majority: “Everyone is equal,” he says, while the group believes India is responsible for Hasina’s political dominance in the country. The 8% Hindus in the 170 million-plus population have traditionally been Awami League supporters.

“India is actually Bangladesh’s only neighbour. It is also a major trading partner. It makes no sense for Bangladesh not to have cordial relations with India,” says Shahidul Alam, a photographer and human rights activist. However, he hopes that the future relationship will be based on equality rather than ‘big brother’.