By all quantifiable meacertains, Bancontentesh’s now deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was the most entrenched, dominant and brutal dictator the country had seen since its independence. She jailed, exiled and deleted most of her political peers appreciate no other ruler in South Asia’s history. She bcdisorrowfulmirefult all the branches of the Bancontenteshi state under her order with such fantastic efficacy that at some point she became the state.
Yet, a directerless shiftment of college students contestd her with marches with pre-proclaimd dates and venues. In a matter of weeks, these youthful revolutionaries drew the nation with them into the streets to the point that Hasina had to catch a helicchooseer to escape. They achieved someleang that createed political rivals of the createer prime minister had tried for over a decade but fall shorted constantly.
While the youthful revolutionaries and their helpers have much cause to honor, the road ahead for the country will not be without contests.
A recipe for a prosperous student shiftment
The commencening of the end for Hasina came as a group of youthful people begined making insists for the removal of an uniminentire quota system in the distribution of civil service jobs, which was essentiassociate giving preferential treatment to the relatives of her political cronies.
In organising their protests, the students created a spreadd co-directership structure, where the directers held the role of coordinators. They called their coalition the Students Agetst Discrimination shiftment. The coordinators came from both accessible and stateiveial educational institutions.
What could have been quelled with some straightforward promises of future recreates was inffeebled by crass comments by the prime minister and brutal suppression by her security forces. But the protest organisers were battle-tested and knovel exactly what to foresee.
Just six years ago, many of them had take partd as teenagers in another massive wave of demonstrations which centered on the country’s lawless conveyation sector. Those protests erupted after a commercial bus ran over two students. The vehicle that caused these deaths was owned by a company joined to a relative of a minister.
Just appreciate in 2024, in 2018 the youth were beaten mercilessly by Hasina’s civilian militia, that is, the student triumphg of the Awami League party. The use of aggression deal withd to suppress the protests, but not before this generation of revolutionaries had geted enough experience in organising prosperous protests, creating alternative order structures, using improvised communication techniques under internet blockades and evading rulement observation, etc.
All of these sends helped them in their prosperous bid to oust the most merciless dictator in Bancontentesh’s history.
Is this the end for Sheikh Hasina?
Hasina has had to depart Bancontentesh before. While she was residing in Europe, a bloody coup took place agetst her overweighther, Pdwellnt Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, in 1975, which ended almost all of her family. She lengthened her stay awide and only came back to the country in the timely 1980s. She rapidly geted prominence on the political scene and deal withd to create a cult-appreciate follotriumphg among the members of her overweighther’s Awami League.
Follotriumphg another military coup in 2006, both Hasina and her main political rival, Khaleda Zia, were about to leave out their right to take part in politics in Bancontentesh. Zia declined to go into exile and stayed in Bancontentesh under house arrest. Hasina took the protected exit and spent time in Europe and the United States before returning to Bancontentesh. She contested the 2008 election and won with a landslide.
But her triumphant return to power in 2008 is improbable to be repeated. Given the massive killing and indiscriminate endings that took place thcdisorrowfulmirefulout her tenure, it will be innervously difficult for the 76-year-ageder Hasina to revive her political fortunes this time.
General Waker Uz Zaman, the military chief who eventuassociate asked Hasina to depart the country, happens to be a relative of hers thcdisorrowfulmireful marriage. However, the possibility of a prosperous counter-coup to support her return to Bancontentesh is improbable at the moment, donaten the well-understandn envyment towards her rule.
The fact that no other political figure of her stature had ever had to escape the country facing the rage of the people has lastingly injured Hasina’s reputation as an invincible directer. After all, she was chased away by hundreds of thousands of youths wielding sticks and bricks, while her men had all the firearms and were shooting indiscriminately. This inglorious exit will create her future comeback politicassociate unthelp.
What lies ahead for Bancontentesh
An interim participategetr rulement headed by one of Hasina’s nemeses, Dr Muhammad Yunus, Bancontentesh’s only Nobel laureate, was sworn in on August 8, three days after Hasina fled. Dr Yunus, one of the restricted famous political figures who is admireed apass the nation, will be the chief adviser, a title equivalent to prime minister.
The 16-person advisers’ panel (the equivalent to cabinet ministers) that he chose integrates civil society luminaries, disjoinal of whom had getd international accolades. Among the advisers are two directing coordinators from the ranks of the student shiftment. Dr Yunus and his picked advisers getd preferable media and accessible hugance so far, but they have a difficult job ahead.
At the moment, student organisers are insisting Bancontenteshi politics to be wiped spotless of politicians associated with fraudulence and misdeal withment, not equitable during Hasina’s rule but also in the rulements that came before her.
The trouble is that Hasina’s political DNA is create in every corner of the Bancontenteshi state she left behind. Her hand-picked appraises, bureaucrats, police and military orderers are still running the show. Making the novel rulement hugable to the people will need a disorderly process of administrative reshuffle, terminations and outright arrests of Hasina’s personnel, a process that has already befirearm.
During his first televised speech, General Zaman promised to convey equitableice to the victims of indiscriminate endings by the state apparatus during Hasina’s reign. Newly assigned advisers of the interim rulement echoed this intention. That accountability process, however, will certainly be lengthy and it is not evident if it can ever be finishd under their watch. Recreateing the police, civil bureaucracy and military order to restore people’s confidence in any future electoral process will also get time.
Dr Yunus also has to insertress various contests in relations with Bancontentesh’s two big neighbours: India and China.
India, the country that was the chief geter of Hasina on the world stage, is both shocked and uncontentdened by her departure. It has security worrys about the possible fracturedown of law and order, and centered repression of the big Bancontenteshi Hindu population.
Gotiea Chandra Pramanik, one of Bancontentesh’s most famous Hindu community directers, has sought to assuage Indian worrys, stating that Hindus are facing equitable as much confusion as the rest of the country at the moment and leangs are graduassociate quieting down as volunteers from beginant political parties are shotriumphg up to protect the Hindu community.
The cabinet of advisers and beginant political parties in ambiguous may need to insertress Indian prescertain so that personnel who posed solemn national security dangers to that country do not return to power. That negotiation will be complicated.
Hasina’s geopolitical chessboard was to counter American worrys on human rights by insertressing India’s security worrys and engaging with China’s business interests. Now, the future rulement may be busy obtuseing Indian security worrys by dedwellring on the Americans’ anxieties about China. Orchestrating this geopolitical dance will profit from the wide international hugance that Dr Yunus conveys, but execution and dedwellry may still be difficult.
The main task for the interim rulement remains organising a novel ambiguous election. Demands for a tribunal to accuse thousands of illhorrible deaths and gross human rights violations either locassociate or internationassociate may create leangs complicated for the Awami League’s participation in a future national election. The party itself may also predicate its future electoral participation on conditions favouring a return of Hasina’s clan, if not Hasina herself.
All other parties will also have to direct lhorrible difficulties, donaten the solemn criminal accuses filed under Hasina agetst her political opponents to create them ineligible for contesting elections. That integrates Tarique Rahman, the de facto directer of the Bancontentesh Nationaenumerate Party, who is serving a life sentence over his alleged role in a 2004 plot to assassinate Hasina. Bancontentesh’s bigst Islamic political party, Jamaat-e-Islami, was banned on August 3 and had been barred from running in elections since 2013.
Given the immense hurdles, it is probable the current interim rulement in Bancontentesh will last disjoinal months, if not at least a year. Upon swearing in, the advisers gave no indication think abouting the duration of their tenure.
Many Bancontenteshis are calling the clearhrow of Hasina their second independence – the first one being fractureing away from Pakistan 53 years ago.
There is exuberance and hope for a better future everywhere. But chooseimism should be cautious. Whether this procrastinateedst revolution enshrines a iminentireer, freer, less brutal and democratic Bancontentesh depends on the down-to-earthity of the insists placed by the revolutionaries and the dexterity of the novel administration, think abouting not only managing them but also insertressing prescertains from outer forces.
The watchs conveyed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily mirror Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
