Political crisis in Bangladesh & the way forward

Muhammad Mahmood | Published: August 17, 2024 21:54:57

On Monday, August 5, Bangladesh’s long-time Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country amid a popular mass uprising against her increasingly brutal authoritarian rule. She along with her sister Rehana had flown to India landing at Hindon Airforce base, outside Delhi. During her 15-year rule India has enjoyed very close ties with her authoritarian regime. In fact, she was greatly emboldened by India to consolidate her repressive regime.
That close tie is clearly reflected in a statement of Congress leader and former Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor made to NDTV. He said, “If we had not helped her, it would have been a disgrace for India…nobody would have wanted to be our friend, if we had treated our friend badly. Hasina ji has had (good) relationships with all Indian leaders. She is a friend of India, and India is a friend of hers”.
He also said that “When a friend is in trouble, one doesn’t think twice before extending helping hand.” Tharoor’s statement also shows that Hasina not only enjoyed but continues to enjoy unqualified bipartisan support in India despite her murderous rule for a decade and a half. She was responsible for murdering close to 700 demonstrators during the very recent anti-Quota demonstration alone.
In fact, India’s unqualified support for Hasina clearly demonstrates complicity. According to the Washington Post India even pressed the US to go easy on Sheikh Hasina before her ouster. After Indian lobbying, Washington toned down its criticism of Hasina. 
It is very important to note that the support for Hasina in India is coming from a person none other than Tharoor who is regarded around the world as the “liberal face of India” in an India now ruled by Hindu supremacist party BJP led by Narendra Modi.
The Economist described Hasina’s departure as the “iron lady’s” escape from Bangladesh and said, “Bangladesh’s dictator flees – leaving behind a dangerous vacuum.” It also added that, “One of the world’s wiliest autocrats, and its longest-serving female head of government, she had been summarily dispatched by angry citizens.” The hasty departure of Hasina has sealed the collapse of a family that has been linked to power since Bangladesh’s independence in 1971.
Up until August 5, Hasina had pursued a very hard line, unleashing the police and the notorious anti-terrorism Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) along with thugs belonging to the ruling party’s student (Chatra League) and youth (Jubo League) wing members against peaceful protestors. Hasina has headed the party since 1981 and still in exile heads the party. She denounced student protestors as Razakars (traitors) and terrorists and ordered to shoot to kill those defying a government-imposed curfew.
Leaders like Hasina can not afford to lose power. Because out of power leaders like her expect the same kind of repressive retribution that they extended to the opposition. So, losing power is not an option for them. Dictatorship is like sinking sand from which there is no exit strategy.
Even about 45 minutes before her departure she wanted the army to act with force against the gathering crowd. But the army read the situation well and decided that it was time for her to go. Several hours after the Chief of Army Staff announced Hasina’s resignation.
Political violence in Bangladesh is not unusual, having been present since the birth of the nation in1971. The country’s founding President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (Sheikh Hasina’s father) was assassinated in August1975 in a military coup and Ziaur Rahman the sixth president of Bangladesh was assassinated by a faction of officers of Bangladesh Army in May 1981. The country has continued to be rocked by sporadic periods of political violence until a semblance of democracy was restored slowly by 1991.
Since the birth of Bangladesh as a nation, the country also has a problematic relationship with democracy. In fact, Bangladesh’s regression towards authoritarianism has started within a few years after independence. In 1975, the country’s founding President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman put in place the framework for a one-party state. He and his family were brutally murdered in a coup, save his two daughters who were abroad at the time.
His death sparked a series coups and counter coups with the “restoration” of democracy in 1991 leading to Hasina, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s daughter coming to power in 2009 and establishing her repressive authoritarian rule for 15 years and moved closer like her father to turn Bangladesh into a one-party state which ended on August 5.
While Bangladesh has had many coups, this time it is the people’s power taking the country into an uncharted territory creating political uncertainty, with high risks of both violence and economic instability. India is also further adding to create instability and uncertainty in Bangladesh as it finds it difficult to stomach the loss of such a subservient client like Hasina. The turn of events represent a serious setback for India.
Rumours are spreading faster than facts in Bangladesh now. The Indian media have started to foment sectarian violence in Bangladesh to destabilise the post-Hasina political climate in the country. However, owners of vandalised Hindu properties belonged to the Awami League and the same also happened to Muslim Awami League supporters as well.
The targeted attacks on Awami League supporters, especially those who were involved in serious human rights violations and serious corruptions also included Hindu Awami League workers of the similar kind. So, attacks on Hindu households were mostly driven by political identity.
But agent-provocateurs belonging to the Awami League are also at the same time actively contributing to help India in this effort by vandalising Hindu temples and properties to create sectarian tension to destabilise the interim government.
It is to be noted that Indian external Affairs minister S. Jaishankar and the opposition leader Rahul Gandhi also added their voice in expressing their concerns on the plight of Hindus in Bangladesh within a couple of days of the overthrow of Hasina. Also, Indian Hindu supremacist Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Indian Independence Day (August 15) address held out an implicit threat to Bangladesh on the issue of safety of Hindus in Bangladesh. This is a clear expression of the Indian political establishment’s displeasure with the overthrow of the repressive Hasina regime and its attempt to destabilise the current interim government in Bangladesh.
The situation in Bangladesh appears to be settling into a familiar pattern of an “interim government” which will hold new elections. President Mohammad Shahabuddin popularly known as Chuppu, a Hasina appointee and a staunch Hasina loyalist dissolved parliament and appointed an interim government headed by Dr Mohammad Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize winner known for pioneering the concepts of microcredit and microfinance on August 8. He will remain in power till the next steps for the nation become clearer.
Bangladesh faces a profound need for political renewal. It is now time to make a break with an unsavoury past, especially after the brutal and repressive Hasina regime. The current constitution which has undergone 17 amendments including the 15th amendment which enabled Hasina to consolidate her murderous repressive rule over the country. In fact, the current constitution has been used as the vehicle for justifying various degrees of authoritarian rules over the last 53 years.
The constitution has enabled various authoritarian and corrupt regimes to capture the state power including the Hasina regime with devastating consequences, especially in terms of human, democratic and civil rights. In fact, Hasina has destroyed all state institutions as reflected in the collapsing police and other law enforcing forces, judiciary and public administration.
Therefore, there is an urgent need to frame a new constitution. The adoption of a new constitution also means a new republic. That will require the interim government to take sufficient time to organise an election to constitute a constituent assembly to draft the new constitution. The draft constitution should be made open to public debates, consultations and discussions, and finally approved through referendum.
Constitutions are foundations of democracy, the rule of law, human rights and good governance. Therefore, the new constitution must provide for institutions that draw their authority from the people directly and are accountable to the people, not only through elections, but through processes that involve transparency and interaction.
The new constitution will enable the people of Bangladesh to make a fresh start by establishing the Second Republic which will enable all citizens of Bangladesh the right and the responsibility to participate in and to equally access the processes of governance.
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