The network of professors behind Bangladesh's revolution

Bangladesh recently experienced a student-led anti-dictator uprising that resulted in Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fleeing the country on August 5, 2024. The movement was initially sparked by university students demanding reforms to the quota system in civil service.

Despite the government's subsequent reforms, the protest escalated into violence. Hasina's brutal crackdown and the ensuing incidents resulted in nearly 1,000 deaths and 20,000 injuries. Violence, bloodshed, and vandalism continue even after the fall of the dictator. Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus assumed the role of chief adviser to the interim government on August 8.

The July uprising led by Bangladeshi Gen-Z has been closely observed and extensively analysed by the world press, but teachers also played a crucial role. As a founding member of the University Teachers' Network, I will narrate its connection to the movement from a participant-observer perspective.

We formed the University Teachers' Network (UTN) in 2014 at the University of Dhaka (DU) in response to a crackdown on University of Rajshahi students protesting commercially oriented evening courses. Our goal was to resist the commercialization of public universities, critique the existing education system, and propose reforms. Initially a network of public university professors, the UTN later included interested professors from both public and private universities as well as Bangladeshi academics abroad. Digital technology facilitated our unity, with Facebook and WhatsApp groups essential for coordinating and planning activities. Our efforts included sharing reform proposals with university administrators, writing articles, issuing joint statements, and organising public lectures, seminars, street protests, rallies, human chains, and sit-ins. Bangladeshi universities, highly politicised under Hasina's regime, often prioritise political affiliation over academic merit in hiring and promotions. People like us, who criticise administrative anomalies, face discrimination, such as delayed promotions.

For students, campus life was fraught with challenges, especially as public university dorms were tightly controlled by the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), the student wing of Hasina's Awami League (AL). In 2018, Bangladesh saw two significant student movements: the Road Safety Movement by high school students and the Quota Reform Movement by university students. Both faced brutal crackdowns by police and BCL thugs. I was personally assaulted by police and BCL members on two separate occasions while defending students' rights with the UTN and civil society members.

Facing escalating intimidation, I left the country in 2019 and began working in academia in the United States (US). Despite the distance, I remained actively involved with the UTN, participating in Zoom meetings, drafting documents, and continuing my activism through social media and Bangladeshi newspapers.

From 2014 until July 2024, the UTN was a small network of a few professors from public universities, struggling to grow amid a powerful autocracy and authoritarian university administrators. Recently, young professors from private universities joined us, revitalizing the network.

During the second Quota Reform Movement, which evolved into an anti-autocrat uprising in July 2024, the UTN played a significant role. We gained national attention and became a key stakeholder in the revolution, marking a major shift in our impact and visibility.

The movement gained momentum on July 14, 2024, following Hasina's derogatory comments about the protestors in a press conference. The next day, BCL goons and police brutally attacked protesters, resulting in the deaths of six students across the country. In response, students expelled BCL members from dorms, leading the government to shut down universities. By the night of July 16, dorms were forcibly evacuated.

On July 17, the UTN organised a protest meeting at DU under the banner of "Anti-Repression Teachers." Hundreds of professors joined, condemning the killings and the university closures. This protest invigorated the movement and helped to counteract the oppressive conditions. Following the meeting, UTN professors rescued detained students from a local police station and visited the Detective Branch (DB) Office on July 27 to meet with DB officials after top student leaders were detained for the second time while receiving medical treatment. The UTN's activities were extensively covered by mainstream media and praised on social media.

On July 31, at the University of Rajshahi, UTN members thwarted an attempt by plainclothes police to arrest students at a rally, leading to a tense confrontation.

The UTN also participated in the Drohojatra (The Parade of Rebellion) on August 2, where senior member Anu Muhammad led the parade and called for Hasina to step down. This was the first major ground-level call for Hasina's resignation, apart from the social media campaign #StepDownHasina. The following day, student leaders consolidated their demands to a single point: Hasina must go.

On August 4, the UTN presented an "Outline for Transformation" in a press conference, advocating for a democratic Bangladesh free from discrimination. The outline proposed an interim government, a shadow government of students, teachers, and the public, and a constitutional assembly to reform autocratic and discriminatory clauses. The interim government would then organize a general election under the reformed constitution. The next day, on August 5, student leaders launched a Long March to Dhaka, leading to widespread occupation of the capital and Hasina fleeing the country.

Before the interim government's formation, the UTN organised a public discussion on August 6 titled "What Do We Want from the Interim Government?" That evening, in a meeting with military chiefs and student leaders, Dr Muhammad Yunus was appointed chief adviser. Students also invited renowned writer-professor Asif Nazrul and UTN member Professor Tanzimuddin Khan as their guardians, who played significant roles in the selection. On August 19, the UTN proposed a concept paper for campus reform, titled, "What University Do We Want?"

After Sheikh Hasina's fall, there was a strong national desire for reform and a return to democracy, but an administrative vacuum emerged at both national and university levels. Despite the UTN's active and significant role in the uprising, its members were not given any official positions - neither in the Cabinet (though Professor Nazrul is now an influential adviser) nor in any national institution or the university. Although Yunus' interim government appeared liberal, with two student coordinators included in the cabinet, the major political parties - Bangladesh Nationalist Party (centrist-right) and Jamaat-e-Islami (rightist) - regained political power.

The UTN's exclusion may stem from orchestrated online propaganda labelling it as leftist and Islamophobic. The UTN has decided to maintain its critical stance toward those in power, as it has consistently done in the past.

Fahmidul Haq is a US-based Bangladeshi academic.

The piece is excerpted from www.thediplomat.com