After July uprising, seeds of anarchy sprout in Bangladesh again
With the absence of proper govt, it has become susceptible to pressure, drawing the country back into the old vortex of vindictive politics, religious polarisation, ethnic discrimination, and muzzling of dissent
Is the civic spirit that united Bangladeshis to rise against an authoritarian regime beginning to unravel?
This question has become increasingly relevant within 60 days of the changeover, given the rise in hate attacks, political victimisation, and the Islamist tilt of the interim government.
A glaring example of the new regime yielding to Islamist pressure is the recent dissolution of a committee formed on September 15 to review and amend all National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) textbooks.
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Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlish, and other Islamist groups opposed the committee from the outset. They demanded the inclusion of Islamic scholars and the exclusion of two members — Md Kamrul Hassan, a professor in Dhaka University’s physics department, and Samina Luthfa Nitra, an associate professor in the same university's sociology department — labelling them Islamophobic.
Earlier, local administration cancelled a discussion titled "What kind of Bangladesh do we want in the spirit of the July uprising?" at Agriculture University in Mymensingh, reportedly yielding to Islamists' pressure.
The cancellation was justified by citing the possibility of law-and-order disruption, coinciding with opposition from a faction of Islamist students against Luthfa's participation, accusing her of “supporting homosexuality.”
Selective targeting
This selective targeting and branding of educators have become nearly normative, undermining the core principle of creating a discrimination-free Bangladesh.
According to a recent count by The Daily Star, Bangladesh's leading daily, at least 150 teachers across the country were forced to resign following the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led government on August 5. The actual number could be much higher, as the newspaper noted it “could not reach all the places”. Many of those targeted belong to minority communities.
Media professionals, too, have become victims of witch-hunting. Media houses in Dhaka were vandalised, and journalists were attacked immediately after the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government for being perceived as close to the deposed regime. This was just the beginning of their ordeal.
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Bringing in cronies
Top editors and heads of news at nearly all television channels and some print media houses were summarily dismissed and replaced with those aligned with the ruling ecosystem. Journalists have also been implicated in murder cases, triggering sharp reactions from global media organisations such as Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
The new management, upon taking control, issued marching orders to mid- and junior-level journalists to bring in their cronies, resulting in many media personnel becoming jobless overnight.
“I was told over the phone not to come to the office the next day. In the middle of a month, I was removed without even clearing my dues,” a journalist told The Federal, wishing to remain anonymous.
The silence of journalist associations in Bangladesh regarding these developments indicates the level of suppression and fear.
Vindictiveness and hatred
Vindictiveness and hatred have led to at least 25 incidents of mob lynching in the past two months, reports said. In most cases, the victims are Awami League activists, security personnel, or members of minority communities.
"Just weeks after the uprising, we are witnessing various intolerant, aggressive, and anarchist gatherings across different parts of Bangladesh. These gatherings are not only filled with hateful rhetoric against disliked groups and parties, but in some cases, they have also led to physical attacks on people from those groups," wrote the University Teachers' Network in an open letter to Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus last week, protesting the targeting of teachers.
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“Three people have been killed in organised violence at three universities. A military officer lost his life while trying to apprehend the criminals. In the Chittagong Hill Tracts, people from different ethnic backgrounds were brutally murdered," the letter pointed out, citing several alarming recent developments.
Impartiality essential
During this critical time, the current government must adopt an impartial stance and implement immediate actions. To curb the intolerance of overzealous groups, those spreading hateful rhetoric and interfering with the freedoms of various identities, communities, and citizens' rights to express themselves must be addressed.
"If the government or any university administration emboldens these perpetrators, forcing certain groups to comply under the threat of insecurity, as we saw at Bangladesh Agricultural University, then what aspirations of the July uprising, for which we paid such a heavy price, are actually being fulfilled?" it added.
The transitional government, installed by the vanguards of the Anti-discrimination Students Movement with the army's assistance, was intended to uphold the inclusive spirit of the uprising, as clearly articulated by the people through graffiti on the walls of Bangladesh’s major cities.
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An equitable Bangladesh
“The walls proclaim that all Bangladeshis, regardless of their religion—be it Muslim, Hindu, Christian, or Buddhist—should have equal rights. They assert that religion should not be used for political gain and raise questions about the rights of indigenous peoples. They demand gender equality and an equitable Bangladesh,” insisted Anu Muhammad, economist and political activist.
Youth from diverse socio-political and religious groups, including those affiliated with Jamaat, Hefazat-e-Islam, and Hezbut Tawheed, united for a common cause, setting aside their competing interests. However, not all genuinely subscribed to liberal ideas; some aligned with it merely as a strategic move.
Once the government was toppled, these diverse interest groups began competing among themselves, pulling the government in different directions.
With the government lacking an organised political structure of its own, it has become susceptible to pressure, drawing the country back into the old vortex of vindictive politics, religious polarisation, ethnic discrimination, and muzzling of dissent.
The Army raid at the office of the Mayer Daak -- a platform fighting to trace people who became victims of enforced disappearance during the previous regime -- earlier this month is a chilling reminder of the continuous influence of the deep state. Incidentally, the interim government empowered the Army with magisterial power in late September to deal with the country’s deteriorating law-and-order situation. The development was the manifestation of the government’s reliance on the Armed Forces.
Birth of a nation
Bangladesh was born out of an armed uprising against an oppressive Pakistani military regime in 1971.
Democracy, secularism, socialism, and nationalism were the four ideals on which the new nation was envisioned by its founding fathers. However, within a few years, the nascent nation deviated from its core principles, erasing the space for political and social pluralism. Genuine attempts to reconcile the country’s civil war past have never been made, particularly between pro- and anti-liberation forces, as was done in South Africa to heal the nation after the end of the apartheid regime.
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As a result, the first decade of its existence was marred by political assassinations and a series of military coups.
These developments have had a debilitating impact on the country’s society, politics, and economy.
Mass uprising in 1990
A turnaround was anticipated in 1990 when military dictator Hussain Muhammad Ershad was forced to resign due to a pro-democracy mass uprising orchestrated jointly by the country’s two political arch-rivals—the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, headed by Khaleda Zia, and the Awami League, led by Sheikh Hasina. Other major political parties, including Jamaat-e-Islami, joined hands to restore parliamentary democracy in the country.
However, the political consensus that emerged during the pro-democracy movement was short-lived. The two main political opponents, the BNP and the AL, soon became bitter rivals, literally vying for each other’s blood.
Political murders, rigged elections, and the violent repression of dissent became the norm, stifling any chance for a democratic culture to flourish in the country.
The opportunity provided by the uprising to address the deep-rooted malaise is now being squandered, as the government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus struggles to cope with various pulls and pressures.
