By: Badruddin Umar
On the 5th of August, 2024, Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled to India. In
this way the fifteen and a half years of fascist Awami rule has ended in
Bangladesh. The July uprising was the most extensive, profound and
aggressive event against the rulers in the series of people’s uprising that
have taken place here since 1952.
After this mass uprising, not only Sheikh Hasina, but the top floor,
middle floor, and even the bottom floor leaders and workers at all levels
of her party left the country or went into hiding inside the country
fearing people’s attack. Many have been caught by the police. Many
others were killed or seriously injured by the angry mob. Such
predicament of the rulers has never been seen after any other mass
uprising in Bangladesh. This reaction has happened in the context of
Sheikh Hasina’s fifteen and a half years of all-compassing and all-out
exploitation and torture on the masses. Rather than exploitation, torture
creates a stronger reaction among the people against the ruling party.
During Sheikh Mujib’s three-and-a-half year rule, people were tortured
on a large scale, but the torture of Sheikh Hasina’s government exceeded
even that. One of the reasons is that her rule lasted much longer than that
of Sheikh Mujib. There is no doubt that if Sheikh Mujib’s rule was more
than three and a half years, then his situation would have been similar to
that of Sheikh Hasina. In that situation he would either had been killed
by the people or flee from the country.
The public anger that was expressed throughout the country against
Sheikh Mujubur Rahman during the people’s uprising of July is very
significant. Because until now, through Awami League’s campaign,
Sheikh Mujib was projected as the savior of the nation, the great hero of
the liberation war, the father of the nation, etc. Sheikh Hasina placed her
father Sheikh Mujib in the seat of god as the hero of everything in the
country and making all her misdeeds like torture, disappearances,
murder, reckless looting, money laundering etc to be rational and
acceptable, using his image, presenting themselves to the public as
successors of Sheikh Mujib’s regime. As a result of this, people felt
angry against Sheikh Hasina, against the torture of Awami league
government, and that anger also arose against Sheikh Mujib. He became
the target of public anger. In that situation, with the fall of the Awami
League government led by Sheikh Hasina on August 5, the people
spontaneously turned against not only the leaders at all levels of that
government, but also wanted to erase the false image and influence of
Sheikh Mujib from Bangladesh. They set on fire his house on 5th
August and destroyed his statues and murals all over the country
including Dhaka.
Ever since she came to power after winning the 2008 elections, Sheikh
Hasina had been determined to cling to power by any means. That is
why from the beginning she started to pull different types of strings. The
most notable of these strings was the elimination of the electoral system
in Bangladesh. Her initial move in this regard was an all-out attack on
the opposition, especially the BNP, depriving them of all their
democratic rights, throwing them in such a position so that it becomes
impossible for them to even participate in the elections, far from
winning them.
That is what happened in the 2014 elections. All opposition political
parties, including the BNP, boycotted the election. As there were no
candidates in 153 seats, Awami League won 153 seats before the
elections and achieved the necessary majority to form the government!
Not only in the history of Bangladesh, but in the history of the whole
world, this kind of election, farce in the name of election has not been
seen anywhere before. In fact, Sheikh Hasina continued to create and
implement plans to remain in power by performing farcical dramas in
the name of elections while maintaining constitutional legitimacy.
BNP decided to participate in the 2018 elections and took part in it. But
Sheikh Hasina created a strange situation by controlling and exploiting
all the state agencies during the election. Voting results were altered
through rigging. Awami League’s goons with the help of the Election
Commission filled their ballot boxes the previous night before the polls
began. Awami League won in almost all the seats!
The events of 2024 were even more shocking. All opposition political
parties boycotted the election. As a result, none but Awami League was
in the field. Only Awami League people submitted nomination papers to
participate in the elections. From among them, Awami League selected
its own candidates and nominated them. But then other candidates of
Awami League decided to participate in the election instead of
withdrawing their names. For this, as per the constitutional rules, these
candidates were supposed to be expelled from the party. But instead of
doing so, Sheikh Hasina, without taking any action against them,
announced that even if they do not get party nomination, those who will
be elected will be considered as members of Awami League if they win.
This means that those who will win the election will remain members of
Awami League! As a result, Awami League formed the government for
the fourth time in succession after winning 100 percent of the seats in
the 2024 elections. This is the story of Awami League being in
government power since 2009.
Since the formation of the government in 2009, Sheikh Hasina made a
plan to stay in power for indefinite period and started taking various
steps accordingly. The way they conducted elections in 2014, 2018, and
2024 was part of this conspiratorial plan. For this, they practically
destroyed the electoral system by interfering in the elections. Showing
honour to constitutional rules and regulations on paper, they showed
their thumbs to the constitution by conducting the election in this way.
Winning the elections was not possible only by controlling the election
processes. For this it was necessary that the opposition political parties,
especially the BNP, do not participate in the elections or remain in a
weak condition. To this end, Sheikh Hasina’s government controlled all
the armed forces including police, RAB, bureaucracy, courts, election
commission, etc. They prevented them from organising meetings,
assemblies, etc or attacked them if they did so. To this end, they not only
used police, they also used the goons of their students’ organisation, the
Chhatra League. They arrested thousands of opposition party leaders and
activists on false charges or without any charge at all. Thousands of
opposition activists were forced to leave their homes due to their attacks
and oppression. These raids were accompanied by widespread
disappearances and murders. For this they used the military intelligence
department, the DGFI, extensively without any regard for the law. DGFI
set up the torture centres called ‘Ayna Ghar’ in different areas for
inhumane torture of missing political persons. Most of the missing
persons were held for years in these ‘Ayna Ghar’. As time went by, this
torture of Awami League was becoming more wide-spread and cruel.
The attacks and aggressions on the opposition were taking place without
any reason. The exploitation and torture and at the same time looting of
the people’s resources of the country by Awami League continued to
increase unprecedentedly and with it people’s anger, protest and
resistance against it. Countering these protests and resistance was
necessary for the safety and existence of the government.
The trading bourgeoisie, which began to form as Bangladesh’s ruling
class from 1972, established total control and authority over the regime
during Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year rule.
The country turned into a mafia regime and Sheikh Hasina became its supreme representative, the head
of the mafia. In order to fulfil this role, she created a situation of anarchy
by throwing away general rules of the country’s production system,
distribution system, trade and economic system as a whole. Even though
they kept beating their achievements tirelessly by talking about
development, every small, medium and big development projects of
theirs turned into an arena of corruption and loot. The bigger the
development project, the bigger the theft and looting continued. On the
one hand, the country was getting stuck in the web of foreign debts; on
the other hand, the looting committed starting from Awami League
leaders to bureaucrats and businessmen was reckless and sky-high. In
Bangladesh, nothing close to the way these looters continued to loot the
country’s resources had ever happened during any government in the
past. Not only that Awami League leaders, bureaucrats, businessmen, etc
used government power to own thousands of crores taka. A large part of
this money was illegally smuggled abroad. Their looting and smuggling
is comparable to British East India Company’s looting and smuggling.
But there is a big difference in this case. The East India Company looted
abroad and sent money back home which helped the industrial
revolution there. The money that has been smuggled during the Awami
League government under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina is looting the
country’s wealth and smuggling it abroad. If the wealth was looted and
invested in the country, it would not have caused much damage and it
would have played a role in the development of the country. But due to
the wealth of the country being smuggled abroad instead of being
invested in the country, the country has suffered on a large scale, there
has been a crisis in the country’s economy and by this the economic life
of the people has also been disrupted.
The fact that the July uprising was the most extensive, profound, intense
and aggressive compared to other previous uprisings in the region was
due to Sheikh Hasina’s fascism. It was crushing the people of the entire
country, the country’s economy and various state institutions like the
claws of an octopus; there was no previous example of that here. The
lives of the working people, middle class professionals and students
became unbearable. They were prepared for resistance, but in the
absence of proper political leadership, a general inaction among the
people was also a reality as there was no possibility of an all-out
offensive from their side. There was nothing they could do but wait in
silence. Yet in spite of this silence of the people, despite an outwardly
peaceful atmosphere, the situation was explosive. This explosion was
caused by the students’ quota movement.
The students’ quota movement was against the quota set for the children
of the freedom fighters and for merit-based job system, but the basis of
that movement was the overall actual situation of the student community
in the country. The impact of this situation described earlier was not
only on the general public but also on the student community. In
addition, the general student community was strongly angry against the
Awami League’s student organisation, Chhatra League, which had
turned into a mafia gangster force and had been continuing the torture
and repression of students in the universities for years. A reflection of
this protest was in the quota movement. Awami League was engaged in
giving jobs to their mafia students in the quota that was fixed for the
children of freedom fighters.
The student movement started in early July and quickly gained
momentum. From the beginning, the government opposed this
movement and tried to suppress it by calling them traitors, etc. They
termed the students who participated in the quota movement as Razakars
and were engaged in suppressing their movement. Thus Sheikh Hasina’s
opposition to the quota movement of the students made the movement
even stronger instead of being weak. Students of Dhaka’s private
universities also came out in droves to join the quota movement. The
movement spread to all universities and educational institutions
throughout the country and became huge and vigorous. Students at this
stage called for agitation not only for quota but also against government
repression and mismanagement.
This situation created a spark among people from one end of the country
to the other. This spark ignited a fire among the people of the country
who were quietly ready to resist Sheikh Hasina’s fascist rule. The largest
and most aggressive mass uprising in the region began. In the face of
this attack, Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country and took refuge
in India and the leaders of all levels of Awami League, even many
leaders of the union level left their homes and fled to India, some were
caught by the police and most of them went into hiding in the country. In
many countries, the government had fallen due to the massive and strong
movement against the government. Mass movements like the ‘Arab
Spring’ had taken place from Tunisia to Egypt. But no country’s head of
state or government except Tunisia’s Ben Ali fled the country. In Egypt,
Husni Mubarak remained in the country until he was arrested and tried.
Batista and Ben Ali were the only leaders in history to flee. Two years
ago, Raja Paksha of Sri Lanka fled in the face of a people’s uprising, but
returned to the country shortly after, so he did not escape like Batista.
After Batista, Sheikh Hasina is the only head of government who fled
the country in fear of public attack. If she had not escaped in this way, if
she had delayed leaving the Ganabhaban for another hour, she would
have been beaten to death by the public who had entered Ganabhaban in
large numbers. It is important to note that Sheikh Hasina is not only a
hateful criminal to the people of Bangladesh; she is a hated criminal to
the whole world. That is why no country wants to give her political
asylum. She is now staying in India in a difficult situation.
n interim government was formed in Bangladesh on August 8 after the
fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government on August 5.
Some people are criticizing this government as puppet government, a
government coming from the blue and sitting on the throne, etc. It is true
that this government is not the government of the angels. They are the
representatives of the same ruling class, which is represented by the
Awami League, BNP, Jamaat-i-Islami, Jatiya Party, etc. Therefore, it is
a kind of stupidity to expect that they will provide milk and honey to the
people. But it is also not right to criticize this government saying that it
‘came from the blue’. After the fall of the Awami League government, it
was necessary to fill the vacuum that was created in the field of
governance of the country. It is in this situation that the present
government has come to power. If this government would not have been
formed then the only option was military government.
The fall of the Awami League government led by Sheikh Hasina is a
great loss for India. For the past 15 years, Sheikh Hasina had
surrendered all interests of Bangladesh to the Indian government led by
Narendra Modi. The way India had extracted all the benefits from
Bangladesh, in fact, had tied Bangladesh in the chains of slavery, India
was not at all ready to end it overnight. So, this situation is not easy for
India to accept. It is a big blow to their interests. No previous
government in Bangladesh did what Sheikh Hasina had done as a bootleaker to Narendra Modi’s government for keeping her in power. In fact,
The relationship between Narendra Modi and Sheikh Hasina stood like a
master-servant relationship. India actually considers Bangladesh to be
their protectorate. No other country in the world has agreed to give
shelter to Hasina, so India cannot help giving her shelter, even though
India is being accused for this. When a seditious criminal like Hasina is
sheltered in this way, India-Bangladesh relations are difficult to
normalise.
It is important to note that the Indian government is not the only one
acting in a domineering attitude towards Bangladesh. The attitude of
India’s left-wing political parties, India’s writers and intellectuals
towards Bangladesh is not appreciable. There was no support for the
popular uprising against Sheikh Hasina’s extreme fascist torture in
Bangladesh for a long time from the left-wing political parties, writers
and literary intellectuals of India. They are silent. Even a powerful writer
like Arundhati Roy who has written a lot against the oppression of
various peoples including Kashmir in India and against oppression in
other countries. She also did not write a single sentence supporting it
during the July uprising in Bangladesh. She did not say anything
anywhere! But why? The answer is that no matter how progressive they
are, they have a view of Bangladesh which can be called a colonial
mindset. They want to see Bangladesh as a protectorate of India. It is
noteworthy that in this regard, the role of Indian media, newspapers,
radio, television, etc is disgraceful.
After the present government came to power, it has fallen into a difficult
situation due to the various problems created during Hasina
government’s tenure. Not only did the previous government bring the
country’s economy to the brink of destruction, they also caused a
disaster in the character of the ruling class as well as a significant section
of the country’s people. They took part in theft, corruption, terrorism,
looting and created an anarchic situation in the country in terms of
morality. The character of the business class which has developed since
1971 and is now controlling everything in the country as the ruling class
is the worst in this respect. Despite the fall of the Awami League
government, they still remain and remain in a strong position as the
ruling class. They have stolen from big projects, robbed banks, taking
advantage of closeness with the government, they have grabbed land,
canals, lakes, even rivers, controlled markets and hit the pockets of the
masses. They are still there. They are now an obstacle even in the few
reforms that this government wants to make. The problem that is
bothering people the most today is the high cost of daily necessities.
This price is now increasing instead of decreasing. And this situation is
artificially created by the business class. They have different types of
syndicates. The government has no control over them.
There is a lot of talk about the constitution of Bangladesh, because
Sheikh Hasina had continued her misrule for 15 years by using this
constitution. So, it is ineffective at present. Under this, as one election
after another has been held from 2014 to 2024, it has become necessary
to reform the election system. In this case, the current government can
take some effective steps. But any major constitutional change or
framing of a new constitution is beyond the legal purview of this
government. That will have to wait for an elected government. By acting
as Parliament on one hand and Constituent Assembly on the other hand,
the next elected parliament can make major changes in the constitution
or enact a new constitution.
The July Uprising created a great stir and drastic change in the situation
of the country. It freed the country from the bonds of octopus. It was a
great blow on the thieves, corrupts, robbers and terrorists. But this
popular uprising is no social revolution. As a result, the people of the
country got a new taste of freedom of expression, but there is no reason
to think that this freedom will always be maintained in the country.
Awami League was the representative of the ruling class, and this ruling
class has not been evicted after the fall of the Awami League
government. They are still there. However, it can be said that due to the
change in the mindset of the people of the country through the July
Uprising, even if there is torture in the future, its level will not be the
same as the torture of the Hasina government, not even close to it. This
lesson has also been received by the ruling class of this country. They
have no power to ignore it.
The changes that the July Uprising brought about in Bangladesh were
massive, profound and far-reaching. But despite the importance of this
uprising, it must be remembered that it is not a social revolution.
Therefore, even if a new government is formed later through elections,
even if a new constitution is made by them, even if the level of torture
during their rule is less, the people’s struggle will continue because there
is no radical change in the production and distribution system and
overall man to man relations. No time frame can be indicated, but in the
future, a new revolutionary socialist party will emerge in Bangladesh.
They will gain strength through building up organisation and movement
and at some point lead a final popular uprising. The social revolution
caused by that popular uprising will bring about radical changes in all
aspects of the country. So, there will be a struggle for this change even
after the formation of a new government in the country and the
promulgation of a new constitution. People’s struggle will continue.
12.10.2024
Translated from Bangla by Mueenuddin Ahmad