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The bigger challenge for the interim government will be to put Bangladesh back on the path of genuine democracy, said the International Crisis Group in a report.
“The country has not seen a competitive election for fifteen years – in part due to opposition boycotts, as occurred in January – which is part of the reason why the protest movement grew so large,” it said.
Under Hasina’s rule, the police and other agencies under the home ministry became tools of repression, primarily aimed at keeping her government in power. Many recruits were Awami League loyalists who saw their futures tied to the regime’s survival.
Their association with the ruling party, along with chronic corruption, has created a deep well of resentment of the security forces, who have engaged in human rights violations ranging from arbitrary arrests to forced disappearances.
After a month of mass demonstrations against the government’s increasingly autocratic rule, Sheikh Hasina resigned as prime minister and fled the country on 5 August. She took refuge in neighbouring India as thousands of protesters stormed her residence in the capital, Dhaka.
Altogether, at least 440 people were killed as state forces tried to suppress the unrest, the substantial majority being protesters, according to the report on August 7.
Protests erupted in Bangladesh in early July, when students started agitating against the reintroduction of controversial quotas for government jobs. The movement emerged amid widespread discontent with Hasina’s government.
Yet, it was Hasina’s reaction to the protests that led to her downfall. She sealed her fate when she decided to crack down rather than pursue dialogue with protest leaders.
As demonstrations swelled across the country in mid-July, police and paramilitary forces reportedly killed more than 200 people – a level of political violence rarely seen in Bangladesh since its independence in 1971.
Faced with the possibility of hundreds more deaths, Bangladesh’s newly appointed army chief Waker-Uz-Zaman – a distant relative of Hasina’s – made it clear to the prime minister that his troops would not step in to save the government.
To enhance public confidence, Waker announced a reshuffle on 6 August, shunting aside a key Hasina loyalist.
The interim government should ensure that the thousands of people arrested for participating in the protests are released.