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Around 34 years after the fall of the autocratic regime of Ershad, the country has witnessed another mass uprising against the authoritarian regime of Sheikh Hasina in the last year. Although the two events are not entirely comparable due to differences in intensity and complexity of the dynamics, some similarities are also present.
Ershad seized power in 1981 through a military coup, removing a democratically elected government while serving as the country's army chief. In the next nine years, protests and movements against his autocratic regime continued despite military restrictions and oppression. During this period, mockery of the parliamentary system occurred in the context of two parliamentary elections, and non-functional parliaments coexisted alongside a centralised power structure, with all authority concentrated in the hands of President Ershad. The students first ignited the anti-Ershad movement. Leading political parties, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Bangladesh Awami League (BAL), gradually came to the streets and shaped the movement. Hasina-led BAL, however, joined the third parliament election in 1986. Before disclosing the party's decision to participate in the election, Hasina publicly declared that those who would take part in any election under Ershad were 'national traitors'. She did not hesitate to disown her own words within a few days. BNP leader Khaleda Zia was insistent on her strong stance on not participating in any election under Ershad. Both parties, however, abstained from participating in the 1988 parliamentary election, as the movement against the Ershad regime intensified.
The final blow against the regime came in 1990 as all the student organisations joined hands. Their unified position was a crucial turning point of the movement and helped the political parties move ahead. Ershad finally stepped down on December 6, 1990, handing over power to the country's first caretaker government. Bangladesh embarked on the path of democracy after a nine-year struggle.
Similar to the movement against Ershad, students led the movement against Hasina in 2024, where the role of political parties was limited. The intensity of repression by her regime was so brutal that it has no match with Ershad's. During the July mass uprising, around 1,400 people were killed in 36 days, whereas more than 20,000 people were injured, and around 11,700 people were detained and tortured.
Although Hasina-led Awami League assumed power in 2009 following a landslide victory in the eighth parliamentary election on December 29, 2008, in the years that followed, she gradually eroded the integrity of the election process. In the next three parliamentary elections, she and her party took whatever measures were necessary to stay in power, thereby depriving the masses of the opportunity to cast their votes. Despite being a big beneficiary of democracy, she gradually turned herself into a cruel authoritarian. Her party and its affiliated organisations, especially the Bangladesh Chattra League (BCL), became monsters. Though many development works were completed to boost the economic growth during the 15 years of the regime, corruption and plundering of national resources by Hasina loyalists reached a new high, widening socio-economic discrimination further. All these prepared the ground for a mass uprising in July last, which forced her to step down and flee, seeking refuge in India.
As students of public universities led the mass uprising and faced the most intimidation, they were later backed by the students of private universities. Breaking the misconception that students at the private universities are self-centred and maintain a safe distance from any socio-political activity, they exposed their sensitivity to the rightful causes. As students from the different private universities started to come on the streets in solidarity with their peers at public universities, it gave the movement a new momentum. The anger and protests later spread across schools and colleges. Another force of the movement was students of madrashas in the country. They also played a critical role in making the movement more people-oriented. Finally, the remarkable role of the female students and youths must be mentioned.
As the country reminisces about the fateful days of the July mass uprising, it is also time to objectively evaluate and acknowledge the role of the various groups that joined the movement. The unity, demonstrated by the participants, especially students and youths from different spheres of society, was instrumental in making the uprising a success.