Bangladesh After the Fall of Sheikh Hasina

With the sudden and swift departure of Sheikh Hasina from Bangladesh on Monday, August 5, the country quickly descended into chaos. At the time of writing, anarchy reigns all across Bangladesh despite the army’s entry into the picture. The streets of the capital Dhaka have an eerie appearance, with no policemen to be seen. That is understandable, for in the hours after the embattled prime minister left the country and headed for India, mobs descended on police stations in Dhaka and elsewhere, not only inflicting violence on the law enforcers but also torching hundreds of police stations.

The Bangladesh army, one could argue, is in an unenviable position. In the aftermath of Sheikh Hasina’s fall from power, it stepped in, with General Waker-uz-Zaman, the chief of army staff, making it known in a media broadcast that he was in charge. If anything, it was a rather curious move by the soldiers. The military did not impose martial law. Neither did it seize power in any other, softer form. But that the military had compelled Sheikh Hasina to step down and leave the country was a message which came through loud and clear.

There have been quite a few imponderables arising out of the situation. The army chief informed the country that the prime minister had resigned, but there has been little hint of any proper constitutional procedure having been followed in the matter. Sheikh Hasina did not meet or was not given the opportunity to meet President Mohammed Shahabuddin to submit her resigna­tion to him. To whom she submitted her resignation remains a mystery. There has been no sign of any resignation letter she may have written. The general conclusion is that it is only the army chief’s word for it. Had there been a coup d’état and a direct military takeover, circumstances would be different.

A curious offshoot of the political change is that, under the constitution, with the resignation of the prime minister, the president should have appointed her successor. That did not happen, which again is no surprise since in its 53-year existence Bangladesh has experienced political convulsions which were patent violations of the constitution. In the present cir­cumstances, even after four days since the end of the Hasina administration, Bangladesh was without a government. In other words, all of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday went by without a political and administrative machinery to run the country be­ing put in place. Of course, the consensus appeared to be that Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel laureate, would take over as caretaker prime minister, which he did on Thursday.

It is an unprecedented condition in Bangladesh’s history. The army chief, prior to his broadcast, called some politicians and members of civil society for talks on the course to be taken following Sheikh Hasina’s departure. Among the politicians in­vited, rather disturbingly, was the chief of the proscribed Jamaat-e-Islami. In fact, General Waker-uz-Zaman’s mention of the Jamaat leader in his broadcast was top of the list. He clearly was unaware of or ignored the legal position of the Jamaat, an or­ganisation which collaborated in the murder of Bengalis with the occupying Pakistan army in 1971 and which, under the Hasina administration, saw a good number of its collaborationist leaders walking to the gallows after trials on charges of com­mitting crimes against humanity. A few years ago, the Jamaat was de-registered as a political party and only a few days before Sheikh Hasina fell, the government clamped a ban on the party.

It is notable that the army chief did not invite to his headquar­ters any political party which had been close to or in alliance with the Awami League. As for the Awami League, it was given out that no one could be located from within the party who could engage in the negotiations in the cantonment. The absence of the Awami League was of course understandable, given that its leading fig­ures were on the run in the face of the mob violence unleashed on their homes with the departure of Sheikh Hasina. A good number of ministers and ruling party lawmakers have made their exit from the country while a number of their colleagues continue hiding at different locations. Meanwhile, Awami League offic­es throughout the country have been torched, with reports of vigilantes on a hunt for local leaders and activists of the party in various districts and towns and even villages.

The situation is grim, with worrying indications of the country having slipped into the hands of Islamist forces and followers of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Scandalous scenes un­folded on Monday when mobs stormed Ganabhaban, the official residence of the departed prime minister, and freely ransacked the place. People were seen walking away with saris belonging to Sheikh Hasina as also furniture, television sets, fish, roosters, ducks and plants. It was a scene straight out of medievalism. De­spite the army having stepped into the political scene, such public places or national property as Ganabhaban were left unprotected.

And one of the most shocking scenes unfolded when mobs attacked the Bangabandhu Memorial, the symbol of Bangla­desh’s history from where Sheikh Mujibur Rahman planned and disseminated his messages to the country at the height of the political crisis with the Yahya Khan regime in March 1971. It was here that Bangladesh’s founder was gunned down, along with most of his family, in a violent coup in August 1975. The unruly crowd set the place on fire, which has left Bangladesh’s people deeply wounded. No military security was around to protect the museum. The rioters had a field day stealing valuables and memo­rabilia from inside the structure before putting it to the torch.

The army chief made it known that an interim government will be in place. Ostensibly, its work will be for a limited period of 90 days, though the constitu­tionality of such a move remains hazy. The caretaker system of government, which for a good number of years played a role in determining elections in the country, was abolished by the Awami League government. Therefore, the formation of an interim government will now need a presidential order or ordi­nance which, once an elected government is in place, will need to be ratified by the parliament.

Things are getting curiouser and curiouser. Even as talk of an interim government was making the rounds, the coordinators of the student movement which had spearheaded the movement for quota reforms in government voiced the demand that not only should such a government be formed according to a formula they would submit but also that their representatives should be part of the government. One could argue that in the crisis Bangladesh was embroiled in, such a move by the students, who happen to be in university, provided comic relief to citizens.

Scandalous scenes unfolded on Monday when mobs stormed Ganabhaban, the residence of the departed prime minister, and ransacked it. People were seen walking away with saris belonging to Sheikh Hasina as also furniture, television sets, fish, roosters, etc. It was a scene straight out of medieval times

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Comic relief apart, conspiracy theories have been making the rounds, particularly on social media. ‘Sightings’ of India’s R&AW personnel have been alleged on Facebook and other such out­lets, obviously attempts to promote an anti-India agenda in the country. One does not require much wisdom to comprehend the nature of such allegations. Over the years, Islamist organisations and their allies in the political arena have been making wild allegations of tens of thousands of Indians working in differ­ent sectors in Bangladesh without work permits but with the connivance of the Hasina government. It is propaganda of the kind which was unleashed way back in the pre-1971 times in Bangladesh. The old story is being repeated in 2024.

There is little question that it will take a very long time for Ban­gladesh to return to normal conditions. But again, the question is one of what the term ‘normalcy’ denotes in the country. It is hard to see how conditions can be normal anytime soon, given that violent mobs, which obviously have no love for Bangladesh’s history and for democracy, have also gone after the country’s Hindus. This was, yes, predictable with the students’ movement slipping into the hands of followers of the Jamaat and other anti-secular parties. One consolation has been that of Muslim young men, some of them students of madrassas, taking it upon themselves to guard some Hindu places of worship from probable assault by Muslim fanatics.

The security situation remains fragile. The offices of at least five television channels came under attack on Monday, with mobs walking away with computers and other equipment. As an official at one of the channels said in deep sorrow, only the tables in his office remained. On social media, individuals cheered by the fall of the Hasina government have been sending out mes­sages for journalists perceived to have been loyalists of the Awami League to be identified, located and punished.

Though no censorship has been imposed on the media, in the official sense, some newspaper editors are being extra careful in publishing news items or editorial comments that may not be looked upon with favour by the new men in town. In plain terms, it is self-censorship at work. Almost every newspaper published on Tuesday, August 6, appeared to be trying to outdo one another in the way they reported on Sheikh Hasina’s fall from power. Some such newspapers, embarrassingly kowtowing before the former prime minister in her halcyon days, on Tuesday did not hold themselves back from referring to her as an autocrat.

Bangladesh is in a tenuous position. In more ways than one, the situation is a reminder of the uncertainty and fear which took over in the aftermath of the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in August 1975. Awami League leaders and workers are once again—and this has been their sad experi­ence since the 1960s—on the run. The party is in shambles, with apparently no one to take charge of it. Sheikh Hasina, according to her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy, will not return to politics.

The Sheikh family is understandably in a state of shock at such a rapid reversal of fortune. There is as yet no decision on where the former prime minister will be given refuge, since reports remain speculative on whether she can stay on in India or move on to an­other country, possibly Britain, since her younger sister Rehana is a British citizen and Rehana’s daughter Tulip Siddiq is a junior minister in the new Labour government. That said, reports of the British government not giving her political asylum are rife. One also hears that the US too is unwilling to permit the entry of Bangla­desh’s former prime minister. She could then try going to Finland, for Rehana’s son Radwan Siddiq is married to a Finnish citizen.

At the other end, the opposition BNP is clearly enthused by the political change which has come over Bangladesh. Its secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has stated that the party’s acting chairperson, Tarique Rahman, son of former Prime Min­ister Khaleda Zia and in exile in the UK since 2008, will soon re­turn to Bangladesh. His mother, who has been under house arrest under the Hasina government, has been freed, which has placed BNP followers in a celebratory mood. Now that parliament, elected in January this year, has been dissolved by the president on the ad­vice of the army. BNP and its allies, notably the Jamaat, will demand early elections that will likely enable them to form the next govern­ment for the country. BNP, out of power since October 2006, clearly relishes this opportunity of making a comeback to office now that its sworn enemy is in the woods again.

Opposition BNP is enthused by the political change that has come over. Former prime minister Khaleda Zia, who had been under house arrest, has been freed, which has placed BNP followers in a celebratory mood

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All said and done, the situation in Bangladesh is beginning to exercise minds on the degree to which a carefully shaped in­trigue may have been instrumental in forcing Sheikh Hasina’s government so swiftly and dramatically from power. Reports of American displeasure with Hasina, who was vocal in her asser­tions that Washington wanted her removed, are being recalled. Questions are also being raised about the role of China and Pakistan in fomenting the incidents which led to the collapse of the Awami League government.

Bangladesh is in the precarious position of turning into an unstable, if not a failed, state if the ongoing anarchy is not firmly tackled by the army. Obviously, any interim government taking charge will be too weak to assert its authority on the country. If elec­tions are announced and the interim government makes it difficult for the Awami League to take meaningful part in them, politics will continue to limp from one crisis to another.

On a significant note, it must be recalled that under Hasina’s leadership, militancy was successfully tackled by the government. Efforts by Indian rebel groups such as ULFA to operate against the Indian authorities from Bangladesh territory were firmly quelled by the Hasina administration. These were actions which will demand proper upholding by those who have supplanted the Awami League government in Dhaka.

Conditions remain volatile. A major reshuffle has taken place in the army. Could that be a hint of a struggle for power within the force? The days ahead will make things clearer.

About The Author

Syed Badrul Ahsan

Syed Badrul Ahsan is a Bangladeshi journalist and political analyst. He is the author of biographies of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh’s founder, and Tajuddin Ahmad, the country’s wartime prime minister