By developer
LONG LIVE THE VICTORIOUS STUDENTS OF BANGLADESH !
ONWARD TO THE BENGALI REVOLUTION !
An autocratic Bonapartist regime of Sheik Hasina has
fallen! This is without a doubt a victory for the student’s movement. A victory
achieved with the martyrdom of over 300 students and workers, who became
victims of police and paramilitary aggression. The regime of Sheik Hasina came in power in 2008
following elections that year, gaining a second term at the end of the
caretaker government’s mandate. She and her party, the Awami league, had been
progressively entrenching their position in power since then.
By the time the Awami League won a record fourth term,
in an election that was heavily rigged, and boycotted by major opposition
parties, it’s power had become almost absolute. On paper, Bangladesh was a
regular bourgeois parliamentary democracy, in practice it had become an
autocracy of one party, centered around one leader, Sheik Hasina.
In many ways, the regime we saw toppled today, was a
resurrection of the BAKSAL regime crafted by Sheik Hasina’s father, and the
first Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheik Mujibar Rahman. The new nation had
seen it’s fledgling democratic structure eroded and transformed into a one
party state ruled through the party apparatus commanding a paramilitary and
army. The BAKSAL regime imploded under pressure from the military, following a
disastrous famine which killed hundreds of thousands. Sheik Hasina’s 21st
century autocracy collapsed in the face of mass mobilization of youth and
workers.
A timeline of events
The protests by the students started first in 2018 when
the new quota system for education and government jobs were first proposed. The
quota system offers 30% of seats in college and an even greater portion of
government jobs to those who are descendants of freedom fighters, who had
fought in the Liberation war of Bangladesh. In other words, the system
privileged the sons and grandsons of approximately 300,000 soldiers, and party
activists who had fought actively in the liberation war of 1971.
With the Awami League in power, this translates to an
indirect way of securing hegemony over jobs and education, as the Awami League
largely led the independence war and the independence movement. One must see
this in the context of institutionalized corruption in Bangladesh, it becomes
an easy tool to use for the Awami League to ensure the greatest privileges for
it’s members. After the first protests the government withdrew the
quota, but the quotas were reinstated after the government approached the Dhaka
High Court. The decision was passed on the 5th of June 2024 and
sparked off the students protests.
The latest round of student protests happened in the
context of a severe economic decline in Bangladesh, owing first to the
pandemic, which affected the country’s textile industry, and then Russia’s war
on Ukraine which affected Bangladesh’s oil and food imports. Job losses from
the effect of the Pandemic, coupled with rising inflation as a result of
disruptions to oil and food imports, created a double pressure on the youth and
working population of the country.
The situation came to a point, where a large section
of garment workers remain unemployed and paid starvation wages, while up to 40%
of the youth had neither education opportunities nor jobs. In such a situation,
the Awami League decided to impose a measure which would ensure the most secure
and paying jobs, which exist in the public sector, went to its own cadres, who
would also get the best educational opportunities.
The students protests were large and impassioned, but
would not have exploded had it not been for the callous statement of Sheik
Hasina herself, who called the students ‘razakars’, likening them to the
reactionary collaborators of the Pakistan army during the liberation war. The
students, (many of whom were from the minority Hindu community) were rightfully
insulted by this, and fought with even greater passion.
In response, the government decided to deploy its
hated paramilitaries and it’s heavily militarized police, what followed was a
bloodbath. Bangladesh has a paramilitary infamous for its brutal tactics, and
high level of militarization, the Rapid Action Battalion, or RAB. The cruelty
of the Bangladeshi law enforcement forces were shown in earlier protests, where
protesters were treated with violence sometimes leading to death.
The repression faced by garment workers is a clear
example of this repressive machinery of the Bangladeshi state. The worst of the
policing came upon the student and youth protesters, with the government
responding to peaceful protests with violence. The police violence, and
defensive violence by protesters characterized much of the protests up to
Monday. As repression grew, as did the protests. Over the course of July, the
protests kept growing, with the government’s response growing ever more
repressive.
At it’s peak, Bangladesh was subjected to nationwide
curfews, internet blackouts and rampant police firings. Videos have since
surfaced of police snipers indiscriminately opening fire on innocent civilians,
not sparing little children either.
The decision of the High Court on the quota system was
challenged before the Supreme Court, which reserved it’s judgment till the 21st
of July, when the Court struck down the proposed quota, and shrank it down from
considerably. Despite this, the protesters did not calm down. By the time of
the judgement, up to 139 people had been killed, as reported by mainstream news
sources. The real number could be higher.
By this time, the protests had ceased to be about
quotas alone, and targeted the Awami League regime itself. Monday the 5th
was to be the day of the long march of the students to demand accountability
for repression, and justice for those slain by the police and paramilitaries.
This was the peak of the protests, and it would likely have succeeded in
storming the centers of power, had Sheik Hasina not chosen to resign and flee.
This brought a final end to the 15 year rule of the
Awami league and Sheik Hasina, a period marked by Bangladesh’s transformation
into the sweatshop of the world, ruled through an autocratic boss in the form
of Sheik Hasina. The ‘growth story’ made her own cronies exceptionally rich and
powerful, while leaving most people of Bangladesh in poverty.
Sheik Hasina’s departure and the international response:
Bangladesh had been a valuable asset of many of the
world’s powers, who sought to exploit it’s abundance of cheap labour,
agricultural resources, and natural resources. For all those invested in the
exploitation of Bangladesh, the shocking downfall of its self-styled wannabe
lee Kwan Yeu came as nothing short of a shock.
The one country that is most affected by this has been
India, which is heavily invested in trade with Bangladesh. Hundreds of millions
of dollars have been invested in Bangladesh’s energy and infrastructure by
Indian corporations, while Bangladesh is one of the key export targets for
Indian goods. India surrounds Bangladesh on three sides, with the exception of
the border with Myanmar, and virtually controls the Bay of Bengal with it’s enormous
navy. It is an uneven relationship that successive governments in Bangladesh
have attempted to ameliorate, by using China or Pakistan as counter-weights to
India.
The Hasina government however, entrenched Indian
influence and essentially pegged Bangladesh economically and politically to
India. The reality of her deep connection to India became crystal clear when
she chose India as the preferred destination to flee to. Here she was given
shelter by Prime Minister Modi. As of writing this article, the USA has revoked
her passport, and the UK (where her son lives) has denied her asylum.
Al Jazeera, the mouthpiece of the Qatari government,
typically tends to lean in favor of Islamist governments, has welcomed the
ouster of Sheik Hasina, and is largely focusing on the celebrations which
followed her ouster, ignoring the descent into violence targeting Hindu
minorities. This is a stark contrast with Indian media channels, which
singularly focus on the violence against Hindus, while largely ignoring or
downplaying, the victory of the students agitation, and the government’s own
repression against the masses.
The sequence of events suggests that Indian agencies
had been working behind the scenes, or in coordination with the Bangladesh army
to secure Sheik Hasina’s life. She and her son could then become a future asset
with which India would reassert it’s influence, disregarding the hatred of the
Bangladeshi people towards her. A recent revelation has shown that India was
prepared and willing to intervene militarily against Bangladesh during the 2009
Bangladesh Rifle’s mutiny, which ultimately secured Sheik Hasina’s rule, and
gave her the confidence to entrench herself and build a dictatorial government
over Bangladesh. Such a maneuver cannot be ruled out this time around
as well. However, the defense of capital is of supreme interest, and with
Hasina gone, the next best alternatives to ensure that Bangladesh remains a
sweatshop of the world, making fast fashion for the world’s largest brands,
would be any of the bourgeois leaders whether it be Khaleda Zia of the BNP or
Mohammad Yunus.
The maneuvers of the army:
The Bangladesh army intervened at the decisive stage
of the protests and reportedly gave Sheik Hasina a 45 hour ultimatum in which
to resign. The decision was borne of desperation and fear as the protests were
spreading and growing in intensity. Even before the long march had begun, Sheik
Hasina could be seen fleeing the Prime Minister’s residence in a military helicopter.
Air clearance was given from the Indian government, after which she landed in
India’s capital, marking the end of her reign, and the beginning of another
military rule.
The Chief of army Waker Uz Zaman announced the
resignation of the Prime Minister, and the army’s takeover of the government.
As of today the 6th of August, the president dissolved parliament.
The army maneuvered to take advantage of the anger of the masses, and called
for talks with all political parties and students bodies, as was reported in
the mainstream press. An interim government is now formed, with Mohammad Yunus,
of grameen bank fame, as it’s Chief advisor.
With the resignation of Sheik Hasina and the
dissolution of the parliament, the police and paramilitaries have apparently
melted from the scene. Among the first acts of the new military government was
to free political prisoners, including the BNL leader Khaleda Zia, and the
Jamat I Islami.
These right wing parties emerge from a pro-pakistan
background, with the Jamaat being drawn from ranks of Pakistani collaborators.
They are a reactionary Islamist party which was infamous for it’s lumpen ways
and resort to violence. Soon after, prisons had been attacked, and a general
situation of lawlessness appears to prevail in the country. Reports emerged of
Awami League cadres, and Chattra League (the students union wing of the Awami
league) conducting attacks on Hindu minorities and their places of worship, as
a means to stoke communal hatred and discredit the movement. In opposition to
this, students unions and civic volunteers have gathered to protect minorities
and places of worship.
It becomes clear from the emerging picture that a
concerted strategy is in place to play a game of divide and rule. Restoring
bourgeois right wing parties and their reactionary allies, and inviting a
discredited banker and champion of neo-liberalism to lead the government, is
part of the army’s strategy. The objective being to sow enough chaos and
disorder to finally justify maintaining military control, and ensuring the
capitalist status quo remains unchanged after Sheik Hasina is gone.
In the long run, there may even be an effort led by
India to rehabilitate the Awami League and bring back things to the way they
have been, undoing the hard work and sacrifice of the students and youth.
The current situation and the way forward :
Calm is slowly returning to the capital Dhaka but
scenes of violence and lawlessness in other parts of Bangladesh are still
common. Attacks on minorities by right wing lumpens and those linked with
pro-Jamaat groups are surfacing. Students and civil society members have formed
defense committees for temples and Hindu homes to foil the attacks against
minorities. Indian media is focusing chiefly on this issue, while the right
wing BJP and it’s paid trolls on the internet are spreading false news to
influence Indian public opinion against Bangladesh. Conditions are being
created in India to justify intervention, or to use this issue and spread hate
against Indian Muslims.
The lawless situation in the country is a direct
result of the tactic of the army and the Awami League, along with it’s
international backers. However, it is unlikely that this will last very long.
The army is helping restore some semblance of order for it’s own interests,
while the students protesters have taken the mantle to maintain order in the
streets, and protect against vandalism. The effort to keep communal unity is
one of the greatest strengths of the current protests, had it not been for the
unity of Hindu and Muslims in Bangladesh, the protests would not have succeeded
in overthrowing the Awami League regime. The students have shown a degree of
political acumen in intervening this way, and foiling the strategy of divide
and rule. Even the Jamaat I Islami, known for its hatred for non-muslim
minorities and violence, has come out calling for calm and to defend Hindu
temples. This does not show any change in its basic character, but the
influence of the student protesters and the pressure to keep inter-communal
unity.
The people of Bangladesh have shown that they would
not settle for the state of affairs that existed in the early 1990s or 2001
when the BNP ruled the country. Neither would they accept continued military
rule, the army knows this, which is why they have conceded to the students, and
avoided any crackdowns.
As things stand now, the situation is still acutely
pre-revolutionary. The power of the masses prevail over the state, but there is
no visible organ of dual power on the streets. The protest emerged as a student
protest, with support from the working class, and barreled into a popular mass
movement against an autocratic regime, but it was not led by organizations of
the working class. The students provided political direction, but lacking a
revolutionary perspective, or organized leadership, it has not been able to
prevent the lawlessness that emerged from the freeing of prisoners and right
wing political leaders.
At the core of the protests in Bangladesh, is the need
for unity between working class, youth and peasantry, under a revolutionary
program. In the context of Bangladesh, that means first and foremost
controlling the commanding heights of the economy, The full nationalization of the textile sector, repudiating foreign
debt, comprehensive land reforms, and the building of a secular state which can
guarantee safety of life and limb to all.
An important democratic victory has been won in
Bangladesh with a victory against the autocratic Sheik Hasina government and
the forces of Indian capital. The next victory must be won against the army,
and Islamist reactionaries, to secure this revolution. The people of Bangladesh
must learn from the revolutionary process in Sri Lanka which failed, it failed
so because they were not bold enough to seize power, and lacked any agenda
beyond the immediate political goals. The same must not repeat in Bangladesh !
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