Photo courtesy of Oneindia
After the shocking fall of Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh enters a new era with a non-partisan government headed by US-backed businessman and Nobel laureate, banker Muhammad Yunus. The Hasina regime fell in a massive student-led uprising. Following the end of her rule, the country experienced widespread destruction of sculptures, academies, museums and libraries. The devastation included statues of the country’s founding president, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Nobel laureate Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore, pioneer modern Bengali artist Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin, pioneering feminist writer Begum Rokeya and the country’s 1971 liberation war heroes. The perpetrators looted banks, zoos, shops and houses.
The culprits also raped many girls and women. They burned hotels where several people, including foreigners, were killed. They vandalized Hindu temples, killed and evicted ethnic minority families, particularly Hindus. Secular-minded Muslim families were also under attack. Hundreds of children, women and men were killed. They burned music studios, artworks and musical instruments. They destroyed mazars (shrines) similar to what ISIS did in Iraq and Syria. They even demolished the Indira Gandhi International Cultural Centre and the National Academy for Children.
They destroyed transportation, schools and hospitals. They also vandalized prisons and helped many prisoners escape. Who are they? Do they seem like Islamist fanatics carrying the legacy of the Taliban, ISIS or al-Qaida? What continues to happen in this Muslim majority secular country is alarming. Does it not resemble the events that took place in Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq and Syria in the 2010s?
What we are witnessing in Bangladesh today is difficult to describe in words. Despite emerging as a secular, progressive, socialist country through the War of Liberation in 1971 under the leadership of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the country’s fundamental principles have been eroded by successive regimes, both military and civilian, over the last five decades.
Sheikh Hasina’s regime was credited with significant development but was also criticized for its failure to control corruption and being authoritarian. She attempted to balance secularity with Islamist forces in a country where 91% of the 170 million population are Muslim. In this context, more than 80% of the Muslim population desires Sharia law in Bangladesh similar to Afghanistan, Morocco, Niger, Pakistan and Iraq, according to an analysis by the Washington-based Pew Research Center.
Knowing this, instead of finding other ways to curb the growing fanaticism, Hasina prioritized compromising with Islamist groups to maintain control and run the country under a liberal, semi-progressive capitalist regime. Despite the secular image of her party, the Awami League, the leadership accepted many demands from Islamist groups that contradicted the party’s manifesto and the principles of the country’s first constitution. In the 1980s, a military ruler imposed Islam as the state religion, disregarding the country’s 1972 constitution, which was founded on four principles: democracy, socialism, nationality and secularism. The country’s secularism and socialism began to deteriorate in the late 1970s after the assassination of its founding leaders and Bangladesh has yet to fully recover.
The situation has now reached its worst point concerning secular and progressive culture. After the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government, Hindu families in some 30 of the 64 districts came under attack. Many are trying to flee. Foreigners and diplomats are leaving their posts. Amid this fanaticism, authorities have failed to maintain control. In some instances, soldiers were seen standing by as mere spectators. Military personnel were even observed participating in the destruction of the founding father’s statue.
Immediately after the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s regime, the army chief held a meeting with leaders of the banned Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami, among others. The leader of the military-backed, non-partisan government in Bangladesh, Muhammad Yunus, has been friendly with both Islamist and nationalist groups in Bangladesh and with Western countries. However, he has not been friendly with the political group that supports the 1971 revolution. Many accuse him of being a blood-sucking banker who exploits the poor and a Western favorite advocate for privatization. This could ultimately hinder the country’s return to its roots as a welfare state with secular culture and democracy. The current circumstances suggest that the Islamist and military-backed Yunus regime could be a replica of Hamid Karzai’s government in Afghanistan. If this speculation proves wrong, it will be a relief for all.