New Delhi: “Hasina’s fall, “unceremonious end”, “South Asia’s longest-ruling autocrat” – Sheikh Hasina’s ouster from Bangladesh has grabbed the world’s eyeballs, and Pakistani media isn’t far behind. “The anti-government movement reached its climax,” noted Pakistan Tribune, as papers explained how the leader who rose as a hope for democracy “compromised her democratic credentials” recently.
The country’s news organisations have delved deeply into Hasina’s tenure and how she led an “economic rebirth” and ended military rule. They also traced Monday’s events, linking them to cracks in governance and a slowing economy. “Her government’s intolerance of dissent gave rise to resentment at home and concern from Washington and elsewhere,” noted Geo News.
Political reporter Rizwan Shehzad called the stifling of dissent under Hasina “a ticking time bomb”. Former Pakistani diplomat Husain Haqqani told Shehzad that the PM’s removal was more than a popular revolt. “It was a mobilization of Islamist extremists, attacks on religious minorities, and finally a military coup,” Haqqani said.
Pakistani media’s coverage of the Bangladesh fiasco focuses on lessons from the incident as well as all that lies ahead. Dawn’s recent article, while opposing “military intervention”, listed important lessons for South Asian countries. “Political repression, mixed with economic frailty, is a recipe for public unrest,” the editorial read. Columnists such as Uzair M. Younus are pointing out the possibility of being “back to status quo”, citing examples from around the world. Still others fear and oppose military intervention in Bangladesh’s governance.
‘Gen Z leading the charge’
The media in Pakistan is also analysing the role of the younger population behind the Bangladesh protests and their key weapon – the internet.
According to the PakistanTribune, “unjustified restrictions on freedom of expression” were the triggering factor behind the unrest. Dawn stated that “Younger Bangladeshis were having none of Hasina’s attempts at painting the protesters as traitors.”
Columnist Uzair M Younus wrote: “Bangladesh’s Gen-Z has signaled to the world that younger generations are not only politically engaged and tech-savvy, but they have the stamina to outlast a brutal regime deploying violence to maintain its grip on power.”
According to Younus – and many others in the Pakistani media fraternity — the protests that initially started as student mobilisation against reservation and high unemployment have brought youth to the forefront. Going forward, these young protesters could possibly influence governance, and share their proposals with the interim government. “They have also shown great clarity on the need to ensure civilian supremacy,” Younus wrote.