When the uprising in Bangladesh replaced Sheikh Hasina’s rule with the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government, it envisioned an end to inequality, injustice, division, insecurity, and corruption. How far have these expectations been fulfilled?
It is quite understandable that such outcomes should not be expected in just two months. But can the government be trusted in its strength to build an inclusive Bangladesh?
The interim government doesn’t have the luxury of failing as it brings about political and institutional reforms to get the country back into democratic transition. It must do justice to the 1,581 martyrs and over 19,000 injured in the struggle for a free and just society. So, how are things?
Failure to tame unrest
First, the interim government has largely failed to control social unrest, leading to widespread discontent. In the post-uprising period, Bangladesh experienced a series of mob lynchings, attacks on shrines, torching and looting of industrial hubs, and violent clashes in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. The labour unrest in the country’s readymade garment factories prompted global apparel brands to shift work orders to India.
The government was found to be active in a few incidents due to huge social media outcry, but in general, its voice was missing pathetically. Instead of taking strong initiatives to solve these problems, Yunus chose to bury his head in the sand. “This is 15 years of your grievances. We cannot solve it in 15 days,” he said in an interview with National Public Radio (NPR).
Even if these are old grievances, should a government allow such violence to unfold? Two months into the uprising, the government is still chasing the ghost of Hasina instead of doing its job. The supporters of the fallen dictator can create unrest because of the interim government’s lack of control.
In the interview with NPR, Yunus responded to a question about the attacks on minority communities, saying, “People are in the mood for revolution … They were killed. So they are looking for people who made their colleagues die. So people were attacking the followers of the party headed by Sheikh Hasina. When you say minority community being attacked, that minority community, particularly Hindu community, was associated with her.”
How can the head of the government talk in such a manner? This patronising tone will not solve the problem; instead, it will encourage more violence in the days to come.
Meanwhile, the interim government’s lack of confidence in dealing with things leads to more unrest. Taking advantage of the situation, different groups are pressuring the government to comply with their demands on a regular basis. For instance, on 14 October, a group of students staged a sit-in protest in Dhaka’s Shahbagh to demand the swift certification of a proposal to raise the maximum age limit for entering public sector jobs.
Five days later, several hundred outsourcing workers from various government institutions blocked the Shahbagh intersection for around seven hours demanding the nationalisation of their jobs, causing severe traffic congestion in the surrounding areas.
Even if supporters of the fallen dictator cash in on the situation, it’s because of the interim government’s inability to handle the crisis.
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Elections, radicals, law & order
Second, Yunus hasn’t clarified the duration of his government. Though the interim government has yet to come up with a definite roadmap for elections so it can hand over responsibility to an elected government, the Army Chief General Waker-uz-Zaman in an interview with Reuters opined that a transition to democracy should be made within 18 months. Such an announcement should have come from the head of the government. This lack of coordination will encourage vested quarters to cash in on the situation.
In an interview with Voice of America (VoA) on the sidelines of the recent UN General Assembly, Yunus seems confident about setting the term for the interim government. “When you hear it from us, that will be the actual date. The advisory council has discussed the term, but no decision has been made yet.”
This is a welcome move; people want to see the army working with the government—not as a parallel government.
Interestingly, Law Adviser Asif Nazrul recently said the national elections could be arranged by the next year after the completion of pre-election preparations such as the formation of a new Election Commission through a search committee. Just a day after, Religious Affairs Adviser AFM Khalid Hossain, said national elections would take place after the completion of state reforms aimed at ensuring stability in the country, reiterating the government’s previous stance of ‘reform first‘.
In response to remarks made by Nazrul and the army chief regarding the election timeline, the religious affairs adviser said, “Those are not the official statements of the government. Prof Yunus has said that when you hear it from the government, that’s when the election will happen.”
This lack of clarity on when elections will take place will welcome more troubles for the government.
Third, the Yunus-led interim government has yet to show confidence in dealing with radical Islamists. One thing is clear: The uprising was for a just and democratic society where all quarters enjoy the same status. However, the government’s confidence caves in when it comes to dealing with radical Islamists.
When a radical group demanded that the venue of Durga Puja—the largest festival of Bangladeshi Hindus—be moved, we hardly heard from the Yunus-led government’s adviser for home affairs. Moreover, the army, which is enjoying magistracy power given by the government, shifted the venue to a nearby ground in consultation with locals. This decision signalled to the radicals that the government is willing to accommodate their demands.
In another incident, the interim government has cancelled the coordination committee tasked with revising textbooks under the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB), as a section of Islamists demanded the exclusion of two committee members, terming them ‘anti-Islam’. Ironically, these two members were critical of Hasina’s government.
Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has expressed deep concerns, stating that the government’s bowing to self-interested radical threats would set a dangerous precedent. Such decisions encourage more demands from radicals, which will prove difficult for the government to handle in the future.
In a recent development, police have arrested the banned outfit Hizb ut-Tahrir’s media coordinator and placed him on a three-day remand. Dealing with extremist elements in society remains a challenge for the government. The demands of radicals are like a cancer symptom that must be treated by creating awareness and holding dialogue.
Fourth, the interim government does not seem to have strong control over the country’s law and order. Yunus said that the police have lost morale owing to how the establishment was used by the previous government as a tool of repression against protesters. Fair enough. How long does the government need to boost this morale back up?
Meanwhile, in the absence of proper law and order, the country has seen a rise in moral policing and vigilante justice. Most of these incidents don’t get reported. In mid-September, videos emerged of a group of men engaging in moral policing as they attacked women with sticks in Cox’s Bazar in the presence of police.
Due to the interim government’s utter silence and negligence in post-uprising Bangladesh, such incidents have become frequent, with the perpetrators believing they have a free pass.
Meanwhile, the prices of essentials keep skyrocketing amid a lack of government initiatives to handle the crisis. Without giving people some relief or inspiring confidence among them, no reform initiatives will see the light of the day. People have to believe that there is a government looking after them. Frustrating as it may sound, the Yunus-led government has failed on this front.
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Overdependence on students
Fifth, the government’s overdependence on students will weaken the institutions it plans to reform. Environment, Forest and Climate Change Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan recently said that her government would ban the use of polythene shopping bags. This is certainly a good move in a country where pollution is a major issue. What is objectionable is that she said students would monitor the polythene ban in superstores. Why students? Why not the government agencies? Are students the authorities now? This is similar to how the Awami League-led government used its student wing to serve its interests.
In the first month of the post-uprising period, it was also found that students were involved in dealing with Ansar members, who were staging demonstrations to realise their demands. Ansar is the country’s largest community-based disciplined force. The government failed to be prudent while handling the crisis, instead opting for the easy solution by unofficially inviting students to deal with it. Yunus solely credits students for a new Bangladesh, but too much endorsement would encourage students to call the shots, complicating the job of the interim government.
Yunus must earn the trust of the entirety of Bangladesh—a country home to different ethnicities, religions, political beliefs, and ideologies. As a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Yunus should not engage in talk that encourages division rather than diversity and inclusion. He must make people believe that he is for all, and not just one segment of society. He must prove that his government can thwart any attempts to destabilise the country. He must show confidence in the interim government’s ability to bring about political and institutional reforms and win support from different political camps.
The Yunus-led interim government must urgently provide people with a sense of relief by strongly dealing with mob justice, moral policing, anti-democratic radical elements, and the price rise of essentials among other things. If stability is ensured, the government will be able to overcome other hurdles gradually. However, failure to ensure social safety will lead to widespread chaos; this is Yunus’ Achilles heel—enough to bring him and his government down.
Abu Farhad is a former journalist from Bangladesh and a doctoral candidate at the School of Government and International Relations, Griffith University, Australia.
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)
New Bangladesh is nothing but East Pakistan. It should declare Urdu as the official language and MA Jinnah as Father of the Nation.
Islamist radicals are the ones who brought Yunus to power. Yunus has all along been a puppet in their hands.
The Islamists knew well enough that they lack credibility in the international forum and hence co-opted Yunus into their project. Yunus is the shield which provides them US and Western backing.
Behind the scenes, the radical mullahs are the ones pulling the strings.