In August 2024, thousands of students cast a spell for freedom, offering their blood and lives to oust a prime minister who turned herself into the enemy who shall not be named. After 36 days, a dictatorial regime of 15 years and seven months toppled in Bangladesh, a south Asian country with a population of 170 million. To Bangladeshis, the fall of Sheikh Hasina depicts the most iconic event in the Book of Samuel in the Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible: ‘The Victory of David over Goliath’. During the 1971 liberation war from East Pakistan, Bangladeshis sacrificed three million of their own people for three objectives: democracy, discrimination-free society, and social justice. For the last 53 years, the country has existed in a democratic experiment, but has democracy truly prevailed? Bangladeshis were dissatisfied with the country’s leaders, and when violence swept the streets and the youth were butchered, the public came out and said, ‘This is unjust. We cannot stand for this, we cannot tolerate such atrocities against our people.’ That is why this change has come. The then-ruling Awami League prevented people from speaking their minds. The media was muzzled. Voices were silenced. There was a climate of fear. A perfect storm of these factors sparked the revolution—or the second independence, as this uprising has been dubbed.
August revolution in Dhaka
On 1 July 2024, what began as a student protest asking for reforms in the unfair quota system in public service recruitment gradually turned into an anti-government movement incited by the brutal reaction from the authorities. The ruling party unleashed its cadres, the Chhatra League and Jubo League, armed with machetes and firearms, on unarmed protesters. People were killed and tortured in the harsh crackdown. Excessive use of violence from the police force, elite force (Rapid Action Battalion), and extrajudicial night raids in protesters’ houses were reported in almost every local media outlet. From 12 July to 3 August, a total of 400 people were killed, with victims including 6-year-old Riya Gopi, 19-year-old Liza Akhter, and 60-year-old Maya Islam. Four journalists were also killed while covering the protest. Thousands were shot and sustained serious bullet wounds. It was one of the most violent demonstrations in the country’s history, and sparked a fire among 42 million youths. Social media platforms—Facebook and X—were flooded with the hashtag #StepDownHasina. To silence the voice of millions, the ruling Awami League-led government shut down the Internet from 18 to 23 July and 4 to 5 August, isolating citizens from the rest of the world. To suppress the masses, Border Guard Bangladesh officers were deployed, and a curfew announced. Several TV broadcasters, such as Jamuna TV and Desh TV, were shut down as a warning. Journalists were up against an iron fist.
According to Dhaka Metropolitan Police, a total of 286 cases of illegal gatherings, rioting, assaulting law enforcers, and property damage were filed in the country’s capital from 12 July to 3 August. Of these, 3058 people were arrested, and a total of 450,000 were anonymously accused of being a protester. Two local rappers—Hannan and Shehzan—were arrested and taken into remand for producing protest songs in solidarity with fallen souls. Six coordinators of the protest were detained by the police and confined at the detective bureau against their will for several days without any regard for their individual rights or the law. On the surface, the government was open to negotiation, yet there were block raids at nights during which law enforcers came hunting for offenders. Innocent citizens were arrested and framed for murders committed by the police—even ones that were recorded, like student reporter Abu Sayed’s death. He was fatally shot by police on 16 July in an incident that was captured on camera, but several Begum Rokeya University staff members, including two teachers, were temporarily suspended on suspicions of their involvement in his death.
Violence shook the nation. On 4 August alone, the death toll reached nearly 100 people—the deadliest single-day protest in the nation’s history. Public anger mounted, and student protesters called for a ‘March to Dhaka’ on 5 August. The entire community came out in support of the campaigners; civilians from all walks of life stood as a nation united against the ruling party. It was then that law enforcers realised that the situation was beyond salvation and counselled Hasina to resign. Reportedly, she initially refused and advocated for employing even more force to subdue the crowd. The army refused. Finally, admitting defeat, Hasina fled the country to India.
On 1 July 2024, what began as a student protest asking for reforms gradually turned into an anti-government movement.
The movement has been hailed as a Generation Z revolution, spurred by young Bangladeshis’ anger at years of jobless growth, allegations of kleptocracy, and shrinking civil liberties. The history of the August Revolution is painted through the immense sacrifice of the nation’s youth, who braved bullets on the streets and torture in jail cells in the name of civil justice.
The story of Sheikh Hasina
On the surface, Hasina appears to be a visionary who ushered in an era of economic and social development. One of the standout achievements under her leadership is the country’s standing in the political empowerment subindex. Bangladesh ranks seventh globally, attaining 55.2% gender parity, according to the World Economic Forum’s 2023 Global Gender Gap Report. Under the Hasina government, Bangladesh ranked best in South Asia in gender equality for nine consecutive years. Various international organisations credited Hasina for leading the nation’s progress. In 2016, UN Women awarded Hasina with the ‘Planet 50-50 Champion’, and the Global Partnership Forum presented her the ‘Agent of Change Award’ for her role in women’s empowerment. And in 2014, she was awarded the ‘WIP Global Forum Award’ from Women in Parliament and UNESCO for her leading role in reducing the gender gap in the South and Southeast Asian political sphere. That same year, Hasina also received the ‘Tree of Peace’ Award for promoting girls’ education.
Her stint as the leader of the nation was viewed as an era of female empowerment. Hasina herself is the longest-serving female prime minister in the world. Under the Awami League-led government, women held 23.2% of seats in the national parliament, the highest percentage in South Asia. In 2011, Hasina increased the number of parliamentary seats reserved for women from 45 to 50. Notably, 23% of members in local government bodies were women, amounting to 15,704 elected women during her governance. Women in Bangladesh have become a key driver of national development, improving access to healthcare, education, and the workforce as well as increasing economic participation. To attain such goals for women’s development, the Hasina government approved the highest allocation in history for the human resource sector in the budget for the 2018–19 fiscal year. To boost school education, Hasina distributed 350 million books among more than 40.9 million preprimary, primary, and secondary schools across the country at the beginning of every academic year. This initiative set a rare example in the world. The country has made significant progress in improving literacy rates and increasing enrollment in secondary and tertiary education over the past decade. Not only did Bangladesh achieve a parity score of 93.6% in the Educational Attainment subindex, the literacy rate among women aged 15–24 has increased to 95.8%.
But beneath superficial appearances, Hasina’s reputation is far from unblemished.
In 1996, Hasina won her first term with the Awami League. She lost the second in 2001. On 29 December 2008, Hasina won her second term in a landslide victory, defeating her main rivals, BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami. BNP boycotted the next general election held on 5 January 2014, and Hasina’s party clinched 234 seats in parliament. In 2018, BNP attended the election, securing only 6 seats, and accused Hasina of rigging the vote. With its demands for a caretaker government and a fair election, the BNP and most of the political parties again boycotted the 2024 election. The United States and the European Union published a statement that the latest election was not won on a fair basis, but Hasina was supported by India, China, and Russia.
To her supporters, Hasina is the driving force behind Bangladesh’s rapid development and a victim of political terrorism. But to her critics, she is a corrupt, egoistic authoritarian who silenced every dissenting voice in a bid to hold onto power.
Press freedom—or lack thereof—under Hasina’s iron throne
‘For the past 15 years, Bangladesh was nothing but a one-party police state. And press freedom was pretty much nonexistent. Journalists had to work under an immense level of threat, especially from security agencies and also from the ruling party. They had to self-censor a lot. If they wrote foul of security agencies or ruling parties, they were subjected to retaliation through draconian laws. There were also legal measures like the threat of torture and forced disappearance. As Facebook was the main platform for Bangladeshis to exchange information in relative freedom, the Sheikh Hasina regime tried to control that as well through massive levels of digital surveillance and black laws, like the Digital Security Act, which was later named the Cyber Security Act.’
–Tasneem Khalil, an exiled Bangladeshi journalist and editor in chief of Netra News, on the era of Sheikh Hasina.
The movement has been hailed as a Generation Z revolution, spurred by young Bangladeshis’ anger at years of jobless growth, allegations of kleptocracy, and shrinking civil liberties.
Just like many other authoritarian regimes, the former prime minister abused her power to control people through digital surveillance measures such as tapping phone calls and forced disappearances. At the time of writing, Bangladesh is ranked 165th among 180 nations in the global press freedom index, placing above only Afghanistan among South Asian countries. In a report by the Centre for Governance Studies (CGS), it was asserted that a total of 451 journalists were sued under the Digital Security Act, and 97 journalists were arrested. The CGS report shows that at least 4,520 people have been charged in 1,436 cases filed between October 2018 and September 2023. According to Human Rights Watch, 56 journalists were reportedly targeted by the Hasina government and its supporters in the first three months of 2023. During Hasina’s tyrannical leadership, a total of 23 journalists were killed in Bangladesh, and 561 were wounded. Justice remains a far cry for the families of slain journalists. On 11 February 2012, Sagar Sarwar and Meherun Runi, a journalist couple, were brutally killed in their rented flat in west Razabazar in the capital. In the last 12 years, there has been no progress in the investigation of this shocking crime despite promises of justice from the former law minister and minister of home affairs. The victims’ families accused the Hasina government of protecting the individuals responsible on several occasions.
Khalil, along with AFP fact checker Qadaruddin Shishir, faced several smear campaigns and persistent cyber harassment by the Hasina-led Bangladesh Awami League’s propaganda cell Centre for Research Institute (CRI) and pro-government outlets. On 12 April, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) issued a statement condemning the suppression of investigative journalism in Bangladesh.
A Nobel laureate and interim government
With the swearing-in of a new interim government of Bangladesh following the truly phenomenal student-led mass revolution, the country has effectively entered into a new social contract. Nobel Peace Prize-winning economist Muhammad Yunus was tasked with leading a nation out of chaos. ‘I will uphold, support, and protect the constitution,’ Professor Yunus vowed as he was sworn in as the head of Bangladesh’s interim government on 8 August.
Humayun Kabir, the former Bangladeshi Ambassador to the United States, is optimistic about this change.
‘I think there is huge expectation on the part of the people. Why? This is a new opportunity to remove all the garbage that has accumulated in governance. Bangladesh is one of the most discriminatory societies among many developing countries. The rate of the growth of [the] rich is [extremely fast] in Bangladesh, and as a result of that, there is a huge divide between two segments of population. It looks as if we live in two different economies—one is the economy for a few people who are rich, and the [other] economy for those who are middle class and poor. And recently, because of the inflation, particularly after COVID, the lives of the common people [is] very difficult, very challenging. Our economic sufferings are partly responsible for corruption at a very high level. We have seen cases where government officials and senior government officials are involved in massive corruption. Huge amounts of money are being laundered from this country. So, people very quickly understood that our sufferings were not because of any external factor, but internal factors. State is a social contract between the ruler and the ruled. Now, it’s time we built a new social contract. The young people are talking about state reform and restructuring. The kind of governance we had has to change so that people can get new opportunities and social justice. So, when Professor Yunus came and formed the government, people are now looking at those windows of opportunity. Because Professor Yunus is a highly respected […] as a promoter of justice, freedom, liberty, and opportunities, people are genuinely expecting that this is [the] time society will transform. […] This interim government is the result of a successful youth movement. This is momentum for Bangladesh, and people have high hopes that Dr Yunus will start a new process. There is lots of optimism in the air.’
Lingering concerns
Following the resignation of Hasina, India’s favoured candidate as Bangladesh’s head of government, a crucial question emerged: What will the Modi government do next? India is Bangladesh’s biggest neighbour. The nations share a 4,096-kilometre-long border, the fifth largest in the world. Today, Bangladesh is also India’s biggest trade partner in South Asia. Now, Delhi views the events in Bangladesh as a setback for security, trade, and connectivity and a possible loss of Indian influence. Over the last decade, the Indian government actively supported the Awami League at the expense of the civil liberties of people in Bangladesh. On 5 August, when Hasina left Bangladesh and landed at an air force base near New Delhi, she was received by none other than Ajit Doval, the head of the Indian security establishment who oversees the external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). And with the ousting of Hasina, there have been signs of frostiness between the Modi government and the Yunus-led interim government.
A career diplomat for 30 years and former Bangladeshi Ambassador to the United States, Kabir suggests it is high time for India to do some introspection.
‘Leadership is a component in bilateral relationships between two states, but there is another component—people—particularly when we are neighbours. Bangladesh and India have multi-dimensional interests, so in the short term there will be a little bit of unhappiness. Modi and Sheikh Hasina were on good terms, so there is undoubtedly a sense of loss and frustration [from the former]. But at the end of the day, I think what should take precedence is the fact that Bangladesh and India are neighbours; we have to work together. So, the priority is the people of Bangladesh. [India must] acknowledge the fact that the young generation has chosen a different path, they have rejected the regime. This younger generation also proved that regardless of how much support external forces provide, the fact is that unless the people stand behind it [and] accept it, it does not last. I would urge our Indian friends to understand and appreciate this change in society and maintain the bilateral relations between the people of the two countries. We need each other, and that reality must be acknowledged by India.’
A blooming economy: opportunities and challenges
Bangladesh is a remarkable story of poverty reduction and development. From being one of the poorest nations at its birth in 1971, it is now the second-largest economy in South Asia and the 35th largest in the world in nominal terms. As one of the world’s fastest-growing economies over the past decade, the country has been classified as a ‘Next Eleven’ emerging market and one of the ‘Frontier Five’ emerging economies by Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan respectively. The Bangladesh textile industry is the second-largest in the world, home to 60 of the top 100 LEED Green Garment Factories globally, including nine out of the top 10, and 18 out of the top 20.
Bangladesh has proven its ability to move from relying predominantly on agriculture and the ready-made garment industry to an expansive economy ranging from leather and footwear to plastics, light engineering, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment, agriculture and agribusinesses, jute, electronics, IT, automobiles, shipbuilding, and ceramics. Today, Bangladesh is the third-largest producer of rice and vegetables and the fourth-largest producer of freshwater fish. It is also becoming a powerhouse in pharmaceutical exports, now exporting drugs to around 160 countries on top of fulfilling nearly 98% of local demand. It has even become a major player in the bicycle-making industry, with the European Union importing an estimated 18 million bicycles from Bangladesh annually, according to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB). Plastics is another major industrial sector making a significant contribution to the economy. In January 2024, exports hit an all-time high of USD5.7 billion, an 11% increase from 2023. According to the Huawei Global Connectivity Index 2019, Bangladesh is one of the four fastest-growing digital economies and is already the ninth-largest internet user in the world. In late 2023, the Mastercard Economics Institute (MEI) reported that Bangladesh was predicted to become the second fastest-growing economy among 46 countries, second only to India, in 2024. Additionally, in its April 2024 Outlook, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) predicted 5.8% GDP growth and 9.7% inflation. The September report also forecasts that Bangladesh’s GDP growth will be 5.1% in 2025 and inflation 10.1%. Clearly, the country is primed for further development in the short term. Most importantly, the strength of Bangladesh’s young population bodes well for the continued diversity of its sectors. The nation’s population totals at over 170 million—of which about 70% is aged below 40, 45% is aged below 24, and 28% is between the ages of 15 and 29. Its 2022 youth literacy rate is at 94.8% an increase of more than 20% from a decade ago.
Her stint as the leader of the nation was viewed as an era of female empowerment. But beneath superficial appearances, Hasina’s reputation is far from unblemished.
Dr Mahfuz Kabir, research director of the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies states, explains the backdrop of recent Bangladeshi national and political events thusly:
‘Bangladesh’s economy performed impressively well before COVID-19. The country attained nearly 8% average growth of GDP at the end of the 2010s. Subsequently, the cumulative effect of the pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine-war had a very negative [impact] on the economy. Massive depreciation of the Bangladeshi taka, burgeoning inflation, and decreased private investment-to-GDP ratio led to a downfall in GDP growth. Even though government statistics demonstrated a reduction in the unemployment rate, the reality was that e-commerce, f-commerce, informal occupations, and outsourcing were the main sources of employment because manufacturing and formal services were not providing jobs for millions of the youth. Educated youth [in particular], who comprise the majority of the unemployed persons, were heavily frustrated because of corruption, mounting income inequality, and unequal opportunity in public sector jobs, among others.’
At present, Bangladesh is aspiring to be an upper middle-income country by 2031. To achieve this, Bangladesh needs to create millions of jobs through its business environment, build a skilled labour force and efficient infrastructure, establish a policy environment that attracts private investment, resolve financial sector vulnerabilities, and implement fiscal reforms to generate more domestic revenue for economic development. Additionally, addressing vulnerability to climate change will help Bangladesh become resilient to potential debilitating impacts of future climate events. But fundamentally, the protection of its citizens should be Bangladesh’s foremost priority.
The dilemma of Hindu minorities
According to the Bangladesh constitution, ‘The state religion of the Republic is Islam, but the State shall ensure equal status and equal rights in the practice of the Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, and other religions.’ The constitution stipulates the state should not grant political status in favour of any religion and bans religion-based political parties. It also states that any person attending any educational institution shall not be required to receive instruction in, or participate in ceremonies or worship pertaining to, a religion to which he or she does not belong. Despite these clear instructions, attacks on the country’s Hindu community in recent times have become a serious concern. With a 91% Muslim majority, Hindus represent a mere 8%. Since the country’s independence in 1971, Hindus have historically supported the predominantly secular Awami League parties rather than the opposition bloc, such as Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami (BJI), an Islamist party. So, when the Awami League suffers a defeat, like when Hasina lost the election in 2001, the Hindu minority group bears the brunt.
Particularly horrifying is the case of Purnima Rani Shil, a 12-year-old Hindu girl living in Sirajganj District. Her home was attacked by 30 to 40 men on 8 October 2001, shortly after Hasina’s party lost the national election and the BNP, led by Begum Khalida Zia, assumed power. Purnima was gang raped. In addition to this, her sister lost her eyesight, and her family’s business, a hair salon, was looted twice. Her family was forced to flee the village. At the time, four people associated with the BNP and BJI were arrested but never charged. The trial for these crimes started only after the Awami League returned to power. On 4 May 2011, 11 men were sentenced to life imprisonment over their involvement in the rape of Purnima. Purnima received financial support from Hasina, then-leader of the Awami League, for her education and was provided a job as a personal assistant to State Minister of Information Tarana Halim after she graduated.
Hindus are not the only community at risk. According to the 2022 national census, approximately 400,000 Roman Catholics, one million Theravada-Hinayana Buddhists, and a few thousand to 100,000 Shia Muslims, Ahmadi Muslims, and atheists live in Bangladesh. Several heinous hate crimes against the Buddhist, Shia, and Ahmadi communities committed by radical Islamists have been reported in recent years. The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council and the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad reported that there have been 205 incidents of attacks on minorities across 52 districts since the fall of the Hasina government. Social media was flooded with reports of Hindu properties and temples being attacked. Thousands of people of all ages flooded the streets and protested against the violence being inflicted on minority groups.
This has elicited international reactions. On 15 August, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed concern over the increasing attacks on Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh. Indian-American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi has also urged US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to end the violence against Hindus in Bangladesh.
Similarly, Alik Mree, president of Adivasi Chhatra Sangram Parishad—an organisation working for the promotion and protection of Indigenous rights in Bangladesh—passionately calls for the protection of Indigenous groups. ‘At various times, Indigenous people have been denied [legal protection and recognition] and [handed] discriminatory laws, government orders, press notes, etc. Now it is time to [rectify this]. Since the interim government has been formed with the main spirit of eliminating discrimination, my demand is to abolish all forms of discrimination against tribals. […] The fundamental rights of education, health, culture, and their human rights must be ensured.’
According to the 2011 census, the country’s Indigenous population numbers approximately 1,586,141, which represents 1.8% of the total population. Indigenous people in the country, however, claim that their population stands at almost 3 million. Since 2011, the government has stopped acknowledging that the state has any indigenous peoples. A similar claim had been made by the Bangladeshi delegate to the 9th UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in 2010. In 2022, an internal official memo circulated in the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development, stated that ‘steps should be taken to publicise/broadcast in the print and electronic media that there are no Indigenous people in Bangladesh’. The 54 Indigenous communities with 26 different languages have deliberately and systematically been forgotten. And an estimated 1.5 million of these communities are girls, women, and children facing severe discrimination and violence. In 2020, there were a total of 61 violent incidents against Indigenous women and girls, including rape, physical assault, and attempted rape. Findings of the Kapaeeng Foundation, an Indigenous rights organisation, showed that between June 2013 and June 2017, there have been a total of 364 cases of human rights violations of Indigenous women and girls.
Protecting the rights of all citizens, not just the majority group, is of utmost importance as Bangladesh embarks on a new political chapter. ‘You need a state that would be absolutely friendly to minorities, regardless of their ethnic, religious, racial, gender, and sexual identities. Protecting minorities should be one of the major measures addressed by the state. For that, the political system needs to be more inclusive. Unless you [amend] the political spectrum, I doubt you [will] get a lot of things out of that. In my view, the aforementioned minority categories should have at least 20 reserved constituencies to raise their voices in the parliament,’ Dr Sowmit Joydip, assistant professor ar BRAC University, Dhaka, said on the existing disparity in Bangladeshi society against minority groups.
The iron cage and Bangladesh’s judiciary
‘The judiciary is the last hope and aspiration to restore the rights of citizens in a country,’ Mohammad Abdul Hanna and Md. Arifuzzaman wrote in their 2021 study. However, the Bangladesh judicial system has always been politically motivated by the ruling party. In 2007, the judiciary was separated from the executive through a landmark judgment. But due to immense government influence, the legal system rarely functioned independently.
‘Professor Yunus is one of the best examples in relation to the political harassment. […] It is a gross violation of laws and an abuse of process to convict him by the Labour Court of Bangladesh,’ Barrister Khaja Tanvir Ahmed, panel lawyer of Dr Yunus, said on his 2024 conviction.
The priority is the people of Bangladesh.
Several cases were filed against Dr Yunus that are considered politically motivated and vengeful. Over the years, Hasina has called him ‘bloodsucker’, ‘usurper’ and more. During the most recent court proceedings in July 2024, the 84-year-old Dr Yunus was made to stand in an iron cage in court. In an interview with the media at that time, the Nobel laureate said, ‘Forcing people into iron cages is a great insult to the nation. No one should be subjected to iron cages. The purpose of coming here is to seek justice, not to be humiliated. We should not tolerate this humiliation.’
‘We hope the new non-political interim government will be free from any undue influence on the judiciary, and the judiciary will work independently as per the Constitution of Bangladesh,’ Tanvir Ahmed adds. But the legal system in Bangladesh is overwhelmed. According to the recent report of the Law Commission, a total of 4.2 million cases are still pending in courts across the country. There is only one judge for every 94,444 people in Bangladesh. In comparison, India has one judge for every 47,619 people, and in Pakistan every 50,000 people. Until these infrastructural issues are resolved, the effectiveness of the Bangladeshi legal system in protecting its citizens will continue to flounder.
A dream of 170 million: Hatikvah for Dhaka
If you landed in Dhaka today, you might be astonished to witness students and children as young as 12–13 years of age painting the walls of this 400-year-old city. In every street wall and road, even houses, murals of pro-democracy, pro-freedom, and pro-revolution messages decorate the cityscape. Walls now serve as a vibrant canvas that reflect the future of a nation. This is what the youth are dreaming of. Graffiti has become the new language of freedom in Dhaka.
Bangladeshis are dreamers and always believe in Hatikvah (hope). As a native, I am hopeful for the future of my country. If we can correct the system, we will have a real democratic process. We can have fair, dynamic, and progressive democratic governance in this country. I am hopeful because Bangladesh always surprises me.
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