On 5 August 2024, at around 2:30 pm local time, people of Bangladesh and diaspora worldwide couldn’t believe their eyes when they watched a video clip, an amateur and blurry mobile recording from a long distance, showing Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina almost running towards a military helicopter next to her sister Sheikh Rehana.
Minutes after, another video clip began circulating on social media and the same helicopter was seen flying between buildings in Dhaka. The destination was unknown, but these videos were sufficient. The streets were already filled with people, and now the elderly, women, and children joined them in Dhaka and across other cities.
At the same time, Bangladeshis in Sydney, New York, London, Paris, Makkah, Madinah, and hundreds of different cities began celebrating their long-awaited freedom, regardless of whether it was morning, noon, or night where they were. The murderer despot finally couldn’t face the people and fled.
For more than fifteen years, Sheikh Hasina maintained her grip on power through increasingly authoritarian measures. This is a period that is marked by extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and widespread arrests and torture. Some people started calling her the “Iron Lady of South Asia”.
In just 20 days, from 17 July to 5 August , more than two thousand people were killed by police, paramilitary forces, and some military units. Most of the victims were schoolchildren and university students.
Many died from sniper fire or shots fired from helicopters and armoured vehicles. Some were shot in the head at close range while standing on the street in broad daylight. Thousands more suffered severe injuries, losing eyes, legs, or limbs.
When the military finally refused to carry out her order to open fire on the millions marching toward her residence, the so-called “iron lady” quickly fled the country in a helicopter.
The cruel and megalomaniac ruler quickly went to a nearby district in India, and from there, she was moved to an air force base near Delhi, India’s capital. The Indian government has always been supportive of her in exchange for her absolute loyalty.
Now, from there, she is trying to come back to Bangladesh. Her daughter, a Bangladesh government-appointed WHO official, had already been living in India.
Her abrupt departure left Bangladesh in a constitutional crisis. The Army Chief, who is also a family relative of Sheikh Hasina by marriage, seemed to be the person running the country.
It took three days to gather a group of prominent citizens, including two representatives from the student movement, to form an interim government led by Dr Muhammad Yunus, Bangladesh’s only Nobel Laureate.
Fifteen years is a long time, during which only loyalists of the Awami League, Sheikh Hasina’s party, have been recruited and appointed to jobs and positions across all government departments, judiciary, police and military.
Despite two months passing since the change in leadership, little has been done to address the systemic injustices that plagued the country by the previous regime.
The media, police, and government officials still are mostly Awami League supporters, keeping the country’s situation unstable.
Furthermore, once the initial euphoria has faded now, many are comparing the current interim government with a similar military-backed interim government that ruled Bangladesh from 2006 to 2008.
That interim government ultimately made a deal with the Awami League to facilitate a manipulated national election. As a consequence, the country and its people have suffered for more than fifteen years.
If history were to repeat itself, it would be the most unfortunate outcome for those in Bangladesh who advocate for democracy and human rights. The nation is literally standing at a crossroads with an uncertain future.
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