NEW DELHI — In a video that lit up social media feeds in Bangladesh, jubilant protesters They climbed to the top of a statue of Sheikh Mujib Rahman, the country’s first post-independence leader, and beat it with iron bars and axes while people below screamed and applauded.
Mobs across the country attacked Rahman’s symbols, while attempting to literally dismantle his legacy and that of his daughter, Sheikh Hasina, the country’s prime minister until Monday, when she resigned and fled in the face of agitation.
The anger that pushed Hasina from power – and that lies behind the effort to erase her and her family – is rooted in the deep economic crisis felt by most people in Bangladesh, as well as the perception that, although they suffered, the elites aligned with Hasina has prospered, analysts said.
“It created deep resentment against the government,” said Ali Riaz, an expert on Bangladeshi politics who teaches political science at Illinois State University.
This ended up triggering a total rejection of Hasina and her increasingly autocratic turn.
Mondays extraordinary scenes – when mobs ransacked her official residence, her party offices and a museum for her father as she fled to India in a helicopter – capped weeks of protests that began with discontent over a quota system for public office allocation which, according to critics, favored those with ties to the Hasina Party.
Hundreds of people were killed as security forces suppressed the demonstrations – violence that only fueled them, even after the quota system was drastically reduced.
It showed that his administration “vastly underestimated how much anger there was among the public and the sources of the anger that went beyond the issue of employment quotas,” said Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center.
The 76-year-old man, the longest serving prime minister in a predominantly Muslim country of 170 million people, he is proud of how he transformed Bangladesh’s economy into a global competitor: fields turned into garment factories, potholed roads turned into winding roads, more girls went to school and electricity reached rural villages.
But this transformation was not shared by everyone and belied the economy’s weaknesses, such as its dependence on exports and persistently high youth unemployment. These were exposed after the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine led his government to seek a $4.7 billion bailout from the IMF.
Eighteen million young people – almost a fifth of the population – neither work nor attend school, according to Chietigj Bajpaee, who researches South Asia at the think tank Chatham House. And the fact that the attribution of public positions was at the center of the initial protests is no coincidence: they were seen as the most stable and well-paid, revealing the widespread insecurity that persisted.
Under Hasina, “the benefits of growth were limited to a small elite within or near the regime,” said Uday Chandra, an assistant professor of government at Georgetown University in Qatar.
Critics also complained that she touted economic advances to cover up her crackdown on dissent, accusing her of restricting press freedom, shrinking civil society and arresting thousands of opposition members ahead of January’s elections. which he won a fourth consecutive term.
Economic successes were “inflated to justify his government and to try to boost development as an alternative to democracy”, Riaz said, adding that allegations of electoral fraud and a boycott by the main opposition parties in the last three elections had contributed to a feeling that she had no legitimacy.
For now, Hasina’s departure is seen as a resounding victory for protesters.
“Everyone is celebrating,” shouted Juairia Karim, a student, as she rejoiced with others on the streets on Monday. “This should be a historic day.”
But Hasina’s ouster also plunged the nation into uncertainty. The ceremonial president Parliament dissolved on Tuesday, when he and the military chief promised to announce an interim government that would lead the country until new elections could be held. It’s unclear how long this process might take — but it could take months or years.
The president also released Hasina’s arch-rival Khaleda Zia, head of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, from house arrest, where she remained for years.
Meanwhile, student protesters demanded that Nobel Peace Prize, Muhammad Yunus — a longtime adversary of Hasina — be placed in charge of the interim government. He could not immediately be reached for comment, but a student leader said Yunus agreed to intervene.
As for Hasina, it is unclear what comes next. On Tuesday, India’s foreign minister confirmed that she had arrived in the country the day before, but did not say whether she would stay or go elsewhere.
And more unrest could emerge – especially if influential military officials try to go beyond their role as mediator. Bangladesh has faced more than 20 coups or coup attempts since independence in 1971.
“In a tense political environment, uncertainty can breed volatility, and volatility can spark more violence,” said Kugelman of the Wilson Center. “The last thing Bangladesh can afford right now is a broader security crisis… and that will depend on the role the army plays in responding to serious threats to stability.”
