DHAKA, Bangladesh — Within a week of oust Bangladesh’s longest-serving prime ministerthe students who expelled Sheikh Hasina were directing Dhaka traffic.
Dressed in neon vests, their college IDs hanging around their necks, they wield sticks and umbrellas to wave cars back and forth, filling the void after the police went on strike. They stopped drivers, checked their licenses, and scolded them for not wearing seat belts. Some opened trunks of cars they thought might belong to officials from the previous government, searching for smuggled wealth.
Not only have the students patrolled the roads, but two of those who led the charge against Hasina are settling into the interim government they established just days after she resigned and fled to India in a military helicopter.
Before Hasina was overthrown by the student movement with astonishing speed, she was considered one of the country’s most unwavering leaders. In total, she ruled for more than 20 years, recently winning four consecutive terms as her rule became increasingly autocratic.
The question now is what’s next in a country yet reeling from violence around his expulsion that left hundreds dead. The students hope to restore peace and democracy and create a “new Bangladesh,” said Asif Mahmud, one of the protest leaders now in charge of the Sports and Youth Ministry.
“We have a great responsibility,” he said. “We never thought, we never had the ambition to take on such responsibility at this age.”
“There is pressure, but also confidence,” says Mahmud, 26.
He student-led protests It began with a demand to abolish a quota system for government jobs that they said favored Hasina’s allies, but they united in a full-scale revolt against her and her Awami League government. Clashes with security forces and the resulting deaths fueled broader outrage against Hasina’s government, and students have harnessed a wave of popular support.
But concerns are also being raised about his lack of political experience, the scope of his ambitions and, crucially, how long it will take the interim government to organize elections. Student ministers, along with protesters, have already said that before holding any vote, they want to reform the country’s institutions, which they say have been degraded by both the Awami League and its rival, the dynastic Bangladesh Nationalist Party. .
Experts warn, however, that the interim government has not been elected and therefore has no mandate to implement major changes.
The government, headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus Whoever was elected by the students, “should keep in mind that their main responsibility is to hold elections,” said Zillur Rahman, executive director of the Center for Governance Studies, a Dhaka-based think tank. “They should not make any political decisions.”
Yunus, an economist and longtime Hasina critic, is known worldwide for his pioneering use of microcredit to help the poorest of the poor, but he has also never led a government. He has made it clear that students will play a critical role like never before: “Every ministry must have a student,” he said.
Controlling traffic for a few days is one thing, but potentially appointing students to ministries could make them “power-hungry” at an especially sensitive time, Rahman said.
Nahid Islam, the other student-turned-minister, acknowledged they have no experience in governance but said the courage and determination they showed in ousting Hasina was proof they can get things done.
“We believe that students who have managed to lead an uprising… and citizens are capable enough to build the nation,” said Islam, who was born in 1998 and now heads the Ministry of Information and Technology.
In the wake of Hasina’s overthrow, students organized protests and issued ultimatums against authorities considered close to her, demanding that they resign. Six Supreme Court judges, including the chief justice, and the central bank governor resigned in recent days.
“A modern government cannot function on that pattern,” said Mahfuz Anam, editor-in-chief of The Daily Star newspaper, adding that some steps have been taken toward a stable transition process.
Many of the students who spent the last few weeks protesting agree. They want the interim government to be neutral, but insist that it should not be linked to the main political parties either. his generation has little connection with.
Alvi Mahmud, an 18-year-old student, said that if the interim government does a good job, then “people will not want the BNP or the Awami League or any old, traditional party. They will want a change. “They will want a new way of life.”
The burning question is when new elections can be held. Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, a senior BNP leader, told reporters on Monday that the party told Yunus it would give the interim government reasonable time to create a conducive and democratic environment for the elections.
This could create “a sense of calm in the political environment,” Anam said. It could also give student leaders time to mobilize politically before the elections.
“We are not thinking about a political platform yet,” said Islam, the new minister. “But a young generation is ready to lead this country, that generation has been built.”
For now, the country and its students are trying to come to terms with the horror of the past few weeks. More than 300 people were killed and tens of thousands injured as security forces cracked down on protests.
Students are sweeping the streets that until recently were a battlefield stained by the blood of their friends. They are clearing debris from homes and university campuses destroyed by violence. And while some police officers have returned to the streets after a strike, many students have stood by them to help direct traffic.
At an intersection in the heart of the city, a statue of Hasina’s father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh’s first leader after its independence in 1971, used to tower over the constant flow of traffic. Filled with anger and joy after Hasina fled, the protesters knocked him down.
A few days ago, the site of the statue was defaced with graffiti against it, “Hasina, you smell like corpses” was scrawled on the walls. Now, students have covered those words with murals that represent unity and their fight for change.
“We salute those who fought for our victory,” someone wrote in red and green, the colors of the Bangladesh flag. “We are one,” said another.
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