The people of Bangladesh have never seen such a victory, nor have they seen such a fall. The image of Dhaka during that coup in 1970, the scene of mass uprising in 1990 is still vivid. On the day when military ruler Ershad went to Bangabhaban and resigned and handed over power to Justice Sahabuddin Ahmed and returned to the cantonment, the city of Dhaka was alone in processions. But there is no comparison between this procession and that procession, this mass awakening and that mass awakening. Various parties including Awami League, BNP, Left Alliance led the movement against Seber Ershad. Against Ershad, the All-Party Student Struggle Council was formed. Professionals also joined them. But this movement was not led by any political party. Conventional student organizations also did not take to the streets in that way. Anti-discrimination student movement led. They were not student leaders in that sense. The movement centered around quota reform was led by ordinary students, some of whom were student organizations but most were ordinary students. They also showed rare unity in the leadership of the movement. No movement with more than hundred coordinators and co-coordinators has been formed in this country in the past. There was no misunderstanding between the six coordinators detained in the DB office even after the government announced the withdrawal of the programme. The coordinators outside said that they did not give this statement voluntarily. In the beginning, their movement was an innocent demand for quota reforms in government jobs. In 2018 too, the students protested and won the quota reform. When a court ruling stripped them of that victory, the students began to protest. When they were neglected, they became angry. The youth who were agitating for the quota reform were between 20 and 22 years old. They were born long after independence. Many of the agitators are children of freedom fighter families. He couldn’t accept mocking those young people as Razakar’s grandsons or children. They broke the silence of midnight and came out in groups. Till then the movement was peaceful. Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader’s provocative words turned into chaos, when the BCL leaders attacked the agitators with sticks. He even attacked the students under treatment in the hospital. Since then, the campus movement has spread to larger streets. The 9-point movement led to the resignation of Sheikh Hasina’s government in the 1st point. In the last few days, not the streets of Dhaka, but the entire country became the open space of the movement.
On August 3, the gathering of students and students at the central Shaheed Minar turned into a sea of people. People of various professions, starting from parents with children in their arms, old people, young people, women came to taste the liberation. At that time Shaheed Minar seemed to be the free stage of democracy. Government officials who returned from office also came with the leaders and workers of various parties. They were scattered in groups. They were supporting the students by singing songs, drawing pictures on the road and chanting slogans. He expressed his anger against the coercion of the government. At one point, the student quota reform movement became a state reform movement. In response to their spontaneous movement, the leaders and workers of the government party carried out the rampage with pistols and guns, and more than a hundred people died on Sunday. Even before this, more than two hundred people had to be killed by law and order forces and party leaders and workers at various stages of the movement. All-out mass awakening took place across the country centered around the students’ March to Dhaka program. Ignoring the curfew of the government, people started coming to Dhaka from morning. Thousands of people entered Dhaka in groups after breaking the barricades of law and order forces. News came from different places that so many people have gathered in Mahakhali. People are coming in procession from Gabtali. At this stage, all the entrances of Dhaka became caravans of people. People are going towards Shahbagh in groups. There are students and youth as well as people of different classes and professions. Rickshaw drivers, vegetable sellers, grocers, hawkers, who is not in the procession? The crowd was going from north to south. In the meantime, news came that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has left the Ganabhaban. In a moment everyone ran from south to north. In the direction of Ganabhaban. Not only from this road, people are going to Ganobhaban from all sides of Dhaka city. going The incident of sacrifice of more than 600 people in the movement against is a rare event not only in the political history of Bangladesh, but also in the history of the recent world. In this movement in Bangladesh, some scenes have been seen which indicate major changes in the politics of Bangladesh in the coming days.
Through the politics of division and division, Sheikh Hasina virtually turned Bangladesh into a mafia state. Sheikh Hasina created several levels of privileged classes in the administration of the state. Where first importance was given to his family and relatives. At least 9 members of the Sheikh family were members of parliament. Then there were some youngsters of his son Sajib Wazed Joy’s choice. Not merit or merit, they were a mastanchakra of the same age as Jai. This gang was involved in the loss of state resources by carrying out various types of propaganda with the slogan of so-called Smart Bangladesh. They were accompanied by a business oligarch class and civil and military officials of the administration. During Sheikh Hasina’s one and a half decade rule, the police, BGB and civilian bureaucracy were completely left under the control of the BLA. Where the only qualification for appointment, transfer and promotion was involvement with BCL politics. A few brutal men were appointed to the judiciary, whose main aim was to execute as many people as possible. The criteria for promotion and benefits became who could carry out the most death sentences. This phenomenon has been seen from the District Court, the so-called International Court to the Supreme Court. The task of the court was to impose oppressive punishment on the leaders and activists of the opposition political parties and dissenters. As a result, justice and rule of law disappeared from Bangladesh.
Overall a bloodthirsty police administration and judiciary was built up. Sheikh Hasina’s justification for every killing and persecution was that the victims were anti-independence. Even in the privileged class he created, he favored a special group by speaking of forces for and against independence. Gave unfettered license to injustice and misdeeds. As part of this divisive strategy, he called the young students Razakar’s grandchildren. The most popular slogans of the angry students in the student movement of 2024 were Tumi ke-Ami ke Razakar Razakar, ke hai-ke hai swairachar-swairachar. The youth who participated in the student movement caught Sheikh Hasina’s strategy of divisive politics early on. This is because they were able to unite students of all ideologies. The only identity there was the student. As a result, the participation of common people in the united movement of students started to increase. Because common people understand that it is a movement without divisions and divisions. Right and left, Islamists have all joined the student movement. The people of Bangladesh became united through the student movement. As a result, the downfall of the divisive Sheikh Hasina’s regime accelerated.
This is the first time we have seen students from public universities, private universities, madrassas and schools and colleges participate together in the student movement in Bangladesh. In the divisive politics of Bangladesh, the students were able to bring everyone under one umbrella. The main force behind the success of this movement was the visionary strategy and policies of the students. We saw many rare sights on the streets. I have seen the participation of students and common people from all walks of life, Hindu-Muslim, beard-hat hijabi-non-hijabi. Some Hindu students sacrificed their lives in this student movement. The most important aspect of the movement was the participation of women. In the past, women did not participate in any movement in Bangladesh. Sheikh Hasina’s aim was to create fear among the agitators and prevent them from taking to the streets. Because of this, he chose to kill people by shooting indiscriminately. Over two hundred people were killed on the first day of the students’ complete shutdown programme. There were many women and children among them. The people of Bangladesh have failed this strategy of Sheikh Hasina with their blood. The more people were killed under his orders, the more people joined the movement. Women took to the streets with their children. Female students are more involved in this movement. They realized that to stop the killing and persecution of their brothers, it is not possible without Sheikh Hasina’s departure. As a result, the student movement took the form of a phase of the downfall of Sheikh Hasina. It became the largest student-public movement in the history of Bangladesh. Women’s participation in the student movement will be a source of inspiration for a new political force in Bangladesh. Sheikh Hasina took away all basic rights of people in Bangladesh during her 18 years of dictatorship. The key to his rule was intimidation. This intimidation was done through the administration, the courts and the corrupt forces of his party. As a result, many people in Bangladesh gradually stopped speaking out against the unjust regime out of fear. He thought the people of the country accepted his oppressive rule. But the people of this country never accepted his fascist rule, they were waiting for a united voice. Students create the environment for people to speak.
The people of Bangladesh have never seen such a victory, nor have they seen such a fall. Arrogance, arrogance, indolence, tendency to humiliate people of opposing views without giving respect and dignity, and taking disastrous decisions surrounded by flattery have led Sheikh Hasina to a terrible fall and dire consequences. He became more reckless and terrifying, not realizing that he was bringing on his own doom. His late actions had angered all the people of the country in a row. Then the students’ anti-discrimination movement turned into a one-point demand for the end of the misrule of the autocratic dictator Sheikh Hasina and her resignation. The culmination of which was his resignation and flight from the country. Finally taking refuge in neighboring countries. From a popular leader to a fearsome autocratic statesman, he has been condemned at home and abroad even earlier.
Author : Retired banker and columnist