INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
prime minister, and the father of the now ousted prime minister, Sheikh Hasina Wajed
Bangladesh is a country steeped in, and a product of, modern history
To understand the significance of this toppled statue, we need to make sense of how the country got to this point.In 1947, Pakistan
comprised two territories: West Pakistan (now Pakistan) and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh)
A chasm opened up between the two halves, driven in part by linguistic difference (Urdu was the national language, despite East Pakistan
In 1970, Mujib, as he was known, led his party, the Awami League, to a spectacular victory in East Pakistan; he won an absolute majority
(160 seats) and should have been invited to form the government of Pakistan
The Awami League had been campaigning for greater autonomy for the east; the west saw that as a potentially secessionist demand.After the
On 25 March 1971, the military unleashed a reign of terror in the east, called Operation Searchlight
Mujib was among the first to be arrested and was jailed in West Pakistan
In the massacres that followed, Pakistani troops killed thousands of students, academics and Bengali nationalists in the first few days, and
over the nine months that followed killed many more, a figure the Bangladeshi government puts at 3 million and recognises as genocide
More than 10 million refugees went to neighbouring India, which supported Mukti Bahini, the liberation movement
Then, in a reckless move, Pakistani aircraft attacked Indian airfields in December, giving India the excuse to formally enter the war
Indian troops overran East Pakistan within two weeks; Bangladesh was liberated; the refugees returned.Mujib was released and made a
triumphant return to Bangladesh
The Awami League won the first elections in Bangladesh with a thumping majority
He undertook several economic measures that western governments did not like
But by 1974 his unpopularity grew, especially after a drought that threatened to cause famine
Militia loyal to him terrorised campuses, and in 1975 he turned Bangladesh into a one-party state, banning all opposition parties
A few months later, in August, he was assassinated along with most of his family in Dhaka
Hasina and her sister Rehana survived only because they were abroad
Bangladesh, and was seen as the harbinger of democracy
Wildly popular, she promised democratic reforms and change, and challenged military rule, most notably by Gen Hussain Muhammad Ershad, who
I met her in 1986 in Dhaka, when as a young reporter I had spent weeks in Bangladesh
She took me to her old family home, where the staircase still carried the bloodstains of her father
She showed me around the house where her family was murdered
After she took office, over the years the house was turned into a museum
in 1996, lost in 2001, and returned to power in 2009
in 2014 and 2024; and while the opposition participated in 2018, it withdrew its candidates within hours due to widespread allegations of
voter intimidation and rigging
In her early years, Hasina took many steps to empower the poor and Bangladesh improved its economic indicators and reduced poverty, boosted
by garment exports and remittances from Bangladeshis working overseas
to senior positions in the bureaucracy and police forces; political opponents disappeared; there were extra-judicial killings; the press was
attacked and newspapers sued; a draconian digital security act placed significant curbs on freedom, and corruption flourished.The proximate
cause of her downfall was a protest among students against preferential quotas in government jobs for freedom fighters and their progeny
There was no sunset clause, meaning these quotas were to stay in perpetuity, and at 30% were vastly disproportionate to the actual number of
It became an exercise in job-creation for those loyal to or close to the Awami League.Instead of negotiating with the students, Hasina dug
students, were killed, and the demonstrators then sought first an apology, then her resignation
She clung on; over the weekend the violence escalated, and another 100 people died, including more than a dozen policemen
She showed no sign of compromise, until the military told her that her position had become untenable, and she left office in disgrace, bound
They feel they are invincible
The Nehrus in India (and many more in almost all political parties, including the ruling Bharatiya Janata party, which is filled with
countries as their personal fiefdoms.To overcome that, voters in Asia, and perhaps beyond, have to think beyond the families that were so
crucial in post-colonial nation-building, and start experimenting with leaders whose claim to leadership rests not in their genes but in
army has now announced that the Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus will lead an interim government, whose task will be to oversee elections
Perhaps this will be the beginning of a process that allows Bangladesh to show the way forward
Salil Tripathi is the author of The Colonel Who Would Not Repent: The Bangladesh War and Its Unquiet LegacyDo you have an opinion on the
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This article first appeared/also appeared in theguardian.com
