INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
senior leader in the opposition Bangladesh National Party (BNP), had been picked up by police three weeks earlier, in July, as mass protests
began to engulf the country and a violent crackdown began in response
university students, not opposition parties, who started the protests
As their movement began to gather momentum and public anger swelled against Hasina, the BNP and other parties also took to the streets,
alongside garment workers, farmers, lawyers and intellectuals.The state hit back at protesters, using beatings, teargas, rubber bullets and
history.On 5 August, Chowdhury became aware that the prison cells around him, filled with arrested students and BNP members, were abuzz
Some had smuggled in radios and were listening to the news as it began to be reported that Hasina had fled in a helicopter as almost a
At the request of the triumphant student leaders, Mohammed Yunus, the Nobel Laureate and former political rival of Hasina, agreed to return
to the country from the US to head an interim government, tasked with restoring democracy
Many of the advisers Yunus has appointed were once deemed enemies of the state by Hasina, including prominent NGO heads, lawyers,
journalists, activists and students.A giddy optimism still grips the streets of the capital Dhaka
having to fearfully look over their shoulders as they discussed politics.Sitting in a hotel lobby in Dhaka, renowned human rights activist
Nur Khan Liton recalled that, until a few weeks ago, he had been under constant police surveillance and could never have imagined being able
to hold meetings freely in public
BNP leaders, many of whom were slapped with hundreds of criminal cases, revelled at no longer spending their days sitting in courtrooms or
jail cells.Yet the country still has yet to return to normality and remains in a state of insecurity
For the past month, hundreds of factories have been shut down due to mass protests, bringing the lucrative garment industry to an
absent from the streets, fearing attacks by civilians
Several police stations have been set on fire and in many instances, civilians have taken to calling student groups rather than the police
to help resolve incidents or report injustices.This week, in what many saw as a bid to get the law and order situation under control, the
interim government granted the military special powers to carry out policing duties, including arrests and search warrants
While the government insisted the measure was only temporary, lasting two months, the move was viewed with some concern.Analysts say the
everything from the police to the judiciary, the banks and the electoral system to ensure that authoritarianism can never take hold again
Ahmed Refat, a protest coordinator who is studying law at Dhaka university
We have a long way to go with reforming the government secretariat, the police and the judiciary
who took to the streets, if the government did not move faster and clearly lay out the specifics of their reform agenda soon, students would
trying to take on too much
government admitted that the weight of expectation was enormous and the pathway to reform was fraught with challenges, particularly as
Hasina left the country in deep economic crisis
stepped up simply to implement a new vision of Bangladesh that the youth have sacrificed their lives for
intend on staying in power
While initially it was suggested it would be just a few months, many now believe it could be up to five or six years, in order to give them
Activists tasked by the government to look into issues such as enforced disappearances said it would take them 18 months minimum just to do
suggestions of the unelected interim government lasting several years
Others warned that an ongoing political vacuum could enable more extremist Islamist elements, already present in Bangladesh, to take greater
hold.But on the streets, most remained hopeful for the future
Gazi Jakaria, 35, was among about 400 people who was partially blinded during the protests after he was shot at by police and then held in
jail for several weeks with no treatment
This article first appeared/also appeared in theguardian.com
