By Ahmede Hussain
Bangladesh, nestled at the mouth of the strategically important Bay of Bengal, has ousted its dictator without any foreign help. TheSouth Asian nation of 171 million is often overlooked because of itssmall landmass. For decades, the Westhas turned a blind eyewhile former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her party, the Awami League (AL), riggedone general electionafteranother in what became the Indian subcontinent’s longest dictatorship.
During Hasina’s rule, human rights and therule of lawtook a back seat. The Directorate General of Forces Intelligence — the Bangladesh Armed Forces’ defence intelligence agency — ransecret detention centresand Hasina’s government putfive million membersof the opposition on trial— the equivalent ofthe entire population of Ireland. Before she was ousted in amass upsurgeand fled to India inamilitary cargo plane,her government killed542 peoplein 18 days,65 of whom were children.
One reason why Hasina was able to cling onto power for so long was because she enjoyedIndia’s unwavering supportfor her regime. The Indian establishment’s friendship with the AL has a long history — during Bangladesh’s Independence War in 1971, India provided the AL-led Bangladesh government in exile with military and diplomatic support.
India also has security and strategic concerns when it comes to Bangladesh. Northeastern India, which iseightper centof the country’s landmass, is landlocked and connected to the mainland through the 20 kilometre-longSiliguri Corridor, also called the Chicken’s Neck. This part of the country consists of seveninsurgencyprone statesthat share their border with Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Burma and China. Hasina’s regime made sure that these insurgent groups could not take shelter in Bangladesh bypushing their leaders backto India.
India returned the favour by supporting Hasina at home and abroad. Between 2022 and 2024, the United States made severalattempts to punishhuman rights violators in Bangladesh. But India lobbied Washington to tone down its criticism of the regime in Dhaka, stating that India would not be ‘[taken] … as a strategic partner’ without ‘some kind of strategic consensus’ on Bangladesh. Faced with Indian pressure, the Biden administration softened its tone and in post-Hasina Bangladesh, runs the risk of being seen as a paper tiger.
The biggest loser inBangladesh’s ‘Second Independence’ is India. Ordinary Bangladeshis are understandably struggling to separate India from Hasina’s Awami League. On the day of her fall, theIndira Gandhi Cultural Centre— the seat of India’s soft power in Bangladesh — wastorched. The building was the only foreign establishment attacked in the uprising.
Protesters roamed the streets of the capital and pulled down statues of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Hasina’s father, who the former prime minister occasionally used to shore up support. There have been indiscriminate cases of robbery and looting. Homes of minority Hindus and their places of worship have been attacked.
The question of the role of the Islamists in Bangladesh’s future democratic polity is a thorny issue. In late August 2024, the interim government, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus,lifted a ban on Bangladesh’sJamaat-e-IslamipartythatHasina’s administrationimposedfor itsallegedinvolvementin terrorism. The Islamists, albeit a vocal minority,never wonmore than 22seatsin a 300 member parliament.
In August 2024Jasimuddin Rahmani, leader of theAnsarullah Bangla Team(ABT), wasreleasedon bail. The ABT shares its ideology with Al Qaeda andwasbanned by the governmentin 2015. Even though the ABT represents a fringe element in Bangladesh, it is capable of taking advantage of any power vacuum that may emerge.
Bangladesh’s new government hasa lot on its plate. To confront the nation’s violent past, it should open an office of missing persons to investigate cases of enforced disappearances. It shouldalsohelp with anindependent commissionrun by the UnitedNationsto probe intohuman rights violations committed in the lead up to Hasina’s ousting.
To prevent future dictatorships and coups d’etat in a countrywith ahistoryof overambitiousgenerals, it is necessary to form a special tribunal todeterminecommand responsibility. Officials of the Bangladesh Armed Forces who were deployed to quell the protests should be stripped of any command responsibility in thearmy. Those inthearmy who shotat people’s peaceful protest must face trial.
The Rapid Action Battalion and the DirectorateGeneral ofForcesIntelligencemust be disbanded. Some members of thearmed forces were evidently involved in crimes against humanity as torture cells inside theDhakaCantonmenthave been found. The UnitedNations shouldput a moratorium on hiring members of the Bangladesh ArmedForces in its peacekeeping missionsuntil trialsof Bangladesharmy officials involved in crimes against humanitybegin.
An overhaul of Bangladesh’s police and judiciary is the order of the day. Bangladesh needs a new constitution that will reflect the hopes and aspirations of its young people and all ethnic minorities. The UnitedStates, Australia and Bangladesh’s other Western partners canredeem themselvesby helping the country in its rebuilding efforts.
- About the author: Ahmede Hussain is a Bangladeshi writer and journalist. He is the editor of The New Anthem: The Subcontinent in Its Own Words. He has just finished writing his first novel. His X handle is @AhmedeHussain.
- Source: This article was published at East Asia Forum