Interim government is deficient in fulfilling people's aspirations: BNP

Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to give up power after 15 and a half years in the face of a mass movement by students on this day just six months ago (August 5). She left for India.

Three days later, on August 8, Nobel laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus took oath as the chief advisor of the interim government. The students who led the movement were also involved in running the government.

The head of the interim government, Professor Yunus, took charge of the country by calling for trust in him to restore normalcy from the collapsed law and order situation and build a new country.

However, six months later, political leaders and activists say that the biggest challenge now is to restore the democratic process in the country amid various problems, rumors and incidents.

BNP, one of the two largest parties in the country, has given mixed reactions on this issue. The party claimed that this government, which is moving forward by keeping the constitution in force, is running after many unimportant issues despite ignoring the main issues. The party is also criticizing the Yunus government, alleging that it does not pay attention to the welfare of the common people, such as reducing the price of daily necessities, restoring order in the country, maintaining peace and harmony, and alleviating public suffering.

Strong statements are being made about reforms. However, BNP leaders do not see them as very effective in achieving the goals. Rather, they have also commented that the government is keeping itself away from organizing elections.

BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed said: "The slow implementation of the aspirations with which the people had jumped into such a big mass movement, the mandate with which the interim government came to power, is creating anxiety in the minds of the people. That dream of fulfilling the aspirations of the people is fading away."

"People hoped that the law and order situation would improve. The prices of daily necessities would come down. But it was not possible to do much. Again, restoring democracy was one of the main reasons for this movement. But there is a lax attitude there too," he said.

Salahuddin alleged that this interim government is not providing a roadmap for the elections. Again, they have not taken any effective steps towards the reforms they are talking about and are trying to delay the elections. As a result, the work of reforms is not yet visible.

He also commented that the main task of the interim government should now be to control the prices of daily necessities, organize fair and impartial elections and take forward the proposals for short-term reforms.

Although the inability to control the prices of daily necessities is the main failure of the interim government, BNP Chairperson's adviser Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal said that although this government has had many failures in the last six months, there have also been some successes. They have exposed many corruptions of the Awami League government. Despite various problems and domestic and foreign pressures, they have been able to consolidate the government to move the country forward and have taken initial steps to restore democracy by repealing many black laws.

However, their failures during this time were not small, Alal said, the main tasks of the government were three--establishing order in the country, trying all past crimes and arranging fair elections. Establishing order includes improving the law and order situation, reducing the prices of daily necessities, keeping the economy active and normal, creating new jobs in place of old jobs and maintaining the economic structure until the newly elected government comes.

BNP leaders also said that the government should have moved towards elections quickly. "But we cannot see any effective steps. And the trial, in this case, is completely a mess. Neither the trial is progressing properly, nor are the criminals being caught. Even if we talk about many Awami League leaders who took refuge in the Army Cantonment, no one knows where they are now. That is, there are many things that the government and its subordinate institutions have to prove their goodwill."

"It must be remembered that the longer these works are delayed, the more economic activities will stagnate and the prices of goods will increase. And then the public's support for the government will decrease, not increase."

What happened on August 5?

The quota reform movement that had been going on throughout July turned into a movement to overthrow the government on August 2. After a single march demanding Sheikh Hasina's resignation, millions of people from different classes and professions gathered at the central Shaheed Minar for a rally. It was that day that the first question arose about the future of the Awami League.

Despite knowing that the quota had zero public support, the Awami League continued its desperate attempt to remain in power by using force alone. On August 3 and 4, blood was shed by students and the public. However, the end was not saved. In the continuation of non-cooperation, the anti-discrimination student movement called for a 'March to Dhaka' programme on August 6. Crowds of people broke the curfew and took to the streets.

August 5 began with anxiety and new dreams at the same time.

The day before, the coordinators of the anti-discrimination student movement had called a long march on August 5 instead of August 6, a day earlier. Although there was no national leader, countless people in the country responded to their call.

On the morning of August 5, it was drizzling rain and additional police were deployed around Shahbagh. They took up positions at every intersection in Dhaka. There was also the army. In the morning, people could not gather on the streets. When the mass movement could not be suppressed even with the tear gas and sound grenades fired by the police, the internet was shut down again.

In July, the Awami League government repeatedly tried to stop the student and public movement by shutting down the internet. This time too, their plan was the same. This time, however, none of the plans worked.

As the situation continued to evolve, the situation changed. By 11pm, curfew was broken and thousands of people took to the streets. At one point, important points including Shahbagh and the Central Shaheed Minar became crowded. Seeing the situation deteriorating, former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina left power on the advice of the Army Chief and went to India. Her sister Sheikh Rehana was with her.