The clash underneath

The implicit facts of the violence that broke out in Bangladesh remained almost untold. On the surface, it appeared to be a student movement demanding a reduction in the quota for the children and grandchildren of freedom fighters. I am not repeating the facts about how the students started their protest and began demonstrating across the country. It is also true that during the protest, a large part of the country’s population primarily supported the students' cause. Even some ruling party members sympathized with the protesting students. In the first days of the protest, ruling party leaders reiterated that the decision was pending and that it was now up to the court. But it was obvious to the students that a satisfactory result would not come for them. So, they continued their protest on the streets, insisting that the executive branch should take the decision to reduce the quota. The protesters continued their blockade and obstruction.

But alas! An invisible, brutal force appeared out of the blue to push the students to the forefront and take the protest to a point of no return. At one point, the struggling students felt hindered as they assumed that their demand had turned into a political crisis by other elements. The violence and clashes started to escalate on July 17. What began as peaceful protests on university campuses had metastasized into a violent political uprising by the opposition parties, especially by the Bangladesh National Party and Jammat-e-Islami. So far, more than 200 people have died and one thousand have been injured, either by the law enforcement agencies or by the violent protesters. Under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year rule, Bangladesh has transformed itself into a powerhouse by building new roads, bridges, modern ports, and a fascinating metro rail system in the capital, Dhaka. Bangladesh, however, has never experienced such a scale of vandalism in the 53 years since its liberation war. The agitators sabotaged two metro rail stations, the state-run Bangladesh Television, and burned several multi-storied government buildings. Almost 500 expensive government-owned vehicles were burned to ashes, and many private buses were torched as well. If anyone sees the extent of the destruction, they would apprehend that such misdeeds could not be done by anyone who cares about his country. Man lies, but CCTV footages do not lie. For their political ambition, the sufferings of mass people are enormous. The internet outage has cost local businesses millions of dollars, and the prices of some essential goods have nearly doubled. Additionally, people unable to reload their electricity meters online have been forced to queue for hours outside utility offices. The Court delivered its judgment last Sunday. It finally scrapped the High Court order and ruled that 93 percent government jobs will be merit based. The Supreme Court judgment meets the demands of the majority of the student community but some students have vowed to continue the agitation, which is undoubtedly provoked by the anti-government elements.

This agitation demonstrates once again that the people of the country are deeply divided into two factions. Since the killing of the father of the nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, a right-wing force emerged with the direct support of General Ziaur Rahman, who eventually took control of power. He used Islamic sentiment to divert the populace from a secular setting to a communal upbringing. This trend was continued by his successor, General H. M. Ershad, and later by Khaleda Zia, the widow of the assassinated General Zia. During these periods, a large number of people embraced the idea of befriending Pakistan and adopted its bigoted stance to eradicate secularism from the land.

But Sheikh Hasina, who was for the first time elected Prime Minister of the country in 1996, firmly stood behind secularism and pro-liberation ideology that gave her father spirit to liberate the country from Pakistan. It remained in political tumult during her first term, which ended in July 2001 after a manipulated electoral defeat to Begum Zia. She again won the election in 2008 and since then she swept to a fourth consecutive term in power. Her father Sheikh Mujib dreamt a developed country labeled as Sonar Bangla. She is trying her best to fulfill her father’s dream. The country now exports around $40 billion worth of clothes to the global market. The sector employs more than four million people, many of them women. It means women empowerment has been correctly fulfilled.

Though we have paid our hard-earn money to build these fascinating structures, however, Prime minister Sheikh Hasina spent her blood. Before 1971 Bangladesh was a colony, inasmuch discriminations took place in every field in comparison to West part of Pakistan. In reality we did not have any identity and our existence was shuddered.

Of course the government will ride out this crisis. But it needs to punish the culprits who destroyed state-wealth intentionally. It should be also scrutinized whether there are elements inside government machineries.

Mohshin Habib is an author and journalist