On August 5, 2024, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled to neighboring India to escape three weeks of intense mass protests. Following Hasina’s kill-to-kill orders before fleeing, Bangladeshi security forces killed more than 1,000 Bangladeshis, blinded more than 400 and injured hundreds more. An interim government led by Nobel laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus currently runs the country with the goal of enacting reforms and then transferring power to an elected political government. Hasina’s fall marks a turning point for protests in a state where people have been marginalized, as evidenced by a series of one-sided election fraud and serious human rights violations in 2013, 2018 and 2024.
These meta-narratives about people and power have micro-narratives that explain how Hasina’s authoritarian edifice was constructed over the years. These included serious human rights violations, including state-sponsored creation of a culture of fear, institutionalization of torture, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, perpetuation of large-scale corruption, regional politics, geopolitics, and underestimation of the democratic resilience of the people. But if there was one single most decisive factor that led to Hasina’s escape, it would be the people’s resilience in the face of serious human rights violations. The fall of Hasina’s authoritarian government in Bangladesh can be seen as a quest for human rights and dignity.
According to conservative estimates, at least 2,500 Bangladeshis were extrajudicially murdered between 2009 and 2022, and more than 700 Bangladeshis were forcibly disappeared in secret, illegal prisons. Nonetheless, Hasina’s government has often been portrayed to the outside world as a beacon of economic growth. A journal called Innovation: technology, governance, globalization; The journal, published by MIT Press, has published a special issue on Bangladesh in 2021. The journal featured propaganda essays written by Hasina and concealed the reality of human rights violations by Hasina and her government. While some in Western civil society were diluted by Hasina’s economic growth narrative, others were not. Organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have campaigned and lobbied the U.S. government relentlessly and successfully. In 2021, the Biden administration invoked the Magnitsky Act to impose sanctions on RAB and several senior officials.
The true extent of Hasina’s torture and human rights violations is not yet fully known. The interim report issued by the newly established Commission to Investigate Enforced Disappearances has been made available to selected journalists and researchers, including this author. Committee members visited illegal and legal detention centers of the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DGFI), Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Police Investigation Department, Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crimes Unit (CTTCU), and National Security Intelligence. NSI). It presents horrifying stories of the systematic torture and murder of victims of enforced disappearances in Bangladesh. Victims suffered brutal physical and psychological harm in both civilian and military facilities. This included soundproof rooms and the use of special devices such as electric shock devices for sensitive body parts. Victims reported extreme cruelty, including having their lips sewn without anesthesia, being beaten with blunt objects, and being forcibly amputated. While in civilian facilities, torture was commonplace and took place in shared spaces where officers continued their daily tasks amidst the screams of prisoners, military-controlled facilities displayed a more calculated infrastructure for inflicting pain.
The report also supports how the Hasina government eliminated evidence and killed many victims through enforced disappearances. The victims were often shot in the head, and their bodies were dumped into the river and weighted with cement bags so that they would sink. Other methods included labeling the death as an accident by placing the body on the tracks or pushing the victim into traffic. These killings were part of a systematic and coordinated effort involving multiple security agencies. In some cases, executions were used as an induction ceremony for new employees, highlighting institutional acceptance of such atrocities. This paints a grim picture of how a system designed to silence dissent, instill fear and avoid accountability perpetuates a vicious cycle of human rights abuses and impunity. Against this backdrop, student protests began in June 2024.
This protest was held on the premise of revising the public official quota system. A significant portion, 30% of the inflow to the government, was reserved for the children of the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971. The students alleged that this was a discriminatory system designed to accommodate people linked to the former ruling party, the Awami League. egg). Hasina called the students. Razakars – A derogatory term referring to people who collaborate with Pakistani soldiers to oppose Bangladesh’s independence. This rhetoric made the students more resilient, and Hasina retaliated ruthlessly. Six students died in one day. Among them was Abu Sayed, an English student at a university in Rangpur, who was seen spreading his arms in defiance of police crackdown in social media videos and photos.
Hasina announced a curfew and deployed the military along with other security forces. UN-emblazoned vehicles have been seen on the streets and used against protesters, sparking international condemnation. Bangladesh is one of the largest contributors to UN peacekeeping operations. Under international pressure and sensing that its participation in the UN peacekeeping mission could be at risk, the military suspended Hasina’s participation in the campaign. This boosted the confidence of the protesters who later turned the quota reform movement into a one-point demand movement: Hasina’s resignation.
Bangladesh must faithfully carry out two tasks to ensure a smooth transition to democracy. First, Yunus set up six reform committees to review various sectors of the state, including the constitution, but security sector reform was not included. The Yunus Commission on Enforced Disappearances has uncovered some dark and inhumane practices, but no action has been taken to address these institutions. Elected governments must therefore undertake these reforms to ensure that there is adequate parliamentary and judicial oversight to hold security and intelligence agencies more accountable for their actions. Second, Yunus has held Bangladesh together at a moment of deep crisis, but a government without a formal public mandate is unworkable and elections must be held soon. The Open Society Barometer (OSB) survey conducted by the Open Society Foundation found strong support for civil and political rights in Bangladesh, with 82% valuing human rights and 79% calling for government accountability for rights abuses. . And support for democracy has continued to be strong.
Abroad, Hasina’s sudden downfall offers special insight into an international community that has seemed divided over the past few years. On the one hand, there was the United States, a staunch supporter of democracy and human rights. On the other hand, India, France and most European countries implicitly or explicitly supported Hasina. Going forward, the international community should align itself with the democratic aspirations of the people of Bangladesh rather than prioritizing strategic alliances that ignore these fundamental concerns.
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