The Fall of Sheikh Hasina and the Rise of ….?
Sheikh Hasina has fallen, the question is who will rise in her place?
When the quota movement began, I spoke to my Bangladeshi friends and wrote in support of the Bangladeshi students’ struggle against unjust quota system. The crackdown by the Sheikh Hasina government on the students and protestors and calling them ‘Razakars’ was condemnable and uncivilised. It was Hasina’s brutal retaliation that fuelled anger till things came to head and finally she had to flee the country. Her rule came to an end much like all dictators meet their end.
The end of the Hasina era was met with great jubilation and yet one was uneasy at the disturbing images of Sheikh Mujib’s statues being hammered by miscreants, and even more, the images of the Dhaka University and the Bangladeshi Parliament being vandalised. One supports the overthrow of dictators and to some extent one can even understand the vandalism in Sheikh Hasina’s official residence, but why heap anger on the Father of the Nation and why on earth should anyone who claims to be supporter of democracy destroy the Parliament? After all, the Parliament is the living symbol of a constitutional system – seeing it under attack by hooligans was quite dreadful.
One of the strongest comment against my previous article in support of the Bangladeshi students’ movement came from a veteran journalist Arunangsu Roy Chowdhury who predicted that the quota movement was only a ‘front’ for Pakistan/China sponsored Anti-India politics. According to him this was not a spontaneous struggle by students at all but was supported by Islamist forces who were pro-Pakistan. He was also asserted that the quota movement would ultimately end up creating massive problems for India, especially in West Bengal. There were others who also shared similar misgivings. I feel that as with all mass movements, this too had people of all shades – there were democracy-loving students, intellectuals, people who were suffering under authoritarian rule and there were also rabid fundamentalists and political opportunists – to that extent the eclectic crowd reminded me of the Anna Hazare movement in Delhi. The important question today is which section will ultimately prevail in Bangladesh? At present there is a caretaker government led by the military which should be a temporary arrangement. We should certainly have faith or at least hope that ultimately a strong, inclusive democratic government committed to the rule of law will emerge at the end of the negotiation process.
Meanwhile the social media is already filled with news of the attacks on temples and churches in Satkhira, Jessore, Khulna, Faridpur etc. and of Muslim youths protecting Hindu temples in some places. The Bangladeshi army too has shared phone numbers which people should contact if their homes or temples are attacked. It is terrible that things should take such a turn. It is a travesty if the battle against an unjust quota system and battle against the dictator Hasina should end up becoming a battle against minorities. Hopefully good sense will prevail in our neighbouring country and the people will be protected, irrespective of their religion.
My home in Chandrapur, Maharashtra is a stone’s throw from Bengali Camp – many neighbours are Bengali refugees who fled East Pakistan in 1964 and 1971 due to communal riots and persecution and having heard their stories I hope fervently that history will not be repeated.
As far as common Indians are concerned – students who were studying in Bangladesh are faced with an uncertain future. They don’t know if or when or under what circumstances they will return. Indian government should address their concerns as a priority. Apart from other concerns like security along the 4000k borders, there is also the worry that West Bengal will suffer economically as certainly Bangladesh is an important business partner. With the Petrapole land port and other contact points sealed, business will nosedive. If indeed refugees begin entering India in large numbers, it will create problems – in might even lead to President’s Rule in the eastern States, because certainly Mamata Banerjee will not be able to tackle security and refugee issues in West Bengal.
On a personal note, I was in my village Gopal Nagar, North 24 Parganas in June this year and visited the border with my cousin. I went up to Petrapole and also the borders where India has installed barbed wire fencing. I was filled with deep nostalgia and longed to visit Bangladesh, see the country which my father and grandparents left many decades ago, seeking a new life in India. My dream of travelling to Bangladesh is unlikely to come true in the near future. Rebuilding Shonar Bangla will take time.
- Paromita Goswami
