The case in summary: After violent demonstrations in Bangladesh that resulted in over 450 deaths, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India. Young protesters are now back on the streets to clean up and paint over crass slogans with positive messages. The students have appointed Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus to lead a transitional government. The challenges going forward will be to create an independent system for the court, the press and various institutions, as well as to fight corruption. There is concern about what the right wing, with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Islamist party Jamaat, might come up with. Sheikh Hasina and her government were accused of widespread human rights violations, including the persecution and killing of political opponents. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. More than 450 people were killed during the violent demonstrations that ravaged Bangladesh for several months. The protests ended with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina (76) fleeing in a helicopter and going to India last week. The protesters are back on the streets, but this time it’s to clean things up. Students paint over old murals that deal with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League party, and introduce new revolutionary slogans Photo: LUIS TATO / AFP Positive slogans – The people should see that if the students and all of us work together, we can build the country, says Nafisa Sara (19) to AFP. With paint and brush, they cover up harsh slogans, where they call Sheikh Hasina the “murderer dictator”. The demonstrators want the youngest to inherit an optimism. A group of fellow students paint a picture on a pavement wall. It shows a bird flying out of the cage it has been trapped in. – The bird is free. We are independent now, says Abir Hossain (21) to AFP. Murals encourage people to celebrate the rebirth of Bangladesh. The students have appointed Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus to lead a transitional government, The walls of Dhaka are being cleaned of previous political messages. Photo: INDRANIL MUKHERJEE / AFP – Skeptical When asked whether the optimism will last, Arild Engelsen Ruud, professor of South Asian studies, answers: – Well. He explains that the challenge will be to create a system where the court, the press and various institutions are independent of the government. And, to put in place laws that cleanse the parties of corruption. – In that case, it would be good news for Bangladesh, says Engelsen Ruud, to news. However, it is not that simple. UiO professor Arild Engelsen Ruud Photo: Olaf Christensen – The original student uprising was a genuine popular uprising against a corrupt and self-glorifying regime, but eventually it became clear that political parties on the right also mobilized, says Engelsen Ruud. The right wing, led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), was probably as corrupt as Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League when it ruled. The BNP stands with the Islamist party Jamaat, and also unsettles the secular forces in Bangladesh. – Many are anxious about what BNP and Jamaat can come up with. Few doubt that they will try to displace the Awami League and the left-wing parties from electoral participation at the next crossroads, says Engelsen Ruud. The railway reopened on Tuesday, after being closed due to the demonstrations. School boys buy train tickets at Kamalapur station. Photo: LUIS TATO / AFP Demonstration against the quota system Despite the desire to start with a blank slate, the anger towards the resigned prime minister has not gone away. Sheikh Hasina’s government was accused of widespread human rights violations. It concerns, among other things, the persecution and murder of political opposition figures. A quota system that was removed in 2018, but reintroduced in June, set tempers ablaze. The demonstrators believed that the scheme gave advantages to children of the government’s supporters. The quota system ensured that one in three public posts went to people who were related to those who fought in the Bangladeshi liberation war of 1971. The country’s Supreme Court put the quota system on hold, but that did not dampen the protests. The demonstrations led to destruction. The photo shows the wreckage of police cars that were set on fire. Photo: LUIS TATO / AFP – Just shoot me straight in the chest A court in Dhaka opened on Tuesday that a murder investigation can be launched against Sheikh Hasina, and six of her collaborators. They are accused of the murder of a grocery store owner, who died when the police cracked down on the demonstrations. One of the murals highlights the first student killed when the police cracked down on the protests. The image of Abu Sayeed has long since become fixed on the nation’s retina: the 25-year-old stands defiantly against the riot police, with his arms out to the side. The text reads what should have been his last words: “Just shoot me straight in the chest”. Demands investigation Student organizations have in recent days called for Sheikh Hasina to be extradited. A police officer points a gun at protesters during protests against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government, August 05, 2024. Photo: Rajib Dhar / AP – She must be brought back and she must be brought to justice, says Mohiuddin Rony (25). Sheikh Hasina, for her part, is demanding an investigation into the events that led to her resignation, and is calling on her supporters to take to the streets. – I demand that those who were involved in the murders and the vandalism must be thoroughly investigated and that the perpetrators be punished, she writes in a statement, according to AFP. Hear also: Published 16.08.2024, at 13.13
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Students overthrew the regime in Bangladesh
