Hasina’s ouster

MASSIVE anti-government protests have forced Sheikh Hasina to step down as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh and flee the country in the wake of widespread violence that claimed over 300 lives in just three weeks. A democrat who turned into a dictator, Hasina had it coming. She chose to ride roughshod over the people’s aspirations and took them for granted. The dramatic turn of events has happened barely seven months after a controversial general election that was boycotted by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and other Opposition parties. Hasina had stormed to power for the fourth time in a row, but the allegations of rigging and strong-arm tactics tainted her victory. Desperate to drum up support for herself and her government, she visited India and China in recent months, even as trouble was brewing at home.

The Hasina regime grossly mishandled the agitation launched by students in protest against 30 per cent reservation in government jobs for relatives of freedom fighters who won independence for Bangladesh in 1971. The Supreme Court slashed the quota to 5 per cent, but the government’s reluctance to release the arrested student leaders enraged the protesters, who upped the ante against Hasina. The public anger was exemplified by a mob vandalising a statue of her father, ‘Bangabandhu’ Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who spearheaded the country’s liberation movement.

The developments are reminiscent of the 2022 protests in Sri Lanka that led to the ouster of the Rajapaksa brothers. The next government in Bangladesh will have to address the burning issues of high youth unemployment, economic stagnation and inflation. New Delhi, which enjoyed good ties with Hasina-ruled Dhaka, will have to recalibrate its strategy in view of the colossal churn in the neighbouring country. With the return of Pakistan-aligned BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami imminent, India needs to be wary of adverse headwinds in the subcontinent.