Sanchita Bhattacharya
2024 was a watershed year for Bangladesh, as an elected Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, within seven months of taking oath for her fifth term (and fourth consecutive term) as Prime Minister, was forced not only to resign, but to flee Bangladesh, on August 5, 2024. Later, on August 8, an Interim Government led by Muhammad Yunus, was formed under the aegis of the Bangladesh Army and various Islamic radical elements.
Before Sheikh Hasina’s ouster, Bangladesh experienced violence and vandalism. The protests against the Quota System eventually became fierce in nature. The turmoil started after a High Court decision (June 5, 2024) reinstated a 30 per cent quota for family members of freedom fighters, who had fought during the Liberation movement of 1971. According to the High Court, the Government was free to reform the quota if it saw fit.
However, on July 10, the Supreme Court suspended the High Court’s order for a month, and was set to hear the Government’s challenge on August 7. Nevertheless, commencing on July 14, the protests took a dark turn after a statement by Hasina on television in which she refused to accept any demands of the protestors, referred to them as razakars (members of an East Pakistan paramilitary force that opposed the freedom struggle of 1971 and collaborated with the Pakistan Army in its genocide). Violence intensified as the BTV building was torched on July 18; protestors attacked the former Mayor of Ghazipur, Jahangir Alam, and killed his bodyguard on July 19; and in Narsingdi District, protestors stormed a jail and freed hundreds of inmates before setting the building on fire.
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