Jon Danilowicz
Following a period of relative quiet, former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina again sparked unrest in Bangladesh on the six-month anniversary of her ouster by a student-led popular uprising.
She angered those who participated in ending her brutal dictatorship by giving a speech on Feb. 5 via social media – from hiding in India – during which she alleged that the interim administration, which was formed by a consensus after she fled Bangladesh, was an “unconstitutional” power grab.
And she further inflamed passions by urging her supporters to resist the interim administration.
The protesters decided to send a message by destroying the former home of Hasina’s father, the independence hero Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, around whom his daughter built a cult of personality during her tenure.
News clips uploaded on social media site X showed no footage of Hasina’s controversial speech, focusing on the destruction of the memorial – playing on a loop scenes of protesters setting fires in the building and taking hammers to its walls.
It is likely that Hasina and her supporters intended to provoke just such a response from the students. Predictably, her Awami League party highlighted the events as evidence of the growing lawlessness in the country.
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