The ouster of Sheikh Haseena Wajid from the Prime Minister’s office, a seat she had occupied uninterrupted for the past 15 years, carries with it many lessons.
The past few weeks in Bangladesh have been marked by protests, violence, and a brutal crackdown on demonstrators that has left hundreds dead. The scenes in the wake of Sheik Haseena’s hasty exit from the country painted a picture of jubilation, with members of the public entering the Prime Minister’s residence and posting pictures from within.
The resignation of Sheikh Haseena seems to have been a popular demand. The protests had first erupted over a High Court decision that overturned an end to the quota system that had existed in Bangladesh’s civil service which gave a disproportionate number of seats to the families of those that had participated in Bangladesh’s independence struggle in 1971. Sheikh Haseena’s government had actually succumbed to public pressure in 2019 and done away with the quotas, and the protests were in response to the court decision, not the government.
Matters quickly soured, however, because of the brutal tactics displayed by the Haseena Administration to quell the protests. The anger of the masses turned towards these tactics and demands for the prime minister’s resignation became the main driving force.
One would remember that Sheikh Haseena’s long rule has not just come to an end because of protests over a single law. The unrest over the quota laws came from an extended period of low employment in Bangladesh and a slowing economy where the traditional breadwinning sector, textile, has suffered serious losses. The anger came because opportunities in the private sector were far and few in between.
While Sheikh Haseena has fled from the scene, the new interim setup will face the same economic problems. In the days to come, this setup would do well to remember that economic problems in a country create resentment within a population, and the suppression of civil liberties proves to be the cinder that sets it alight. As Bangladesh enters a new era, its administrators will best be served by trusting in a fair, democratic process.
