UKBengali
Elite Member
How exactly did you translate this post as US having any hand in the deposing of Hasina?
Bangladesh Socio-Political Crisis 2024 and onwards
- Thread starter Al-Zakir
- Start date
How exactly did you translate this post as US having any hand in the deposing of Hasina?
vasanthm
SpeedLimited
We are not a dictatorship to put personal relations above national interests
ghazi52
THINK TANK: CONSULTANT
Sheikh Hasina: The pro-democracy icon who became an autocrat
Anbarasan Ethirajan and Tessa WongBBC News
Ms Hasina has overseen Bangladesh's economic progress but critics say she has also turned autocratic
Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed has resigned and left the country after weeks of student-led protests spiralled into deadly, nationwide unrest.
The 76-year-old fled in a helicopter on Monday to India, reports said, as thousands of protesters stormed her official residence in the capital Dhaka.
This brings an unexpected end to the reign of Bangladesh's longest-serving PM, who has been in power since 2009 and ruled the country for more than 20 years in total.
Credited with overseeing the South Asian country's economic progress in recent years, Ms Hasina began her political career as a pro-democracy icon.
However, in recent years she has been accused of turning autocratic and clamping down on any opposition to her rule. Politically-motivated arrests, disappearances, extra-judicial killings and other abuses have all risen under Ms Hasina.
In January she won an unprecedented fourth term as PM in a January election widely decried by critics as being a sham and boycotted by the main opposition.
How did Sheikh Hasina come to power?
Born to a Muslim family in East Bengal in 1947, Ms Hasina had politics in her blood.Her father was the nationalist leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh's "Father of the Nation" who led the country's independence from Pakistan in 1971 and became its first president.
At that time, Ms Hasina had already established a reputation as a student leader at Dhaka University.
Her father was assassinated with most of his family members in a military coup in 1975. Only Ms Hasina and her younger sister survived as they were travelling abroad at the time.
After living in exile in India, Ms Hasina returned to Bangladesh in 1981 and became the leader of the political party her father belonged to, the Awami League.
She joined hands with other political parties to hold pro-democracy street protests during the military rule of General Hussain Muhammed Ershad. Propelled by the popular uprising, Ms Hasina quickly became a national icon.
She was first elected to power in 1996. She earned credit for signing a water-sharing deal with India and a peace deal with tribal insurgents in the south-east of the country.
But at the same time, her government was criticised for numerous allegedly corrupt business deals and for being too subservient to India.
She later lost to her former ally-turned-nemesis, Begum Khaleda Zia of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), in 2001.
As heirs to political dynasties, both women dominated Bangladesh politics for more than three decades and used to be known as the "battling begums". Begum refers to a Muslim woman of high rank.
Observers say their bitter rivalry has resulted in bus bombs, disappearances and extrajudicial killings becoming regular occurrences.
Ms Hasina eventually came back to power in 2009 in polls held under a caretaker government.
A true political survivor, she endured numerous arrests while in opposition as well as several assassination attempts, including one in 2004 that damaged her hearing. She has also survived efforts to force her into exile and numerous court cases in which she has been accused of corruption.
Propelled by the pro-democracy movement in the 1980s and early 1990s, Ms Hasina became a national icon
What has she achieved?
Bangladesh under Ms Hasina presents a contrasting picture. The Muslim-majority nation, once one of the world's poorest, has achieved credible economic success under her leadership since 2009.It's now one of the fastest-growing economies in the region, even surpassing its giant neighbour India. Its per capita income has tripled in the last decade and the World Bank estimates that more than 25 million people have been lifted out of poverty in the last 20 years.
Much of this growth has been fuelled by the garment industry, which accounts for the vast majority of total exports from Bangladesh and has expanded rapidly in recent decades, supplying markets in Europe, North America and Asia.
Using the country's own funds, loans and development assistance, Ms Hasina's government has undertaken huge infrastructure projects, including the flagship $2.9bn Padma bridge across the Ganges.
What is the controversy surrounding her?
The latest protests were the most serious challenge Ms Hasina faced since taking office, and follows a highly controversial election in which her party was re-elected for a fourth straight parliamentary term.Amid increasing calls for her to resign, she had remained defiant. She condemned the agitators as “terrorists” and appealed for support to "suppress these terrorists with a firm hand".
The latest unrest in Dhaka and elsewhere began with a demand to abolish quotas in civil service jobs but turned into a wider anti-government movement.
In the wake of the pandemic, Bangladesh has been struggling with the escalating cost of living. Inflation has skyrocketed, its foreign exchange reserves have dropped precipitously, and its foreign debt has doubled since 2016.
Critics have blamed this on Ms Hasina's government's mismanagement, and say that Bangladesh's previous economic success only helped those close to Ms Hasina’s Awami League due to endemic corruption.
They also say the country's progress has come at the cost of democracy and human rights, and allege that Ms Hasina's rule has been marked by repressive authoritarian measures against her political opponents, detractors and the media. The government and Ms Hasina have denied such allegations.
But rights groups have documented hundreds of cases of enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings by security forces since 2009. Last year Human Rights Watch accused her of a "violent autocratic crackdown" on opposition supporters.
Why is the Bangladeshi government facing so much anger?
In recent months, many senior leaders from the BNP were arrested, along with thousands of supporters following anti-government protests - a remarkable turnaround for a leader who once fought for multi-party democracy.
Ms Hasina's government flatly denied claims it was behind abuses. but it also severely restricted visits by foreign journalists wanting to investigate such allegations.
Circadian Rhythm
Banned
Both US and China are wooing Bangladesh
Let us see who wins
Let us see who wins
Joe Shearer
Professional
Yes.
I did not predict the failure of the BJP to take the then Prime Minister's lead.
nahtanbob
Elite Member
USA, Japan and EU own Bangladesh's exports. They can cripple Bangladesh on a flip
Circadian Rhythm
Banned
So that is why US State Department was welcoming This development
I still don't understand why we were supporting someone who
Was in power for 15 years
Anti Incumbency is a Reality all over the World
ghazi52
THINK TANK: CONSULTANT
Protesters ransack chief justice's residence in Dhaka, loot valuables, cars
CJ Obaidul Hassan had departed the premises just moments before the attack, narrowly avoiding harmNews Desk/AFPAugust 05, 2024
PHOTO: REUTERS
DHAKA: In the wake of Prime Minister Hasina Wajid's resignation amid nationwide protests, a group of demonstrators attacked the official residence of Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan in Dhaka.
The protesters, who had been demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Wajid, vandalised the property, smashed furniture and looted valuables, including cars.
Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan had departed the premises just moments before the attack, narrowly avoiding harm. However, the security guards stationed at the residence were unable to prevent the protesters from entering.
It is pertinent to mentioned here that Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajid has stepped down from the post in the face of mass protests demanding her resignation.
Earlier reports had said that the prime minister had left the capital Dhaka, a source close to the embattled leader said.
"She and her sister have left Ganabhaban (the premier's official residence) for a safer place," the source told AFP. "She wanted to record a speech. But she could not get an opportunity to do that."
Rallies against civil service job quotas sparked days of mayhem in July that killed more than 200 people in some of the worst unrest of Hasina's 15-year tenure.
The development was followed by Bangladesh's army chief Waqar-uz-Zaman address the nation during which he announced that the deaths during the anti-government protest would be investigated.
The army chief added that an interim government would be formed in the country and that talks in this regard were under way.
LeonBlack08
INT'L MOD
Student wing of Jamaat e Islami - Islami Chatra Shibir sharing images of Shibir cadres guarding Hindu temples in Noakhali district.
Noakhali district has history of communal violence, dating back all the way to 1947 partition.
Oscar
Moderator
But given history and the very persuasive ability of US state “branches” - revolutionary movements have been hijacked as well.
bengalcdn
Registered Member
Glad to see Chatgaiyas doing the right thing and standing up for justice. Chittagong is my ancestral city and Hatazari and Fotikchori are my ancestral villages.
nahtanbob
Elite Member
It is a boiler plate statement from the State Department
What happens in Bangladesh is local machinations between different sections of the elite
nahtanbob
Elite Member
Of course it is always the State Department or CIA or some American department. The revolutionary movements are infallible like human beings. I should remember that
Oscar
Moderator
It’s a rhetorical question with context on the thread - no need to be a sarcastic sour puss.
