Nomad Dragonfly
Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League came under great pressure at home and abroad from the very beginning regarding the dramatic results of the 2018 parliamentary elections and allegations of vote rigging—that too after a lopsided election in 2014. Her government had to face one rumor after another, harsh controversies and criticisms for corruption, irregularities, inefficiency, nepotism and a reign of terror created by hooligans enjoying impunity, with both the mainstream media, civil society and social media activists being abuzz throughout the years. The election results apparently justified some of the allegations as the Awami League’s main rival, the BNP, joined the election under the all-party platform, styled the Jatiya Oikyo Front (National Unity Front) led by veteran politician Dr Kamal Hossain with the paddy sheaf symbol and got only seven seats.
Grievances and criticisms increased in March 2020 at the onset of the strict lockdowns for the Covid-19 pandemic, and when the Biden administration in December slapped bans on the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and some of its former and on-duty seniors over allegations of human rights violations. Call for democracy, particularly transparency, pluralism, tolerance, good governance, and respect for human rights, was the other key agenda of the US that its ambassador and other officials informed the government, seeking room for the opposition parties and dissent voices. Being under pressure, the Awami League leadership on many occasions alleged various domestic and foreign conspiracies due to the geopolitical importance of Bangladesh and a robust economy.
In May 2023, the US fired another bullet at the Awami League government as it publicly announced visa restriction policy for officials “believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, undermining the democratic election process in Bangladesh”. Its envoy, Peter Haas, was playing the role of a self-proclaimed coordinator to engage foreign diplomats, politicians, civil society, business persons and the media frequently reportedly for a political settlement, and raised eyebrows of the ruling party which accused the ambassador of violating diplomatic norms. At one point leading to the January 2024 election, the opposition parties said they would do whatever necessary to oust the Awami League as it remained firm on holding the elections rejecting demands for an interim administration to oversee the election.
Another concern for the US was its failure to stop the trial of its long-time goodwill ambassador and Nobel Peace Prize winner Prof Dr Muhammad Yunus for corruption and irregularities. Now the chief advisor to the interim government formed after the August 5 changeover, Dr Yunus earlier served the caretaker government of 1996 and was the brain behind the army-backed 1/11 administration in 2007-08 that attempted to conduct various reforms and a depoliticization campaign by arresting Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia, and rehabilitated Jamaat and extremists linked to the notorious outlawed militant group Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami Bangladesh (HuJI-B). He formed a political party of his own and named it Nagorik Shakti or Citizens’ Power amid a ban on political activities, but he surrendered after less than two months due to lack of support. After the Awami League formed the government in 2009, Prof Yunus’ irregularities in operating Grameen Bank and dozens of associate enterprises started coming to the fore. He then sought help from Hillary Clinton, his long-time friend, to become a peacemaker between him and Sheikh Hasina. Hillary then engaged US senators, former diplomats, business tycoons and the Dhaka embassy as she hoped Bangladesh’s government would not interfere in Grameen Bank.
Despite all the bitterness, the US remained Bangladesh’s largest export market for RMG products and pledged new investment had ExxonMobil been awarded deep sea blocks without tender and additional investment by Chevron, had Bangladesh bought Boeing aircraft instead of Airbus from France, and a closer military cooperation had the two governments signed controversial defence deals like a mutually concluded General Security of Military Information Agreement – known as a GSOMIA.
Jamaat-e-Islami, Hefazat-e-Islam and like-minded extremist Islamic parties, teachers and students of Qawmi madrasa and various banned militant organizations became active again even though Sheikh Hasina took steps to recognize the Dawrah-e-Hadith certification, revised the textbooks as per the demands of the radical Islamists, and established 560 model mosques-cum-Islamic cultural centres and the Islami Arabic University. On the other hand, she took various steps against armed jihadist groups committing murders and to prevent further radicalization of youth and teenagers from general education and madrasas.
Despite the landmark initiatives, there emerged an umbrella group of militants, Jama’atul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya, while taking military training from the Kuki-Chin National Front in the hill tracts in October 2022. Raids by the joint forces and various law enforcement agencies revealed that Jama’atul Ansar consisted members of the Ansar al-Islam (also known as Ansarullah Bangla Team), old and new JMB, HuJI-B, Hizb ut-Tahrir and Rohingya armed groups—Arakan Rohingya Solidarity Army (ARSA) and Rohingya Solidarity Organization (RSO).
It is worth noting that from 2013-16, Ansar al-Islam—the Bangladesh chapter of the Pakistan-based Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS)—killed two dozen teachers, secularist writers and publishers, and war crimes trial supporters; the old JMB conducted over 1,100 attacks from 2000-16; the new JMB (linked to Islamic State) carried out over 30 attacks killing over 60 people, including many foreigners at the Holey Artisan Bakery, from 2015-17; and the HuJI-B killed over 120 people in 14 attacks, including the August 21 grenade blasts in 2004. After the horrific Dhaka restaurant attack in 2016, the Awami League government launched counter-insurgency operations for a few years, but the extremist elements managed to regroup. All these militant groups are largely linked to Jamaat, which the US deem a moderate Islamic party eying Sharah law as part of its long-term goal, and they targeted the Awami League, secularists, non-Muslims, cultural programs and NGOs which they label as anti-Islam.
Sheikh Hasina’s relationship with the US government cooled further when the Russia-Ukraine war broke out in 2022, which initiated a complex polarization in international politics. The world was divided into two blocs led by the US and Russia. Many countries tried to maintain good relations with both the superpowers. But the US wanted unconditional support and a clear position against Russia. Countries that had normal diplomatic and business relations with Russia were considered dangerous enemies by the Biden administration. Among them were the governments of Sheikh Hasina, Narendra Modi of India, and Imran Khan of Pakistan.
Over the next two years, the governments of Pakistan and Bangladesh fell, and anti-government protests and criticism in India are gradually reaching a dangerous level as seen in its neighboring countries. Many political analysts, as well as Imran Khan, believe that the Biden administration is trying to overthrow Modi by extending support towards Indian National Congress to implement its comprehensive plan to weaken China in South and Southeast Asia.
Sheikh Hasina did not want to spoil relations with China and India by agreeing to the US proposals, but her government took effective steps to control human rights violations by RAB and other security agencies and improve labor situation. So, the Biden administration chose to play the democracy card, engaged its ambassador to unseat Sheikh Hasina at any cost and refused to hand over a convicted war criminal and one of the Bangabandhu’s killers staying in the US for decades. The US also helped form a new political party with the younger leaders of Jamaat, the Amar Bangladesh (AB) Party and strengthen other opposition parties like Gono Odhikar Parishad and Ganosamhati Andolon, to wage tougher demonstrations against the Awami League government before and after the 2024 elections. A selected group of military officials, local and international journalists, civil society groups and individuals, and NGOs also got US funding to bolster their operations.
While all the conspiracies to weaken the Awami League were going on, many leaders and activists as a large party showed their failure to assume a responsible role. Many indulged in corruption and irregularities due to greed for power and money and increased divisions within the party. In addition, with criticism at home and abroad against corruption and criminal activities, the support and acceptance of the Awami League decreased alarmingly.
When the quota movement began on July 1, by the students linked to Jamaat, AB Party, Hizb ut-Tahrir and Gono Odhikar Parishad, the US-backed groups and political parties extended all-out support, while presenting the demonstrators as ordinary students. It is now clear that the students wanted to entrap the government into use of excessive force through their provocative speeches, slogans and wabbly programs, and the US made it easy when the State Department falsely stated on the morning of July 16 that two were killed in clashes the previous day. This false statement, made deliberately as part of a deep conspiracy, ignited the agitators in Dhaka and elsewhere, resulting in violent clashes and death of six people—three of whom were linked to Chhatra League, Chhatra Dal and Chhatra Shibir. Sheikh Hasina was in trouble, though she soon formed a judicial inquiry, but the protesters kept spreading rumors on social media and the mainstream media published insensitive content as part of the plot. The biased view and incompetence of the media, the anti-government attitude of university teachers and civil society leaders played a major role in creating discontent among the people and hiding the true faces of the demonstrators and plotters.
In the post-Hasina period, many student leaders and organizers bravely revealed their political identities. On the other hand, Chief Advisor Prof Yunus made a startling remark at a meeting in New York in September that this movement was meticulously designed, not spontaneous. He later said in an interview that the student leaders were working to reset the country’s history; it later became clear that the August 5 coup leaders were against the spirit of the Liberation War, democracy and secularism, and were out to eliminate the Awami League.
In addition, a central student coordinator said in a TV talk show that if they had not set fire to various establishments, including the metro rail, and had not created anarchy by killing police members, it would not have been easy to overthrow the government. Apart from this, BNP student leaders said that since the agitators were not in the field, they made fake ID cards and occupied the streets. In addition, it was later learned that some protesters joined with sophisticated weapons like sniper rifles and killed protesters and policemen. News reports suggest that the protesters attacked over 450 police stations and several prisons, killing hundreds of officers, looting thousands of weapons and freeing criminals on and before August 5. In the aftermath, the interim government issued an order of immunity, a step the United Nations and human rights bodies criticized as violation of the rule of law. Moreover, the UN fact-finding mission has expressed concern over the lack of proper information on the incidents of deaths and clashes before and after August 5.
As a medieval celebration, the coup supporters conducted wholesale killing of Awami League leaders and activists, the vandalism of monuments of the Liberation War and sculptures and museums of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, minority oppression, looting and arson, forced dismissals, nepotism in appointments from the advisory council to the administration, anarchy in the judiciary, release of top criminals and al-Qaeda members and a crackdown on the media. While many common people and all political parties initially supported the interim government’s moves with a hope for change, they are increasingly becoming frustrated as the Yunus-led administration keeps supporting the Jamaat-backed student leaders and jihadist groups, who want to build a conservative Islamic country, downplay the glorious history of the Liberation War and provoke jihad against India. The government has also been criticized for taking wrong and vengeful actions against the Awami League and exiled prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
Due to such authoritarian steps by the army-backed interim government, student leaders, Jamaat and jihadist groups, some political parties like the BNP and leftist ones, and political influencers are distancing themselves from the government. They are also opposed to the government’s attempt to help the students establish a king’s party, and demand explanation for the mysterious incidents of fires at Gazi Tyres factory and the Secretariat, movement of Pakistani ships for the first time since independence, statement by an advisor to annex some Indian states amid threats by Bangladesh-origin militants to wage jihad, failure to contain prices of essentials, reluctance to restore law and order, violation of the Constitution, the announcement of canceling the national days on March 7, August 15 and November 4, and the decision to not recognize Bangabandhu as the Father of the Nation. In addition, the government’s move to cancel “Joy Bangla” as the national slogan through the court has also raised concern over the fate of Bangladesh under state-sponsored mob rule.
The US needed a failed state to implement its democratic formulas and control its interim administration as a tool to weaken Bangladesh’s ties with India, China and Russia. Now the question is whether the US stance on Bangladesh would change after Donald Trump takes office and Biden-Hillary clique leaves on January 20.
Disclaimer:
Opinions expressed are solely those of the authors and do not reflect The Voice’s views. The Voice upholds free expression but isn’t responsible for content in this section.