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Bangladesh teeters between hope and deadlock a year after Hasina’s fall

Bangladesh teeters between hope and deadlock a year after Hasina’s fall

Dhaka, Bangladesh – Sinthia Mehrin Sokal remembers the blow to her head on July 15 last year when she, along with thousands of fellow students, marched during a protest against a controversial quota system in government jobs in Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka. The attack by an activist belonging to the student wing of the then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League party left Sokal – a final-year student of criminology at the University of Dhaka – with 10 stitches and temporary memory loss. A day later, Abu Sayed, another 23-year-old student, was protesting at Begum Rokeya University in the Rangpur district, about 300km (186 miles) north of Dhaka, when he was shot by the police. A video of him, with his arms outstretched and collapsing on the ground moments later, went viral, igniting an unprecedented movement against Hasina, who governed the country with an iron fist for more than 15 years before she was toppled last August. Students from schools, colleges, universities and madrassas took to the streets, defying a brutal crackdown. Soon, the young protesters were joined by their parents, teachers and other citizens. Opposition parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, lent crucial support, forming an unlikely united front against Hasina’s government. “Even students in remote areas came out in support. It felt like real change was coming,” Sokal told Al Jazeera. On August 5, 2024, as tens of thousands of protesters stormed Hasina’s palatial residence and offices in Dhaka, the 77-year-old leader boarded a military helicopter and fled to neighbouring India, her main ally, where she continues to defy a Bangladesh court’s orders to face trial for crimes against humanity and other charges. Antigovernment protesters storm Hasina’s residence in Dhaka, August 5, 2024 [K M Asad/AFP] By the time Hasina fled, more than 1,400 people had been killed, most when government forces fired on protesters, and thousands of others were wounded, according to the United Nations. Advertisement Three days after Hasina fled, the protesters installed an interim government, on August 8, 2024, led by the country’s only Nobel laureate, Muhammad Yunus. In May this year, the interim government banned the Awami League from any political activity until trials over last year’s killings of the protesters concluded. The party’s student wing, the Chhatra League, was banned under anti-terrorism laws in October 2024. Yet, as Bangladesh marks the first anniversary of the end of Hasina’s government on Tuesday, Sokal said the sense of unity and hope that defined the 2024 uprising has given way to disillusionment and despair. “They’re selling the revolution,” she said, referring to the various political groups now jostling for power ahead of general elections expected next year. “The change we fought for remains out of reach,” said added. “The [interim] government no longer owns the uprising.” Sinthia Mehrin Sokal suffered temporary memory loss after she was hit on the head by a policeman during last year’s antigovernment protests [Courtesy of Sinthia Mehrin Sokal] ‘What was my son’s sacrifice for?’ Yunus, the 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner presiding over Bangladesh’s democratic overhaul, faces mounting political pressure, even as his interim government seeks consensus on drafting a new constitution. Rival factions that marched shoulder to shoulder during anti-Hasina protests are now locked in political battles over the way forward for Bangladesh. On Tuesday, Yunus is expected to unveil a so-called July Proclamation, a document to mark the anniversary of Hasina’s ouster, which will outline the key reforms that his administration argues Bangladesh needs – and a roadmap to achieve that. But not many are hopeful. “Our children took to the streets for a just, democratic and sovereign Bangladesh. But that’s not what we’re getting,” said Sanjida Khan Deepti, whose 17-year-old son Anas was shot dead by the police during a peaceful march near Dhaka’s Chankharpul area on August 5, 2024. Witnesses said Anas was unarmed and running for cover when a police bullet struck him in the back. He died on the spot, still clutching a national flag. “The reforms and justice for the July killings that we had hoped – it’s not duly happening,” the 36-year-old mother told Al Jazeera. “We took to the streets for a better, peaceful and just country. If that doesn’t happen, then what was my son’s sacrifice for?” Others, however, continue to hold firm in their trust in the interim government. Advertisement “No regrets,” said Khokon Chandra Barman, who lost almost his entire face after he was shot by the police in the Narayanganj district. “I am proud that my sacrifice helped bring down a regime built on discrimination,” he told Al Jazeera. Barman feels the country is in better hands now under the Yunus-led interim government. “The old evils won’t disappear overnight. But we are hopeful.” Barman lost almost his entire face after he was shot by the police [Courtesy of Khokon Chandra Barman] Atikul Gazi agreed. “Yunus sir is capable and trying his best,” Gazi told Al Jazeera on Sunday. “If the political parties fully cooperated with him, things would be even better.” The 21-year-old TikToker from Dhaka’s Uttara area survived being shot at point-blank range on August 5, 2024, but lost his left arm. A selfie video of him smiling, despite missing an arm, posted on September 16 last year, went viral, making him a symbol of resilience. “I’m not afraid… I’m back in the field. One hand may be gone, but my life is ready to be offered anew.” Atikul Gazi was shot by police at point-blank range on August 5, 2024 [Courtesy of Atikul Gazi] ‘Instability could increase’ Others are less optimistic. “That was a moment of unprecedented unity,” said Mohammad Golam Rabbani, a professor of history at Jahangirnagar University on the outskirts of Dhaka. Rabbani had recited a poem during a campus protest on July 29, 2024. Speaking at an event last month to commemorate the uprising, he said: “Safeguarding that unity should have been the new government’s first task. But they let it slip.” The coalition of students, professionals and activists,

Israel’s Netanyahu has decided on full occupation of Gaza, reports say

Israel’s Netanyahu has decided on full occupation of Gaza, reports say

Netanyahu’s war cabinet set to approve military operations across entire enclave, according to Israeli media. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to announce plans to fully occupy the Gaza Strip, Israeli media have reported. Netanyahu’s decision will see the Israeli military expand its operations across the entire enclave, including areas where Hamas’s captives are being held, i24NEWS, The Jerusalem Post, Channel 12 and Ynet reported on Monday. “The decision has been made,” Amit Sega, chief political analyst with Channel 12, quoted an unnamed senior official in Netanyahu’s office as saying. “Hamas won’t release more hostages without total surrender, and we won’t surrender. If we don’t act now, the hostages will starve to death and Gaza will remain under Hamas’s control.” The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the reported plans and called on the international community to “intervene urgently to prevent their implementation, whether they are a form of pressure, trial balloons to gauge international reactions, or genuinely serious”. Netanyahu’s office did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment. The reports come as Netanyahu is set to convene his war cabinet on Tuesday to discuss the next steps for Israel’s military in Gaza as its war in the besieged enclave nears the two-year mark. Netanyahu is facing growing international pressure to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza and halt the war amid mounting Palestinian deaths due to malnutrition and Israeli attacks. At least 74 Palestinians, including 36 aid seekers, were killed in Israeli attacks on Monday, according to medical sources in Gaza. Advertisement The Israeli leader is also facing mounting domestic pressure to secure the release of Hamas’s remaining captives in Gaza, following the release of footage of detainees Rom Braslavski and Evyatar David appearing emaciated. Netanyahu on Monday doubled down on his war goals, including eliminating Hamas and securing the release of the remaining captives. “We must continue to stand together and fight together to achieve all our war objectives: the defeat of the enemy, the release of our hostages, and the assurance that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel,” Netanyahu said at the start of a regular cabinet meeting on Monday. Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan on Monday accused the United States and other Western countries of turning a blind eye to Israeli atrocities, and said that Netanyahu’s government bore “full responsibility” for the lives of the captives “due to its stubbornness, arrogance, and evasion of reaching a ceasefire agreement, and the escalation of the war of extermination and starvation against our people”. More than 60,930 Palestinians, including at least 18,430 children, have been killed in Gaza since October 2023, according to Gaza health authorities. Forty-nine captives, including 27 who are believed to be dead, are still being held by Hamas, according to Israeli authorities. Adblock test (Why?)