‘Culture of mobocracy’ through post-Hasina student protests engulfs Bangladesh’s interim govt: Analysts
2024.10.22
Dhaka
The students who drove Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from office through protests are wielding power through on-going street demonstrations to pressure the interim government and courts to give in to their demands to clean house, observers say.
Student leaders who spearheaded massive protests in July and August, which brought about Hasina’s ouster, are serving in the interim government. But in the streets, students have been carrying on with protests, with the transitional administration headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus giving in to them on multiple occasions, potentially derailing its own authority and reform efforts, one analyst warned.
“It seems this interim government is performing according to the desire of the students. The students are the main force of this government. Questions remain whether it can use its authority without the influence of the students,” Nizam Uddin Ahmed, a political analyst and retired professor of public administration, told BenarNews.
“The government should change course and execute policies independently because leading a movement and leading a government are not the same,” he said.
Speaking at the United Nations in September, Yunus said structural reform was needed for his interim government to meet the mandate of stabilizing Bangladesh and preparing for a free and fair election.
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In their latest protest effort, students, joined by a little-known organization, the Committee to Protect Independence and Sovereignty, have set out to force President Mohammed Shahabuddin to resign over comments about Hasina’s resignation.
Shahabuddin created controversy after a local newspaper published an interview where he said that, as head of state, he had not received the prime minister’s resignation letter.
Police personnel were deployed at Bangabhaban, the president’s official premises, and surrounding roads to control protest movements.
The interim government’s legal adviser, Asif Nazrul, previously told journalists that Shahabuddin, in his Aug. 5 address to the nation where he was joined by chiefs of the military branches, said Hasina had resigned after she fled to India that day.
The president’s role is largely ceremonial and includes appointing the prime minister and the chief justice, convening the parliament and serving as supreme commander of the armed forces. Shahabuddin’s powers have expanded because of the interim government.
In earlier instances, the students have seen their protests get results.
Days after the interim government took power, the Students Movement Against Discrimination seized the Supreme Court premises on Aug. 10. The protests led to the resignations of Chief Justice Obaidul Hasan and the other five Supreme Court appellate division judges over alleged links to the Awami League, the former ruling party.
Last week, protesters again seized the Supreme Court premises, demanding the removal of more pro-Awami League judges serving on the Supreme Court’s High Court. In a statement, the court announced that 12 judges would refrain from judicial activities while the interim government was in charge.
Nur Mohammad, a former police inspector-general, said the protest and seizure at the Supreme Court premises were unlawful.
“What the students have done is the repeat of the culture of mobocracy nurtured by the previous political governments of the Awami League and the BNP. This is unfortunate,” he told BenarNews.
Away from the courts, students stormed the ministry of education in mid-August to demand they get credit for the few exams they took after missing classes and tests during the July and August protests that led to Hasina’s downfall.
The government accepted their demands, announcing the students would be promoted based on the few tests they passed before Hasina’s resignation. Since then, those who received failing grades have demanded they be promoted as well.
On Sunday, students blocked roads leading to and ransacked the office of the education board in Dhaka, forcing its chairman to resign.
Efforts questioned
Nur Kahn Liton, the former leader of Ain o Salish Kendra, a human rights group that has led years of protests in Bangladesh, criticized the students’ actions.
“Last week’s program to oust the judges appointed by the Awami League government is not acceptable. This is not the right method of removing the High Court judges and it is similar to mobocracy. This contradicts the government position on mobocracy,” he told BenarNews.
He said the government had formed a commission to reform the judiciary.
“The commission is working. At this stage, surrounding the Supreme Court will make the judiciary reform move questionable,” Khan said. “The consequences of such mobocracy-style reform must not be good for the judiciary and the country.”
Shafiqul Alam, a Yunus press secretary, said the commission was expected to release a report on its findings by Dec. 31.
Alam said the students had a right to protest, but questioned their actions.
“The students have been at the forefront of the July to August revolution. They have demanded reforms of the country’s key institutions. We have only accepted their justified demands,” Alam told BenarNews.
“The government believes in democracy and rule of law. Our main goal is to restore democracy. Our reform measures are aimed at establishing a rules-based society in line with the democratic aspirations of the people.”
Alam also said the interim government would act against violent protesters.
“The government in no way believes in mob violence or anarchy of any sort. Whenever any incidents of mob violence took place, we immediately gave instructions to take strict actions against the perpetrators,” he said.