TORONTO and DHAKA, August 20 (IPS) – “I hope the result will be different. I hope the result will not be the same,” he said. Shireen Huqa women’s and human rights activist and the Founder of the Naripokkho movement, in IPS about the many parallels with the Arab Spring.
In the recent revolution in Bangladesh that led to the overthrow of Sheikh Hasina’s dictatorship, hundreds of young lives, including at least 32 children, were lost at the hands of the police and paramilitary forces. According to a recent report by the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commission, “There are strong indications, which warrant further independent investigation, that the security forces used unnecessary and disproportionate force in response to the situation.”
The Islamists (Muslim Brotherhood Party) came to power in parliamentary elections in Muslim-majority Egypt in 2011 after the Arab Spring and got a president-elect in 2012. country in 2013 and installed the current president as head of state. Can this situation repeat itself in Bangladesh?
I talked to Huq believes that there is a real issue of religion among the youth of Bangladesh. However, this would not necessarily lead to support for fundamentalist power. “We have seen that the military has taken part in this protest. It is not yet known how much they will be able to deal with the situation and benefit from it. I hope that the interim government will be able to maintain the situation and keep us on the right track.”
Disappointment for leaving women out of the interim government
However, Huq they were disappointed that women were never represented in the interim government, although some discussions took place at the beginning.
“The clothing industry is led by the majority of working women. During this violence and in the protests we saw hundreds and thousands of women on the streets. This has never happened as women will not only be outnumbered but also in strength. , two young men have already been removed from this organization, so this is a little worrying”, said Shireen Huq.
In 2018, Huq and her organization, consisting mainly of women, many of whom are middle-aged, developed a women’s charter that they are currently sending to all members of the interim government to set priorities for women. “We have to wait and see. We have to give young women the space to organize themselves the way they want. They will adjust how they want to build a place for themselves, their structures and their organizations.”
In his article entitled “Living on Revolution Time”, Anne AlexanderThe founder of the MENA Solidarity Network, wrote that rulers “will always want to tip the scale, to regain their power to rule in any way they can. In the truest sense, “time for reform” is always on borrowed time.”
Awami League is the main political party in Bangladesh and has many supporters including grassroots. They made an unsuccessful attempt to return on August 15, the day freedom leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated in 1975.
First Reforms and then Democracy
What the world has seen in Bangladesh includes your analysis Martha C. Nussbaum in his book entitled Anger and Forgiveness“To awaken people to the injustice of society’s treatment of them is the first necessary step towards social progress… Sometimes the legal system itself is unjust and corrupt. What people should do is not only to protect justice from this or that injustice, but, ultimately, to change the legal order.” (page 211, 212)
Social justice and reform seem to be at the top of the youth agenda in Bangladesh, while democracy takes a back seat, for now. “Democracy is one of the main goals, but it is not only democracy that is widely understood as elections,” he explained. Huq. “The priority right now is ‘reforms’. The slogan from the streets is also ‘Reform of State’ in all sectors. The success of the interim government, to some extent, to achieve those changes. Democracy is equality and justice in the true sense of the word, social justice and democracy will go hand in hand.”
Student protesters took to the streets to reject proposals for early elections and express their political party’s plan. There is no doubt that there is a generation gap when it comes to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who was considered the Father of the Nation. Young people have no memory of the past. “Hasina used her father in every way,” he said Huq. “I think it’s my generation that cries about the failure of young people to separate, even attacking his images and pictures that may not have been necessary. There is a lot of anger, not only about the will of the people. His daughter, but also about the bad actions that happened during her time.”
We live in an age of global acceleration with the prevalence of technology and the speed of life. The new generations seem to have a lower inertia compared to the previous generations and we see a lot of changes in the youth. Huq he thinks the changes are contagious. “I’m not saying that what’s happening in Pakistan is because of Bangladesh, but it’s interesting that it’s happening in South Asia, and maybe we’ll see what’s happening in India too, which is very much needed in India.” Despite the great momentum of the revolutionary forces, Huq concerns about India’s intervention and meddling. “I think there are warnings out there about that. If India really wants Bangladesh to succeed and do well, the best thing it can do is keep its hands off.”
Randa El Ozeiris a Canadian-Lebanese journalist covering health, women’s rights and social justice issues.
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© Inter Press Service (2024) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service
