Hasina has lost in the court of people
L et legal experts discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) trial and verdict. Our focus will be on the fact that Sheikh Hasina’s political demise had already occurred, and the “guilty verdict" was pronounced by the people, especially the younger generation, much earlier, during the tumultuous days of July-August 2024.
The future is always unpredictable, but as of now, her reputation lies in ruins and her political career buried under a mountain of debris of self-righteous arrogance, misgovernance and impunity. Whatever may be the Awami League (AL)’s narrative about the national or international conspiracy behind Hasina’s fall, the fact is that the ‘death sentence’ by the ICT was brought on by her cruel suppression of political dissent, abuse of the law, corruption, partisan administration and bank looting.
Other factors included money laundering, repression of independent media houses and, finally, the killing of 1,400 citizens, including children, to stay in power during the last few weeks of her rule.
Over the years, enforced disappearance and extra-judicial killings became the hallmark of her regime. Yes, there were some vital infrastructural developments, increase in per capita income, and growth in many social indicators, but the credit for them was swept aside by her destruction of democracy and overwhelming dictatorial rule.
It is to Sheikh Hasina’s credit that she was able to revive, reorganise, rejuvenate and re-inspire Awami League to win elections in 1996 after 21 years out of power. Her first stint in office, especially the signing of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Accord (which she herself did not implement) and the Ganges Water Sharing Treaty, marked a new beginning for AL.
But over the years, she effectively demolished her own party as she destroyed the police, the bureaucracy, the judiciary, etc — transforming it from a political powerhouse into an apparatus of extortion, corruption and violence.
She did not take well either of her electoral defeats in 1991 and 2001. Her view that AL could never be defeated in a free and fair election, but only through rigged ones, partly made her reject these results, inventing the term “subtle-rigging.”
This marked the beginning of the arrogance and myopia that led her towards ignoring the truth and making massive blunders. A miraculous escape from a near-fatal attempt on her life in August 2004, in which 24 AL workers and leaders were killed, with no credible attempt by the then BNP government to investigate the grenade attack and punish the perpetrators, probably convinced Hasina that she would always be vulnerable as an opposition politician. So, she may have decided never to give up power if and when she regained it. This, in our view, killed the prospect of democracy in Bangladesh.
Hasina regained power in a free and fair election in 2008, abolished the caretaker system in 2011, and then manipulated the three consecutive elections held in 2014, 2018 and 2024.
As her manipulations succeeded, she grew over-confident and felt that all her political allies were her pawns, all opponents could be manipulated and all dissenting voices easily suppressed.
She became entrapped in the mindset of never admitting any mistakes, which resulted in her becoming supremely arrogant. During a meeting with editors in 2013, I heard her say: “In spite of so many attempts on my life, Allah has kept me alive for the purpose of carrying out His will. So, you all may write anything you like. I don’t care.”
She felt she was divinely guided and, as such, had nothing to worry about. Thus, she plunged deeper into isolation on the one hand and became further intolerant on the other, both of which distanced her from the people and her party.
The ostentatious observance of the birth centenary of her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, lovingly called Bangabandhu, during which hundreds of statues were built — a culture previously almost non-existent in Bangladesh — greatly damaged Bangabandhu’s reputation instead of increasing authentic learning about him.
This was followed by the 50th anniversary celebration of Bangladesh’s liberation in 2021. Hasina celebrated this crucial occasion as a continuation of Bangabandhu’s birth centenary.
Freedom fighters were horrified to see how little tribute was paid to them and how their stories of sacrifice, bravery and patriotism remained untold. The crucial role of declaring independence played by Major Ziaur Rahman was not even remotely mentioned, as was the role of Col M.A.G Osmani (the chief of the Liberation War army) and other sector commanders. Once again, everything converged on one man. Freedom fighters still alive, and the family members of those killed during the war, felt insulted.
By 2022, Hasina had reached the height of arrogance. “I know everything”; “Every critic is an enemy”; “Whatever I do is best for Bangladesh,” and similar statements dominated the political discourse.
Hasina and her government’s handling of the students’ stance against the government quota system for jobs clearly showed the dysfunctionality to which her party and her government had descended.
In July 2024, things turned violent, and from July 16 onwards, killings on the streets in large numbers began. The Daily Star’s reporters counted bodies in government and private hospitals. By August 1, 2024, they tallied 201 dead bodies and spoke to hundreds of families who lost their loved ones. We headlined death counts every day that we could verify.
Hasina denies that she gave orders to fire lethal weapons on demonstrators — despite a plethora of proof — but then why did she not stop it once it began occurring? Each day’s newspapers showed how many were killed the day before. If she is speaking the truth about not giving orders to kill, then why didn’t she issue an instant order to stop the carnage? There is no way one can believe that firing on the streets would occur day after day for several weeks, and the PM would not know. She knew, and she had given the order. As the head of government, Sheikh Hasina is guilty of crimes against her own people.
Courtesy: The Daily Star, Bangladesh
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