Through the prism of ‘Goliath vs David’ protests: The fascinating story of Bangladesh
Goliath was a warrior 9 feet 9 inches tall, and if we trust the biblical narrative, he was defeated only once. Sheikh Hasina, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, is 5 feet 5 inches tall, and if we trust the country's election process, she too has been defeated only once.
Goliath was successfully challenged by a 16-year-old shepherd named David. Sheikh Hasina has now been challenged by young students, who seem to have brought her to her knees.
We will discuss the violent student-led protests, the real reasons why they escalated quickly, and Sheikh Hasina's controversial politics. But first, let’s understand how the South Asian country is connected to all of us. This is not just an interesting yet distant story—it’s a story that has a direct connection with your bedroom.
Bangladesh is the world’s second-largest exporter of readymade garments, only behind China. So, for all the beautiful clothes or sportswear you buy from H&M, Zara, Adidas, or Nike, you’re probably wearing fabric woven by Bangladeshis whose sons and daughters are now protesting in the streets of Dhaka and Chittagong.
To fully apprehend why millions of young Bangladeshis are so angry, we need to understand three things: the young republic's turbulent history, Dhaka's unipolar politics, and the country’s rising yet shaky economics. Let’s begin with the most exciting part: history.
The real ‘razakars’
Last week, when student protests were simmering in the capital city of Dhaka, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina added fuel to the fire when she uttered the forbidden R word – “Razakars.” We must travel 120 years into the past to understand the context.
The year was 1905. It had been six decades since the British Crown had taken over the colonised Indian subcontinent from the notorious East Indian Company. Indian nationalist movement was gaining momentum, and Bengal was one of the prominent places that resisted foreign rule. Bengal was also the wealthiest province of British India, writes historian William Dalrymple.
Lord Curzon, the then Viceroy of India, divided the Bengal province, separating the largely Muslim eastern areas from the predominantly Hindu western half. While he pointed at administrative reasons, Indian nationalists called it the British government’s ‘divide and rule’ policy aimed at weakening the nerve centre of the Indian nationalist movement.
This was the birth of East Bengal, which eventually joined Pakistan (to become East Pakistan) in 1947 when India was partitioned on religious lines. As Punjabis in West Pakistan dominated the politics and economy and tried to impose their language and culture, discontent grew in the East.
To curb the Bengali nationalist movement, the (West) Pakistani Army launched Operation Searchlight in 1971, killing hundreds of thousands of Bengalis. Local committees were formed to support the military occupation, and those who joined those committees were called ‘razakars’.
From the point of view of the Bangladeshi national movement, razakars are those who conspire with the enemy to commit atrocities on their own people. It’s a word that invokes a lot of trauma from the past. Then the question is: Why would the Bangladesh PM use such a strong, loaded term against protesting students?
Student protests are political
Now that we’ve successfully completed the history class, it’s time to return to present-day Dhaka.
Students in Bangladesh have been upset with the country's ‘quota’ system for several years. This system reserved over half of the highly coveted government jobs for various categories. The biggest block (30% quota) went to the family members of freedom fighters.
The freedom movement was led by the Awami League, Bangladesh's ruling party for the past 15 years. So, in essence, the grandchildren of ruling party members were the biggest beneficiaries of this system, which irked ordinary people.
Goodwill for the Grand Old Party of Bangladesh (Awami League) has been wavering over the past decade. Although the League, led by Sheikh Hasina, has won three consecutive elections with a landslide, they were anything but free and fair. Most prominent opposition leaders have long been put in jail, and press freedom has been deteriorating.
There were allegations of significant corruption scams, but the government was unfazed. 18 million Bangladeshis are jobless, and they are struggling with the escalating cost of living.
Tensions in the country had been building up in the absence of real political opposition. The quota protest provided an outlet for the simmering anger. Sheikh Hasina, an astute politician, was aware that elements of political opposition were backing the student protests. She wanted to discredit them by calling them razakars, but it backfired and triggered a perfect storm.
The economy is growing, but…
Bangladesh is the most densely populated country on the planet. (The other places mentioned as ‘most densely populated’ are either dependencies or small/city states.) This country has more people than Russia or Mexico in an area 13 times smaller than Mexico! It is incredibly crowded!
The undivided Bengal was once one of the world’s wealthiest regions, but at the turn of the 21st century, Bangladesh and West Bengal in India struggled to feed their poor. Thankfully, Bangladesh's riches-to-rags journey has come to an end.
The BBC story explains that Bangladesh has transformed itself under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year rule by building new roads, bridges, factories, and even a metro rail in the capital of Dhaka.
Its per-capita income has tripled in the last decade, and the World Bank estimates that more than 25 million people have been lifted out of poverty in the last 20 years.
But many say that some of that growth is only helping those close to Ms Hasina’s Awami League. So, despite today's apex court ruling to scrap most of the quotas, the protests continue. Because now, the protests are not just about the quotas; but about the overall anger against Sheikh Hasina’s rule.
As one of the bloodiest weeks in the history of the country ends, more than 115 are dead, thousands are injured, an indefinite curfew is imposed across the country, the internet is shut down, and the military is in the streets. Now that quotas are nearly gone, protesters have put forward other demands: justice for protesters who were killed in the last week, the release of detained protest leaders, the restoration of internet services and the resignations of government ministers.
Sheikh Hasina has ruled the country with an iron fist, and she might continue to do so, but students have managed to shake her throne, and what happens next is anyone’s guess.
(If you find the newsletter useful/interesting, please share it with your friends.)