Mohammad Mozammel Haque

“Say, O Allah, the Owner of Sovereignty, You give sovereignty to whom you will, and You take sovereignty away from whom you will. You honour whom you will, and You abase whom You will. In Your hand is all good. Indeed, You are over all things competent. [Al-Quran: 03:26]

Based on the theories laid down by Aristotle about the traits of a Tragic hero, Sheikh Hasina, the beloved daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, must be regarded as a tragic protagonist. She left no stone unturned to grip the power in our newly Independent Bangladesh. That she managed to place the pro-Indian and pro-Awami Leaguer in every important place of the country including Bangladesh Army, Bangladesh Police, BGB, Ansar VDP, all the positions in the secretariat, all the positions in most of the ministries, even all the positions in every non-government institutions and organizations needs no mentioning here. Despite all these steps adopted by Hasina, she faces the most deplorable fate in the history of the Prime Ministers after the great Independence. Some key reasons behind her tragic downfall are discussed here in this article.

That the independence and sovereignty is totally unsafe in the hands of Awami League needs no telling here, and it has already been proved. The most acceptable as well as ever-knowing reason behind the disgraceful breakdown of Awami misrule, mismanagement, misgovernment, maladministration, lawlessness, disorder, mayhem is the fact that they became successful in doing business with some sensitive but politically as well as nationally important or unimportant words and terms like Liberation War, Freedom Fighters, Killing Mission of BGB, Razakar, Al-Badar, Fundamentalism, Business with Religion, Minorities, Majorities etc. BAL tried its best to bring about divisions among the nation using these words. They took these words and terms as commodities which they used in the market of politics in order to deceive the innocent citizens of Bangladesh. And that they did this purposefully and only for themselves has also been clear now. Holding the power at hand for around 16 years, Awami League played every game with a view to being in power for a longer time. Specially mentioning, this party sold out so many fake certificates for some fake Freedom Fighters. Unfortunately, this incident has totally tarnished what our national heroes, the respected real Freedom Fighters, did in 1971 with a view to occupying a place in the world map. Awami League’s main purpose behind this smudged activity was to get the sympathy and support of the Freedom Fighters and the general people for their party. Secondly, with the great conspiracy of our ‘beloved neighbour’, India, Awami League did not hesitate to bring about the brutal killing mission of BGB where they assassinated around 57 high-ranking officers along with some other BGB officers. After this annihilation, thousands of BGB officers were arrested from the country and they were compelled to give witness as the government wanted. A good number of BGB officers who did not agree to act according to the will of the government were also killed secretly. The only aim behind this massacre was to lengthen the regime for unlimited time. They knew that they won’t be in power if those honest and dedicated 57 high-ranked officers were alive.
Moreover, during this 15 years of regime, most of the people of Bangladesh seemed to be the supporters of BAL though most of them actually used the banner of this party to be successful in their mission by foul means. Most of the leaders, ministers, MPs, Chairmen, Union leaders, Ward leaders started worshipping Sheikh Hasina. Once upon a time, this party had only leaders and leaders with no workers. From primary school level to the parliament and secretariat, every supporter including the fake ones, tried their best to get their works done using the name of this party as well as the names of the leaders. It seemed that anarchy was loosed upon every place of the country. In almost all the offices, most of the officers and workers felt anti-Awami philosophy but could not express what and how they felt in fear of being tortured and persecuted by the supporters of this party. This was proved at the very moment of Sheikh Hasina’s resignation from her power. Millions of people came out for participating in the procession of victory just after they had heard about the news of her fleeing away from our country. It seemed that people couldn’t sigh for this 15 years, and now they are doing that. Anyway, the real as well as the fake supporters of BAL played vital role to bring about the catastrophic collapse of Sheikh Hasina.
Furthermore, arranging forged as well as bogus election in 2014, 2018 and 2023 and capturing power by giving no opportunity for the opposition party to take part in the election also hastened the appalling ending of the Sheikh Hasina Regime. Since BAL did not need any vote of the citizens of the country in order to come to the power, they hardly paid any heed to the workers which really destroyed this party. Once upon a time, I asked one of the extreme supporters of Awami League, “How are you doing these days? I hope you are in hilarious mood and comparatively good condition.” He replied, “Uncle, I should be in good condition since I am a supporter as well as a worker of Awami League. But I am now quite opposite of how you are thinking I should be. Since BAL doesn’t need any vote to come to the power, they do not give any importance to what the supporters like me say. If there were voting system, my party valued me since there are at least 40 to 50 voters under me.”
So, this statement proves that the arrogance and anarchy of BAL reached the highest peak from where this party needed to fall down.
In addition, indescribable persecution including killing, unjust hanging, kidnapping, physical and mental torturing on the supporters of the opposition parties also speeded the horrendous collapse of the governance of Sheikh Hasina. In 2013, 2014, 2018 and 2023, BAL government indescribably persecuted the opposition party leaders and supporters, and this torture surpassed the torture of the historically notorious arrogant and anarchist rulers of the world. Thousands of people of Hefazat-e-Islam were killed at mid-night on May 05 in 2014. Thus, the nature of persecution done on the opposition parties by BAL can not be described in words.
Now come to the point of 2nd Liberation War in the history of Bangladesh which actually brought the deplorable fall down of Sheikh Hasina. The students of our country started struggling to revise quota system. At that time, they were also mistreated by the Awami soldiers and Bangladesh police. In the long run, the government totally cancelled the quota system. But the students again started their movement at the beginning of July 2024 when the great High Court gave a verdict against their demand. We have seen that the soldiers of BAL along with Bangladesh Police started killing the students, general people, children, passersby etc. on July 16, 2024 and continued their brutal killing mission till July 35, 2024. And this ruthless as well as pitiless killing mission totally failed to bring something good for the government.
The protest began in June 2024, in response to the Supreme Court of Bangladesh reinstating a 30% quota for descendants of freedom fighters, reversing the government decision made in response to the 2018 Bangladesh quota reform movement. Students began to feel like they have a limited opportunity based on merit. The protest, which initially began as a response to the reestablished quota system for government jobs, quickly spread throughout the entire country because of the government's violent response, as well as growing public dissatisfaction against an oppressive government. The situation was further complicated by many other ongoing issues, like the government's inability to manage a prolonged economic downturn, reports of rampant corruption and human rights violations, and the absence of democratic channels for initiating changes.
The government sought to suppress the protests by shutting down all educational institutions. They deployed their student wing, the Chhatra League, along with other factions of the Awami League party, such as the Jubo League and the Swechasebak League. These groups resorted to using firearms and sharp weapons against the demonstrators. The government then deployed Police, Rapid Action Battalion, border guards and Bangladesh Military, declaring a nationwide shoot-at-sight curfew amid an unprecedented government-ordered nationwide internet and mobile connectivity blackout that effectively isolated Bangladesh from the rest of the world. Later, the government also blocked social media in Bangladesh, including Facebook, TikTok, and WhatsApp. As of August 2, there were confirmed 215 deaths and more than 20,000 others injured, accompanied by more than 11,000 arrests in various parts of the country. The unofficial death toll is between 300 and 500. UNICEF reported that at least 32 children were killed during July's protests, with many more injured and detained. Determining the exact number of deaths has been difficult because the government reportedly restricted hospitals from sharing information with the media without police permission, hospital CCTV footage was confiscated, and numerous individuals with gunshot wounds were buried without identification.
On July 18, 2024, students from Northern University Bangladesh, Uttara University, IUBAT, and other non-government universities gathered at BNS Uttara. That day, several students, including Asif Hasan from Northern University Bangladesh, were brutally killed by Chhatra League members and Bangladesh Police.
Following these events, on July 22, the Anti-Discrimination Students' Movement announced a two-day suspension of protests, demanding the government lift the curfew, restore internet access, and cease targeting student protesters. During this suspension, no further violence was reported. The movement later extended this suspension, though mass detentions by law enforcement continued.

On July 26, police detained three coordinators of the Anti-Discrimination Students' Movement—Nahid Islam, Abu Bakar Mazumdar, and Asif Mahmud—from a hospital. The Home Minister claimed their detention was for their security and investigation purposes. Later that day, two additional coordinators, Sarjis Alam and Hasnat Abdullah, were also detained. Additional Deputy Commissioner of the Detective Branch, Junaed Alam Sarker, stated their detention was related to alleged connections with the opposition Jamaat-e-Islami and Gono Odhikar Parishad Member-Secretary Nurul Haq Nur. In response, the movement threatened to resume protests on July 29 if the detained coordinators were not released and called for accountability for the deaths of protesters.

Meanwhile, the government began to ease curfew restrictions, allowing banks, factories, and offices to reopen. On July 23, the ICT Minister announced a partial restoration of broadband internet services to banks, business organizations, export sectors, and select areas after a five-day disruption. Broadband internet services were reinstated on July 24, and mobile internet was restored on July 28, although social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok remained blocked.

On July 28, six coordinators from the Anti-Discrimination Students' Movement, who had been detained by the Detective Branch, issued a statement from the DB office announcing the cessation of protests. However, other movement leaders alleged that these individuals had been coerced into making this statement. The remaining coordinators vowed to continue their protests, regardless of the stance taken by the six individuals.

In response to the ongoing activities of the movement, the Sheikh Hasina government once again sought to suppress the student-led protests by deploying both Chhatra League members and police forces, and imposed an indefinite curfew. Consequently, students advanced their planned "Long-March-to-Dhaka" from August 6 to August 5. On that day, alongside public university students, thousands from Northern University Bangladesh, North South University, BRAC University, East West University, IUBAT, BUBT, Uttara University, and others protested at various locations, including BNS (Uttara), Kuril Bishwa Road, Badda, and Zamzam Tower (Uttara). Ultimately, Sheikh Hasina's 15-year rule came to an end as she resigned and fled from the country.

The writer is a Assistant Professor Department of English Northern University Bangladesh