Descent into Disorder

August 5 marks one year since former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina came to India after a violent uprising in Bangladesh, marked by wanton killings and political turbulence. After her exit, many Bangladeshis had expected that law and order would improve, but in reality, the situation in Bangladesh sharply deteriorated. The recent violence in the district of Gopalganj is a case in point, where the National Citizen Party (NCP), with complete support from Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus, Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), and other communal parties, took to violence and attacked Awami League (AL) activists in Gopalganj in a bid to weaken the AL stronghold and demoralise the Hindus, who constitute 40 per cent of the population. Several people were killed by the security forces, and at present, the city is filled with tension and uneasy calm, even with the imposition of rigorous prohibitory orders and security forces resorting to lethal firing. The paramilitary forces and the army are openly seen protecting NCP and Jamaat activists inside Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs).

This spate of violence in Gopalganj shows that the law and order situation, in particular, is still far from satisfactory, and no amount of use of force in checking the violence has brought any favourable results. According to a prominent Dhaka daily, Prothom Alo (July 17), the march marking the July 2024 uprising was planned well in advance by the NCP and its supporters, and the authorities were obviously ignorant of any wake-up calls. This also shows a complete failure of the intelligence machinery. Interestingly, the Advisor in charge of law and order, Lieutenant General (Retired) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, is not only an army veteran but had also headed the then Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), now renamed as Bangladesh Border Guards (BGB). The incompetence on the part of the General speaks of a complete lack of oversight in reining in the disturbing law and order situation, with no control over the intelligence setup.

Two things are glaring and cannot be ignored. Firstly, the Hindus are more vulnerable in Gopalganj in particular, and the cascading effects of the violence may reverberate in other Hindu pockets in Bangladesh, where they could possibly be targeted, with places of worship and immovable property more vulnerable to attacks by communal elements. Secondly, with the support of the interim regime under Muhammad Yunus, anti-AL forces, including the NCP and the Jamaat, may be further emboldened to violently challenge AL cadres and further neutralise them. Also, by implication, since the AL and Sheikh Hasina are largely believed to be India-friendly, anti-India rhetoric may rise further in the media and in other circles. However, the violent developments in Gopalganj do confirm that the AL is still a force to reckon with and cannot be underestimated.

After Hasina’s departure from the political scene, complete anarchy prevailed all over Bangladesh, affirming that there was no government control or semblance of any law and order. The communal elements, robbers, and criminals had a field day for several months, looting and vandalising at their free will. Hundreds of prisoners, including hardened criminals, escaped from prison; and not only that, there were lootings of armouries, broad daylight dacoities, and other heinous crimes. In addition, communal elements attacked various minority groups including Ahmadiyyas, Shias, Sufis, etc., and their places of worship were openly desecrated and vandalised. Hindu places of worship were specifically targeted, and many temples were attacked, with their idols defiled.

While assessing the key violent incidents in Bangladesh during the post-Hasina period, it would also be pertinent to highlight the lawlessness when unchecked mob violence brought down the residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, looting from the residence-turned-museum and destroying precious possessions reminiscent of the freedom struggle of 1971. This shows the mindset of a large number of ungrateful people who shamelessly destroyed all evidence of the Liberation War. Ironically, the government, the military, and various arms of the police forces were strongly suspected to be complicit when the perpetrators carried out this mindless violent act.

Under the circumstances, it would also appear desirable to touch upon some other occurrences in the aftermath of Hasina’s departure from the political scene, which had a profound negative impact on the social, political, and cultural fabric of Bangladesh. The most disturbing development was the present regime’s steady proximity towards Pakistan, which once committed unforgettable genocide in 1971 without tendering any apology—even for the violation of Bengali women by Pakistani forces and the inhuman acts inflicted on Bengalis before liberation. It may be alright to befriend Pakistan, but amnesia should not be to the extent of conveniently forgetting atrocities once so viciously committed. To illustrate further, it was perhaps politically unwise to observe Pakistan’s founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s 76th death anniversary at the National Press Club, Dhaka, in the presence of the Pakistani Deputy High Commissioner. It may be recapitulated that Jinnah, who was always anti-Bengali and anti-Bangla, opposed the use of the Bengali language in place of Urdu. Involving the Pakistani High Commission and remembering Jinnah is indeed a clear departure from the past, and an endorsement of Jinnah’s two-nation theory. This has also not augured well with the liberals, freedom fighters, and pro-liberation forces.

It would also appear advisable to mention that there is an unseen move to remove the powerful presence of Tagore from Bangladeshi minds, as he had influenced Bengalis in a big way in the fields of music, dance, literature, drama, etc. A mob vandalised the historic Rabindra Kacharibari in Bangladesh's Sirajganj district, which houses an ancestral mansion of Tagore, and attacked the auditorium on the mansion premises in June this year. It is an irony that this act of vandalism drew more criticism in India than in Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, another unfortunate incident has come to the fore, which speaks poorly of the Yunus administration and its ability to keep things under control. The old heritage ancestral property belonging to film icon Satyajit Ray’s paternal grandfather, Upendra Kishore Ray Chowdhury, was demolished in the district of Mymensingh in Bangladesh. This bizarre step has naturally hurt the sentiments of hundreds of thousands of Satyajit Ray’s fans all over India, leading the governments of India and West Bengal to protest and attempt to stop the demolition.

Such an outrageous act on the part of the Bangladeshi authorities also shows that the Yunus-led administration is completely insensitive to the heritage and sentimental value associated with the ancestral property of Upendra Kishore Ray Chowdhury, who was a noted writer, academic, and prominent social reformer. The strong appeal by the Indian side has forced the government of Bangladesh to reconsider the demolition. Such a glaring oversight was unthinkable during the previous regime and, therefore, it is important to highlight this while auditing the performance of the present regime over the past year.

In an objective assessment, it is clear that, in the preceding year, the present regime has failed to meet people’s expectations in maintaining law and order, ensuring the safety and security of minorities and their places of worship and property, controlling communal and fundamentalist forces, and checking the economic downturn.

Many Bangladesh observers believe that the present government has failed to improve ties with India, with no signs of any progress. The media continues to be hostile and biased. It is likely that the factors discussed above may play a dominant role in the elections scheduled for next year. A large segment of the population, in the meantime, seems miserable and so disillusioned that they are silently wishing for Hasina’s return to power for a more orderly regime.

The writer is a retired IPS officer, Adviser NatStrat, and a former National Security Advisor in Mauritius. Views expressed are personal