Dr. Ariful Islam, Dr. Mohammad Imtiaz Hossain and Mohammad Fakhrul Islam :
Corruption and the misuse of power are democracy’s cruellest betrayals, where leaders exchange public trust for personal gain and wield their authority as a tool for exploitation. Sheikh Hasina’s regime became the ultimate example of this, as her government morphed from a symbol of stability into an authoritarian machine designed to silence dissent and protect the elite. Democracy under her rule turned into an elaborate farce-a puppet shows where votes were meaningless, dissent was crushed, and governance was reduced to securing her inner circle’s wealth. The public, pushed to the brink by years of systematic oppression, rising corruption, and economic mismanagement, finally decided enough was enough.
History, it seems, has a flair for irony when it comes to dismantling empires and autocratic regimes. Take the Great Roman Empire, for example: once the pinnacle of civilization, it ultimately tripped over rotten grain and unpaid mercenaries. While emperors gorged themselves on lavish feasts, the system that sustained them decayed from within, proving that even the mightiest can crumble under the weight of their own excess. Fast forward to 18th-century France, where Marie Antoinette’s infamous “Let them eat cake” remark – whether she said it or not – became a symbol of royal arrogance. The starving masses, tired of being mocked by their out-of-touch rulers, decided that heads would roll. And they did. Fast forward to modern-day Bangladesh, and the irony only gets sharper. The mighty Sheikh Hasina, who ruled with an iron grip for years, found her regime undone not by invading armies or elaborate conspiracies but by a social media comedian named Hero Alom and a goat that cost as much as a luxury car.
Sheikh Hasina’s rise to power in 2009 was shaped by the controversial 1/11 military-backed caretaker government in 2007, which intervened after escalating political unrest between her Awami League and the opposition BNP. Led by figures like former Army Chief Moeen U Ahmed, whose actions many argue disrupted democratic processes, the emergency government delayed elections, detained political leaders – including Hasina briefly – and conducted anti-corruption drives. While initially neutral, their actions weakened Hasina’s opponents, particularly Khaleda Zia’s BNP, paving the way for the Awami League’s sweeping victory in the 2008 elections. The subsequent 2009 BDR mutiny, shrouded in suspicion and mismanagement, further consolidated Hasina’s grip on power by eliminating potential dissent and diverting public attention. Was this all a calculated strategy to tighten control?
The cracks in Hasina’s regime began to show during the Dhaka-17 by-election, when Hero Alom, an independent candidate and social media personality, stood up against the Awami League. The regime’s panic at the prospect of losing even one seat to a self-made underdog exposed its fear of losing control. Alom, armed with little more than grassroots support and his quirky appeal, became a symbol of resistance to a system that thrived on manipulation. The irregularities, intimidation, and chaos he faced during the election mirrored the broader corruption that had kept Hasina’s government afloat for years. For ordinary Bangladeshis, the sight of the ruling party scrambling to suppress an internet celebrity was both absurd and enraging. It signalled just how fragile and insecure the regime truly was, sparking conversations about the broader decay of democracy in the country.
Then came the infamous 15-lakh-taka Qurbani goat, which turned out to be the ultimate symbol of Hasina’s excesses. When news broke that the son of a government employee had purchased a goat for such an obscene amount, it became impossible to ignore the grotesque inequality fostered under her rule. Social media exploded with outrage as people questioned how public servants, supposedly on modest salaries, could flaunt such extravagance while the majority of the population struggled to afford basic necessities. The goat became a viral metaphor for the regime’s bloated corruption, highlighting the obscene privileges enjoyed by those connected to the government. It became clear to many that this was not just mismanagement – it was outright plundering of the nation’s resources for personal gain.
While the goat’s absurd price tag enraged citizens, the turning point came during the Red July-August protests of 2024. Sparked by soaring inflation, widespread corruption, and a growing sense of hopelessness, the protests began as isolated student-led demonstrations demanding reforms to the unfair quota system. What started on university campuses quickly escalated into a nationwide revolt as ordinary citizens joined in, demanding not just systemic reform but an end to Hasina’s rule. The government responded with brutal efficiency-riot police, tear gas, arbitrary detentions, and even live ammunition against unarmed protesters. The images of students being beaten and dragged into custody only fuelled public anger. Farmers, laborers, and small business owners rallied together with the students, forming a unified front against a regime that had long underestimated the resilience and determination of its people.
By the time Hasina fled to India for safety, the writing had long been on the wall. Years of unchecked corruption, manipulation, and repression had finally come back to haunt her. Hero Alom’s campaign had exposed the cracks in her government’s grip on power, the Qurbani goat scandal had brought public outrage to a boiling point, and the student-led protests had unified the nation against tyranny. What once seemed like an unshakable regime collapsed under the weight of its own greed and the relentless will of the people. Bangladesh, after years of pain and oppression, proved that no government-no matter how deeply entrenched in corruption-can withstand the unstoppable force of a united population demanding justice.
(Dr. Ariful and Dr. Imtiaz are Faculty Members, Sunway Business School, Malaysia and Mohammad Fakhrul is PhD Scholar, Hungarian University of Agriculture & Life Sciences (MATE), Hungary).
