Dr. Syed Nesar Ahmad Rumy :
A great and unprecedented uprising of students and mass people happened in Bangladesh between the mid July and 1st week of August 2024 changed the regime of Sheikh Hasina which ruled the country for the last 15 years. In the history of Bangladesh and in the south Asian countries this uprising is unprecedented.
And within such a few days about a thousand students/ mass people were killed brutally by the authoritative forces and students and people who gave their lives in this struggle and shed blood on the streets have achieved martyrdoms. These are the days which people of Bangladesh must remember perpetually. It must be written with the red letters in the history of Bangladesh.
It is now a big question how it was possible for the members of Gen Z when opposition political parties failed to unseat Sheikh Hasina’s autocratic regime. Is it not a new trend of our new generation that could not be perceived by the earlier generations?
Maybe it is true that an autocratic regime could/did not read the mind of the younger generation. We saw in the last 15 years all initiatives of the then governments were syndicated and no one having different opinions was able to take any space in those circles.
Even the situation was such that no one could express his/her own views. The culture of intimidation was omnipresent in all over the country. A situation of suffocation was felt by everyone.
Now voices are raised to unveil the several misdeeds happened in the last 15 years. The mutiny of BDR occurred in 25/26 February 2009 killed 57 brilliant military officers and about more than15 civilians.
After Hasina government the relatives and well-wishers of those military officers have raised the voice to review the entire judicial process of that case and at the same time voices are also raised from the different corners of the society to make public of the enquiry report made by Gen Jahangir. Actually people of our country have the right to know the facts of that incident.
Voices are also raised from the different batches of Bangladesh Civil Service. Last 15 years many anomalies, deprivations happened to hundreds of officers of Bangladesh Civil Service. Many of them retired from their assignments without due respect and promotion. Even a number of officers retired from service prematurely and disgracefully.
Not only in the civil service but many of the other public services’ officers were deprived from their due respect and promotions. Now it is the time interim government should reconsider their cases and should try to compensate for the grievances.
In the universities, a lot of misdeeds and anomalies happened during the years. Appointment of Vice Chancellors happened totally considering loyalties of the then ruling party. It is now clear that academic attainments, competency of running the university administration did not get priority.
The mass resignations of Vice Chancellors of different public universities are now reflecting the weakness of the appointment of Vice Chancellors of the previous government.
In the local government side, fake and unfair elections were held last 15 years.
The burning example of this situation is that we did see no so called public representatives come to the streets in support of the then government. Rather, they had to go into hiding to save their lives from people’s grievances.
It is very much astonishing that all members of parliament are now in hiding. Does it not prove that the election held in 7th January, 2024 was not participated by people. It is also very astounding how much our police force was politically motivated.
Because of the downfall of the government all the police stations in the country got abandoned and members of the police force fled away. It might be an unprecedented incident in world history. This event reflects that our police force was totally motivated politically.
In the judiciary, many untoward incidents happened in the last 15 years. The appointments of judges in the High Court division seem to be starkly political. Required qualities, educational attainments, integrity did not get priority to choose the appointment of the judges of the High Court division.
Even a chief justice was driven out of the country for not compromising with the executive authority of the country at the time. Many of us witness those incidents and his memoirs published abroad say all these. Apart from this the Supreme Court bar council’s elections was highly questionable during that time.
Other than law and order, the main issue of the country is the smooth running of the economy, especially industrial and agricultural sectors. Government should take prudent initiatives of ensuring supply chains of industrial and agricultural sectors.
The Aman season of rice is now knocking on the doors. So production of food grains and export of garments must not be hampered in the present situation of the country. We know the price hike of food grains and fuel is very much sensitive in our country. So, the government should take extra attention for these sectors.
After August 5 we saw members of the parliament, the entire police force, the local body representatives including city corporations, had fled their area and went into hiding. This situation shows how the state machinery had become ineffective and nonfunctional. This situation is the glaring symbol of a failed regime.
To redress these situations, the interim government broadly can take some measures for the smooth running the administration of the country:
a. Total reshuffling in the police force;
b. Total reshuffling in the civil administration;
c. Major changes in the education sector;
d. Special attention should be given to the banking sector;
e. Special attention has to be given to the smooth supply of fuel, electricity, communication;
f. To make our nation more steady & strong our cultural arena has to be remodeled.
Now the government is facing challenges of sudden flood in the south-eastern part of the country and also facing the pressures of the different organisations. Hope, soon all these issues will be minimized with a logical ending. Already some initiatives have been taken by the interim government and we hope that clean air will flow in the life, society and economy of the country in the days to come in our beloved Bangladesh.
(The author is a former Civil Servant )
