The ruthless fall of the lady dictator Sheikh Hasina
Barrister Solaiman Tushar:
The fall of the Lady Dictator Sheikh Hasina has been brutal. After coming to power, the lady dictator led the then BDR rebellion at Pilkhana in Dhaka in February 2009 to kill 57 army officers. No other war since World War II has seen so many military officers die at once anywhere in the world. Hasina hastily arranged for the army officers to be killed and transferred from different places to Pilkhana. She destroyed all the institutions of the country. Thousands of opposition party leaders were killed.
The good news is that Bangladesh has been freed from a long-standing dictatorship. The country became independent for the second time on 05 August 2024 at the cost of the lives of many students and common people. Hasina resigned from the post of Prime Minister on 05 August 2024, the end of autocracy. Sheikh Hasina and her sister Sheikh Rehena fled the country yesterday. Now the main issue is how the country will be run. Chief of Army Staff General Waqer-Uz-Zaman in his address to the nation urged to maintain peace and order in the country. He announced the formation of the interim government. Before forming this government, he should hold talks with the student leaders agitating for quota reforms who played the biggest role in bringing down the autocratic Sheikh Hasina’s government.
Although the army chief has promised to prosecute all the murders, the question is which law will be used to prosecute these murders. Because members of the Awami League, Jubo League, Volunteer League, Chhatra League, and some dangerous law and order forces have massacred innocent students and common people. I, Barrister Solaiman Tushar, Barrister Mahdi Zaman (Boni), and Advocate Khairul Bashar filed a writ in the Supreme Court on Sunday (August 04) to ensure justice for the killers of students and common people protesting for quota reform. Once the proceedings of the Supreme Court commence, the writ will be brought to the notice of the concerned Bench for listing for hearing.
Whoever remains in the interim government should hold an election as soon as possible under an impartial Election Commission. The problem here is that during the last 15 years of rule, Sheikh Hasina has destroyed all the institutions of the country. She has appointed genuine party members and flatterers.
The interim government should appoint impartial and transparent people in government institutions. However, this task is very difficult to play a role in stopping violence in the country. Because the evil forces of Awami League brutally tortured common man during the last 15 years of its rule. Even then, we must play a role in restoring peace in the country. Criminals must be prosecuted. It is true that people will never forget the torture of the Awami League and its greedy forces. If peace and order cannot be restored in the country, civil war will breaks out in the country, which is currently happening in African countries. Neighboring countries should stand by the common people in the difficult times of Bangladesh.
It is true that Sheikh Hasina has tried everything to stay in power. Sheikh Hasina and her accomplices carried out similar massacres before the defeat of the Pakistani invaders in 1971. According to international media reports, Sheikh Hasina and her associates have brutally killed hundreds of thousands of people. According to Article 5 of the Treaty of Rome, it is undoubtedly genocide. Bangladesh signed the Rome Treaty in September 1999. Now the main issue is which law will judge Sheikh Hasina and her associates who killed thousands of innocent students. Will her trial be in the International Criminal Court (ICC) or the existing laws of the country? However, Sheikh Hasina has already fled the country.
But her trial must be confirmed. No matter which country Sheikh Hasina takes refuge in, that country should help ensure justice for the people of the country. Surely no country will be hated by 20 crore people of Bangladeshis for sheltering the murderers of thousands of people. The last thing is that the main responsibility of the interim government will be to ensure punishment for the killers of thousands of people, Sheikh Hasina and her associates. Only then will people’s anger be reduced to some extent.
If the trial of the dictator Sheikh Hasina is not confirmed quickly, the anger of the students will not subside. They will hit the road again. The people of Bangladesh are protesting. The common people of this country have defeated the highly disciplined Pakistani invading forces. Students have always come forward in Bangladesh. Starting from the language movement in 1952, the mass uprising of 1969, War of Independence in 1971 and the 90’s anti-dictatorship movement. All the movements were led by the students. Students were not defeated in any movement. Lastly in 2024, the students showed their strength, and power to fall down the lady dictator Sheikh Hasina. Hasina’s downfall is undoubtedly a relief to people. The new government should issue arrest warrants against Sheikh Hasina and her associates through Interpol. Bring Sheikh Hasina to justice quickly. Besides, peace will not return to the country.
As a researcher of international law and history, I can say that Sheikh Hasina is the worst dictatorship in the world today. Sheikh Hasina is a Lady Hitler, murderer of millions of people, destroyer of democracy. Dictatorships have been born over the ages. Their defeat was brutal. In 2024, the fall of the dictatorship of Sheikh Hasina was very brutal. People around her have already fled the country. This is how autocrats fall. Sheikh Hasina is the latest proof of that. Yet tyranny flourishes from country to country throughout the ages. Sheikh Hasina is the first female dictator in the history of the world. Her downfall was brutal. Now the interim government should file a case against Sheikh Hasina and her associates in the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the genocide of thousands of people.
The author is a Supreme Court lawyer and scholar of international law.