The Protest Addiction: After the Revolution, Bangladeshis Stumble Forward 

Last summer, tens of thousands of students and other Bangladeshis, furious over the violent crackdowns, corruption, and cronyism of the regime of longtime authoritarian leader, Sheikh Hasina, forced her out of power and out of the country.  

Soon after, the leaders of the so-called July Revolution installed an interim government, led by Nobel Prize-winning economist and microcredit pioneer, Muhammad Yunus, which began reforms to the judicial, legislative, political, and electoral systems, created an anti-corruption commission, and attempted to stabilize the economy.  

However, in the 11 months since the revolution, protesters can’t stop protesting. 

“All the major roads are blocked during the day,” complained chicken seller Zakir Hossain in an interview with Agence France-Presse. 

The demands and objections are numerous: Some take to the streets to demand justice for crimes committed by members of the former regime. Others want elections immediately instead of waiting for the caretaker government to finish its reform program. Then there are those fighting to regain their power or trying to stop other groups, such as women, from getting more.  

The turmoil is unsurprising, say commentators, given the state of the country after 15 years of misrule by Hasina. “The mess is huge,” wrote Bangladeshi author Ahmede Hussain in Foreign Policy. 

Hasina effectively destroyed the civil service, the electoral system, and the independence of the judiciary. The police, security services, and military are in disarray. The economy, South Asia’s second-largest, is struggling, and corruption is rampant even as the government has reduced inflation and stabilized the economy. Also, around $3.1 billion is stolen and sent out of the country every year, an amount that is more than 10 percent of the country’s total national reserves. A new white paper says that number is closer to $16 billion.  

“Our blood curdles to know how they plundered the economy,” Yunus said. “The sad part is they looted the economy openly. And most of us could not summon the courage to confront it.” 

It will take time, added Hussain. “The damage is everywhere…Nothing has been spared. The democratic institutions that have been destroyed over the years can’t be rebuilt overnight.”  

Yet the young who led the protests are impatient. 

Most recently, protests broke out because some believe the current government isn’t moving quickly enough to punish the former leader and members of the former ruling party, the Awami League. 

Even so, it is trying. Over the past six months, numerous charges have been filed against Hasina, including murder, abduction, genocide, and crimes against humanity, charges she denies.  

In June, a special court, the Dhaka-based International Crimes Tribunal, began trying Hasina in absentia, along with other government and police officials involved in the murderous crackdowns on protesters last summer that killed as many as 1,400 people. 

Bangladesh has been attempting to extradite the former prime minister from India since December. 

And it banned the former ruling party in May, a move some applauded but others said smacks of authoritarianism.  

Still, the new leadership has also attempted to be as inclusive as possible – it has solicited recommendations from all groups and parties and set up a commission to sort, process, and incorporate the ideas for reform from individuals and commissions: The Commission for National Consensus is charged with creating the “July Charter” to address the biggest issue of all, elections to jumpstart “Bangladesh 2.0.”  

If the July Charter is finished by August, which is expected, Bangladesh will hold elections in December, likely the first free and fair elections in more than a decade. If it isn’t, elections will be held by June 2026. Yunus says he won’t run.  

However, the pressure to hold elections sooner rather than later is increasing, so much so that Yunus threatened to resign.  

Meanwhile, some issues will linger for years. For example, there are still outbreaks of violence against members of the former regime and their supporters, Hindus, and other minority groups in spite of the new leadership pleading for peace, tolerance, and calm.  

Also, some believe Hasina will run in the next election even as she is currently in exile in India, and although the Awami League is banned, it has support in the country.  

Some also worry about extremist elements returning to power. In June, Bangladesh’s top court reinstated the registration of Jamaat-e-Islami, paving the way for the country’s largest Islamist party to participate in the next election. 

With different groups, including the country’s largest party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, and the military creating instability, disorder, and pressuring the government, some wonder if Bangladesh can cross the finish line to elections.  

“We are in a war-like situation,” said government spokesman Shafiqul Alam. “…Attempts are on to destabilize us in various ways. We have to get out of this situation.”