Last week, Ireland’s Bangladeshi community experienced a wave of relief following the report that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh had stepped down and sought refuge in India due to a prolonged period of violent turmoil. Large groups congregated in Dublin’s Phoenix Park and presumably at the Red Cow Hotel later, to commemorate what they perceived as their homeland’s “second independence” and a significant triumph.
Dr Arman Rahman, an assistant professor from UCD’s medical school, expressed his satisfaction at the conclusion of Ms Hasina’s rule yet lamented the state of the nation. “It is quite disheartening to witness such a promising, beautiful country regress by two decades, especially when every other nation is developing and moving towards the future, why did Bangladesh resort to this?”, he posed.
Following violent law enforcement suppression of protests that led to a reported death toll of at least 300, Ms Hasina vacated her position and fled. The initial student-led protests demanded an end to a biased quota system that favoured relatives of freedom fighters from the 1971 independence war with Pakistan by reserving 30% of government jobs for them. The protests soon broadened to an indictment of political corruption, extreme class disparity, and escalating cost of living.
Dr Rahman, a resident of Ireland since 2008, was in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, visiting his family when the demonstrations started, a stark affirmation of the reality on the ground. He recountered the disturbing custodial violence stating, “Police were firing at protesting students indiscriminately, right before my eyes”.
He added,”I was staying with my sister whose house was nearby one of the protest sites. We were cut off from the world for a week with no internet service or mobile connection. Our mobiles were reduced to mere objects of metal and plastic. This was a strategy to prevent international media from catching wind of the police’s heavy-handedness. We were under curfew, with military patrolling the streets”.
Dr Rahman and his family returned back to Ireland when the curfew was temporarily lifted. The doctor referred to his homeland having devolved into a “mafia state”, indicative of an autocratic singular woman-led government that has seized the power for over 15 years, asserting, “Individuals were too frightened to object. Expressing anti-government sentiments could get one imprisoned.”
Arif Bhuiyan, an experienced chartered accountant residing in Ireland for the past ten years, disclosed that not just in Bangladesh, but even expatriates carried a deep-seated fear of criticising the government. Over a decade he and his fellow Bangladeshis in Ireland have been massively scared to express their criticism on social media, worried about the safety of their families back in Bangladesh. The recent weeks have stirred up intense fear and vulnerability amongst them, making them feel utterly powerless.
Bhuiyan is indeed relieved that Ms Hasina and her political party, Awami League, have been ousted from authority but he can’t help but be anxious about the power transition and the repercussions of the protests.
Dr Mohammad Jinnuraine Jaigirdar, the head of the All Bangladeshi Association of Ireland, shared that the majority of the Irish-Bangladeshi community are still recovering from the shock of the news but can’t deny the joy and triumph they felt too.
He blamed the Hasina-led government for annihilating any traces of democracy we had during the early stages of her tenure and labelled her rule as “tyrannical and corrupt”. Dr Jaigirdar played a key role in arranging celebratory gatherings in places like Dublin, Limerick, Cork and Galway in honour of her departure.
Crowds are rejoicing as if their nation just won a second independence, Dr Jaigirdar observed, before expressing his hopes that the unrest would quieten down and that larger conflicts won’t take place.
Dr Jaigirdar put his absolute trust in Muhammad Yunus, an 84-year-old economist and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, who was recently inducted to lead the interim government of Bangladesh.