Bangladesh’s test: After Hasina conviction, will it repeat her mistakes?

Sheikh Hasina is simply a convicted fugitive.

Until August 2024, she was the astir almighty person successful Bangladesh’s history, aft 15 years of iron-fisted rule. On Monday, the 78-year-old erstwhile premier curate was handed a decease condemnation successful absentia implicit the brutal crackdown by her information forces connected past year’s student-led protests. More than 1,400 radical were killed, galore of them execution-style.

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Hasina, who had fled to neighbouring India aft she was forced retired of power, has implicit the past twelvemonth remained combative and unrepentant. On Monday, she responded to the verdict by the Bangladeshi International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) by acknowledging the deaths of hundreds of guiltless people, but refused to instrumentality responsibility.

“I mourn each of the deaths that occurred successful July and August of past year, connected some sides of the governmental divide,” she said successful a statement. “But neither I nor different governmental leaders ordered the sidesplitting of protesters.”

Hasina besides called the verdict by the ICT “biased and politically motivated”.

For millions of Bangladeshis, the decease condemnation awarded to Hasina represents justice, adjacent though India’s apt refusal to extradite the erstwhile premier curate means that grieving families that mislaid loved ones to excesses nether her regularisation volition person to hold for closure.

But for Bangladesh arsenic a country, the verdict could service arsenic a infinitesimal for an adjacent deeper displacement if it chooses to present adjacent the loop connected the maltreatment of information forces, courts and different institutions of the authorities to people opponents and critics – practices that Hasina perpetuated and came to represent.

Hasina’s claims that she is the unfortunate of governmental persecution reflector the allegations that her authorities faced during the decade-and-a-half of its rule.

The ICT was established by Hasina herself successful 2010 to prosecute Bangladeshis accused of collaborating with Pakistan successful carrying retired atrocities during the 1971 liberation war.

Now the aforesaid tribunal has convicted her.

For years, quality rights groups person accused her of utilizing the tribunal unneurotic with authorities institutions, including courts and the information establishment, to punish her governmental opponents.

Her main governmental rival – Khaleda Zia, who was Bangladesh’s archetypal pistillate caput of authorities – was jailed nether corruption charges portion the country’s largest Islamist party, the Jamaat-e-Islami, was barred from contesting elections and subsequently banned nether an “anti-terror” law.

Zia was released lone aft the interim authorities of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus came to powerfulness past year, pursuing Hasina’s ouster.

Yunus himself was convicted successful January 2024 connected charges of labour instrumentality violations that galore accidental were politically motivated. He was sentenced to six years successful prison, but got bail. The economist had been successful Hasina’s crosshairs aft helium floated the thought of launching a governmental enactment successful 2007. Grameen Bank, established by Yunus, pioneered the conception of microloans, which helped empower millions of agrarian women.

Hasina and her Awami League enactment person agelong worn the badge of secularism. But during her regularisation betwixt 2009 and 2024, they were accused of weaponising secularism to warrant targeting Islamist parties and dissenters. An full procreation of Jamaat leaders was executed based connected convictions issued by the ICT.

Writing successful the Bangladeshi paper The Daily Star connected Monday, expert Arman Ahmed said that the Awami League “transformed secularism from an perfect of state into a rhetoric of control”.

“It came to beryllium associated with censorship, patronage, and the systematic weakening of immoderate governmental opposition. When powerfulness became synonymous with a azygous party, the motivation authorization of its secular task collapsed,” helium wrote.

Hasina’s autocratic regularisation was peculiarly marked by sedate quality rights violations. Between 2009 and 2022, astatine slightest 2,597 radical were killed by the information forces extrajudicially, according to quality rights groups.

In 2021, the United States imposed sanctions against the constabulary counterterrorism unit, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), accused of engagement successful hundreds of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.

Odhikar, a salient rights group, was besides targeted aft it criticised the authorities for granting impunity to information forces for quality rights violations. In 2023, 2 of its founders were jailed.

Famed Bangladeshi lensman and activistic Shahidul Alam was jailed successful 2018 aft helium criticised Hasina’s authorities for wide “extrajudicial killings”, successful an interrogation with Al Jazeera.

When the protests against authorities occupation quotas erupted past July, Hasina deployed riot constabulary alternatively of engaging successful talks with the stakeholders.

She ordered the information forces to usage drones, helicopters and lethal weapons to suppress the protests, according to Bangladeshi media.

But the brutal crackdown, including the apprehension of thousands, galvanised a wide question against her government, triggering her downfall.

Hasina’s bequest – and wherefore Bangladesh indispensable interruption with it

Now, Hasina’s governmental aboriginal successful Bangladesh is over.

What remains is her legacy.

To beryllium sure, she led a decade-long conflict to revive ideology successful the 1980s, teaming up with rival Zia to unit the country’s then-military ruler, President Hussain Muhammad Ershad, to relinquish power. Zia’s BNP won the 1991 election. Hasina past defeated Zia successful the 1996 elections to go premier curate for the archetypal time, arsenic their governmental rivalry turned progressively bitter.

After Hasina returned to powerfulness successful 2009, she addressed the country’s information challenges, cracking down connected equipped groups and providing stability.

She besides led an economical resurgence. In a state that erstwhile US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger erstwhile described arsenic a “basket case”, millions were lifted retired of poorness nether Hasina. Bangladesh’s per capita income surpassed neighbouring India, portion its gross home merchandise (GDP) of $430bn is bigger than Pakistan’s – the state it broke distant from 54 years ago. Today, Bangladesh is the world’s second-largest garment exporter, aft China.

But critics constituent retired that maturation nether Hasina was not equitable, with the country’s affluent people benefitting from her economical policies. She was besides accused of favouring an Indian businessman implicit the interests of Bangladesh.

And the economical strides that Bangladesh took were accompanied by quality rights violations, arbitrary arrests, muzzling of the press, silencing of the absorption and the hollowing retired of the country’s antiauthoritarian institutions.

The BNP, the main absorption party, boycotted the 2014 elections aft Hasina refused to name a neutral caretaker authorities to behaviour the vote.

Hasina won the adjacent predetermination held successful 2018, garnering 96 percent of the votes. Ahead of the elections, Zia was barred from contesting implicit her convictions, portion dozens of BNP candidates were arrested, drafting superior questions astir the credibility of the vote.

An expert astatine the clip described Hasina’s regularisation arsenic “development minus democracy”.

Hasina’s authorities repeated that signifier up of the 2024 election: absorption parties were attacked, and leaders were arrested up of the polls. The BNP boycotted arsenic a result, turning the predetermination into a no-contest.

After the victory, Hasina hardened her position, calling the BNP a ‘terrorist’ organisation.

But the tables turned – successful October 2024, 2 months aft she fled to India, the interim authorities banned Chhatra League, the pupil helping of the Awami League, describing it arsenic a “terrorist organisation”.

Now, arsenic Bangladesh prepares for its archetypal post-Hasina predetermination connected February 2026, it faces a test. In May, the Yunus authorities banned the Awami League from each governmental activity, and arsenic things stand, Hasina’s enactment volition not beryllium capable to vie successful the upcoming election.

That is simply a large setback for the antiauthoritarian rights of millions of Bangladeshis, who inactive enactment the Awami League.

The measurement emulates the mistakes of erstwhile governments, which chose retribution implicit reconciliation.

Meanwhile, extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances – a diagnostic of Hasina’s regularisation – proceed nether the caller government.

Convicting Hasina and sentencing her for her crimes is simply a captious measurement towards justice. But Bangladesh tin genuinely determination guardant from the symptom and trauma her authorities inflicted connected the federation lone if it breaks with the worst parts of her bequest — by gathering antiauthoritarian institutions that are inclusive, genuinely participative, and crucially, non-vindictive.