Photo: Luis Tato Agence France-Presse Students chant slogans as they protest to demand accountability and trial for Bangladesh’s ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, near Dhaka University in the capital, on August 12, 2024.
Sean Gleeson – Agence France-Presse and Eyamin Sajid – Agence France-Presse
Posted at 11:33
- Asia
Even her police detention had not dampened her resolve: Nusrat Tabassum, a student in Bangladesh, was one of many young women who led the movement that led to the fall of autocratic Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The Asian country had already seen several waves of protests against the leader, who had been in power for 15 years, but this was the first time that young women had participated in large numbers, playing a crucial role.
As the army began shooting at the demonstrators, several women rushed to the front of the procession, hoping that the soldiers would hesitate to open fire on them. The soldiers effectively laid down their weapons, marking a turning point in the wave that ousted Ms. Hasina from power.
“There was no going back,” says to Agence France-Presse Nusrat Tabassum, who has become a heroine of the University of Dhaka for having helped lead this movement which began with a revolt against public employment quotas.
“Anger increased as did demands for equality,” deciphers the 23-year-old young woman, greeted and acclaimed in the alleys of her university campus, the stronghold of the country’s elite.< /p>
Two weeks ago, she was arrested with five other student leaders and detained for several days. Under threat of their weapons, the security forces forced them to sign a press release calling for an end to the movement.
“I thought about suicide several times,” says Ms. Tabassum. “I couldn't bear the thought that people in this country would think that we had deceived them, that we had sold out.”
But the Bangladeshis had seen through the government's trickery.
“When we saw that people had not been deceived about us and that they were still protesting in the streets, it gave me the strength to continue.” »
« Bloodbath »
The protests began last month after a court ruling authorizing the return of public employment quotas, a much-criticized measure that allowed the prime minister to entrust government positions to people in her pay.
The plan called for 10% of jobs to be reserved for women, but according to Nusrat Tabassum, its instrumentalisation by the government meant that “women would have suffered more than they benefited”.
Shortly after the start of the protests, the Prime Minister defended these quotas by assuring that women could not currently access high office on the basis of their merits and skills alone.
The irony of such a statement, coming from one of the longest-serving women in power in the world, was not lost on her opponents.
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000To stay in power, Sheikh Hasina had also threatened new Islamist attacks in this Muslim-majority country, but this strategy, crowned with success in the past, was this time defused by images of women leading the protests.
“Women are now more concerned about their rights, and that is why they have spontaneously joined the protests,” says Nahida Bushra, a humanities student at Dhaka University who has played a major role in convincing other women to join the movement.
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She managed to counter government efforts to stop it and ignored online campaigns aimed at demonizing students.
“There is an avalanche of rumours and misinformation on social media, but we have maintained our unity,” she told Agence France-Presse.
With telecommunications companies forced to block access to Facebook and other networks used by protesters, Bushra and her comrades used virtual private networks (VPNs) to circumvent the bans.
The government then imposed a complete internet shutdown on mobile phones, and protesters resorted to text messages.
In a desperate attempt to cling to power, Hasina’s government then ordered soldiers to bloodily suppress the protests. But they refused.
“It would have been a complete bloodbath, and the military did not want to commit a massacre,” said Thomas Kean, an expert at the International Crisis Group. “By siding with Hasina at this pivotal moment, the military would have done a lot of damage to its image.”
As the most tumultuous period in the country's history draws to a close, Nusrat Tabassum says the work has only just begun.
“My country has failed to implement real democracy. “We are still responsible for building the country,” she said.
“A student-led revolution”
Bangladesh is experiencing a “student-led revolution,” the head of the new caretaker government, Muhammad Yunus, has declared.
“This is a revolution, a student-led revolution,” the Nobel Peace Prize laureate told reporters Sunday night, adding that the resignations of Sheikh Hasina's allies from the Supreme Court and other institutions were legal, “because legally … all the steps have been followed.”
“There is no doubt about it, [because] the affairs of the entire government have collapsed,” he added.
Economist Muhammad Yunus, 84, returned from Europe on Thursday at the request of student protest leaders to succeed Sheikh Hasina, 76, who fled by helicopter to India after 15 years in power and before protesters stormed her official residence in Dhaka.
“I said [to the leaders of the student movement, Editor’s note]: “I respect you, I admire you. What you have done is absolutely unprecedented,'” Mr. Yunus said during a briefing in premises that serve as the temporary headquarters of the government. His services agreed on Monday to make these statements, initially unofficial, public.
“As you ordered me to do this, then I follow your order,” he said. -he recounted, saying he was confident that student leaders “will find a legal way to justify all of this, because legally… all the steps have been followed.”