Report: Bangladeshi Army Refused to Suppress Protest
In the final hours of Sheikh Hasina's tenure as prime minister of Bangladesh, military brass reportedly refused orders to suppress protests that had gripped the country, effectively bringing an end to her 15 years of rule....
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Facts
- In the final hours of Sheikh Hasina's tenure as prime minister of Bangladesh, military brass reportedly refused orders to suppress protests that had gripped the country, effectively bringing an end to her 15 years of rule.[1]
- Hasina, the country's longest-serving leader, is the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman — the man who secured Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan in 1971. He and several members of Hasina's family were assassinated during a coup in 1975.[2]
- Though she is credited with turning around Bangladesh's economy and lifting millions of people out of poverty, Hasina had long been accused of being an authoritarian by taking measures such as kidnapping and extrajudicial killing of her detractors and political opponents.[2]
- Her recent troubles began after protests to scrap quotas for government jobs were met with harsh police crackdowns and reportedly killed over 400 people — triggering a wider movement that called for her removal and justice for those who were killed.[3]
- On Monday, as large numbers of protesters ignored a national curfew and stormed Hasina's palace in Dhaka, she resigned and fled the country by military helicopter.[4]
- Prior to that moment, according to two army sources, Bangladesh's Army Chief Gen. Waker-Uz-Zaman held a meeting with his generals and decided that troops wouldn't open fire on civilians to enforce the curfew. He then passed on this message to Hasina, according to another source, signaling to her that she no longer had the army's support.[1]
Sources: [1]Reuters, [2]BBC News, [3]Independent and [4]Al Jazeera.
Narratives
- Narrative A, as provided by BBC News. Though she is the daughter of the country's founder and started as a pro-democracy icon, Hasina's rule slid into authoritarianism by jailing, kidnapping, and killing her opponents. It's no surprise that after so long, Bangladeshis had had enough and demanded her removal from power.
- Narrative B, as provided by The Times of India. Bangladesh was a failed state when Hasina took the reins and now it's becoming prosperous. After all she has done for the country, it's disappointing to see the people's lack of gratitude. After this treatment, Hasina will not seek to return to power.
