It’s really hard to imagine a generation growing up in political ignorance and never actually getting the opportunity to discover its basic political rights, let alone practicing them to actually overthrow a system of fascism, authoritarianism, and autocracy. But they did manage to overthrow the heads and the stems, although it’s debatable whether the whole tree was uprooted or not; that’s a story for another day. So, what went down the lane, and what went wrong for Hasina and her regime?
Let’s backtrack to Day 1. 1/11 Govt. is in power; the military destabilized the whole system with their own backed government. Minus Two formula caused a huge chaos in the political arena. That day, people realized the true value of political leadership. With such a burning fire in hand, the 1/11 government couldn’t handle it anymore. They chose to run an election. Although the election and its results were highly debated, everyone would agree that this was one of the most contested elections in Bangladesh’s history, where all seats were fought with deterrence. But AL led মহাজোট won it, in a huge margin. Here is where the story gets its twist.
From then on, Bangladesh saw its dark era of democracy. From the Shapla Chattar Massacre to Aynaghar, we saw it all. All those rigged elections and those nepotistic activities, people were really fed up. But none of them really mattered to the Gen Z, did it? So again, I am asking the question, What went wrong?
It was nothing but hunger. Yes, Simple hunger. Hunger for food, hunger for employment, hunger for dignity. In every 3rd world country, the major concern of every citizen, mostly those who are not politically aware, is whether they are treated humanely and whether their plates are full. Are they getting paid well? If so, none of them would raise a damn voice against anything. But A bitter truth is that few things can’t co-exist in society. Water won't mix with oil, Salt will never be sweet, and Corruption can’t bring social justice. Yes, Corruption.
Hasina’s regime saw one of the biggest heists of Bangladesh’s history, arguably the whole world. Since then, Bangladesh hasn’t had to look behind; new ways of corruption were discovered. L/C Tampering, Black Market Money Exchange and sending money in absurd amounts to family members. All of them happened, not in million takas, not in billion takas, but in BILLION DOLLARS. The Forex reserve fell to its all-time low, seizing the application of opening of L/C accounts, which allowed import of foreign goods, which help running economy. All these caused a spiral.
Killing the democracy caused the media to back off, which led the government to enact laws and free wheel the nation and its economy. This led, again, to start corruption in an unprecedented number. This led the whole economy to shake and eventually become unstable. This finally caused Inflation, prices skyrocketed, and jobs weren’t available due to the demand of the population.
In the final days of the Hasina Regime, the prices of basic commodities like Sugar, Wheat, and salt went out of the reach of lower-class people. This created a sense of mistrust towards the government.
Then came the final blow, the Quota Reformation of 2024. Already, the students are tired of not being heard enough. Road Safety movement, No VAT No Tax Movement, Women's Safety Movement. All these movements were drained away with brute force and torture. But the phoenix bird must rise.
It rose, it glided its wing, so that people could breathe again. Now, the country is much more stable, we can talk freely, prices of commodities are being regulated and normalized again, economy has started to grow. The phoenix bird rose.
It's about the psychology of people. It’s about how people feel. In a country where a mother goes to the market to sell her child, she won't care a damn about her voting rights but would definitely care if prices of rice and wheat spiked. Hasina made this huge mistake; people cared about her megaprojects to that extent when it didn’t hurt their stomachs, but when her job was lost as the exports and imports stagnated, people didn’t care anymore. It's always about what people care about.
