Jannatul Prome hopes to leave Bangladesh to study more or possibly find a job after she finishes her university degree, frustrated by a system that she says doesn’t reward merit and offers little opportunity for young people.
“We have very limited scope here,” said the 21-year-old, who would have left sooner if her family had enough money to pay tuition at foreign universities for both her and her older brother at the same time.
But recent events have given her hope that one day she might be able to return to a transformed Bangladesh: After 15 years in power, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country last week — chased out by young protesters, Prome among them, who say they are fed up with the way her increasingly autocratic rule has stifled dissent, favored the elite and widened inequalities.
Students initially poured into Bangladesh’s streets in June, demanding an end to rules that set aside up to 30 percent of government jobs for the descendants of veterans who fought the country’s 1971 war of independence from Pakistan. Protesters said that benefitted supporters of Hasina’s Awami League, which led that struggle — and who already were part of the elite. The quota and others for marginalized groups meant only 44 percent of civil service jobs were awarded based on merit.
That such jobs lay at the center of the movement was no coincidence: They are some of the most stable and best paying in a country where the economy has boomed in recent years but not created enough solid, professional jobs for its well-educated middle class.
And that Generation Z led this uprising was also not surprising: Young people like Prome are among the most frustrated with and affected by the lack of opportunity in Bangladesh — and at the same time, they are not beholden to the old taboos and narratives that the quota system reflected.
Their willingness to break with the past was clear when Hasina belittled their demands in mid-July, asking who, if not the freedom fighters, should be awarded government jobs.
“Who will? The grandchildren of Razakars?” Hasina retorted, using a deeply offensive word that refers to those who collaborated with Pakistan to quell Bangladesh’s independence struggle.
But the student protesters wore the word as a badge of honor. They marched on Dhaka University’s campus, chanting: “Who are you? Who am I? Razakar. Who said this? The dictator.”
The following day, protesters were killed during clashes with security forces — only galvanizing the demonstrations, which widened into a broader uprising against Hasina’s rule.
Sabrina Karim, a professor at Cornell University who studies political violence and Bangladesh’s military history, said that many of the protesters are so young they cannot remember a time before Hasina was prime minister.
They were raised, like the generations before them, on stories of the independence struggle — with Hasina’s family at the center. Her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was the first leader of independent Bangladesh and was later assassinated in a military coup. But Karim said this narrative had much less meaning for the young protesters than it did for their grandparents.
“It doesn’t resonate with them anymore as much as it did (before). And they want something new,” she said.
For Nourin Sultana Toma, a 22-year-old student at Dhaka University, Hasina’s equating of the student protesters with traitors made her realize the gulf between what the youth wanted and what the government could provide.
She said that she had watched as Bangladesh was slowly lulled into becoming immune to inequities and people lost hope that things would ever get better.
The country’s longest-serving prime minister prided herself on boosting per capita income and transforming Bangladesh’s economy into a global competitor — fields turned into garment factories and bumpy roads became winding highways. But Toma said she saw the daily struggle of people trying to buy essentials or find work and her demand for basic rights met with insults and violence.
“It could no longer be tolerated,” Toma said.
This economic distress was keenly felt by Bangladesh’s youth. Eighteen million young people — in a country of 170 million — are not working or in school, according to Chietigj Bajpaee, who researches South Asia at the Chatham House think tank. And after the pandemic, private sector jobs became even more scarce.
Many young people try to study abroad or move overseas upon graduation in the hopes of finding decent work, decimating the middle class and resulting in brain drain.
“The class differences have widened,” said Jannatun Nahar Ankan, a 28-year-old who works with a nonprofit in Dhaka and who joined the protests.
Despite these problems, none of the protesters seems to have truly believed that their movement would be able to dethrone Hasina.
Rafij Khan, 24, was on the streets preparing to join a protest when he heard Hasina had resigned and fled the country. He called home repeatedly to see if he could verify the news.
He said that in the last days of the demonstrations, people from all classes, religions and professions had joined the students on the streets. Now they hugged one another, while others just sat on the ground in disbelief.
“I can’t describe the joy that people felt that day,” he said.
Some of that euphoria is wearing off now as the enormity of the task ahead sinks in. Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus became the interim leader Thursday and he, along with a Cabinet that includes two student protest leaders, will have to restore peace, build institutions and prepare the country for fresh elections.
The hope for most students is that the interim government gets time to repair Bangladesh’s institutions while a new political party — not led by the old political dynasties — is formed.
“If you asked me to vote in elections right now, I don’t know who I’d vote for,” said Khan. “We don’t want to replace one dictatorship with another.”
The young people who took to the streets have often been described as the “I hate politics” generation.
But Azaher Uddin Anik, a 26-year-old digital security specialist and recent graduate of Dhaka University, said that is a misnomer.
They don’t hate all politics — just the divisive politics in Bangladesh.
And although he admits that the structural reforms that the country now needs may be more difficult than removing the prime minister, he is hopeful for the first time in a while.
“My last experience is telling me that the impossible can happen,” he said. “And maybe it isn’t too late.”
How a young generation in Bangladesh forced out the leader who ruled for much of their lives
https://arab.news/8kvy4
How a young generation in Bangladesh forced out the leader who ruled for much of their lives
- Students initially poured into Bangladesh’s streets in June, demanding an end to rules that set aside up to 30 percent of government jobs for the descendants of veterans
- Young people like Prome are among the most frustrated with and affected by the lack of opportunity in Bangladesh
‘Things might improve’: Young Kashmiris set for first local elections in decade
- Kashmir has been without a local government since 2018
- Unemployment is about 18 percent, nearly double India’s average
NEW DELHI: Nasir Khuehami and his family have never participated in a mainstream election in Jammu and Kashmir, but he is currently campaigning to mobilize others to take part in next week’s vote — the first in a decade and taking place in a new political setting after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government stripped the region of its autonomy in 2019.
Polling will be held in stages between Sept.18 and Oct. 1 to elect a local assembly — a truncated government with a chief minister, who will serve as the region’s top official, and a council of ministers — instead of remaining under the direct rule of New Delhi.
The result will be announced on Oct. 8.
“I don’t care which regional party wins, what matters is that the people of Kashmir should have someone who is their own,” Khuehami told Arab News.
The 26-year-old national convenor of the Jammu and Kashmir Students’ Association is visiting different districts of the valley to mobilize students ahead of the vote.
“For the last 10 years there have been no elections in Jammu and Kashmir. In the last five years, after the abrogation of special status, even democracy was suspended, and it is bureaucrats who run the region. There has been no accountability,” he said.
“When we compare these bureaucrats with our own elected leaders, we find that our representatives are accountable, they listen to us, and they understand us ... This accessibility we miss now.”
Kashmir has been without a local government since 2018 when Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party brought down a coalition government, forcing the assembly to dissolve. A year later, Modi’s government abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution, which granted the region its semi-autonomy, and downgraded it to a federally controlled territory.
Indian officials have repeatedly said that the move was aimed at tackling separatism and bringing economic development to the region, but Khuehami said people on the ground have yet to witness it.
“All the development agenda has fallen flat,” he said. “How many development activities took place, how many universities were created, how many exams were canceled? This is the reality.” He added that he was hopeful that, after the election, “things might improve.”
Ummar Jamal, a 23-year-old law student from the University of Kashmir was also looking forward to the vote, even though the powers of its elected administration will be limited, as the region is now a union territory.
“There was a sense of despondency after the abrogation of Article 370. I believe people are celebrating the election process (now). They are enjoying the celebration of democracy. I hope that after elections our representatives will be better placed to address our issues,” he said.
“Unemployment is very high. Why are the youth coming out in large numbers to campaign and vote? Somehow, they feel the public representatives may get these unemployment issues addressed.”
Indian-controlled Jammu and Kashmir is part of the larger Kashmiri territory, which has been the subject of international dispute since the 1947 partition of the Indian subcontinent into Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan.
Both countries claim Kashmir in full and rule in part. Indian-controlled Kashmir has, for decades, witnessed outbreaks of separatist insurgencies to resist control from the government in New Delhi.
The two main regional parties — the National Conference and the People’s Democratic Party — are going to challenge Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party. The Congress, India’s main opposition party, is in alliance with the NC.
“There is a strong sense of anti-BJP sentiment because people feel that the BJP is trying to alter the regional identity. Youngsters are supporting the regional parties like NC and PDP which are speaking the language of the people and expressing their aspirations,” said Tariq Mir, 33, a PR manager and writer based in Srinagar, Kashmir’s largest city.
“The main issue is the question of the Kashmiri identity ... People want a peaceful life with dignity.”
But they also seek new prospects, as unemployment in the region stands at around 18 percent — nearly double India’s average.
Aqib Manzoor, a law student at Central University of Kashmir, said that while many hope for the restoration of the region’s statehood, the creation of jobs in the private sector, tackling corruption, and giving them more freedom of expression are also key issues.
“Though hopes remain very high, time will tell whether these issues and concerns of youngsters will be addressed, or just remain unaddressed like in the past, when the state assembly had enough powers to bring real changes on the ground,” he said.
“The center and all parties should prepare to seize the new opportunity for the future of a prosperous state that addresses the concerns and aspirations of (those who are) the future of the nation.”
Russia, Ukraine swap 206 POWs in UAE-brokered deal
- Russian troops freed in Saturday’s swap were captured during Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk region
- Announcement comes just three weeks after Russia and Ukraine swapped 115 prisoners of war each
Moscow: Russia said Saturday it swapped 103 Ukrainian soldiers held captive for an equal number of Russian POWs in an exchange deal brokered by the United Arab Emirates.
The Russian troops freed in Saturday’s swap were captured during Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk region, which began on 6 August, according to the Russian defense ministry.
There was no immediate confirmation from the Ukrainian side.
“As a result of the negotiation process, 103 Russian servicemen captured in the Kursk region were returned from territory controlled by the Kyiv regime,” the Russian defense ministry said.
“In return, 103 Ukrainian army prisoners of war were handed over.”
“At present, all Russian servicemen are on the territory of the Republic of Belarus, where they are being provided with the necessary psychological and medical assistance, as well as an opportunity to contact their relatives,” the ministry added.
Despite ongoing hostilities, Russia and Ukraine have managed to swap hundreds of prisoners throughout the two-and-half-year conflict, often in deals brokered by the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia or Turkiye.
The announcement comes just three weeks after Russia and Ukraine swapped 115 prisoners of war each in an exchange deal also mediated by the UAE.
Banned by Taliban, Afghan women’s voices increasingly dismissed abroad
- Afghanistan’s new ‘vice and virtue’ law bars women from raising their voice in public
- International debates on Afghan women’s rights rarely include those living in Afghanistan
KABUL: With a new Taliban law banning women from raising their voice in public, female activists in Afghanistan claim they are also being silenced in the West, where their representation is increasingly dismissed.
Regulations issued last month by the Ministry of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice introduced stricter dress codes for all Afghans, but the restrictions stipulated that women not only cover themselves completely, including the face, but also conceal their voices in public.
“The government has practically ignored the voice of women and is seeking to eliminate as much of the role of women in society as possible,” Haida Akbari, a women rights activist in Kabul, told Arab News.
“The ban on women’s voices is one of the steps toward the elimination of women’s social role — neither the first nor the last.”
The rights of Afghan women have been curtailed since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021, when US-led forces withdrew after two decades of war following the invasion of the country.
Women and girls have been gradually barred from attending secondary school and university, undertaking most forms of paid employment, and attending public spaces such as public parks or gyms.
Each of the restrictions has spurred condemnation and sparked debate in the West. But while these are aimed at defending the rights of women, they rarely include the voices of those facing the reality of life inside Afghanistan.
In recent discussions on the impact of the new “vice and virtue” law, a Canadian broadcaster sought a comment from a former Afghan minister, a former member of parliament, and a former government official — all living in exile.
Another international media outlet focused its coverage on comments by a male activist, and while it also invited three Afghan women to comment, not one was living in Afghanistan.
For Akbari and other female activists, such practices further erode their representation and struggle for empowerment.
“There is no doubt that a woman living inside Afghanistan who wants to continue her life inside the country is very different from someone who is outside the country,” Akbari said.
“Women inside the country want the problem to be solved, but that does not mean welcoming another war in the country ... These issues are not covered in the media.”
Adina Ranjber, director of a women-led organization OTUF, which provides skill development and employment opportunities for women in Afghanistan, said it was important that international forums offer a voice to Afghan women, especially when they were being silenced at home.
“Women’s views and demands in the country are often ignored and suppressed. It seems that there is still a long way to go for Afghan women’s views to be heard and considered. There’s a need for continued support from the international community and the media,” she told Arab News.
“Representation of women from Afghanistan in human rights discussions demonstrates respect for human rights and gender equality. This can help create a more just and equal society for both women and men.”
Ranjber said that it is not only the West that is contributing to the voices of Afghan women being sidelined on international platforms.
“One of the most important factors in the neglect of women in Afghanistan is the silence of Islamic countries and the world Muslim scholars’ unions about the issues of women in Afghanistan,” she said.
“This also gives the Western media an excuse to ignore Afghan women and add to the problem instead of solving anything.”
India’s Modi campaigns in Kashmir polls after latest soldier deaths
- Indian-administered Kashmir has been without elected government since losing its special status in 2019
- Modi claims the change has ushered in a new era of peace and economic progress to the dispute region
NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Narendra Modi said “terrorism is on its last legs” in Kashmir while campaigning in the disputed territory on Saturday, a day after two soldiers were killed in a gunfight with suspected militants.
Indian-administered Kashmir has seen a rise in clashes between rebels and security forces ahead of the region’s first local assembly polls in a decade, which begin next week.
The Himalayan region in India has been without an elected local government since 2019, when Modi’s Hindu-nationalist government canceled the region’s semi-autonomy.
“The changes in the region in the last decade are nothing short of a dream,” Modi told thousands of supporters at the rally in Doda, part of Kashmir’s Hindu-majority southern region of Jammu.
“The stones that were picked up earlier to attack the police and the army are now being used to construct a new Jammu and Kashmir. This is a new era of progress, terrorism is on its last leg here,” he said.
Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claim that the government’s changes to the territory’s governance have brought a new era of peace to Kashmir and rapid economic growth.
The implementation of those changes in 2019 was accompanied by mass arrests and a months-long Internet and communications blackout to forestall protests.
Many Kashmiris are resentful of chafing restrictions on civil liberties that followed, and the BJP is only fielding candidates in a minority of seats concentrated in Hindu-majority areas.
Modi pledged at Saturday’s rally that his party would “build a secure and prosperous” Kashmir “that is free of terrorism and a haven for tourists.”
But this year’s local polls, which begin on Wednesday before results are announced next month, follow a spike in gunfights between security forces and rebels.
In the past two years, more than 50 soldiers were killed in clashes with rebels, mostly in the Jammu region.
The Indian army on Friday said that another two soldiers had died Friday during a firefight in the Kishtwar region, paying tribute to the “supreme sacrifice of the bravehearts” in a post on social media platform X.
Muslim-majority Kashmir has been divided between rivals India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947 and is claimed in full by both countries.
Rebels have fought Indian forces for decades, demanding independence or a merger with Pakistan.
About 500,000 Indian troops are deployed in the region, battling a 35-year insurgency that has killed tens of thousands of civilians, soldiers and rebels since 1989.
India accuses Pakistan of backing the region’s militants and cross-border attacks inside its territory, claims Islamabad denies.
The nuclear-armed neighbors have fought several conflicts for control of the region since 1947.
Russian forces take over village in eastern Ukraine, TASS says
Russia said on Saturday it had recaptured another village in eastern Ukraine, where it has made a string of advances.
“The locality of Jelannoe Pervoe (Jelanne Perche in Ukrainian) was freed thanks to the active and decisive operations of the southern units,” the defense ministry said.
The village is located in the Pokrovsk district, an important logistical hub for the Ukrainian army.
Russian forces has advanced rapidly in the eastern region of Donetsk in recent weeks, putting pressure on a Ukrainian army that is short of both soldiers and weapons.
