DHAKA: Bangladeshi students will seek the return of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to stand trial, the leader of the youth movement that forced her to flee said, as the ex-premier faces charges over the deadly state violence that preceded her downfall.
Initially peaceful student demonstrations started in Bangladesh in early July, triggered by the reinstatement of a quota system for the allocation of civil service positions.
Two weeks later, they were met with a violent crackdown by security forces, which according to UN estimates has left more than 600 people dead. The deaths led to a nationwide uprising, which in early August forced Hasina to resign and leave for neighboring India.
One of the key leaders of the movement that ended the former PM’s rule — after 15 straight years in power — was Nahid Islam, a 26-year-old sociology student at Dhaka University and a coordinator of Students Against Discrimination, the main protest organizing group.
“The government and the people of Bangladesh definitely want to see Sheikh Hasina in the country and want to see her in court … People demand that Sheikh Hasina be brought back to the country and face the judicial process,” Islam told Arab News at his official residence in Dhaka on Monday evening.
Islam is currently in charge of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology in Bangladesh’s interim government.
The caretaker Cabinet, which was sworn in on Aug. 8 and is led by the Nobel-winning economist Muhammad Yunus, has two student leaders in its ranks: Islam and Asif Mahmud, also a Students Against Discrimination coordinator, who is now in charge of the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
The new interim administration has pledged to cooperate with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to deliver justice and accountability for all the violence committed during the month-long uprising.
According to the OHCHR’s preliminary analysis of the unrest and state violations in addressing it, immediately available data indicates that more than 600 people were killed, but “the reported death toll is likely an underestimate.”
The violations include cases of “extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests and detention, enforced disappearances, torture and ill-treatment, and severe restrictions on the exercise of freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly.”
UN investigators arrived in Dhaka last week to meet government and civil society representatives ahead of setting up the probe.
“Once the investigation process starts and based on that, we will be able to bring Sheikh Hasina back to the country or proceed with her trial process,” Islam said.
Holding those responsible for the killings and violence accountable, as well as rehabilitating those injured and families of the victims were the first steps he listed among the top ongoing efforts to reform the country.
The interim government has come into power with the promise of restructuring all sectors and laying the foundation for a new Bangladesh.
Reforms are underway in law enforcement, especially police, to make it regain public trust after the recent violence.
“Corruption is a major focus; bureaucracy needs to be reformed. There are various laws that create barriers to the expression of people’s opinions, and there are discussions on amending or repealing those laws. And our banking sector needs reforms. There were various incidents of looting and money laundering,” Islam said.
“Our aim was to establish a new Bangladesh, a new political system … The target of our movement will be completely achieved with state reforms, which we are working on now.”
