As Sheikh Hasina, the former Bangladeshi Prime Minister, was sentenced to death last Monday for her authorisation of lethal repression against student protesters in 2024, the courtroom erupted with jubilant cheers. A man in a Liverpool shirt flew up from his seat, clapping vigorously. A veiled older woman wiped tears from her eyes. Emotions were high for many after the government crackdowns last summer led to the death of about 1400 protestors, many of them students.
Reuters spoke to one of the fathers of those killed during the protests, who was happy with the decision and is now awaiting the follow-through. “True justice will come only when the hangman’s rope tightens around her neck,” Abdur Rab said, “only then can we wipe this dark stain from our nation’s history.”
Another supporter of the ruling is Aman Ullah, who was blinded at the protests. “I cannot see anymore, but the day I hear she has been hanged will be a celebration greater than Eid,” he said.
Although it is nice to see that a Liverpool fan has found something to applaud for this season, I am afraid this cause is more worrying than positive. Additionally, to address the grieving Mr Abdur Rab and Mr Aman Ullah, the sentence is more likely to further stain the history of Bangladesh than wipe the slate clean, and the sound of her hanging would be one of political fragmentation, not celebration.
Bangladesh is no stranger to violent upheavals and was born out of a bloody war of liberation against Pakistan in 1971. Since then, Bangladeshi politics has been ripe with corruption, assassinations, military coups, and general cyclical violence.
I have no doubt that the legal case behind the conviction is solid. The trial was extremely transparent and meticulous. I am not in opposition to the ‘could’ of the sentencing, but the ‘should’. It is easier for us, without a direct emotional connection to Bangladesh, to speak about the futility of revenge or the risk of cyclical violence, but it does need to be considered. By sentencing Sheikh Hasina to death, Bangladesh is putting itself in a dangerous position.
First, they are jeopardising ties with India, the nation Hasina fled to and from which Bangladesh is demanding her extradition. India remains unhelpful in the face of the Bangladeshi demands for blood, and the Hasina issue is bound to be a major obstacle in normalising the relationship between the two countries.
Additionally, the ruling has already shown signs of stirring further political violence in Bangladesh. Dhaka has experienced the explosion of several crude bombs and torched buses ahead of the ruling. Sheikh Hasina’s son, Wazed, promised Reuters that there would be ‘confrontations’ if the ban on her party was not lifted. “We have hundreds of thousands of activists in the country… They are outraged.”
There is no doubting the deep need for true political reckoning in Bangladesh. Political violence in Dhaka, the ruling itself, and the reactions to it clearly show the anger and feelings of injustice boiling in the country. This anger and upheaval are good and should be channelled into systematic change of democratisation instead of being wasted on symbolic executions.
I am not advocating a South African ‘forgive and forget’ attitude where power relations remain largely unchanged, nor an Iraqi de-Baathification where the entire government apparatus is stripped of competence. If Bangladesh is to have the promising future that lies before it, the country must find a way to bury the hatchet and foster a sense of unity.
Longevity lies in killing the scourge of dictatorship, not in killing the dictator.
“Sheikh Hasina” by theglobalpanorama is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
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The execution of Ex-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina would be a bloody stain on Bangladesh’s promising future
As Sheikh Hasina, the former Bangladeshi Prime Minister, was sentenced to death last Monday for her authorisation of lethal repression against student protesters in 2024, the courtroom erupted with jubilant cheers. A man in a Liverpool shirt flew up from his seat, clapping vigorously. A veiled older woman wiped tears from her eyes. Emotions were high for many after the government crackdowns last summer led to the death of about 1400 protestors, many of them students.
Reuters spoke to one of the fathers of those killed during the protests, who was happy with the decision and is now awaiting the follow-through. “True justice will come only when the hangman’s rope tightens around her neck,” Abdur Rab said, “only then can we wipe this dark stain from our nation’s history.”
Another supporter of the ruling is Aman Ullah, who was blinded at the protests. “I cannot see anymore, but the day I hear she has been hanged will be a celebration greater than Eid,” he said.
Although it is nice to see that a Liverpool fan has found something to applaud for this season, I am afraid this cause is more worrying than positive. Additionally, to address the grieving Mr Abdur Rab and Mr Aman Ullah, the sentence is more likely to further stain the history of Bangladesh than wipe the slate clean, and the sound of her hanging would be one of political fragmentation, not celebration.
Bangladesh is no stranger to violent upheavals and was born out of a bloody war of liberation against Pakistan in 1971. Since then, Bangladeshi politics has been ripe with corruption, assassinations, military coups, and general cyclical violence.
I have no doubt that the legal case behind the conviction is solid. The trial was extremely transparent and meticulous. I am not in opposition to the ‘could’ of the sentencing, but the ‘should’. It is easier for us, without a direct emotional connection to Bangladesh, to speak about the futility of revenge or the risk of cyclical violence, but it does need to be considered. By sentencing Sheikh Hasina to death, Bangladesh is putting itself in a dangerous position.
First, they are jeopardising ties with India, the nation Hasina fled to and from which Bangladesh is demanding her extradition. India remains unhelpful in the face of the Bangladeshi demands for blood, and the Hasina issue is bound to be a major obstacle in normalising the relationship between the two countries.
Additionally, the ruling has already shown signs of stirring further political violence in Bangladesh. Dhaka has experienced the explosion of several crude bombs and torched buses ahead of the ruling. Sheikh Hasina’s son, Wazed, promised Reuters that there would be ‘confrontations’ if the ban on her party was not lifted. “We have hundreds of thousands of activists in the country… They are outraged.”
There is no doubting the deep need for true political reckoning in Bangladesh. Political violence in Dhaka, the ruling itself, and the reactions to it clearly show the anger and feelings of injustice boiling in the country. This anger and upheaval are good and should be channelled into systematic change of democratisation instead of being wasted on symbolic executions.
I am not advocating a South African ‘forgive and forget’ attitude where power relations remain largely unchanged, nor an Iraqi de-Baathification where the entire government apparatus is stripped of competence. If Bangladesh is to have the promising future that lies before it, the country must find a way to bury the hatchet and foster a sense of unity.
Longevity lies in killing the scourge of dictatorship, not in killing the dictator.
“Sheikh Hasina” by theglobalpanorama is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
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