Bangladesh ? Six Months After the Student Movement
[This article was written in March, 2025. Since then, many new eventshave happened in Bangladesh. However, since those events have basicallystrengthened our analysis and apprehensions expressed in this article,we feel that points raised in this article are still valid today. Hence,though delayed, we are publishing this article in its old form, withoutfurther updation. ? Editor]
Bangladesh before August 5, 2024 and Bangladesh after August 5 ? what has changed? Has anything changed? Six months have passed since the July Movement, where exactly does Bangladesh stand today? No matter how complex the condition of the international communist movement is today, these questions are present to conscious communist workers, and various opinions also exist among themselves. In this situation, it is necessary to say one thing first that it is impossible to understand all aspects sitting so far from the real ground, and we are also not in a position to understand today's Bangladesh in that entirety. An even bigger problem is that the situation is still not stable, something or the other is happening every moment which again hinders to reach a clear understanding. In this situation, this article is written from the perspective of presenting some partial and incomplete thoughts only.
The Stages of the July Movement and Hasina's Resignation,Looking Back
Everyone knows that the movement began with the demand to abolish allthe remaining quotas in civil service jobs except keeping the 5% quotafor the backward classes and the especially abled sections. It is worthnoting, out of the allocated quota, 30% was for the progenies of theparticipants in the 1971 Liberation War. In the last fifteen years, themembers and supporters of the Awami League have been benefited most fromit. As a result, since the beginning, the spearhead of this movement wasagainst the ruling Hasina government and the Awami League party. On theother hand, members and supporters of the Awami League's studentorganization, Chhatra League, were the most affected with the abolitionof the quota. As a result, we will see that the role of Chhatra League,along with the armed forces, was important in the context of the attemptto suppress the participants in the July Movement.
If we look closely, we?ll found that this student movement hasstarted and evolved continuously. Initially, the main demand was theabolition of quotas in the government job sector, and the movement wasmainly started by students of Dhaka University and two or three othercolleges and universities since July 1st. As the violence against themovement continued to increase, the movement spread to various collegesand universities in the country; however, as the killings-injuries andarrests of thousands of students continued, the movement was no longerlimited to the demand for the abolition of quotas, but a nine-pointdemand was put forward. It is worth noting that the demand for Hasina'sresignation had not yet come to the fore. When the government did notaccept the nine-point demand and resorted to more violence and imposed acurfew, on August 3rd, the nine-point demand was transformed into aone-point demand for the resignation of Sheikh Hasina and the fall ofthe Awami League government. In this context, two aspects needto be paid attention to. One of them is that the extremelyauthoritarian and strong stance of the Sheikh Hasina government againstthe movement has gradually pushed the agitating students and publictowards this demand. But it is also important to notethat while since the beginning of the movement, the front lineof the Chhatra League stood against the movement, as the movementcontinued, members of various student organizations includingJatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (the student organization of BNP), IslamicChhatra Shibir (the student organization of Jamaat-e-Islam Bangladesh)and others joined the movement without their own banners. Towards theend of the movement, political parties of various colours includingBNP-Jamaat also actively participated without banners. It was naturalfor all these student organizations and political parties to forcefullyraise the issue of Hasina's resignation in the movement for their ownnarrow political interests. It is not possible to comment on which hasactually played the dominant role from this far, but it seemsthat both the aspects worked behind the demand for Hasina's resignation,coming to the fore from the 3rd August.
At the same time, another factor needs to beconsidered behind not only the demand for Hasina's resignationemerging in the movement, but also at its execution. That is, the roleof the army. To suppress the movement, Sheikh Hasina's governmentdeployed various security forces, including the military at thebeginning. It was a fact that there was some internal pressure from asection of the army against the government's order to open fire onunarmed people. As a result, when the ?August 5? crowd defied the curfewand virtually took over Dhaka city, the military chief refused theHasina government's order to open fire and forced Hasina to flee toIndia. We do not know what equations within the ruling class ofBangladesh and the ruling classes of imperialist and regional hegemoniccountries worked behind this role of the military, but the factthat the military also played a role in Hasina's resignation anddeparture from the country should also be taken intoconsideration.
But despite all of this, in the end, the spontaneousstruggling role of the broad student community is the most important& significant aspect of this movement. In that context, thequestion is relevant: what was the root cause that led to such broadbased and heroic historic struggle of the student community? In a nutshell, the model of neo-liberal economic development guided byimperialism, which has been followed in Bangladesh for the last threedecades, while largely preserving pre-capitalist production relations inagriculture, has gradually increased unemployment by its own rules. Onthe one hand, the expansion of education compared to the past hasenhanced the desire for a better life among unemployed youth; on theother, the growing unemployment problem has also intensified theirfrustration and agony. According to the white paper published by theinterim government - in these twelve years from 2010 to 2022 the numberof graduates and post graduates has increased by two and a half foldwhile their unemployment rate has increased from 4.9% to 12%. In thiscontext the most interesting feature is 60% of the students enrol inhumanities, 24% in commerce & a meagre 12% in science &technology (STEM ? science, technology, engineering and mathematics)(1). Despite the loud rhetoric of neo-liberal development,this very picture brings to the fore the dismal employment situation inthese streams. This source also says that education up to the secondarylevel is sufficient for the kind of job opportunities in the industrialand service sectors. The government jobs that depend on higher educationare available, due to the wealth of quotas, only to a small section ofthe upper class. The Bangladesh High Court's order to restore the quotaon June 5, 2024, has served to exacerbate this situation. On the onehand, widespread unemployment, price rise, and corruption, and on theother hand, a suffocating dictatorship have given rise to a blindprotest among them, who hold Hasina and the Awami League regimeresponsible for all these, which exploded in the July Movement.
Another important aspect in this context is that,especially in the last ten to twelve years, one movement after anotherhas emerged from the urban student community of Bangladesh (the movementwas held in three phases just for the demand of quota reform - in 2013,2018 and now in 2024) and the history of repeated terror attacks on ithas made this student community much stronger. Instead of retreating inthe face of terror, this time they have stood up with more strength.Overall, even after various limitations/complications of the movement,it is undeniable that despite such brutal terrorism, repression,terror-killing-injury-arrest (according to the most recent reportsubmitted to the interim government by the Office of the United NationsHigh Commissioner for Human Rights ? OHCHR, more than 1,400 protestershave been killed during this movement, most of whom died as a result ofrifle and shotgun fire by various sections of the Bangladeshi securityforces, of which at least 12-13 percent were children, more than 20,000were injured, and the total number of arrests across the country isaround 11,700), etc., etc., could not suppress them. Rather, as stateterrorism increased, instead of retreating, the students marched forwardwith its head held high and especially since August 3, a section of thelower stratum of common people (facts related to participation of thepeasantry is unavailable) took to the streets with them and forced adictator to step down from power. This is the great glorioussignificance of the July Movement in the final analysis.
The Six Months After August 5th
The July Movement, to some extent, raised the hope among theprogressive-democratic forces across the world that an opportunity toexercise some democratic rights in Bangladesh would be open, that theworkers-peasants-toiling people?s right to struggle and organize wouldexpand somewhat, and that the dominance of religious organizations inthe state life of Bangladesh would decrease somewhat compared to before.How far has Bangladesh progressed after August 5th towards establishingthat?
The Problem At The Beginning
In this context, the first question that began to arise for us wasthe process of formation of an interim government. It is true that thepower of governance in the country passed from Hasina, i.e. the AwamiLeague, through the July Movement, but it is not the case that the powertransferred from one class to the opposite class. Even during Hasina'srule, the ruling power was in the hands of the domestic capitalist classin collaboration with imperialism and feudalism. Even after the JulyRevolution, there was no change in this class character of the rulingpower. Within the same old state structure, the leadership of the'Anti-Discriminatory Student Movement', in agreement with the armychiefs and all the established political parties (except the AwamiLeague), chose Mohammad Yunus as the head of the interim government. Thefact generally accepted by the communist revolutionary circles andprogressive-democratic forces of the world is that the theory of'microcredit' and 'women's empowerment' of Mohammad Yunus and itsapplication in the entire third world, including Bangladesh, is actuallyin line with the policy of globalization-liberalization directed byimperialism (the main point of which is that the state will not takeresponsibility for the health-education-housing-livelihood of thepeople, the government will make the arrangements so that the people canborrow as needed and from which national and international capital willagain benefit) and is directly supported by them. Moreover, the majorityof Yunus' advisors were previously associated in one way or another withthe old regime that served the interests of imperialism-capitalism andlandlordism. Is it possible to move towards establishing democraticrights in Bangladesh under the leadership of such forces? Moreover, theoath-taking ceremony of the Yunus government began with the recitationof a ?verse? from the Quran by the Imam of Dhaka?s Jama Masjid. Not onlythat, the top leader of a fundamentalist organization like ?Hefazat-e-Islam?, AFM Khalid Hossain, got a place in the advisory council, he gotthe responsibility of the Ministry of Religious Affairs. So it appearsthat speaking of true secularism is a much bigger deal, even there wasno indication of a slight decrease in the dominance of fundamentalistorganizations and religious forces in state life through all thesesteps. The biggest thing is, we saw that the leadership of the?Anti-Discriminatory Students? Movement? became a part of this entireprocess and did not raise the slightest protest; and, conversely, two oftheir top leaders were included as members of the advisory council ofsuch an interim government.
Does not that mean that the leadership of the 'Anti-DiscriminationStudent Movement' tried to convey the message to the progressive sectionof Bangladesh that the great sacrifices of the students in pursuit ofdemocracy and secularism could be realised by such people at the helm ofaffairs? The question started to arise since then whether theleadership of ?Anti Discriminatory Student Movement? cherishes sharingpower in the government riding on the back of thousand slained bodies oftheir comrades.
Let us now proceed with a step-by-step discussion of some of the mostimportant issues that have increased these doubts and fears based on theincidents happening in the following days.
Does Opposition To The Awami League Alone Mean Opposition ToDictatorship?
Starting from the July movement phase and continuing after August 5,the interim government, the leadership of the student movement and allthe opposition parties to the Awami League have collectively calledHasina's rule a 'fascist regime'. It does not seem necessary to explainto the communist revolutionaries why the last 15 years of Hasina's ruleshould be identified as a 'dictatorship', why it is not realistic tocall this period a 'fascist regime'. There is no room for questioningthat during Hasina's last 15 years of rule, especially in the last fewyears, the 'dictatorship' intensified. In that situation, there is nodoubt that when it is possible to bring about the end of the autocraticrule of Sheikh Hasina and her party through such a large-scalespontaneous movement, it is natural that the immediate spontaneous angerof the people will be directed towards Hasina and the leaders andmembers of the Awami League. And that has happened. In the newly changedsituation, there will be an initial passivity among the security forcesthat have been working for the dictatorship in Bangladesh for so longand as a result, there is no doubt that such incidents will occur on alarge scale. At the same time, after Hasina is ousted from power, allthe opposition forces will come to the fore again and they willcompletely hide their undemocratic character and start trying to fish introubled waters by blaming Sheikh Hasina alone for everything, which wasalso expected.
However, in reality, it turned out that the direction of oppositionto the dictatorship in Bangladesh after August 5 is quickly becominglimited to opposition to the Awami League. This is being done by theYunus government, and it is also being done by the leadership of the?Anti-Discriminatory Student Movement?.
Even if ?democratic rule? as opposed to ?dictatorship? can be limitedto a ?democratically? run parliamentary government structure, thequestion that remains is, was a democratic governance system in placeduring the period before Sheikh Hasina?s last fifteen years of rule bythose who were in power in Bangladesh, be it various military rulers orelected governments? The Bangladesh state is about to turn 55 years old,and there is no question that Mujib?s rule, especially the formation ofhis ?Baksal?, was an autocratic step. As a result, no one will object tocalling the 1972-75 period ?dictatorship?. However, the 1975-1990 periodwas under military rule, and no one will claim that this period was aperiod of ?democratic rule?! Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina ruledalternately during the 1991-2006 period. During that period, thegovernment led by Khaleda Zia during her third term (second term wasshort-lived) was in alliance with various Islamist parties includingJamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh ? should the rule of the governments alliedwith Islamist forces also be identified as ?democratic rule?? However,in the last six months, during the rule of Mohammad Yunus, no criticismwas heard either about the military rule period or Khaleda Zia?s rulefrom the interim government and even the leadership of the?Anti-Discriminatory Student Movement?. On the contrary, in the name ofending ?Fascism?, they are seen venting their anger only against theAwami League-Sheikh Mujib-Sheikh Hasina. They are even saying thingsthat practically mean that since these regimes have also followedMujib?s undemocratic constitution, as if Sheikh Mujibur is responsiblefor all undemocratic activities during their rule (By raising thiscriticism on our part, we are not in any way supporting the undemocraticactivities of the Mujib era). Not only that, even if we assume that theincidents like the demolition of Mujib's statue right after August 5thwere an immediate reaction, after seeing the role of the interimgovernment as a silent spectator (or even a covert supporter) in thedemolition of Mujibur's house in Dhanmondi 32 six months later, theposition of the interim government undoubtedly falls under a bigquestion mark. And the student leadership was not heard to say muchabout this incident either. Especially, when it is clear that thefundamentalist forces had a certain leading and organized role in thedemolition of Dhanmondi 32.
And most importantly, during Hasina's tenure, whenever garmentworkers in Bangladesh have taken to the streets demanding a wageincrease, state terror has been unleashed on them. During their previousindustrial strike in October 2023, at least five workers were killed inpolice firing, and many more were injured and arrested. After Yunus cameto power, these workers hoped that their demands would be met this time.They went on strike again. But this time too, the same thing happened.On September 30, a worker was killed in police firing and at least 20others were injured in a clash with the striking workers. A similarincident was repeated at the end of February (2). Thesalaries of tea garden workers have been withheld for months, yet thegovernment and administration do not seem to be taking any action inthis regard. Hasina has fallen, and there are cheeky demands for theestablishment of a 'democratic government' from various quarters, buteven after Hasina's fall, the continuous history of garment workers'struggles of being killed/injured in police firing or the withholding ofsalaries of tea workers has not changed. Did the garment workers stoodbeside the students against the army only to dethrone Awami League andto send student leaders to the power in the name of recovering andre-establishing democracy?
This role on the part of Yunus and his advisory council wasnot entirely unexpected for us. However more important in this contextis - the role of the leadership of the student movement. Not only itfailed to stood up strongly against all the old established parties,against the compromises made by the interim government with thereactionary forces, but also showed no intension of strongly opposingthe shooting and terror of workers by the Younus government. As a wholeno progress is noticeable towards the aspirations with which the Julymovement developed. Through all this, the people in charge of governancemay change, but the hopes and aspirations for which the studentssacrificed their lives will be in vain.
Are Islamic Fundamentalist Forces Becoming The Decisive ForceIn The Phase After August 5?
In the period after August 5, there have been several attacks onminorities. Vandalism of their religious places, even the demolition ofvarious Sufi shrines, not allowing them to perform Urus, stopping theLalan Mela, stopping girls from playing games - and so on were going on.Seeing this happening from time to time, the Sangh Parivar on this sideof the border has intensified the propaganda that Bangladesh is going tobecome Afghanistan. Some progressive intellectuals have also been seenfalling into the trap of this propaganda. Whether there is a reality ofa Taliban regime like Afghanistan being established in Bangladesh or notis a separate discussion. But in the past six months, looking atthe role and statements of the forces led by the Younus government andthe 'Anti-Discriminatory Student Movement', there has been enoughevidence to doubt whether they are at all interested in moving forwardwith the aim of reducing the influence of fundamentalist organizationsover the Bangladesh state.
As we already know, the influence of religion is strong in the rurallife of Muslim-dominated Bangladesh due to the widespread presence ofbackward production relations. Most Bangladeshis are devout Muslims. Atthe same time, it is also fact that on the one hand, the rapid rise ofHindu fundamentalist forces in the bordering country of India and thecontinuous terror, harassment and humiliation that the minority Muslimsin India are going through, which has practically turned them intosecond-class citizens, are a reaction to this, and on the other hand,the way the entire world was swarmed by the notion of 'Islamophobia'since the post-9/11 period, especially in the name of the 'War onTerror' - the combination of these two has pushed the Bangladeshi Muslimpeople more and more towards organizing themselves as ?Muslims?. Forthis reason, we can see that a 2006 survey conducted by anAmerican organization called Gallup (who organize various surveysinternationally, and whose survey reports are generally recognizedinternationally) showed that 91% of people in Bangladesh want theconstitutional and legal framework to be governed by religious values; a2013 Pew survey found that 82% of Bangladeshi Muslims are in favour ofmaking Islamic law the official law of the country and 71% said thatthey want religious judges to settle their family and propertydisputes. (3)
Taking advantage of this reality, on the one hand, the presence andinfluence of various Islamic and fundamentalist forces in Bangladesh hasbeen increasing in the last fifty years, while none of the power-hungryparties in the government of Bangladesh has tried to free society fromthese religious influences and fundamentalist forces, on the contrary,each has taken a conscious role in the Islamization of the Bangladeshistate.
In this context, we have already seen how compromises were made withreligious and fundamentalist forces at the beginning of the formation ofthe interim government. Not only that, is Bangladesh becoming a freehaven for Islamic fundamentalist forces of various stripes (we must keepin mind that since Islam is the religion of the majority in Bangladesh,Islamic fundamentalism, no matter what stripe it takes, is the maindanger in terms of democracy in Bangladesh, just as the fundamentalismof the majority Hindu fundamentalism are the main danger in India) underthe pretext of a seemingly relative free environment that has evolved inBangladesh during the interim government? And there are no signs of anyinitiative to suppress all these forces with the same intensity withwhich all possibilities of the rise of the Awami League are beingsuppressed. Our suspicions are further strengthened when we see that onDecember 31, while attending the council meeting of the Islamic ChhatraShibir, the student organization of Jamaat-e-Islam Bangladesh, SarjisAlam, one of the main coordinators of the ?Anti-Discriminatory StudentMovement?, said that ?Islamic Chhatra Shibir has been directly andindirectly involved in the July Movement, has given advice and played arole as a partner in taking important steps; and we hope that we canwork together in the interest of the country beyond allelse.?(4) In addition, apart from Jamaat/Hefazat-e-Islam, theactivities of various Islamic fundamentalist forces under differentnames like ?Tawhidi Janata?, ?Sachetan Musalman Samaj? etc. (someexamples of which have been mentioned earlier) and the very weakadministrative intervention of the interim government in almost everycase are not playing a role conducive for creating a secular Bangladesh,even in a limited sense. It would undoubtedly be an exaggerationto say that Islamic fundamentalist forces have established their fullauthority in Bangladesh after August 5th, but it is a fact that in thelast six months, various organizations among them have been seen to riseup in Bangladeshi society as a kind of unified organized force, which inthe near future will stand as a major obstacle to the secular-democraticforces of Bangladesh carrying out at least some independentactivities.
However, in this context, we need to keep an eye on another force. Weknow that immediately after August 5, there were some attacks onminority communities and their places of worship in Bangladesh. At thattime, the attacks were not so much for communal reasons as they were anexpression of spontaneous anger against the closeness of a large sectionof the minority community in Bangladesh to the Awami League. But evenafter that, it is a fact that in the subsequent period, there were someattacks on minority communities and their places of worship led byMuslim fundamentalist organizations. However, at the same time, it seemsthat the government and the secular section of the Bangladeshi peoplehave been able to prevent the wave of attacks on minority communities tosome extent. Meanwhile, we can see that the Modi government of India iscontinuously exaggerating the allegations of attacks on minorities inBangladesh, not only within the country, but even on variousinternational platforms. But what is being hidden is that the SanghParivar, in the context of Islamic fundamentalist forces in Bangladesh,is playing an important role in exploiting the compromising role of theinterim government and the leaders of student movement to divide theworking class, peasantry, and toiling masses in both the countries alongreligious lines and to organize the minority Hindu population inBangladesh as ?Hindus?. And undoubtedly, the institutional media inIndia is an important partner in this conspiracy. The role of otherpolitical parties in this regard cannot be said to be very different,each of them is using the false propaganda of the media to theiradvantage, looking at how to secure their vote box. A smallmanifestation of this has been revealed in the Chinmoy Das Brahmachari?srally that took place a few days ago and the subsequent eventssurrounding it. Let us briefly turn our attention to this aspect.
In 2006, an organization called ?Bangladesh National Hindu Mahajot?(BJHM) was formed as a united platform of 24 Hindu religiousorganizations. In 2013, the slogan ?Bharat Mata ki Jai? was seen beingraised at the conference of this organization. There have beenallegations that this organization has links with Hindutva organizationsin India.
Following some incidents of attacks on Hindus after August 5, anorganization called ?Bangladesh Hindu Jagran Manch? (BHJM) was formed inBangladesh and several protests were organized under its banner, whereflags with the face of ?Angry Hanuman?, ?Jai Shri Ram? slogans, etc.were raised. The main organizers of this organization all came from thestudent organization (Bangladesh Hindu Chhatra Mahajot) and youthorganization (Hindu Yuva Mahajot) of BJHM. On September 30, thisorganization broke up and the more right-wing section of them (as far asis known, they have close ties with Hindutva leaders and organizationsin India) formed a new organization called Bangladesh Sanatani JagranManch (BSJM), with Chinmoy Das Brahmachari as one of its main head(5).
So, it is clear that in the last twenty years, a process oforganizing minority Hindus in Bangladesh on the basis of religion wasunderway, which gained much momentum after August 5. It is now clearthat the RSS-led Hindutva organizations in India are directly behindthis. As a result, just as the role of Islamic fundamentalism is anobstacle to the struggling unity of the workers, peasants and toilingmasses of Bangladesh and the compromising role of the current interimgovernment along with the leadership of the 'Anti-Discriminatory StudentMovement' must be brought to the fore, at the same time, in the contextof the struggling unity of the working people of both India andBangladesh, we must oppose the role of the RSS-BJP-Sangh Parivar inIndia and their conspiracy in Bangladesh with much greater force.
Is Anti-India Stance The Final Word In EndingSubjugation?
There has already been a substantial basis of the protests of theBangladeshi people against the Indian state and the ruling classes ofIndia. Most important aspects of this are - (a) the close relationshipbetween the Modi government and Sheikh Hasina and the Indiangovernment's granting her asylum in this country after Hasina left thecountry on August 5; (b) the arrogance of the ruling class of India overseveral issues including the water distribution of at least 54 rivers,including the Ganges and Teesta, which flow between the two countries;(c) reactions against the continuous and horrific attacks on theminority Muslim people and their religious beliefs in India, especiallysince the Modi government's era; (d) the recent intense propaganda bythe current rulers of India led by Modi government and the Indian mediacentered around the attacks on minorities in Bangladesh after August 5resulting persistent divisive politics based on hatred in this part ofthe border ? all these have created strong counter reaction among theMuslims in Bangladesh. From this perspective, the demand of theBangladeshi people to end domination of Indian ruling class overBangladesh is undoubtedly valid and justified.
However, in the post-August 5th phase, the current interim governmentof Bangladesh, all anti-Hasina political parties, and the leadership ofthe student movement are portraying Sheikh Hasina and India as almostthe same, and anti-Hasina and anti-India sentiments are being increasedalmost proportionally.
In this context, the point needs to be considered: the domination ofIndia over Bangladesh actually means the domination on the workers,peasants, and working people of Bangladesh by the big capitalist &feudal landlord classes of India, tied up with the imperialism. It isnot the case that the workers, peasants, and working people of India aredominating the working people of Bangladesh. By accusing India as awhole regarding domination, irrespective of the class relation, thisfact is being obliterated that the toiling masses of both the twocountries are actually each other's comrades in arms, without theiractive struggling unity and co-operation it is not possible to win thestruggle for the establishment of true democracy in either of the twocountries.
The Formation Of The 'National Citizens' Party And TheirProposed 'Constitutional Reform' And Elections
We need to keep in mind a point. As mentioned earlier, this is notthe first time movement demanding the abolition of quotas has happened,and some of the main leaders of 'Anti-Discriminatory Student Movement',such as Nahid Islam-Akhtar Hossain, etc., have re-surfaced from theprevious organisation, namely 'Bangladesh General Student RightsProtection Council' formed during the 2018 anti-quota movement, who hadtried to stand as an independent political force since then. Thatorganisation experienced several splits and mergers and finally emergedas a separate student-political organization 'Democratic Student Power'in 2023. The declared policy of the organization was - 'Education','Peace' and 'Freedom'. Several of the main faces of the'Anti-Discriminatory Student Movement' have their root within the'Democratic Student Power' organisation.
The reason we are mentioning it is to clear that the main section ofthe leadership of the July movement did not emerge and develop directlyfrom this movement, they have a political past, and behind thatpolitics, although not in a very clear terms, there is a certainideology of their own. For this reason, we see that this ?DemocraticStudent Power? organization was disbanded soon after August5th. A large section of them, who were at the forefront ofthe ?Anti-Discriminatory Student Movement?, excluding the two whodirectly participated in the Yunus government?s advisory council, formeda committee called ?National Citizens Committee? last October andestablished a party called ?National Citizens Party? on February 28,2025. We have not yet found any clear written outline of the overallpolitical directions and goals of this party. However, they have clearlydeclared that they are ?centrist? and ?pluralist?. They did not clarifyin writing what they meant by ?centrist? and ?pluralist?. Most probablythe term ?centrist? defines a position between establishment of aworkers? and peasants? state through a revolution led by the workingclass on the one hand, and the establishment of an Islamic state led byIslamic fundamentalist forces on the other. In opposition to these twocompletely opposite directions, they are in favour of maintaining statusquo of the current state structure; and as a consequence of this, theyare in favour of strongly accepting the role of religion in state andsocial life. In this light their ?pluralist? position can beunderstood.
That they are in favour of maintaining the current state structure isclear from the statement made by the party?s convener Nahid Islam at thepublic rally after the party?s announcement. He pronounced ?? fivedecades after independence, we have failed to establish a politicalsystem that guarantees democracy, equality, human dignity, and socialjustice. Instead, over the past 15 years, a ?ruthless fascist? regimetook hold, using state institutions recklessly to serve the rulingparty?s interests while destroying democracy. ? To prevent any futurereturn to constitutional authoritarianism, we must draft a newdemocratic constitution. One of our primary goal is to hold aConstituent Assembly election to establish our ?second republic?. ? Inour ?second republic?, we will ensure national security by building astrong defence system. We will prioritise rebuilding the country?sbroken political, social, economic, and cultural institutions, whilepreserving their democratic character. Only through this can we emergeas a fully democratic state?.(6). They want to formulate anew ?democratic constitution? to ensure that the ?fascist? or?constitutional authoritarian? rule of the last 15 years does not returnto Bangladesh. Their primary goal is to form a ?second republic? on thebasis of the new ?democratic constitution? through a ?national assemblyelection?.
It goes without saying, no matter how democratically ?constitution?is made by the elected representatives in this bourgeois-democraticstate structure, ultimately that constitution and that governancestructure must be a truly undemocratic in nature and a tool to protectthe interests of the capitalist class. So, it is apparent that the?National Citizens Party? is ultimately moving forward with the aim ofimposing a veneer of apparent democracy on the existing undemocraticstate structure, serving in the interests of this capitalist-landlordclasses, and through that, they are planning to keep this statestructure alive. And through this, they have made their 'moderateposition' clear. On the other hand, their 'pluralist' stance wasreflected in the fact that at the beginning of the party's inauguralrally, a verse from the Quran was read first, then the Bhagavad Gita,the Tripitaka and finally a section from the Bible were read.(6)
Thus, with the rise of the 'National Citizens' Party', a new thirdforce is emerging in the parliamentary politics of Bangladesh, which wasundoubtedly limited to the two main forces - 'Awami League' and 'BNP'.However, this force does not appear to have any possibility of showingany direction of liberation from exploitation in the lives of thegarment industry along with other industrial workers and also the othertoiling masses in the urban areas of Bangladesh. Neither it rekindlesany hope of liberation for the large number of agricultural labourersand poor peasants in the rural areas from the feudal oppressions. Theirlives are trapped in the brutal exploitation and oppression and willcontinue to be even after the rise of the 'National Citizens' Party. Atthe same time, it is certainly true that the time has not yet ripe tosay the last word on whether the people of Bangladesh will regain evensome little democratic rights through these forces.
So Is The Future All Gloomy?
In fact, if we have to look for the future prospects, then as part ofthe conscious working class we have to turn our attention to some otherforces besides these forces. The most important of them is the struggleof Bangladesh's garment workers for wage increases, which has beenhappening almost every five-six years since 2006; this struggle has beenhappening even before Hasina came to power in 2008 and is happening evenafter Hasina's removal from power in 2025. It is true that so far thisstruggle has been limited to the trade union movement; and thesestruggles have not yet been able to unite and influence the workers ofother industries developed during last few years; it is also true thatthese struggles have not yet been able to influence the politics ofBangladesh very much. But we firmly believe that the future potential toemerge as the leading forces in the struggle to build a trulydemocratic-secular Bangladesh lies most hidden among these industrialworkers.
The second force, which is not at all noticeable today, butundoubtedly, sooner or later, will (must) enter the arena of struggleagainst the pre-capitalist economic exploitation being carried out onthem and will play a role (destined to play) as the biggest supportingforce in the struggle to establish true democracy ? they are the vastpeasantry of Bangladesh.
The third force is the strong presence of the democratic-secularstudent community of Bangladesh. We saw their expression especially inthe Shahbagh movement of 2013 and its subsequent phase through a groupof atheist bloggers. Despite various terror/attacks, we saw themrepeatedly taking to the streets with vigour and force againstfundamentalist and conciliatory forces. These forces also played animportant role in the July movement. A large part of them are probablyinclined to support the ?National Citizens Party? today, but evenwithout their leadership, these forces have recently been seen taking tothe streets spontaneously against the rape of Asifa. Consequently, it isa fact that in reality, although may still be small in number, there isa visible presence of such forces in Bangladeshi society. and we need torecognize this fact. Apart from them, there is also a section ofprogressive petty-bourgeois intellectuals in Bangladesh to varyingdegrees. Among them are intellectual comrades directly associated withleftist organizations of various shades, college-university teachers topoets-literates-human rights activists etc.
Therefore, the important thing in the context of Bangladesh is thatno matter how much the fundamentalist forces try to raise their heads intoday's specific situation, and no matter how much the Yunus governmentand some of the leadership of the July Movement try to compromise withthem, we need to firmly believe that the real and potential presence ofsuch an alternative voice in society will undoubtedly give rise to alarger struggle and organization in the future. This struggle and thenecessary organisation built up from that movement will not only bedirected for the establishment of democracy and secularism, but will beaimed to do away with all forms of exploitation and oppression.
The Endnote
It would not be right to say the final words right now, but overallit is now apparent that even though the heroic struggle that thestudents and urban people of Bangladesh fought in the 36 days beforeAugust 5, the self-sacrifice of thousands of students did indeed removea dictator from power, it does not at all indicate any 'revolutionary'change in society, it does not give rise to any possibility of endingthe dominance of imperialism-big capital and feudal landlords-mahajans.It does not even bear any indication of the possibility of establishingsome bourgeois democratic rights on a slightly larger scale. Rather, allin all, it is gradually increasing the fear among us that acounter-movement has begun in Bangladeshi society. This proves onceagain, the eternal Marxist truth, that in the era of imperialism, thebourgeoisie (the leadership of the July movement was in the hands of thestudent-intellectuals and, as we know, the class character of thestudent-intellectuals is petty-bourgeois, which represents the interestsof the bourgeoisie, unless a part of them consciously adopts theideology of the working class) cannot rise in the least at theleadership of the struggle to establish even bourgeois democracy. Thatvery leadership must also be given by the working class; and if theworking class leads the struggle to establish democracy in a backwardcountry, that will not be confined to establishing bourgeois democracy,but will lead to establish a people's democratic rule.
Source:
https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/labour-market-ticking-time-bomb-3767056
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/garment-workers-protests-leave-one-dead-bangladesh-2024-09-30/
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/2016/06/13/religious-freedom-with-an-islamic-twist-how-the-medina-charter-is-used-to-frame-secularism-in-bangladesh/
https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/shibir-played-role-allies-july-august-uprising-sarjis-3788651
https://thediplomat.com/2024/12/the-rise-of-the-bjps-hindutva-ideology-in-bangladesh/
https://bdnews24.com/politics/cbaf4da42fdd
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