Seeking Return of Democracy

The BNP will give the interim government reasonable time in the hope that it is aware of public desire for free and fair elections

- AKM Wahiduzzaman

OVER July and August, Bangladesh witnessed an outburst of people's suppressed emotions against the misrule and injustice of Sheikh Hasina's regime. However, there is a history to the anti-quota movement that must be recalled to understand the recent outburst.

The quota-based recruitment system favouring the third generation of freedom fighters embodied systemic discrimination in government jobs. In 2018, students had similarly hit the streets demanding quota reforms. However, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina abolished the whole quota system. She later publicly admitted that she abolished the system out of anger. When students wanted reforms, she abolished them altogether, intentionally creating grounds for a new conflict.

Now, when the June 5 court order restored it, the students and the common people took it to be a premeditated verdict and came out on the streets.

All informed citizens of Bangladesh understand that during Sheikh Hasina's regime, the judiciary, like other institutions in the country, functioned under her direct influence. Hasina herself has made several public statements confirming this control. In one press conference, she admitted that while in the Opposition, she had vowed to evict Khaleda Zia from her cantonment residence whenever the opportunity arose. After assuming power in 2009, a controversial High Court ruling indeed facilitated Zia's eviction from that residence.

There is a long list of Hasina's comments and other incidents that reflect the unholy nexus between the government and the judiciary. As a result, whenever the courts issued a contentious ruling, the public often believed it was a premeditated verdict, a perception that underscores their lack of trust in the judiciary.