Nation faces a rocky street to election

[ad_1] Anbarasan Ethirajan South Asia regional editor

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/b191/live/900a88a0-743a-11f0-876e-092c0a90f4e0.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/b191/live/900a88a0-743a-11f0-876e-092c0a90f4e0.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/b191/live/900a88a0-743a-11f0-876e-092c0a90f4e0.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/b191/live/900a88a0-743a-11f0-876e-092c0a90f4e0.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/b191/live/900a88a0-743a-11f0-876e-092c0a90f4e0.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/b191/live/900a88a0-743a-11f0-876e-092c0a90f4e0.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/b191/live/900a88a0-743a-11f0-876e-092c0a90f4e0.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/b191/live/900a88a0-743a-11f0-876e-092c0a90f4e0.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="NurPhoto via Getty Images A bearded young man in a blue shirt stands waving a can making red smoke in amongst a crowd, wearing a green headband with a red dot in the middle - a version of the national flag. Blurry people in a crowd can be seen in the background" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> NurPhoto by way of Getty Photographs The capital was full of jubilant scenes as individuals marked the anniversary of Sheikh Hasina fleeing Bangladesh

1000's of individuals gathered in central Dhaka this week celebrating the anniversary of the downfall of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the promise of a brand new future for the nation.

Within the pouring rain, the pinnacle of the interim authorities, Muhammad Yunus, leaders of varied political events and activists stood united as they unveiled plans for a "New Bangladesh".

Throughout the nation, individuals waved the nationwide flag in live shows, rallies and particular prayer periods marking what some activists are calling the "second liberation" of this Muslim-majority nation of 170 million individuals.

However these jubilant scenes didn't inform the entire story within the final 12 months.

Rights teams say there have been cases of lynching, mob violence, revenge assaults, and a resurgence of spiritual extremism which threaten to derail the nation's journey in direction of democracy.

In the meantime, the ex-prime minister who was so spectacularly pushed from energy watches from the sidelines of exile in neighbouring India, denying her position within the lethal crackdown and refusing to return to face fees that quantity to crimes towards humanity.

"I feel we had a regime change, not a revolution. Basically, misogyny stays intact, male dominance stays unchallenged," Shireen Huq, a ladies's rights activist, tells the BBC.

Ms Huq headed the Ladies's Affairs Reform Fee, one of many our bodies arrange by the interim authorities to convey social and political adjustments reflecting the rebellion's targets of democracy and pluralism.

In April this yr, the 10-member physique submitted its report calling for gender equality - notably over ladies's proper to inheritance and to divorce, known as for criminalising marital rape and defending the rights of intercourse employees, who face abuse and harassment from police and others.

The following month, 1000's of Islamist hardliners took to the streets towards the proposed suggestions, saying they have been anti-Islamic and that "women and men can by no means be equal".

The protesters - led by Hefazat-e-Islam, which has a consultant on the interim authorities's cupboard of advisers - demanded the disbanding of the ladies's fee, and its members punished for making these proposals.

Subsequently, no detailed public debate was held on the fee's proposals.

"I used to be dissatisfied that the interim authorities didn't help us sufficient once we have been subjected to numerous abuses by Hefazat-e-Islam," Ms Huq says.

Yunus's workplace didn't reply to a request for touch upon the allegation.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/0ccf/live/87631800-7441-11f0-bf4f-19fef6902ccb.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/0ccf/live/87631800-7441-11f0-bf4f-19fef6902ccb.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/0ccf/live/87631800-7441-11f0-bf4f-19fef6902ccb.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/0ccf/live/87631800-7441-11f0-bf4f-19fef6902ccb.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/0ccf/live/87631800-7441-11f0-bf4f-19fef6902ccb.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/0ccf/live/87631800-7441-11f0-bf4f-19fef6902ccb.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/0ccf/live/87631800-7441-11f0-bf4f-19fef6902ccb.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/0ccf/live/87631800-7441-11f0-bf4f-19fef6902ccb.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Nayem Ali/ CA Press Wing A group of 11 people stand in a marble hallway. All but two are women. The women wear bright saris, and appear to be a range of ages. In the middle is Yunus, the interim leader, wearing a blue and grey suit. He and two of the women hold reports in their hands." class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Nayem Ali/ CA Press Wing Shireen Huq, who stands to the left of Muhammad Yunus, is dissatisfied little motion has been taken to enhance ladies's rights

Activists say the protests have been only one instance of how the hardliners - who had been pushed to the fringes throughout Hasina's tenure - had grow to be emboldened.

They've additionally objected to ladies enjoying soccer matches in some components of the nation, ladies celebrities collaborating in business promotional occasions, and, in some cases, have harassed ladies in public locations due to how they have been dressed.

However it isn't simply ladies who've borne the brunt. Hardliners have additionally vandalised scores of shrines of minorities just like the Sufi Muslims up to now yr.

However, at the same time as individuals like Ms Huq look to the long run, Bangladesh remains to be confronting its previous.

There is a groundswell of anger towards Hasina's Awami League-led authorities, which is accused of illegal killings, enforced disappearances, and brutal suppression of dissent.

"You could have an enormous constituency of individuals in Bangladesh who needed to see not simply accountability however vengeance and retribution," says David Bergman, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher.

Nevertheless, he says, "one cannot proceed with the injustices that existed within the Awami League interval and simply replicate them within the present interval".

However that's what Hasina's Awami League claims is occurring. It says tons of of its supporters have been lynched over the previous yr - allegations the interim authorities denies.

A number of journalists and supporters of the Awami League have been jailed for months on homicide fees. Their bail purposes have been repeatedly rejected by courts.

Critics say there isn't a thorough investigation over these homicide accusations, they usually have been stored in detention solely due to their earlier help for the Awami League.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/73a8/live/b7167f10-743c-11f0-9fe0-63f413e14d73.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/73a8/live/b7167f10-743c-11f0-9fe0-63f413e14d73.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/73a8/live/b7167f10-743c-11f0-9fe0-63f413e14d73.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/73a8/live/b7167f10-743c-11f0-9fe0-63f413e14d73.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/73a8/live/b7167f10-743c-11f0-9fe0-63f413e14d73.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/73a8/live/b7167f10-743c-11f0-9fe0-63f413e14d73.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/73a8/live/b7167f10-743c-11f0-9fe0-63f413e14d73.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/73a8/live/b7167f10-743c-11f0-9fe0-63f413e14d73.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="NurPhoto via Getty Images A painting of Sheikh Hasina wearing a blue scarf and with Bangladesh flags beneath her on a concrete column appears to have holes in it, and is covered in splats of red paint. The blurry face of a man in a red hat can be seen in the foreground" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> NurPhoto by way of Getty Photographs Anger stays in direction of Sheikh Hasina, the previous prime minister

"It takes time for stability to return after a significant rebellion. We're in a transitional section," acknowledged Nahid Islam, a scholar chief who helped spearhead the protests and acted as an adviser to the interim authorities till not too long ago.

Islam agrees there are challenges dealing with the nation, however dismisses considerations of rising Islamist affect, saying it was "a part of a broader cultural wrestle" that has existed for years.

However there are additionally indicators of progress. Many credit score the interim authorities with stabilising the nation's financial system and, opposite to fears, the banking sector has survived.

Bangladesh has met its mortgage obligations, stored meals costs largely secure, and maintained strong overseas trade reserves - at the moment at $30bn (£22bn) - because of remittances and worldwide loans. Exports have additionally held regular.

Then there are different, much less simply measurable issues.

Islam argues that, because the fall of Hasina, "a democratic surroundings has been established, and now everybody can categorical their views freely". That's one thing to be celebrated in a rustic formed by a historical past of political turbulence, navy coups, assassinations, and bitter rivalries.

However that's being questioned by some.

The affect of scholar leaders over the interim authorities has drawn criticism. They got the roles in recognition for his or her management within the unprecedented protests which toppled Hasina.

Right this moment, two stay within the cupboard, and critics say some controversial selections, such because the short-term ban on the Awami League, have been made beneath scholar strain.

"The federal government has at occasions complied with among the populist calls for, notably by the scholars, fearing extra threatening protests might in any other case erupt. Nevertheless, that was the exception reasonably than the rule," Mr Bergman says.

In the meantime, an exiled chief from the Awami League alleges that the occasion's supporters are being silenced by not being allowed to contest the subsequent ballot - with most of its leaders in exile or in jail.

"The elections won't be inclusive with out the participation of the Awami League," Mohammad Ali Arafat, former minister in Hasina's cupboard, tells the BBC.

In its newest report, the Transparency Worldwide Bangladesh (TIB) stated there had been an alarming rise in mob violence whereas extra-judicial killings and deaths in custody had persevered up to now yr.

"We now have overthrown an authoritarian regime, however except we put an finish to the authoritarian practices, we can not actually create a brand new Bangladesh," Iftekhar Zaman, the chief director of the TIB, stated in the course of the launch of the report earlier this week.

As Bangladesh stands at a crossroads, the subsequent six months shall be important.

Some argue that, if there aren't any significant adjustments to the chequered political system, the sacrifices of these killed within the rebellion might be rendered meaningless.