Hasina's ouster marks a watershed moment for student activism in Bangladesh: Political analysts

Dhaka: The recent student movement in Bangladesh, culminating in the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, marks a watershed moment in the nation's political landscape, fuelled by a 70-year legacy of student activism from the 1952 Language Movement to the Liberation War and beyond.

Political analysts and observers view the recent student protests, which many in Bangladesh have christened as the “Bangla Spring” — taking a cue from the Arab Spring — or the “Monsoon Revolution,” as a watershed moment in Bangladesh's political landscape, driven by the same spirit of activism that has characterised student movements in the country for over 70 years, even before its independence in 1971, when it was known as East Pakistan.

The latest movement, which began in July 2024, was sparked by the Court's decision to reinstate a controversial job quota system, a move that reignited long-standing frustrations among students and the general public.

The reinstatement of the job quota system, which had been abolished in 2018 due to student protests, sparked widespread demonstrations led by students that ultimately led to the collapse of the government led by long-time prime minister Hasina.

Over several weeks, the protests escalated, resulting in nearly 450 deaths and the detention of thousands, including hundreds of students.

Despite harsh government crackdowns, the persistent student-led movement forced Hasina to resign after 16 years in power, marking a historic victory for Bangladesh's youth and highlighting the enduring impact of student activism in the nation’s history.

“The students' movement has always played a vital role in charting the course of Bangladesh's history and policies even before the Liberation War of 1971. But this time, the students' movement was different and on a scale that had never been witnessed before."

"The 'Monsoon Revolution,' as it is being called, marks a turning point in Bangladesh's history, driven by the same spirit of resistance that has characterised student movements for over 70 years,” former Major General Muniruzzaman, the president of the Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies, a think tank, told PTI.

He pointed out that the recipe for the success of student movements in Bangladesh lies in the “secular nature and ideology of the movement and the mass participation of people cutting across social, religious, and economic lines.”

“The students’ movement, be it the 1952 Language Movement or the recent Monsoon Revolution, would never have tasted success had they not been secular. Because if they had only catered to one community or creed, it would never have taken the shape of a mass movement,” he pointed out.

Echoing similar sentiments, the chairman of the Jatiya Party, G M Quader, said the “students’ movement, which is free from narrow politics, has over the years changed and at times dictated the country’s politics.”

“There is a trust factor that works in favour of the students. People believe in them and support them wholeheartedly. This time too, we have seen how common people have come down to the streets to support the students,” he said.

Quader’s elder brother, the founder of the Jatiya Party and former President Hussain Muhammad Ershad, too had to step down in 1990 following a students’ protest.

The recent toppling of Sheikh Hasina's government is just the latest chapter in Bangladesh's long history of student activism, as seen through past movements.

For over seven decades, students have been at the forefront of social and political change in Bangladesh and the erstwhile East Pakistan, beginning with the 1952 Language Movement.

In the early struggle for Bengali to be recognised as a state language, students in Dhaka faced a tragic climax on February 21, 1952, when police fired on demonstrators, killing several students and turning the event into a symbol of the fight for cultural and linguistic rights, now commemorated as International Mother Language Day.

The 1969 uprising against Pakistani rule, driven mainly by students, was a pivotal moment that helped mobilise the Bangladeshi people to fight for their independence in 1971.

During the Liberation War, students not only led protests but also joined the Liberation Army, and the brutal Pakistani military crackdown on Dhaka University on March 25, 1971, targeting students and intellectuals, remains one of the darkest chapters in Bangladesh’s history.

Student activism continued to shape the political landscape of Bangladesh in the decades that followed.

The anti-dictatorship movement of 1990, which led to the fall of President Hussain Muhammad Ershad, was driven by student protests and demonstrations. This movement eventually forced Ershad to step down, paving the way for the restoration of democracy in Bangladesh.

The 2024 protests have their roots in the 2018 student movements against the job quota system, which began with demands for fairer government job access and were intensified by the tragic deaths of two students in Dhaka.

The 2018 movement succeeded in pressuring the government to abolish the quota system, but its reintroduction in June 2024 reopened old wounds and led to a resurgence of protests.

“The Awami League, in the name of being the sole flag bearer of the legacy of the Liberation War, misused this quota system to fill up government services with Awami League activists and loyalists.

Those students who were eligible were deprived because of this quota system. Secondly, those who are in their early twenties couldn’t cast their vote as the Awami League didn’t allow proper elections,” Jayita Party (Raushan faction) co-chairman Golam Sarwar Milon told PTI.

Political observers note that the latest student movement reflects broader dissatisfaction with the ruling Awami League, which had been in power for 16 years.

Senior Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury asserted that the scale of the protests indicates deep-seated public resentment toward the government.

“The recent unrest has revealed significant opposition to the ruling party, which has been pursuing authoritarian practices and rigged elections in 2014, 2018, and 2024 to come to power. They did not allow free and fair elections and did not allow the people to cast their votes. So, this is the result you get when you try to throttle people’s voices,” he said.

Prime Minister Hasina and her allies tried to suppress the protests by blaming opposition parties like the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami for exploiting the student movement, but the scale and persistence of the demonstrations eventually forced Hasina to resign.

Veteran politicians believe that the successful student movement could pave the way for a new generation of political leaders, challenging the dominance of traditional parties like the BNP, Awami League, and Jatiya Party, and possibly leading to the rise of a strong new party in Bangladesh.

“This just may be the beginning of a new era of political transformation in Bangladesh, with students once again leading the way. The logical conclusion is that the students form a new political party. Although they have said they don’t want to form any political party, you don’t know what’s in the future,” Milon, the first president of Bangladesh Jatiotabadi Chatra Dal – the student wing of BNP, said.