State of Southasia #11: Jyoti Rahman on rebuilding democracy in Bangladesh

In mid-October, the Bangladesh interim government announced the cancellation of eight national holidays introduced by Sheikh Hasina during her tenure as prime minister. These holidays celebrated her father and former president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as well as Bangladesh’s liberation from Pakistan in 1971. An adviser to the interim government headed by Muhammad Yunus also said that it did not recognise Rahman as the Father of the Nation. The move is one of a series of attempts to reverse many of the changes instituted by Hasina and her party, the Awami League, during their 15 years in power since 2009. It reflects the anger of the Bangladeshi people against the Hasina regime that had become autocratic and immensely unpopular. 

The bigger and more difficult task for the interim government, however, has been to release Bangladesh's public institutions from the grip of the Awami League. Hasina had installed people from the party and others close to her in positions of power in the security apparatus, the judiciary and the banking system. The interim government has instituted a commission to rework the country’s constitution to restore democratic processes and prevent abuse of power in the future.