The songs become stronger as hundreds of demonstrators turn a corner in the central part of the capital of Bangladesh, walking and calling at the end of a steep hike of the activity of gangs and violent crimes.
It was the second rally in as many weeks when the young people headed in the streets of Dacca to express their dissatisfaction where the country heads.
“I came to protest against the cases of endemic rape in the country,” said Anindita Biswas during the rally last weekend, after the alleged rape of an eight-year-old girl in western Bangladesh triggered indignation.
Apart from the interim government offices of Bangladesh, which was formed after a bloody revolution led by students overthrew the previous Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and ended his 15 years of authoritarian domination, there was another demonstration.
This time, it was a group of people who were injured in large -scale demonstrations last July who were encountered by brutal repression by the security forces before the demonstrators finally succeeded in forcing Hasina to flee by helicopter to neighboring India.
“I need help to get an appropriate treatment for my ball injury,” said mute rush pilot Muhammad Yaqub Ali, showing the scars where a ball crossed his leg.
Each event has a brutal message for the country’s interim government, led by Muhammad Yunus, 84, winner of the Nobel Prize for pioneer microfinance to help the poor. He returned to Dacca to direct the transition from Bangladesh after last summer demonstrations, responding to the requests of students leading the change of change.
His country had undergone several weeks of troubles which left more than 1,400 dead after the police fired on the crowd to try to stifle the troubles.
The violent repression of the Hasina government, which had long been accused of corruption and systemic repression of dissent, could constitute crimes against humanity, according to the United Nations. In a report published in February, UN investigators found that up to 13% of people killed were children.
A first feeling of euphoria and relief that greeted the appointment of Yunus faded seven months later. His government has trouble controlling an increase in anarchy which fuels persistent demonstrations, the decline in the worrying security situation in Bangladesh, as well as the slow pace of change.
‘Sorry for our state’
“I am sorry for our state,” said Mahfuj Alam, one of the leaders of the students’ protest movement who was then recruited to be part of the interim government as an advisor to Yunus.
Some police refuse to come to work, he said, leading to more crime and gang activities, which is “enraging people”.
Alam told CBC News that the expectations that the Bangladais had for rapid change faced against a bureaucratic system which is so rooted that a real reform is almost impossible.
“All think that the interim government will go within one year. So why should we follow their diktats?” The 27 -year -old said by describing the intransigence he has seen from the country’s political, bureaucrats and police officers.
“This is reality. This is the reality of the police, bureaucracy and societies,” he said.
“This makes us, the interim government, weak.”
Yunus promised to restore the law and the order while his government resumes the documents after the damage inflicted under the reign of Hasina.
He visited the secret prisons where political opponents of the Old Regime would have been held and tortured and set up human rights commissions to investigate more.
Superior police officers were also arrested for extrajudicial killings, and Hasina faces hundreds of accusations, including murder, crimes against humanity and kidnapping. She denies the accusations.
Tied links with India
However, Yunus is convinced that the former Prime Minister will face justice, even if Hasina hides in India and that the links between the two countries are tense.
India did not respond to two arrest warrants and the official DACCA requests for its extradition.
“The question of a trial is not” if “. This will happen in absentia or in its presence,” Yunus told Sky News. “Not only does she, but all the people associated with her: family members, clans, associates and all oligarchs.”
He said the country will have elections between December of this year and March 2026, but the priority is to ensure that reforms are in place to ensure that the vote is free and fair.
The sustained instability of the interim government also affects the fragile economy of Bangladesh, with two -digit inflation another key concern.
One recent morning, a government truck selling petroleum, rice and cereals at subsidized prices next to the road to Dacca was almost invaded by dozens of people who aligned themselves and rush to get their hands on reduced food.
A woman, Khadija, told CBC News that she had waited for four hours, but with her 16 -month -old baby in her arms, had to lose her place and leave without cheaper rations, which can cost up to 60% more in an ordinary market.
Yunus also has to face the Bangladesh army chief, General Waker-Uz-Zaman, who was frank in a speech on February 25, saying that he had “enough” with the division policy and the troubles. He said Bangladesh was in a “anarchy state” that was “made”.
“I warn you,” he said in Bengali. “The independence and sovereignty of this country will be at risk” if the agitation continues.
The general also urged Yunus to maintain his promise to hold an election by the end of the year.
‘What people really want’
Students who ousted Hasina have now trained a political party and provide the country’s political landscape that has generally obtained a fate between two parties, the Hasina Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, both led by family dynasties.
“We are working for an appropriate democratic transformation,” said Hasnat Abdullah, 26, one of the most recognizable faces of the July uprising lines.
“People will be our highest priority – what people really want.”
His colleague, Samanta Shermeen, 33, is the newly created spokesperson for Jatiya Nagorik led by students, or the national party of citizens.
“The Bangladais democratic system does not work. It is not at all democratic. So the Bangladais people are difficult,” she told CBC News, adding that their party is more a collective that will work for change.
Its chief, Nahid Islam, who left his post in the interim government to help launch the party, said that it did not think it was possible to keep a free and fair national election, given the current security challenges.
Adapt to the new reality
For many of those who have endured months of pain and grief after losing a loved one during the July demonstrations, this is not the most welcome news.
The Rahman family still adapts to its new reality, after the youngest of three boys, Mugdho, were slaughtered by the police last July.
His brothers meticulously collected evidence and video surveillance images of the last minutes of their younger brother, when he was seen by distributing water and cookies to other demonstrators.
“I always learn to live my life without him,” said the identical twin of Mugdho, Snigdho Rahman.
“Mugdho was not only my twin brother, he was my best friend. We used to share everything.”
The brothers spent many hours trying to coordinate the compensation for the families of the victims, which gives them a sense of the objective.
“We are trying to realize his unfinished dreams,” said the older brother, Mir Mahmuder Rahman, and helping the inhabitants of Bangladesh “to make this country a beautiful.”
Snigdho Rahman told CBC News that he could only hope for the death of his brother, and that of hundreds of other victims, was not in vain.
“It gives me the motivation that is the time to change, to reform everything and to make a brilliant future for our country,” he said.
“Our future generation cannot give his life like us. Just as Mugho has done.”
After a month of violent troubles, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, resigned and fled the country. Andrew Chang explains how the protests led by students in the face of a government employment quota transformed a massive and deadly movement which finally overthrew the government.
