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On Monday, Bangladesh had what the Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus called its second Victory Day – the first being independence from Pakistan in 1971.
After weeks of student protests, which were violently policed and led to more than 300 deaths, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina upped and left the country. Under her rule – she was premier for 20 of the past 30 years – she presided over what many, including the World Bank, praised as a remarkable economic growth story in a country that had been among the world’s poorest when it attained independence. Electricity and infrastructure were being delivered. She had been an ardent feminist activist at university, fought to unseat a despot in the 80s and was the world’s longest-standing female leader.
Power corrupts, but it seems to me it is the drive toward absolute power that corrupts absolutely. Hasina and her government’s clampdown on opposition leaders, on journalists and on activists was murderous and ruthless. Democracy waned and no one believed in election results any more. It was an arrogant error to ignore public disquiet over that, and over the growing inequities in her country: as the rich accumulated more money, around 18 million young people had no jobs.
Hopes are high for Bangladesh moving into a new, brighter future, but any potential new leader, even Yunus, who will head the interim government, can start as a hero but still risk of losing sight of themselves on the political battlefield.
In Bangladesh, just as in Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, and Sudan, social media-savvy young people have been quick to mobilise against governments that thwart their aspirations. In the global south the youth demographic is large and growing; if it continues to be a force for good we might just see a positive impact on governance.
Tracy McVeigh, editor, Global development |
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