“Young people wanted something new,” and student protests in Bangladesh led to the ouster of the country's prime minister, Hasina Wazed, says political scientist Sabrina Karim of Cornell University in New York. “Who would have thought that a generation of video gamers would fight for democracy by leaving their virtual battlefield?” notes sociologist Farheen Akter Bhuian.
Student protests that have been ongoing since June and brutally suppressed by the police led to the resignation and escape to India Prime Minister Hasina Wazed, who was in power for 15 years.
It is estimated that over 10,000 people were arrested and over 300 were killed. After these events, on August 9, a provisional government took power. Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus as Prime Minister.
Students took to the streets to protest against the principle of quota distribution of government jobs, 30 percent of which were to go to relatives of veterans of the 1971 independence war. In their opinion, these positions would go primarily to Hasina's supporters, who belong to the country's elite.
The fact that the issue of administrative positions was the source of the protests is no coincidence – these are the most stable and best-paid jobs. Experts point out that although the economy has been booming in recent years, not enough jobs have been created for a well-educated middle class.
According to the Royal Institute of International Affairs think tank Chatham House, 18 million young people in this country of 170 million are not in work or education. Many go to study or work abroad, causing a “drain” of the middle class.
According to political scientist Prof. Sabrina Karim, many protesters do not remember the times before Hasina's rule and were brought up, like the previous generation, on stories of the struggle for independence. Bangladesh. – This narrative, however, has much less meaning for them (…) it doesn't resonate as much. They want something new – she explained in an interview with AP.
Student protests led to Prime Minister Hasina Wazed's resignation and escape to IndiaMONIRUL ALAM/PAP/EPA
A similar opinion is shared by sociologist Farheen Akter Bhuian, who wrote in The Daily Star Bangla that “the courage and charisma of Generation Z have been appreciated as their protests have made people aware of socio-political rights on a mass scale.”
As she noted, other social groups eventually joined the student demonstrations, which gave these events a nationwide character.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has fled the countryPAP/EPA – Monirul Alam
– Who would have thought that a generation of video gamers would fight for democracy, leaving their virtual battlefield? – asks the researcher rhetorically. In her opinion, the young have evolved “from apolitical influencer children to future leaders of a new Bangladesh that is still building and reforming.”
A signal of these changes is the composition of Prime Minister Yunus's interim cabinet, which includes two leaders of the student protests.
Most students hope that in the future “the caretaker government will improve the internal politics of Bangladesh and a new party will emerge that will not be led by the old political dynasties.”
Main image source: MONIRUL ALAM/PAP/EPA