Let’s begin by looking at the fact sheet. The prominent rights body in Bangladesh, Ain o Salish Kendra, has reported that since the Yunus regime was installed in the country, 111 individuals have succumbed to political unrest, with as many as 4,900 others sustaining injuries.
Meanwhile, the police are yet in a state of fear, given that they have been targets of violence since August 2024. Morale within the police service is low. Many policemen are under investigation and many others are in hiding. Add to these figures the 174 people killed in violence unleashed by mobs since August last year.
Now, observe the other reality as it has been shaping up.
Some weeks ago, a statement from the Bangladesh army warned that mob violence would not be tolerated anymore and that anyone indulging in such violence would be severely dealt with.
A few days ago, when former Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda was humiliated in public by a mob before being produced at a police station in Dhaka, the interim authorities appealed to people not to take the law in their own hands. The appeal was, as usual, not followed by stern action.
The other day, the advisor in charge of the Ministry of Home Affairs noted that such violence was not acceptable, and if anyone was found behaving in a manner that promoted mob violence, the law would be applied in dealing with such behaviour.
Words did not translate into action.
As if to underscore the government’s seriousness over the issue, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner repeated these government sentiments.
The authorities, said he, were keeping watch on the situation and would act whenever there was an infringement of the law. Again, nothing happened.
None of these reassurances have satisfied citizens, for the simple reason that even as the various individuals involved with the current political dispensation in Bangladesh have been issuing their statements, conditions in the country have continued to go from bad to worse.
A poor elderly barber and his young son, Hindus, fell prey to a mob accusing them of blasphemy, even as the government figures went on making their statements.
The manner in which former CEC Huda was humiliated, with a garland of shoes placed around his neck by a local goon associated with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s Shwechhashebok Dal, has led to a public outcry.
Demands for an end to such mob violence, clearly promoted by elements out to undermine the very historical foundations of the country, have so far not been heard.
As if all this violation of civility and the rule of law were not enough, another former Chief Election Commissioner, Habibul Awal, was taken into police custody a day after Huda was arrested.
A third former CEC is currently under threat of arrest. These arrests, prompted by the demand of BNP politicians that the former CECs, all of whom presided over elections in the times of the Awami League government, be taken into custody have led to the feeling that the fascistic tendencies of the interim regime and its followers are inexorably pushing the country into deeper anarchy.
Bangladesh’s prisons, which can hardly accommodate more than 72,000 inmates, is now home to three times, or even more, this number, if conclusions by observers are any guide.
In these ten months since the constitutionally elected government of Sheikh Hasina was removed from power, not a day has gone by since Awami League leaders and workers, as well as journalists, academics, civil servants, artistes and others have not been hauled to prison.
In bizarre fashion, almost everyone carted off to prison has been charged with committing or abetting murder. In these ten months, there has been the glaring truth which seems to be eluding the Yunus regime.
Its systematic and orchestrated programme of demonising the Awami League has created a situation where even those who have traditionally felt little sympathy or support for the party have begun to gravitate toward it.
The public understanding, a credible one at this point, is that if a general election were held today, freely and fairly, the Awami League would ride back to power.
And that precisely is the fear gripping the interim regime these days.
It is fear that persuades Yunus and his regime into believing that an election without the Awami League is what Bangladesh needs today.
The BNP, some left-oriented parties and a clutch of Islamic political parties have already begun planning their strategies for the election, a schedule for which has yet to be announced.
The recent meeting between Yunus and the BNP’s exiled acting chairman Tareque Rahman in London was aimed, in the opinion of political observers, at ensuring a process of accommodation both for Yunus’ men and the BNP.
Such accommodation certainly will also be inclusive of an exit strategy the interim regime might require once the election has been held.
And yet there are all the pitfalls for the regime and for everyone else instrumental in shaping the conspiracy which led to the overthrow of the Awami League government in August last year.
A big question that looms over the country relates to the lack of credibility any election minus the Awami League will entail. To be sure, the activities of the Awami League are under a ban. The other day, the police authorities issued instructions aimed at preventing any observance of the founding anniversary of the party.
But none of these factors mean anything to citizens, for the Awami League remains relevant as the nation’s oldest political party, one which led Bangladesh to independence.
Fear of the Awami League clearly works in the Yunus regime. That fear can be ascribed to two factors.
In the first place, between now and the election (if an election is to be held), the Yunus regime will come under increasing pressure to create space that will have the Awami League take full part in the vote.
In the second place, a proper election could well see the return of the Awami League to power, a scenario which will lead to a legal process being initiated towards bringing the interim regime to account for all the unconstitutional and fascistic activities which have defined its performance in the last ten months.
Politics apart, the economy has been on a slide.
GDP growth has dwindled to a worrisome 3.2 per cent, with even some individuals earlier enthusiastically associated with the interim regime expressing disappointment over the situation as it happens to be at present.
Meanwhile, of late many of the advisors in the Yunus regime, earlier vocal on a whole range of issues, including those not pertinent to their portfolios, have lapsed into silence.
A new foreign secretary has taken over. His predecessor was unceremoniously removed when he expressed his disagreement with the regime on the issue of the so-called humanitarian corridor for Rohingyas.
Public criticism of the Yunus regime has been mounting, as evidenced through the multiplicity of social media discussions on the state of the nation. Within the country, talk shows have been taking on a stridency that is certainly remarkable.
The feeling is that the Yunus regime has lost its way and yet is unwilling to acknowledge the support it has consistently extended to the anti-political and anti-social acts of elements on its watch.
Questions of corruption indulged in by its leading young supporters have been making the rounds.
And here’s one more instance of how mobs have been enjoying their days in the sun.
A couple of days ago, a national fruit fair organised in Dhaka came to a fast end when mobs descended at the venue and walked off with the varieties of fruit on display there.
It was an eerie reminder of the mobs that vandalised Ganobhaban, the prime minister’s official residence, soon after Sheikh Hasina was put on a flight to India.
Fans, air conditioners, furniture and even fowl and fish were commandeered by people, who were videoed happily walking off with them. The security forces did not intervene.
And then, of course, is the sordid story of how mobs have vandalised the home of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as well as hundreds of other homes across the country.
Mobs have murdered scores upon scores of policemen and yet the Yunus regime has maintained a deafening silence on such catastrophic happenings.
Bangladesh is not a happy country today. Mobs rule the streets. They invade the courts. They barge into media offices and intimidate journalists.
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The state, in its present circumstance of enervation, is unable or unwilling to ensure security for citizens. The Yunus regime presides over a hollowing out of the republic.
