Path ahead for Yunus and India
Bangladesh’s interim government needs to bring back order and mitigate polarisation urgently. New Delhi must assist it in doing this
The violence that has marked the power vacuum after the ouster of former Bangladesh prime minister (PM) Sheikh Hasina certainly doesn’t augur well for the neighbourhood, especially at a time when the situation in Myanmar has taken a turn for the worse. More than 200 people have been killed after the Hasina regime fell. This puts the total number of deaths in Bangladesh since the student protests that drove Hasina out of power began at more than 500. The attacks this week largely targeted leaders and supporters of Hasina’s Awami League party. But the country’s minority communities have faced violence, too. This prompted PM Narendra Modi to call Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, the head of the new interim government in Dhaka, and urge protection of Hindus and other minorities.
Bangladesh has had caretaker governments in the past, many short-lived, and the precedent of one in 2007, headed by Fakhruddin Ahmed, who, like Yunus, was an economist of international standing. But the challenges before Yunus are decidedly more daunting. The first task will be restoring order after weeks of chaos that disrupted normal life and economic activity and resulted in immense loss of life and property. It is significant that Yunus’s first message — even before taking oath — was focused squarely on peace and reconciliation. He said nothing can be done without tackling the disorder and that he would quit if the attacks didn’t stop immediately. The interim council backing Yunus inspires confidence, with its mix of technocrats, women, representatives of the students’ movement, and members of ethnic and religious minorities.
The caretaker setup must tackle the deep polarisation along political lines as it prepares the grounds for holding fresh elections, though there is still no certainty on when polls will be held. The restructuring of the police force, widely perceived as acting at the behest of the Awami League, and ending the violence that threatens to spiral will be another priority. Next, Yunus has to work on reviving Bangladesh’s economy, which never really recovered from the double whammy of Covid-19 and the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and on generating jobs, especially at a time when there is unprecedented unemployment. This fuelled discontent in recent months, and Yunus will surely be aware that the anti-Hasina protest started as one against a controversial quota in government jobs.
He also must focus on undoing the politicisation of institutions such as the judiciary, civil service, and security establishment, as Hasina stuffed these with her loyalists. Space for freedom of expression and dissent, rendered non-existent under the previous regime, needs to be created afresh. This will help ensure free and fair elections, which can return the country to its democratic moorings and put it on course for graduation from Least Developed Country status by 2026.
India has already signalled that the interests of the people of Bangladesh are paramount, and that New Delhi is committed to working with Dhaka for peace, security and development. However, it will need to address Yunus’s disappointment about engaging solely with the Awami League, to the exclusion of other players. This will also help New Delhi regain the trust of the ecosystem in Dhaka. Given that Yunus has American backing, this can also help align Indian and US interests in the country.