Number Theory: Students, Islamists — Did a perfect storm oust Sheikh Hasina?
This survey found overwhelming evidence for widespread dissatisfaction with the state of democracy in Bangladesh and the rule of law in the country.
Bangladesh’s future trajectory after Sheikh Hasina’s resignation and flight from the country is still uncertain. At the same time, competing explanations of the protest being student-led, a genuine democratic outburst, or an Islamist counter-revolution are being offered. Without prejudice to what happens in the future, a demographic analysis of Bangladesh suggests that conflicting binaries might not be useful to understand what has transpired in Bangladesh. The survey also found overwhelming evidence for widespread dissatisfaction with the state of democracy and rule of law in the country. Dismissing these genuine concerns by dubbing them as Islamic reactionary politics and unleashing repression might have been Hasina’s fatal mistake which united the progressive, conservative and reactionary sections of Bangladesh against her.
