Priyanka Tiwari
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Suspense crime, Digital Desk : I posed a question to a leading editor in Dhaka. "Does the July uprising still have any hope?" “The opportunity is getting corroded and eroded with time.”
He brought up Sheikh Hasina’s era and how she ruled with an iron fist. She used a rubber-stamp judiciary to cancel the caretaker government system—executed during the reign of a split bench in 2011: the Chief justice tooted the gavel just before retirement and cast the decisive vote.
Let's rewind to 25 May 2025. Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed paid a working visit to Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus at the official state Jamuna guest house. Two days later, that same Chief Justice, head of the Supreme Court Appellate Division, stamped off on the death penalty of ATM Azharul Islam; a glaring example of a leader of Jamaat-e-Islami who was put on trial for crimes of humanity in 1971. He was let off the hook with a chargesheet that included a fanciful tally of 1,256 murders, 17 kidnappings, and 13 of the boldest rapes. In 2014, the International Crimes Tribunal had handed him the death sentence on five charges, but in this system, there is always room for change supporting the head of court. Azhar departed the courtroom, basking in his newfound freedom.
“You see, our courts have been just as welcoming as always,” the editor quipped chuckling.
Disheartened and Hopeless
The Hasina removal wave across the whole regime stunned Dhaka: the city has been suffocated in despair for ten months now. The excitement that moved to oust Sheikh Hasina has started dulling.
Saying that police brutality and Awami League haughtiness under Hasina’s rule have unshackled their chains in is far from the truth. However, there is something more important at hand.
A local intellectual confessed, “Earlier, I used to worry about arrest. Now I’m worried about getting lynched by goons working for people much more powerful,” which is why he does not attend gatherings and prefers remaining tight-lipped.
Those who are prepared to wager on public disclosure are indeed not isolated. Many say that they would back a military coup:
Having endured countless of such events, “Yes, we have seen enough coups. But right now is a different level of intolerable.”
Loyalists and Pressure
A faction of the politically elite, in business and media, has readily accepted support for Yunus and his interim government. With almost all media outlets now within government’s range of control, a consensus prevails that opposing mousy voices in soft social media is a fashionable way to build career capital.
However, these shifts in tailwinds do not come without unpleasant symptoms appearing in the body.
Strengthened critical stance from both traditional and alternative media, empowered by military pressure to conduct elections and shift from mob rule, is visibly palpable.
Government anxiety is… supportive. On May 31, Yunus’s press secretary, referring to the army’s plan to mobilize popular support for a more democratic regime and expose government abuse, stated “Look, if all we are going to hear is talk and no action, the only similes we can hope for will come from journalists who quote claim names, accuse dozens or even thousands of young citizens who analyze everything they publish… reputations are mere passenger, phrases in conflict. Every phrase uttered editor magically dismantled, rewrite and disappear in a single grasp.” The response from reporters interpreted this comment as a thinly veiled threat.
Two days later, on June 4, government representatives accused daily Samakal of spreading “baseless” claims regarding an ordinance on a freedom-fighter bill. The very next day, without fear of retribution, Samakal unapologetically defended the publication of their report—a stream of defiance.
Shifting Landscape
From the revolt, the movement’s leaders and Islamists have aggressively framed the contest as a battle syndrome against Hasina. There are banners all over Dhaka, and the Awami League is still in ‘jail’.
Hatred for India ballooned, especially during Hasina’s waiting period in India. But this appears to have derailed. In a series of conversations with about 20 Uber and bike riders—most of them young participants in the July riots—things were different:
They identified with Hasina’s ‘errors’, but she wasn’t detested by many.
Her policies of constructing overpasses and metro trains seem to be of popular appreciation.
The majority have gotten over July, and now just ask for dependable services from their leaders.
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