By Adam Smith, Internationalist Socialist League (RCIT Section in Israel/Occupied Palestine), 11.08.2024
Important revolutionary developments have taken place in Bangladesh. Millions of workers and students protested against the corrupt and autocratic regime of Sheik Hasina and her capitalist Awami League. After nearly two months of mass demonstrations and brutal crackdown – several hundred people were killed by the repression apparatus – the uprising forced Hasina to flee her palace with a helicopter.
Notably, the “Muslim” Hasina fled to “Hindu” India, to show one how seriously the perceived ideology of the capitalists should be taken.
The revolution would not have happened so bloodlessly without the tacit approval of the army and sections in the ruling class: “Army refused to suppress protest and enforce curfew, sealing Hasina’s fate. The message was clear that she no longer had the army’s support to stay in power.” [i] Clearly, the army command changed sides only because of the huge mass pressure and because they hope that they can preserve the capitalist system by agreeing to a replacement of the personal at the top.
This is a warning to the working class – until the army is not dismantled, the army will continue to be one who makes the rules. Likewise, it is crucial to oppose the interim government led by the bourgeois economist Muhammad Yunus or the main opposition party – the conservative-Islamist Bangladesh Nationalist Party – as well as reactionary forces which are instigating chauvinist hatred against the Hindu minority.
Historically, Bangladesh has been oppressed by the British, and then by Pakistan, but the Bangladesh Liberation War gave the country its formal independence. However, India continued to play a large role in Bangladesh. For example, only in 2015 India agreed to a land swap to make the lives of the people who live in enclaves easier.
Domestically, high unemployment, dangerous working conditions (especially in the garment industry), as well as corruption and autocracy are the main causes for this revolt. Socialists call for the nationalization of the key industries and banks under workers control as well as a public employment program.
No doubt the revolutionary civil war which the oppressed masses in Burma/Myanmar are waging against the military dictatorship is also affecting the situation in nearby Bangladesh. Also, in 2021, the reactionary leadership of Bangladesh has taken steps on the road to normalization with Israel. ”The move to remove the “except Israel” clause from its e-passport has shocked people in the South Asian country of 160 million, with many questioning the decision that follows the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians in the Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip.” [ii]
Israel has also sold it weapons: “Documents and statements obtained by Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit show that the Bangladesh army purchased the Israeli equipment in 2018 using a Bangkok-based middleman and Bangladeshi military intelligence officers were trained in Hungary by Israeli intelligence experts.” [iii]
The next steps forward must be the formation of self-defense units to protect from attempts to restore back “order”, to call for a Constituent Assembly, and to build a revolutionary party to lead the way forward to the completion of the revolution.
No support for the new interim government, the army or the BNP!
For a Constituent Assembly!
For a workers and poor peasant government!
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