THE DUAL LEGACY OF SHIEKH HASINA: ECONOMIC GROWTH AMIDST DEMOCRATIC EROSION

Sheikh Hasina Wajid, the longest serving Prime Minister of Bangladesh has conducted over a period of unprecedented economic growth which led to transforming the country into one of the fastest growing economies of South Asia. During her reign Bangladesh witnessed a boom in its GDP growth, poverty reduction and human development indicator. However economic success during her reign was coincided with a troubling decline in democratic freedoms, values and norms. This dual legacy of Sheikh Hasina’s authoritarian approach led to country wide protests in Bangladesh.

As a result of these countrywide protests, Sheikh Hasina had to resign and flee the country on 5th August 2024, ending her 15 years long tenure. Despite being the daughter of Sheikh Mujib Ur Rehman, the founding father of Bangladesh she lost the power due to her authoritarian practices and lost the support of general public specifically after the Supreme Court reinstated the government job quota.

The quota system reserved 56% of public sector jobs for specific groups including 30% for descendants of 1971 war veterans. Therefore, once the Supreme Court ruling reinstated these quotas, protests erupted by the students to against this quota system. Youth unemployment and claims of discrimination against the majority population exacerbated the uprising and protests. Sheikh Hasina’s apathetic remarks about the protestors and violent crackdown by her authorities added fuel to fire and eventually the military had to intervene.

Sheikh Hasina was elected for a fourth consecutive term in January in much controversial elections where all major opposition parties boycotted the elections. Thousands of political leaders were jailed and hence her government was termed as autocratic for human rights violations but her tenure saw a boom in economic development especially in textile industry.

The tenure of Shiekh Hasina was marked by economic progress and development. Under her leadership, Bangladesh’s economy grew at an average rate of 6% annually since 2009 and it continued to grow despite the COVID-19 pandemic and its overall GDP per capita has tripled surpassing India and Pakistan .Shiekh Hasina’s government implemented policies through which economy was liberalized, included tax incentives and made special economic zones, her tenure attracted foreign investments and a boom was witnessed in garment exports. GDP in Bangladesh was projected to reach 738.575 billion US dollars by 2027 according to Trading Economics global macro models and analyst’s expectations.

The textile and garment industry flourished under the tenure of Shiekh Hasina. The textile and garment sector became backbone of Bangladesh economy. Its exports have grown to such an extent that Bangladesh has become the second largest garment exporter globally following CHINA. The garment industry represents about 80% of the country’s total exports. The tenure of Shiekh Hasina also marked great development in infrastructure. Shiekh Hasina’s government invested heavily in infrastructure improvements which includes transportation and energy which facilitated the growth of the textile industry and initiatives like construction of new roads, port, and power plants to improve the supply chain working and efficiency.  Overall Bangladesh has experienced rapid social and economic progress.

While Shiekh Hasina’s economic reforms have undoubtedly transformed Bangladesh into one of the fastest growing economies in the South Asia, a darker parallel narrative has been unfolded. As her grip on power tightened, democratic institutions and norms have slowly and steadily eroded. The ruling Awami League’s increasing chokehold on power, suppression of the opposition parties and putting their leaders in jails, manipulation of elections has contributed to a creeping authoritarianism which casted a shadow over Bangladesh’s developmental gains. Consequently, the country’s impressive economic trajectory has been coincided with a troubling decline in democratic norms and values and human rights.

The human rights in Bangladesh under PM Hasina Wajid administration were seriously violated with significant abuses like extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, suppression of the opposition parties and leaders. Various reports from human rights organizations and UN experts highlight the alarming trends occurring in the country. Human rights organizations have documented numerous cases of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances carried out by security forces. Since 2009, 600 disappearances have been reported. While some of the people were released, the government has consistently failed to investigate many of these cases and around 100 people are still missing. The government has refused to take up the offer by the United Nations to help establish a specialized mechanism to investigate the cases of missing persons. Bangladesh has ignored repeated requests from the UN Committee against Torture to follow up on recommendations as required.

In 2023 the authorities of Bangladesh tightened their repression ahead of general elections, during this time massive arrests were carried out by the security forces and in some cases these security forces responded with excessive use of force. In a leaked meeting a police officer appeared to plan an arrest to ensure the convicted members of the opposition would be disqualified from contesting the elections. The main opposition party Bangladesh Nationalist Party estimated that half of its 5 million members face politically motivated prosecution.

Freedom of speech was also a matter of questioning in Bangladesh under PM Hasina’s tenure. Journalists were targeted for freely criticizing government policies and practices. These frequent attacks on journalists undermine open and free political debate regarding the elections. Newsrooms were driven towards censorship with government authorities demanding the removal of articles and clauses that were critical of the government. On March 30, 2023, authorities arrested Shamsuzzaman Shams, a correspondent for the leading national newspaper Prothom Alo, accusing him of damaging the image of nation in an article in which he wrote about the cost of living in Bangladesh. In a speech in parliament, PM Hasina labelled Prothom Alo as the enemy of the Awami League, democracy and the people of Bangladesh. After her statement the offices of Prothom Alo were deliberately destroyed.

These human rights violations have overshadowed the economic development of the country questioning the legitimacy of the government of Shiekh Hasina which was further gaslighted due to the government jobs quota system which limited the opportunities for local population and hence resulted in massive protests against the government and the leadership.

Hence, on one hand, Shiekh Hasina’s government has delivered unprecedented growth and development but on the other hand the government undermined democratic values, free press, independent judiciary and a proper democratic system has been weakened and this was shown in the protests and uprisings where the protestors were filled with fury and rage that they did not even hesitate to vandalise the statue of Shiekh Mujib, the founding father of Bangladesh. So, the future of Bangladesh is uncertain. With an end to PM Hasina’s authoritarian regime, there is a possibility of things like economic development and democratic values getting in balance and if Bangladesh finds a balance between economic growth and democratic norms, it could become a model for the region; a country that is both flourishing and truly democratic.