Mystical Beatle George Harrison sang about how “Bangladesh” was “a mess”. He was proved right again last week. With echoes of the ousting of Saddam Hussein, statues were toppled and effigies of the “father of the nation” burned from capital city Dhaka to Tower Hamlets. His autocratic daughter PM Sheikh Hasina who’d ruled for a large percentage of the country’s lifetime (ensuring omnipresent statutes and portraits of her dad) was overthrown in a movement that began with pro-democracy student protests that went wider, with echoes of Tiananmen Square.
UK Bangladeshis taking to the streets of east London confused the “race riots” commentary but, rather than ethnic angry mobs these were crowds celebrating. They were cheering an end to an era of uncontested elections and “communications blackouts” where at will phone signals and the internet could be cut, preventing Bangladeshis communicating with each other and the outside world.
