Distinguished Professor Ali Riaz has published four essays in Foreign Affairs, New Atlanticist, and the Diplomat on Bangladeshi politics, especially the uprising which toppled Sheikh Hasina. Hasina was deposed on August 5, after weeks of protests, and fled to India.
In the Diplomat, Riaz’s essay, “Bangladesh Carnage: The Facts that Belie the Government Narrative,” was published on August 1. He underscored the extent of the deaths of the protestors and questioned the narrative of the then government.
“Such a scale of killing can take place in war zones or by a force that is trying to capture an enemy territory,” Riaz wrote. “Considering that these cannot have taken place without the explicit orders of the government, both in terms of command responsibility and execution, one cannot escape the question—what kind of mindset drives the regime?”
In an essay in the New Atlanticist titled “A violent crackdown has put Bangladesh at a crossroads” published on August 2, Riaz noted that with street agitations growing larger, the country was standing at a crossroads. He said further crackdown will lead to a closed autocracy in Bangladesh. Alternatively, as discontent continues to grow and demands for her resignation become louder, the country may erupt.
In Foreign Affairs, the leading magazine for in-depth analysis and debate of foreign policy, geopolitics and international affairs published by the Council of Foreign Relations, Riaz explained the context and significance of the downfall of Hasina regime. The essay, “The Remarkable Downfall of Bangladesh’s Iron Lady,” was published on August 6. Riaz wrote that the speed with which Hasina went from being Bangladesh’s longtime ruler to an exile was incredible and suggested that the regime was very brittle. Patronage networks among the bureaucracy and the military kept the regime afloat but these beneficiaries’ commitment to the regime was abysmally weak. Over the years, the country’s power brokers became alienated from the public and entirely dependent on the coercive institutions of the state. They could not withstand the challenge of the mass upsurge that threatened to overwhelm those institutions.
In his essay published in the New Atlanticist on August 8, titled “Hasina is out. Yunus is in. Here are the three biggest factors to watch in Bangladesh,” Riaz underscored that three aspects of the ongoing developments in Bangladesh should be closely watched. One of these is the role of India, which provided unqualified support to the Hasina regime for 15 years and refuge when she fled the country. Riaz underscored the need for recalibrating India’s policy toward Bangladesh.
