There was jubilation and also lingering anger on the streets of the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka after mass protests forced Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to flee the country, but many worried what would happen next.
“We are free now – we have won!” said Syed Tanveer Rahman, 30, an activist in the movement that began as protests against quotas giving government jobs to people seen as Hasina allies, but morphed into mass demonstrations against her rule.
“We began the movement to make the government’s recruitment tests fairer, but it has turned into a commitment to reform our whole system and make it fairer for all,” Rahman said.
Hasina was accused of becoming increasingly authoritarian, with some young protesters describing her as a dictator.
The mass demonstrations were partly fuelled by poverty. The government had sought a bailout from the International Monetary Fund as the economy struggled with costly imports and high inflation.
“I can tell you I am feeling a tremendous joy of liberation – liberation from a harsh dictatorship,” said Lamisa Janan, a high school student who said she dashed out of her home to join the crowds as soon as she heard the government had fallen.
Some normality returned to Dhaka on Tuesday, a day after Hasina fled, though traffic was lighter than usual and only a few schools reopened after the violence.
About 250 people were killed and thousands injured as security forces attempted to stamp out the protests.
But even after Hasina had fled, there was still anger amongst the joy. Hasina’s exit ended a 15-year second stint in power as leader of a political movement she inherited from her father who was assassinated in a 1975 coup.
Thousands stormed Hasina’s official residence, shouting slogans, pumping their fists and making victory signs. Some were seen carrying away televisions, furniture and clothes.
At a busy intersection, protesters climbed a large statue of Hasina’s father, independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and hacked at its head with axes, hammers and chisels.
“She made us bow down to the image of her father. Everywhere you see his statues, photos,” said Zafar Ahmed, a young man who joined in the destruction. “We will destroy all the statues.”
‘TIME TO REBUILD FROM THE RUINS’
In Dhanmondi, an upmarket neighbourhood considered a stronghold of the ruling Awami League, protesters torched the party chairperson’s office and the house where Hasina lived while she was opposition leader from 2001 to 2006.
They also set fire to the Bangabandhu Museum in Dhanmondi, formerly Hasina’s father’s residence before he was assassinated there in 1975.
Many young people said they were concerned about how the situation would evolve in the coming days and months.
“I am sickened by the scenes of chaos and looting at the public institutions – that is not the way to celebrate,” said Jahanara Amin, a 35-year-old banker.
“It is not the time for triumphal celebration. There is a long road ahead to ensure that the system works better for everyone, including the young people,” said Minhazul Islam, a researcher at Unnayan Shamunnay, a policy think tank.
Bangladesh’s parliament was dissolved on Tuesday, the president’s office said in a statement hours after protesting student leaders set a deadline for that to happen and warned a “strict programme” would be launched if it did not.
Student leaders have demanded Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus lead an interim government. The founder of the global microcredit movement, Yunus was an arch foe of Hasina, who in turn accused him of “sucking blood from the poor”.
Writer and activist Parvez Alam, said there was now a chance for a new Bangladesh to emerge.
“The young people in Bangladesh have been calling for ‘repairing the state’ for the last 10 years or so, based on core values like equality, human dignity, and social justice,” said Alam.
“The July uprising provides us an opportunity to rebuild our state from the ruins,” he said.
Adnan Aziz Chowdhury, a recent graduate and activist at the Bangladesh Student Union, called for the government to create more job opportunities and training for young people.
“The longstanding practices of nepotism and discrimination in recruitment in public and private sector jobs should be eliminated,” he said.
Others called for more openness and freedom.
“Bangladesh should have the space for people of all religious creeds, lifestyles, opinions – allowing the right to ask questions, make cartoons or satire and so on,” said Farida Ali Khan, a young housewife and mother.
“The only thing that should be excluded is dictatorship.”