A WIN discussion, November 2024. Listen to the discussion HERE.
In July Bangladesh was rocked by a colossal youth uprising in protest at mass unemployment. Hundreds of young people were brutally mown down by the security forces, but an entire heroic generation stood firm. The government was overthrown and the autocratic leader Sheikh Hasina fled the country.
What has replaced the deposed regime? What is the role of the unelected banker Dr Yunus? Is there a danger of restoration of the corrupt and autocratic old regime? Or of its replacement by the even more reactionary official opposition? What about the threat posed by the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islam?
What’s the truth behind Hasina’s claim that her overthrow was a US conspiracy: a reprisal for her refusal to allow a US military base in the country? Or the Indian regime’s smear that what was behind it was a communal pogrom by Islamic fundamentalists against a persecuted Hindu minority?
The gigantic proletariat of Bangladesh produces over 50 per cent of the world’s textile output. To what extent was the working class involved in this protest movement? Can it mobilise its forces around a socialist programme and spread the revolution beyond the country’s borders?
This week we welcomed comrade Omer Abdullah, leader of the Revolutionary Students Front of Pakistan.