‘There will be pressure from vested interests to hastily arrange an election’

Since mid-July, University Teachers' Network, a non-partisan platform of teachers from different public and private universities, played an active role in supporting the Anti-discrimination Students' Movement that eventually toppled the Awami League government. 

The Network condemned the attacks on the protesters, freed some of them from police stations, organised rallies in support, and some of the teachers even got injured trying to save their students from attacks carried out by the then government elements.

TBS spoke to Dr Mohammad Tanzimuddin Khan, a member of the Network and a professor of International Relations at the University of Dhaka, who talked about the new political aspirations of the nation, the future of student politics, the tenure of the interim government and much more.

How do you view the selection of the advisers of the interim government?

It was a collective choice made by different stakeholders. The students had their picks; the chief adviser has to work with the team of advisers, so he got to choose some of them, and the army, who played an important role in reducing violence at the final stage of the mass movement, may have also had their candidates. Then the advisers themselves had their choices. This way, the advisers were picked through a concerted negotiation. 

We need strong institutions to conduct credible elections, and also to build a better, democratic Bangladesh. Do you think the interim government powered by the students can give us that? How hard or easy will that be?

What we have seen is a spontaneous mass uprising. The Anti-discrimination Students Movement has its roots in the 2018 Road Safety Movement, when students aspired for a reform of the state, reflected in the placards that read, "Caution: State Maintenance and Repair in Progress." 

This cannot be seen through the lens of the 1990 mass movement. While fair elections are an undeniable necessity, the 2024 mass uprising aims to bridge the gap between public interest and the political processes, infested by a nexus of corrupt businesses, bureaucracy and a few sycophant mass media. 

Achieving this will not be easy. Certain domestic, as well as foreign business entities, took control of our politics; I think even the ousted prime minister was not independent, despite her autocratic ambitions. 

Mega corruption through mega projects brought those corrupt entities together, and their interests will be hurt if a reform of the state is successful. 

Also, if the interim government wants to ensure transparency in the international deals made with India, Japan, Russia and so on, who competed for a stake in the mega project frenzy of the AL government, it will make many parties nervous. 

So, there will be pressure from those interests as well to hastily arrange an election in order to return to traditional political practices and the 'old normal'. 

Therefore, the challenges have multiple layers, and overcoming them will not be easy. It is imperative that the interim government sets their priorities and publicises a roadmap as quickly as possible, so the people and the political parties know what they are trying to achieve and have confidence in them. 

If such an interim arrangement stays in power for a longer period, they might show autocratic tendencies too.

We will form a shadow government so it can continue to put pressure on the interim government with a view to ensuring accountability and transparency. Also, the Constitution of Bangladesh has created controversy and enabled the autocratic regimes; so we are planning to work on and suggest reform to it.

Sketch: TBS

Now the obvious question – how long should the interim government stay?

From 1991 to 2008, we could at least choose the party to rule the nation through votes, albeit there was always a shortage of transparency in governance. By abolishing the provision of caretaker government, AL took that only privilege away, and destroyed all the institutions - parliament, police, judiciary, public universities etc. 

Only one institution – the Prime Minister's Office – actively controlled everything. It is not possible, at this stage, to know how long the necessary reforms will take. 

The interim government can set up a taskforce and give it two weeks of time to assess which sectors we need to rebuild on a priority basis, and how long that would take. Then it has to sit with mainstream political parties and build consensus on its tenure.

In my opinion, the law and order and education sectors need the utmost attention.

If the interim government lingers, could it lead to unrest?

Those who were out of state power have their valid reasons to feel angered by the repression they underwent for 16 years. Besides, there are opportunity seekers who, by posing as anti-Awami League, would try to take advantage of the uncertainty. 

So, we already see some activities and competition to take control of various offices, institutions etc. This is exactly what the students want a change in.

Mainstream political parties such as BNP have to commit to the aspirations of the students and actively prevent any effort to undermine the stability and law and order in their names. There might also be disgruntled individuals who are not associated with any political party; they too have to be stopped.

For the sake of their own existence, political parties have to distance themselves from traditional, corrupt political practices. They must cooperate with the interim government, who is not their enemy. 

A national unity has been created through the students' movement, and no one should do anything divisive that hurts this unity. There are external forces that will take advantage of anarchy.

Now that the Hasina government has left us a messed up economy, how easy do you think it would be to overcome it?

Corruption and political mismanagement is the main reason behind the mess. The economic crisis had become visible since 2023 when the loan repayment schedule for mega projects started. 

The lavish projects to satisfy the bureaucracy, various incentives given, failure to prevent money laundering, etc, have created the pressure on the foreign currency reserve.

The former PM revealed that even her peon amassed Tk400 crore. If this tendency can be stopped, unnecessary projects can be cancelled, I think the economy can revive thanks to our remittance earners, who stood up to play a vital role in the movement. 

Besides, under the Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus, with his organisational skills and influence on the global financial institutions, the economic recovery would not be hard. 

What we need is political stability and ensuring accountability. A representative from the business community in the advisory panel would have been great. There are many business entities that are patriotic; the government has to bring confidence in them. 

There will be initial hiccups, but it will not be impossible to tackle the crisis in the long term.

The prospect of students competing in the next election - do they need experienced, older people in their party?

The students' leadership have to form a political party, otherwise they may find themselves in a dangerous situation in future, as they have ousted the government on one hand, and they still don't have the organisational strength on the other. 

They are on a double-edged sword. To handle these risks, they will have to join the political processes. Their political party has to be inclusive, with participation of experienced people. 

But learning from what Nur (VP Nurul Haque) has ended up in, the party should have students' elements, rather than mere national ones. I hope the student leadership is planning these things. 

Given the changes, will the public universities be free from corrupt political practices? What will be the future of student politics?

The transformation of student politics depends on who will lead the university administration. Bureaucratic professors or utterly partisan teachers will not be able to ensure a campus free of corrupt politics. University leadership should be picked from those who supported the mass uprising.

During the protests, students drove Chhatra League out of the dormitories, and banned student politics. The root to this political corruption lies in the Dhaka University Order, 1973, which facilitated the control of the government on university administration. 

This order needs reform too, although the order is widely praised for the academic freedom it ensured. But the order allows the vice-chancellor (VC) to refuse decisions taken in the senate or syndicate, a special provision often abused. 

This administrative structure has made it susceptible to autocratic practices, just like the state machinery. Besides, perks for the VC, including the lavish bungalow, should be shrunk so greedy teachers lose interest in the position to some extent, and a true representative of the teachers can come out, and university administration can preserve the ordinary students' interests.

We have to address these first so the student politics does not become a tool of the ruling party to assert its dominance over the students. 

The University Teachers' Network played an important role in the movement by supporting the students. How does it plan to contribute in the future?

The Network participated in the mass movement, and we want the changes to last. We will form a shadow government so it can continue to put pressure on the interim government with a view to ensuring accountability and transparency. Also, the Constitution of Bangladesh has created controversy and enabled the autocratic regimes; so we are planning to work on and suggest reform to it.