Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina does not care about Rohingyas
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
BY LINDSEY MCGINNIS
At first glance, there’s a lot to love about Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina — the elected female leader of majority-Muslim Bangladesh has recently reached the Nobel Peace Prize shortlist for accepting half a million Rohingya refugees escaping over the border from Myanmar. As the crisis drags on, her international popularity grows, with supporters calling her “Mother of Humanity.”
But scratch beneath the surface and her humanity disappears.
Instead, we have a leader using domestic terrorism as a scapegoat to repress political opposition, including Rohingya groups. The international community cannot afford to ignore Hasina’s thirst for power and exploitation of Islamic extremism.
For eight years, the Awami League has maintained the counter-terror police force known as RAB (Rapid Action Battalion), despite its track record of human rights abuses — including the torture of prisoners and journalists and suspicious “crossfire” killings — all while enjoying legal impunity.
In 2013, Islamic terrorists began killing atheist bloggers, westerners and non-Muslim religious figures in record numbers, with newfound brutality. Whether it was an individual blogger being hacked to death in his home or the 29-victim siege of Dhaka’s Holey Artisan Bakery, the hard-line secular Awami League has shamelessly used every single attack to target their political opponents, particularly the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
Of the 11,000 people were arrested in a 2016 crackdown against alleged terrorists or terrorist supporters, many were affiliated with the BNP. This isn’t unusual — for nearly a decade, BNP leaders and activists have been arrested, killed or kidnapped by plainclothes police officers claiming to be RAB, and in the courts, cases against BNP officials are quick and ruthless. The Awami League’s behavior has undercut their democratic integrity, and many Bangladeshis joined the BNP in boycotting the 2014 elections.
Hasina’s exploitative approach to counter-terror isn’t just sleazy, it’s dangerous. She ignores compelling evidence that ISIS has infiltrated Bangladesh, for the sole reason of sticking blame on her archnemesis, former prime minister and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia. She refuses to reform RAB or the judicial system and continues to push moderate Muslims into the political fringes, which then encourages radicalization.
Hasina and the Awami League did the right thing by allowing the Rohingya Muslims into Bangladesh and by drawing attention to the brutality of the Myanmar government. However, she has also reaped the benefits — international praise and, potentially, a boost among Muslim voters in upcoming elections. Hasina’s humanity stops when the risks outweigh these rewards, and this is when the Rohingyas become another political opponent repressed in the name of national security.
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees are kept in crowded camps in the poor, southeast region known as Cox’s Bazaar, with no access to education or healthcare. According to Reuters, the government has been historically uncooperative with humanitarian organizations looking to work with the camps. Security is heavy, monitoring the population not only for Islamic extremism but for political organization of any kind. They are not allowed to vote — if they did, they’d likely support the BNP — and there will never be a legal path to citizenship.
Now more than ever, the international community must look at the Awami League with a critical eye. This region is positioned to become the next ISIS stronghold, and with hundreds of thousands of displaced Rohingyas are at the mercy of the government, it’s time we stop praising Hasina’s altruism and start holding her accountable for her party's actions.