The World Today for August 06, 2024

Listen to Today's Edition

NEED TO KNOW

‘The People’s War’

BANGLADESH

On July 16, two police officers clashing with student protesters at Begum Rokeya University in the northwestern Bangladeshi city of Rangpur allegedly fired 12-gauge shotguns into the chest of 25-year-old student protest organizer Abu Sayed. The birdshot in the shotguns, illegal for suppressing public demonstrations, killed Sayed, wrote Amnesty International.

His death was one of hundreds in recent weeks as thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in demonstrations that rocked the South Asian country of 171 million people, and brought life – and business – to a standstill. Police have arrested 11,000 people and targeted more than 200,000 more in 200 cases involving fomenting violence and civil unrest, Bangladeshi newspaper the Daily Star reported.

And on Sunday, when the government instituted a shoot-on-sight curfew, protesters defied it, attacked and burned government buildings and the ruling party’s headquarters, and advanced on the prime minister’s residence. Minutes before they stormed it, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, 76, having been in power this time around for 15 years, fled the country.

The reaction was jubilant.

“It’s a new liberation,” Badiul Alam Majumdar, secretary of the Citizens for Good Governance, told the Washington Post. “Our generation fought for the liberation (from) Pakistan in 1971. This generation fought for another liberation … This was the people’s war, and they have won.”

The startling turn of events that led the daughter of the country’s founding father to resign began weeks ago when protests first broke out over quotas that reserve 30 percent of public sector jobs for people related to the freedom fighters who won Bangladesh’s independence from Pakistan in 1971, the Associated Press explained.

Those quotas, however, too often became a reward for the ruling Awami League and its supporters, critics said, while the young struggled for opportunities, especially as the country has been experiencing an economic downturn marked by high inflation, debt and sky-high youth unemployment.

Soon after the protests broke out, the supreme court ruled to reduce the quota to five percent. But the protests continued, evolving into a broader anti-government movement as ill sentiment across the country against the prime minister and ruling party rose to an all-time high, and began to include people from all walks of life, the Diplomat added. Over the weekend, hundreds of thousands of people took to the country’s streets demanding Hasina’s resignation following cries of excessive force, government mismanagement and endemic corruption, Al Jazeera reported. More than 91 people including 13 police officers were killed. An estimated 32 children died.

Critics say Hasina, known as the “Iron Lady,” who has ruled the country for 20 of the past 30 years, may have started off her career as a pro-democracy icon – she inherited the party from her father who was assassinated in 1975 along with most of her family – but had become autocratic, Reuters reported.

For example, many senior opposition leaders were jailed even prior to the protests while civil rights groups say there have been hundreds of cases of forced disappearances and extra-judicial killings by security forces since 2009.

She also encouraged divisions in the country: She called the protesters “razakars,” (collaborators), a pejorative term for Bangladeshis who helped Pakistanis carry out war crimes during the fight for independence, noted the Times of India. Hasina labeled protesters as criminals engaging in “sabotage” and urged citizens to confront them “with iron hands”. She also blamed the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party for irresponsibly stoking the unrest, and warned that “terrorist” elements were out to destroy the country.

Hasina, who won her fourth consecutive term in January in a controversial election that the opposition boycotted, has often used that refrain when protests have broken out in the past, telling Bangladeshis that she is responsible for the peace, stability and economic progress in the country over in the past 15 years. There is some truth in that, observers say, pointing to how Bangladesh went from being an “economic basket case” a few decades ago to showing economic growth that tops India’s.

“(She) was so disappointed that after all her hard work, for a minority to rise up against her,” said her son, government IT advisor Sajeeb Wazed Joy in an interview with the BBC World Service, adding that she would not attempt to mount a political comeback. “She has turned Bangladesh around – when she took over power, it was considered a failing state, a poor country. And until recently, it was considered one of the rising tigers of Asia.”

Still, her iron fist meant that there was little surprise in the country when over the past few weeks, she turned off Internet services to prevent protesters from organizing, ordered nightly raids on homes in search of student protesters and allowed police to fire live rounds at demonstrators.

But it was too much for many Bangladeshis, and also the respected military, which began to reject her methods of repression on civilians.

Now, new Bangladeshi army chief Gen. Waker-Uz-Zaman says he hopes to get the country quickly back on track. He told the country in a televised address Monday that an interim government would be formed in the coming days and that all deaths over the past weeks would be investigated.

But amid the dancing on in the streets and the red ribbons that have become a symbol of protest, questions about the future linger, especially about a “dangerous vacuum” developing, as the Economist wrote.

The interim government may hope to get things back on track quickly but that is not likely to be easy. Bangladeshi society is deeply polarized and analysts wonder if the chaos and violence will continue or even escalate. At the same time, Al Jazeera noted it would be difficult to rebuild the democratic system quickly after years of the government attempting to eliminate all opposition and fill institutions with their supporters.

Meanwhile, the main opposition party has some of the same issues the ruling party does, including dynastic power politics, cronyism and its own record of oppression when in power, the Economist added. In fact, its leader, jailed former prime minister Khaleda Zia, is the widow of the military officer who took over the country after the coup that killed Hasina’s father, before he too was assassinated in 1981, the BBC noted. Zia, 78 and ailing, was ordered to be freed on Monday.

Regardless, the students said those issues are for another day.

“Now I have seen the victory,” said one protester. “This Bangladesh is now (going to be) made by Gen Z.”

THE WORLD, BRIEFLY

Help by Proxy

MALI

Mali severed diplomatic relations with Ukraine this week over allegations Kyiv was involved in an attack by separatist rebels late last month that killed dozens of Malian soldiers and mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner Group, Radio Free Europe reported.

On July 25, rebels led by the Tuareg minority group attacked a military camp in the northeast commune of Tinzaouatene, near the Algerian border. The armed groups claimed they killed 47 Malian troops and 84 Wagner fighters during the three-day battle.

Mali’s military junta said it suffered a “large number” of deaths.

Shortly after the rebels’ announcement, Andriy Yusov, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate, said on Ukrainian television that the whole world was aware that the rebels “had received the necessary data that allowed them to carry out their operation against the Russian war criminals.”

Yusov did not explicitly confirm whether Kyiv was involved.

But on Sunday, Mali’s military government accused Ukraine of violating its sovereignty and supporting terrorism. Officials explained that Yusov “admitted Ukraine’s involvement in a cowardly, treacherous and barbaric attack by armed terrorist groups,” according to Radio France Internationale.

The diplomatic spat comes as Mali is dealing with a long-running insurgency led by Tuareg and Islamist groups.

The military rulers, led by Col. Assimi Goita, seized power through coups in 2020 and 2021, and have shifted Mali’s alliances from its former colonial ruler, France, to Russia. The Malian government has employed Russian forces for military support but has countered allegations that those troops are Wagner mercenaries.

In a related diplomatic move, Senegal summoned Ukraine’s ambassador this week over a Facebook post from the Ukrainian embassy, which expressed support for the Tuareg rebels.

The Tuaregs are a traditionally nomadic Berber ethnic group living in parts of the western Sahara, including northern Mali. Many Tuaregs have historically complained of persecution by the Malian military government.

The Malian military has accused the Tuaregs of cooperating with Islamist groups, but the rebels behind the July 25 assault countered that they had fought alone “exclusively from the beginning to the end.”

Closing In

MYANMAR

Myanmar lost a military stronghold near the Chinese border, the military government confirmed this week, marking a major setback for the junta as it struggles to repel armed rebel groups following its coup in 2021, Reuters reported.

Late last month, the rebel Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) group announced it had taken control of the Northeast Regional Military Headquarters in Lashio, Shan State.

It said that more than 470 junta soldiers were wounded and their family members were evacuated from the headquarters hospital. At least nine people were reportedly killed, but neither side has provided an exact death toll, Radio Free Asia noted.

On Saturday, junta officials confirmed that they had lost communication with senior officers in the base and that some military personnel were arrested by the insurgents.

State-backed media accused MNDAA fighters of attacking a military hospital in the base and killing civilians, staff and relatives of junta troops.

This was the first time Myanmar’s ethnic minority insurgents captured a military headquarters.

Myanmar has 14 such regional military command posts, with analysts explaining that the loss of the Lashio base marks a critical defeat of the junta and underscores its vulnerabilities.

Jason Tower from the United States Institute of Peace told Reuters that the fall of Lashio could mark “the beginning of the end” for military rule under junta chief Min Aung Hlaing.

Myanmar’s army took power in February 2021 after ousting the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi. Since then, the military has faced widespread unrest and armed resistance from the country’s ethnic minorities.

Ethnic minority insurgents, such as the MNDAA, have been fighting against the military for decades. Since the coup, they have been joined by pro-democracy activists to form a three-party rebel alliance, and scored a series of significant victories against the military in different parts of the country.

The group’s activities have raised concerns in Beijing, given their proximity to the Chinese border.

China has previously intervened to mediate a ceasefire but has recently urged dialogue and an end to hostilities following the collapse of the ceasefire agreement in June.

It Takes a Village

SWEDEN

The Swedish parliament recently passed a law that will allow grandparents to receive paid parental leave to care for their grandchildren, a move that observers have hailed as a pioneering step in extending childcare benefits beyond parents, the International Business Times reported.

Under the new bill, parents can transfer up to 45 days of their paid leave to other caretakers, including grandparents, while a single parent can transfer up to 90 days. The new rules allow grandparents to receive compensation for babysitting their grandchildren for up to three months during the child’s first year.

Officials explained that the eligibility requirements for grandparents are the same as those of the parents, primarily based on insurance coverage – which most Swedish citizens meet.

The changes boost Sweden’s already generous parental leave system, which allocates parents 480 days of paid leave per child, and encourages men to also take advantage. The current rules also allow parents to work reduced hours until their child is eight years old, while government employees can extend this benefit until the child is 12.

Supporters and observers said the legislation extends Sweden’s commitment to family welfare and gender equality, adding that it will further improve parents’ work-life balance, the New York Times wrote.

Swedish citizens pay some of the world’s highest taxes, but their social welfare system provides comprehensive support, including state-financed healthcare, free education up to college and generous unemployment benefits.

Research has shown that expansive parental leave programs contribute to healthier outcomes for families, benefiting both parents and children.

DISCOVERIES

The Scream

In an archeological twist worthy of a crime novel, researchers have unraveled some of the mystery surrounding the “Screaming Woman,” a 3,500-year-old Egyptian mummy whose ghastly expression has puzzled scientists since her discovery in 1935 near Luxor in southern Egypt.

Archeologists discovered the remains beneath the tomb of Senmut, a renowned architect and rumored lover of Queen Hatshepsut – both of whom lived during the New Kingdom era between 1550 and 1069 BCE.

Because Senmut’s mother and other relatives were also found in the tomb, researchers believe the “Screaming Woman” was related to the architect, according to Cosmos Magazine.

However, her haunting expression is something that has puzzled scientists for nearly a century: Despite being well-preserved, the open mouth and presence of internal organs prompted speculations that her mummification was poorly done.

Now, a new study using cutting-edge scanning technology “virtually dissected” her mummified body to unveil some insights into her life and her enigmatic expression.

Scientists found the woman was 48 years old at the time of her death, stood a little more than five feet tall and suffered from mild arthritis in her spine.

They did not find an embalming incision, which means her organs were not removed. This contradicts the standard mummification process during the New Kingdom era which involved removing all internal organs except the heart.

Yet, the analysis showed the ancient morticians embalmed her with expensive materials, such as juniper and frankincense, which were imported from the eastern Mediterranean, East Africa or southern Arabia.

Her hair was treated with henna and juniper, while her wig was made from date palm fibers and treated with quartz and other materials to maintain a youthful appearance.

Study authors Sahar Saleem and Samia El-Merghani said in a statement the use of expensive materials showed that her mummification was not shoddy work.

As for the woman’s expression, the team suggested that the open mouth may be due to a rare condition known as cadaveric spasm, a rare form of muscle stiffening that can occur in violent deaths under extreme conditions and emotional stress.

Even so, her cause of death has not been determined and researchers not involved in the study questioned that theory, the Guardian noted.

Meanwhile, the “Screaming Woman” is not the only mummy with that horrified expression.

Prince Pentawere, son of Pharaoh Ramesses III, also wore this expression, possibly as a posthumous punishment. Similarly, Princess Meritamun, sister of King Ahmose I, may have had a screaming expression due to a heart attack, with rigor mortis preventing closure.

Thank you for reading or listening to GlobalPost. If you’re not already a subscriber, you can become one by going to globalpost.com/subscribe/.