In the second year of the revolution: expectations, criticisms, quests

DHAKA

The central question being discussed in Bangladesh today is no longer whether the revolution has taken place, but how much of its goals can actually be realized. Last year's excitement and exuberance seem to have given way to a more realistic, more mature and more questioning political atmosphere.

It was possible to observe this transformation in almost everyone we met during our visit. You hear criticism of the government, and you also hear criticism of Jamaat-e-Islami, which has become one of the revolution's most important political actors. At first glance these criticisms may look like disappointment. Yet they are precisely one of the most important signs that politics has begun to enter its normal course.

Under dictatorships, people fall silent. Because speaking has a price. We experienced this sharp turn only recently in Syria. In Bangladesh, too, we are at the very moment when this difference can be seen. After a while these pressures will probably be forgotten, and people will speak so easily that it will be as if Bangladesh had never lived through such a dark period.

Democracy gains meaning to the extent that people can speak, criticize and hold those who govern to account. Bangladesh today is becoming an increasingly talkative society. This is one of the unseen but most important gains of the July Revolution.

INHERITED ECONOMIC PROBLEMS AND A PERSPECTIVE ON THE FUTURE

Of course, the overthrow of the Hasina regime did not make all economic problems disappear at once. Nobody had such an expectation anyway.

The new administration inherited a rather heavy economic legacy. High inflation, a weakened banking system, erosion of investor confidence and external financing pressures stood out as the most important problems of the transition period.

Although the economy has shown certain signs of recovery over the past two years, it continues to bear the burdens of the transition process. Inflation remains high. Unemployment and income distribution problems retain their importance. Completing the institutional reforms seems likely to take time.

Truth be told, many countries that have gone through post-revolutionary transitions have faced economic collapse, political chaos or internal conflict. Despite all the difficulties, Bangladesh has not been dragged into such a process. That in itself is a significant achievement.

The recovery in foreign exchange reserves and the increase in remittances sent by Bangladeshis working abroad in particular have given the economy considerable breathing room. The ready-made garment sector continues to be the country's locomotive. However, the vision of the future being discussed in Bangladesh today no longer rests solely on textile exports.

From academics to entrepreneurs, from students to businesspeople, almost everyone I met repeated the same sentence: "We are not just a textile country." This sentence is in fact a summary of how the new Bangladesh wants to see itself.

YOUTH: OWNERS OF BOTH THE REVOLUTION AND THE FUTURE

Behind this self-confidence lies a strong demographic reality. With a population of around 175 million, Bangladesh is one of the most populous countries in the world. A very significant portion of that population consists of young people.

In many countries the young population is regarded as a burden in terms of unemployment, migration or social problems. In Bangladesh, however, the youth see themselves as the fundamental element in the country's reconstruction.

The generation that carried out the July Revolution is at the same time the generation that wants to build the new Bangladesh.

In the meetings I attended in Dhaka, I was once again impressed by the young people's intellectual level and their openness to the world. They follow developments in the world carefully. They watch Türkiye. They watch the Middle East. They discuss global politics. They analyze their own country's problems with great candor.

But more importantly, they believe they can solve these problems.

With the self-confidence that comes from having made the July Revolution, the people of Bangladesh, and especially the younger generations, have begun to see themselves not as passive objects of history but as its active subject.

THE CHANGE FELT IN SOCIETY

Walking the streets of Dhaka, you feel another kind of change beyond the economic indicators. There is more self-confidence on people's faces. Civil society is livelier. Universities are more active. Think tanks, youth organizations, conferences and workshops display a remarkable dynamism. So many think tanks and universities presented me with reports on their work. All of them were sociological analyses based on scientific data.

This atmosphere inevitably reminded me of the vitality of the first years of the Arab Spring. But with an important difference. The people here are trying to learn lessons from the failures of the Arab Spring as much as from its successes.

"Protecting the revolution" is a matter of great sensitivity. It is a sign of the political maturity of Bangladeshi society. Because they know that making a revolution is hard; but they also know that protecting it is much harder.

THE QUEST TO EMERGE FROM INDIA'S SHADOW

One of the most important headings in Bangladeshi politics today is the country's foreign policy orientation. For many years the Sheikh Hasina government was heavily criticized for its close relationship with India. The July Revolution was also a reflection of the social reaction rising against this perception of dependence.

But geography does not change. A country surrounded by India on three sides cannot ignore India. For this reason, the tendency observed in Bangladesh today is not simple anti-Indian sentiment but a far more balanced and multidirectional quest in foreign policy.

A Bangladesh is emerging that wants to build more balanced relations with China, Türkiye, the Gulf countries, the US and Europe.

Time will show how successful this quest will be. But it appears that a strong consensus has formed in different segments of society that the country's foreign relations should not depend on a single center.

TÜRKİYE IN BANGLADESH

The transformation Türkiye has undergone over the past twenty years, its struggle against military tutelage, its experiences of democratization, its economic development drives and its effort to be an independent actor within the international system are followed closely in Bangladesh.

The younger generations in particular see Türkiye not as a model to be imitated one-to-one, but as an experience from which inspiration can be drawn.

This interest is not limited to relations between states. Ever stronger ties are forming among universities, think tanks, civil society organizations and youth movements.

Turkish universities are in great demand and many people want to come to study; as far as I could learn, YÖK also wants to respond to this demand, but because the Migration Administration has created very great difficulties especially in the last few years, there has been a serious decline in the number of students. China and other countries accept far more easily the students we do not accept; why, I wonder?. We know that the new Migration Administration has this vision. God willing, in coordination with YÖK, they will respond better to this demand.

ENTERING THE SECOND YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION

Bangladesh is still going through a transition period today. Inflation, unemployment, pending institutional reforms and the fight against corruption are still important problems awaiting resolution. Yet despite all this, the basic feeling in Dhaka is not pessimism but hope.

Two years ago people had difficulty believing that the dictatorship would end. Today they believe that a more just, freer and more prosperous Bangladesh can be built.

What determines a society's future is often not only its natural resources or economic means. What is truly decisive is the faith and hope that society holds about the future.

Perhaps this is Bangladesh's greatest capital today. The July Revolution did not merely change a political regime. It enabled a people to rediscover its own strength.