Independent Member of the 13th National Parliament Rumin Farhana has said Bangladesh is unlikely to witness another mass uprising for the next 100 years.
“People say very casually that we will launch another mass uprising. But Bangladesh will not see another mass uprising for the next 100 years,” she said.
Explaining her remarks, Rumin Farhana said the people who took part in the 2024 mass uprising had placed their hopes and even risked their lives for change.
However, she claimed that many later came to view the movement as “the private property of a handful of people,” alleging that it had paved the way for “a new wave of extortion in Bangladesh” and enabled some individuals to amass hundreds of crores of taka from virtually nothing.
“As a result, ordinary people will naturally think hundreds, thousands, even millions of times before joining such a movement again,” she added.
Rumin Farhana made the remarks on Saturday while speaking at a discussion titled ‘Post-Mass Uprising Politics: Crisis, Prospects and the Way Forward’ at the Tofazzal Hossain Manik Mia Hall of the National Press Club. The event was organised by the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD).
During her speech, she questioned why the inclusive atmosphere that existed during the 2024 uprising—where women wearing hijabs and those without hijabs participated side by side—was not preserved afterwards. She also asked who was responsible for vandalising Liberation War murals and sculptures immediately after the uprising and questioned why the spirit of 1971 had been placed in opposition to that of 2024.
Rumin further alleged that the country had witnessed “a frightening rise in extremism” in the aftermath of the mass uprising. She asked how many people would have taken to the streets had they known such an outcome in advance.
Referring to the 1947 Partition, the 1971 Liberation War and the 1990 mass movement, she said the people of Bangladesh had repeatedly sacrificed their lives only to feel betrayed.
“The ordinary people of this country have shed blood time and again and have been betrayed each time,” she said.
Among others, State Reform Movement President Hasnat Kaiyum, JSD Senior Vice-President Tania Rob, political analyst Helaluzzaman Ahmed, JSD Vice-President Nurul Akhtar and Siraj Mia also addressed the discussion.