SHAKEN, STIRRED & BOOTED OUT

Bangladesh added yet another chapter to its turbulent political history on August 5 with the overthrow of the Sheikh Hasina government.

- RIYAD MATHEW, NAMRATA BIJI AHUJA, SANJIB KR BARUAH & AJISH P. JOY

Most reports suggest that it was triggered by a popular uprising led by students against the 30 per cent reservation in government jobs for relatives of veterans who fought in the 1971 independence war against Pakistan. The opposition, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the Jamaat-e-Islami, also seems to have played a role in overthrowing Hasina, who was in power for the past 15 years. The army, meanwhile, stayed neutral, refusing to come to the aid of the government. With the prime minister ousted and the parliament dissolved, Bangladesh will be led by an interim government headed by Nobel-winning social entrepreneur and banker Muhammad Yunus.

INTERVIEW MAHFUZ ANAM editor and publisher, The Daily Star

Bangladesh not turning into a fundamentalist country

Mahfuz Anam, editor and publisher of The Daily Star, one of the leading newspapers in Bangladesh, told THE WEEK that despite the ouster of prime minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh would not transform into a fundam entalist country. He said Hasina became unpopular as she started manipulating elections and stifling dissent. On ties with India, Anam pointed out that the overall impression in Bangladesh was that New Delhi had been a great supporter of the Hasina government and that it ignored the bigger picture. He wants India to look at the ongoing crisis through the prism of democracy. Edited excerpts from the exclusive interview:

There is an argument that many people in Bangladesh believed that the Sheikh Hasina government was not an elected one because opposition parties boycotted the January elections. Is the crisis a reaction to that?