Bangladesh's new dawn is darkened by settling of old scores

When Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was toppled in August in a student-led uprising, it was supposed to be a new dawn for the young country. Instead, the raw wounds left by her repressive rule have prompted many to pursue revenge by weaponizing the law—just as she did.

- Jon Emont, Refayet Ullah Mirdha & Muktadir Rashid

Two journalists, seen by some as propagandists for Hasina's regime, are under investigation for allegedly abetting the killing of protesters by her government. A sportsman who was a lawmaker from Hasina's party was among more than 150 named in another murder case linked to protester deaths—even though he was abroad playing in a cricket tournament at the time.

In one murder case registered this year, related to a protester who died last year, some 700 people have been named as suspects.

In some incidents, angry mobs have lynched supporters of Hasina's party, the Awami League.

The country's reckoning poses a stiff challenge for Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, a soft-spoken development economist, who answered the call of student protesters to lead the country.

Yunus must answer demands for justice from those who were victims of Hasina's long rule, while preventing a spiral of violence that could derail his efforts to shepherd the country from the unelected government that has taken power to a stable democracy.

"We always try to remind ourselves, this is the new Bangladesh," he said in an interview. "We don't want to copy the old Bangladesh."

The thirst for justice runs deep following the harsh rule of the 77-year-old Hasina, who took refuge in India after being toppled last summer. Some 1,500 people died in demonstrations that broke out in July, initially over access to government jobs, before spiraling into a broader challenge to Hasina's rule.

On the long list of people targeted by the former government is Yunus himself. He was ousted from the pioneering microfinance organization he founded and faced numerous investigations. He denied any wrongdoing. This year, the country's main anticorruption agency filed graft charges against him, with a trial looming in August. Supporters feared he would soon be behind bars. Since taking power, he has been cleared of charges by courts.