Title Picture by Mojahid Mottakin, Pexels
Every aspect of Bangladesh society is in turmoil right now. If you missed it, earlier this week we had a Call to Prayer for Bangladesh and Haiti, two of our most important mission fields. Collectively, we have hundreds of churches and pastors serving thousands of members, hundreds of teachers instructing thousands of students attending dozens of schools, and many, many staff serving in our hospitals.
In brief summation, university student protests in Bangladesh turned deadly when police began opening fire on crowds. The general population joined in with the protests, and the tense situation quickly transformed into a catastrophe for the government. On August 5th, the Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina was under pressure from the military to resign over fears of further escalation and her own safety. By midday, Hasina was convinced by her son to officially resign, and she was secretly flown to India, in hopes of seeking political asylum in the U.K.
Within an hour of leaving her residence, news organizations like Independent reported that “hundreds of thousands” of protestors were looting and destroying the Prime Ministers residence. The result was a total collapse of government, including local municipalities and police. The army, the only institutional authority around, stepped in to police the capital and help transition to an interim government.
The students have requested loudly that a popular Bangladesh figure, Mohammad Yunus step in to lead the interim government, and Yunus gladly accepted. The 84-year-old Yunus is a somewhat controversial figure. He was an economist who developed micro loans for the poor in Bangladesh, helping to lift many people out of poverty, for which he was given the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. He is seen by the youth as an honest, grounded intellectual who cares for the poor. The top priority for Yunus will be to restore law and order, and then to hold legitimate democratic elections as soon as possible, at least, that’s what the students hope for. At time of writing, Yunus is in the process of being sworn in.
We’ve talked to our people on the ground in Bangladesh and there are many mixed emotions right now. Some of our people are in disbelief at how fast the government has collapsed. A week ago, they couldn’t have imagined the country would flip so radically. One source, whose identity we have kept anonymous for safety, stated that, “No one could believe that [Hasina] would run away. The students wanted a change of government, but they didn’t think the security would completely collapse with it. This is more than they asked for.” Hasina has been in power since 2009. For 15 years, she has dominated Bangladesh politics. For many students, that’s the majority of their lives. August 5th is as momentous as it is unthinkable.
For some, its a moment for real hope set against more than a decade of repression. Many have been dreaming and praying for change, to rid the country of corruption that they believe has taken root. It was thought that Prime Minister Hasina was quite authoritarian, and her system of government undemocratic. There is substantial evidence that the government grew increasingly oppressive, imprisoning people it saw as a threat to its power, and the recent elections in January were highly disputed internally and internationally.
Earlier this week the capital city of Dhaka was overrun with protests and clashing police, now the police are gone or in hiding, while the students have stepped in to guide Bangladesh’s notoriously dense traffic. “The traffic police is run by the students right now,” our source said. “The cleaning, taking care of the city, checking licenses; all of that is done by the students right now.”
It seems fitting, and inspiring, that young people are stepping up to produce some measure of order out of this chaos. Their willingness to govern in the vacuum of governance demonstrates their commitment to a better Bangladesh.
When asked what they hope to see in the future, one Bengali source added that, “I want a democratic government. I want all of the political teams to come together and sit in the parliament, and to have a fair election. I want see the corruption gone, and a democratic government in Bangladesh.”
On the other hand, Hasina’s government was seen as friendly to minorities, especially religious minorities like Hindu’s and Christians. Now that Hasina has fled, and her government eroded, our mission people are largely hunkering down and trying to keep a low profile, while many Hindus are fleeing the country en masse. The Bangladesh/Indian border is now closed due to the refugee migration taking place.
It’s clear that they feel threatened by the Muslim majority, and the small but dangerous groups of fundamentalists who have taken the absence of security as an opportunity to burn temples, raid homes, and pressure Hindus to leave so they can make land grabs.
We’ve heard reports that groups have set fire to police stations in the cities Bogura and Khanjanpur, and have looted all the firearms and ammunition. Our source told us that “All the police are gone and they escaped from here.” Somewhat laughing, and somewhat bitterly, they said that “The police are asking the army for their security.”
The result is that our mission staff, hospital staff, and teachers are doing their best to keep their operations running during the day, while at night they fear for their lives, the lives of the students and hostel children. Our mission people have witnessed the death and destruction. One mission leader commented on the violence saying that, “I cried the whole of last week and until now, and mourned for those who innocently died on the streets, which I saw with my own eyes.”
The situation, described as “lawless” by some Bengali’s, is unlikely to improve without further drastic changes. But, as we’ve seen, drastic changes are possible, and that’s exactly what our mission people have asked us to be in deep prayer for.
Currently, we aren’t asking for additional funding or financial support for our Bangladesh mission, as that’s not the present need. The present needs are security, peace, and stability.
Pray for the big and for the small. From the largest cities to the smallest villages, Bangladesh is a dangerous place right now. “Pray for us, at nighttime, when it’s dark… it gets scary over here,” one source said. Likewise, “It should be in our prayers for Bangladesh, the country, to be in a better place. Pray for the people that are in the Interim Government.”
Pray that the country will soon be stable enough for U.S. people to visit. It’s hard to adequately describe how much our mission people look forward to our company, and how much their spirits are buoyed by our fellowship. They ask for so little, but they value sincere relationships with us greatly. One source told us that, “I never want to miss to see you in Bangladesh and also other beloved brothers and sisters in CGGC.” We do our best work when we work together, and the present turbulence threatens to put a stop to that.
We ended our call with a source by asking how they are holding up mentally, to which they responded by saying, “I believe everything will be alright, but the situation we are passing through is… it might be a test, but a better thing might come in the future. I believe that.”
October 2023, Bengali Pastors/Hospital Staff Celebrate 125 Years of the Mission
CGGC eNews—Vol. 18, No. 33
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