The country faces a rocky road in the election

Thousands of people gathered in the center of Dacca this week to celebrate the anniversary of the fall of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the promise of a new future for the country.

In the pouring rain, the head of the interim government, Muhammad Yunus, the leaders of various political parties and militants united as they revealed plans for a “new Bangladesh”.

Throughout the country, people have agitated the national flag in concerts, rallies and special prayer sessions marking what some activists call the “second release” of this Muslim majority of 170 million people.

But these jubilant scenes have not told the whole story in the past 12 months.

Rights defense groups say that there have been lynching, crowd violence, attacks of revenge and a resurgence of religious extremism which threatens to derail the country’s journey to democracy.

Meanwhile, the former bonus minister who was so spectacularly pushed electrical watches of the touch line of exile in neighboring India, refusing his role in fatal repression and refusing to return to face accusations that constitute crimes against humanity.

“I think we have had a change of regime, not a revolution. Basically, misogyny remains intact, male domination remains undisputed,” the BBC Shireen Huq, female rights activist.

Ms. Huq led the Reformation Commission for Women Women, one of the organizations set up by the interim government to bring social and political changes reflecting the objectives of the uprising of democracy and pluralism.

In April of this year, the organization of 10 members submitted its report calling for gender equality – in particular on the right of women to inheritance and divorce, called for the criminalization of matrimonial rape and the protection of the rights of sex workers, which are faced with the abuse and harassment of the police and others.

The following month, thousands of Islamist restaurants took to the streets against the recommendations offered, saying that they were anti-Islamic and that “men and women can never be equal”.

The demonstrators – led by Hefazat -E -Islam, who has a representative on the cabinet of acting government councilors – demanded the dissolution of the commission of women and its members punished for having made these proposals.

Subsequently, no detailed public debate took place on the commission’s proposals.

“I was disappointed that the interim government did not support us enough when we have been subjected to many abuses by Hefazat-E-Islam,” said Huq.

The Yunus office did not respond to a request for comments on allegation.

Activists say that the demonstrations were only an example of how the rich – which had been pushed on the sidelines during Hasina’s mandate – were embraced.

They also opposed girls playing football matches in some parts of the country, female celebrities participating in commercial promotional events and, in some cases, harassed women in public places because of the way they were dressed.

But it was not only women who have brought the weight. The rich also vandalized dozens of minority sanctuaries like Sufi Muslims in the past year.

But, even if people like Mrs. Huq turn to the future, Bangladesh still faces its past.

There is a wave of anger against the government led by Hasina, who is accused of illegal murders, forced disappearances and the brutal suppression of dissent.

“You have a huge district of people in Bangladesh who wanted to see not only responsibility, but revenge and retribution,” explains David Bergman, journalist and long -standing observer in Bangladesh.

However, he said, “we cannot continue with the injustices that existed in the period of the Awami League and simply reproduce them in the current period”.

But that’s what Hasina Awami League takes place. He says hundreds of his supporters have been lynched in the past year – allegations that the interim government denies.

Several journalists and supporters of the Awami League were imprisoned for months for murder. Their deposit requests have been rejected several times by the courts.

Critics say that there is no in -depth investigation into these accusations of murder, and they were only held in detention because of their previous support for the Awami League.

“It takes time for stability to come back after a major uprising. We are in the transitional phase,” said Nahid Islam, a student leader who helped direct the demonstrations and acted as an interim government advisor until recently.

Islam is appropriate that there are challenges that the country faces, but rejects the concerns of increasing Islamist influence, claiming that it was “part of a broader cultural struggle” that has existed for years.

But there are also signs of progress. Many attribute the interim government to stabilize the country’s economy and, unlike fears, the banking sector has survived.

Bangladesh has complied with its loan obligations, has retained the large -part food prices and has maintained solid exchange reserves – currently at $ 30 billion (22 billion pounds sterling) – thanks to international discounts and loans. Exports also remained stable.

Then there are other less easily measurable things.

Islam maintains that, since the fall of Hasina, “a democratic environment has been established, and now everyone can freely express their opinions”. It is something to celebrate in a country shaped by a story of political turbulence, military coups, assassinations and bitter rivalries.

But this is called into question by some.

The influence of student leaders on the interim government has aroused criticism. They received the roles in recognition of their leadership in the unprecedented demonstrations that overthrew Hasina.

Today, two remain in the cabinet and criticism say that certain controversial decisions, such as the temporary ban on the Awami League, have been taken under pressure from students.

“The government has sometimes respected some of the populist requests, in particular by students, fearing that more threatening protests could otherwise break out. However, it was the exception rather than the rule,” said Bergman.

Meanwhile, an exiled leader of the Awami League alleges that party supporters are silenced by not being entitled to the next survey – with most of its leaders in exile or prison.

“The elections will not be inclusive without the participation of the Awami League,” Mohammad Ali Arafat, former Minister of the Cabinet of Hasina, told BBC.

In its latest report, the Bangladesh International of Transparency (TIB) said that there had been an alarming increase in the violence of the crowds while the murders and extrajudicial deaths had persisted in the last year.

“We have overturned an authoritarian diet, but unless we end the authoritarian practices, we cannot really create a new Bangladesh,” said IFTEKHAR ZAMAN, TIB executive director, when the report is launched earlier this week.

While the Bangladesh stands at a crossroads, the next six months will be essential.

Some argue that, if there is no significant change in the checked political system, the sacrifices of those who are killed in the uprising could be made without meaning.