This past Thursday, I was expecting crippling curfews and violent protests. Actually, the whole nation was expecting it. But for what, you may ask...
Bangladesh's first president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman- the founding father, the man who freed Bangladesh, the savior, etc. - was brutally murdered in 1974 in a bloody coup backed by the military, only three years after gaining independence from Pakistan. It wasn't just him - most of his family, along with friends and other officials - total of 20 people killed within an hour in the same house. Subsequently, the military took over and gave the coup members save haven and overlooked the heinous assasinations....until his daughter, Sheikh Hasina, was came to power in 1998.
Of course, Bangladesh being Bangladesh... the trial took a good ten years, with many ups and downs. Finally, Bangladesh closed one of its darkest chapters this Thursday, when the Supreme Court 'awarded' the death sentence to 6 of the coup members.
Thursday brought no violence on the streets of Dhaka ... I guess the whole nation felt what I was feeling. I hate dynastic politics, but I truly felt for Sheikh Hasina. May this closure bring some solace to that lonely soul.
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