GIRLS and women stood up in resistance on their own the way the boys and men did against the 15 years of the authoritarian regime of the Awami League in the July鈥揂ugust uprising. The incident began in July as protests by students seeking reforms in the civil service job reservations but grew to be an uprising towards the end of that month to ultimately topple the Awami League government on August 5. The incident forced the prime minister Sheikh Hasina to fly out of the country. The interim government was installed on August 8. The government has taken up the job of major reforms on multiple fronts to pave the way for national elections that are hoped to bring about the culture of democratic governance and a sound electoral practice which the Awami League laid waste to during its consecutive tenures beginning in 2009. But what appears disappointing is that the presence of girls and women in the uprising has not arguably been well reflected in governance after the toppling of the Awami League government. Politicians, academics, professionals and women leaders, in such a context, at a seminar in Dhaka on December 10, demanded increased participation of girls and women in the realisation of the spirit of the July鈥揂ugust uprising.
The people who spoke at the seminar have said that the girls and women who were markedly present in the protests and the subsequent uprising have largely been invisible in the implementation of the spirit of the uprising. The speakers have said that there have been a few women activists in the formation of the interim government. Whilst some have talked about more participation of women in the interim government, some others have spoken of issues of national minorities that are said not to have been adequately attended to. Some of the speakers have noted that political parties are busy implementing their own ideas trying to shape the country keeping to their choice, setting the voice of the girls and women aside and have put out a call for the political parties to unite to implement the spirit of the protests and uprising and ensure rights of ordinary people. The chief adviser to the interim government, Muhammad Yunus, at a programme in the Osmani Memorial Hall auditorium on December 10 said that the new generation women have the potential to create exemplary history, urging the women to come forward to materialise the dream of building a new Bangladesh. The call would remain rhetorical unless the government becomes proactive in involving girls and women in the democratic governance of the country. Almost an absence of women from governance or their inadequate representation in the governance could leave the interim government to be patriarchal.
This is good that the government acknowledges the role of girls and women in the protests and uprising. But it should acknowledge the role of women in governance in deeds.