Timeless Sheikh Hasina Undermined in Time Magazine

   

Time magazine is one of the most influential and widely read and reputed magazines in the world. It is based in New York, United States of America. It was first published on 3 March 1923.

Time magazine has recently published an article on Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Netizens, Awami League leaders and activists and people who love Sheikh Hasina seem to be highly delighted to see Sheikh Hasina on the cover page of the latest edition of Time magazine. However, it seems to be the fact that most people did not go through the article precisely. The article was titled, "Hard Power: Sheikh Hasina and the Fate of Democracy in Bangladesh" authored by Charlie Campbell which appeared on 2 November 2023.

Sheikh Hasina had to undergo a lot of vicissitudes since taking power in 2009 like BDR mutiny, the challenge of post Covid economic recovery, the Russia-Ukraine War, very recently the Israel-Palestine conflict etcetera. Sheikh Hasina's success stories were not described in Time magazine in a noteworthy way. Rather the article in Time magazine deplored the elections of 2014 and 2018. A few lines from the article may be quoted, "Bangladesh has taken an authoritarian turn under Hasina's Awami League party. The last two elections were condemned by the U.S., E.U. and others for significant irregularities, including stuffed ballot boxes and thousands of phantom voters. She won 84% and 82% of the vote, respectively."

However, Time magazine has conveyed a universal message to the whole world through its latest article on Sheikh Hasina which aims to tarnish her image diplomatically.

Due to global financial crisis, Bangladesh's trustworthy leadership has borrowed loans of 96.2 US billion dollars till December 2022. The United States donated most of the Covid 19 vaccines to Bangladesh. USA, European Union, India, World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) are some of the vital development partners to Bangladesh. However, Time magazine has conveyed a universal message to the whole world through its latest article on Sheikh Hasina.

Time magazine stated, "Washington is concerned about Bangladesh's drift toward despotism. Hasina was not invited to the latest two U.S.-hosted Summit for Democracy gatherings, and in May the country unveiled visa restrictions on any Bangladeshi undermining elections."

Time magazine undermine Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's achievement in eradicating poverty in Bangladesh. Some words from the Time article are as follows, ""Today people are suffering," one rickshaw driver in Dhaka complained to Time, saying that his daily wage of 400 taka ($3.50) can barely cover the cost of cooking oil and lentils for his wife and two children." Sheikh Hasina's photograph published on the cover page of Time magazine shows a very unimpressive gesture of the Prime Minister. The photograph was snapped by Sarker Protick who is affiliated with Pathshala South Asian Media Institute. Sarker Protick is also associated with photojournalist Shahidul Alam, the founder of Gallery Drik. Shahidul Alam was accused of provoking people against the government during the demonstration for safe roads across Bangladesh in 2018. Shahidul Alam is a sharp denigrator of the present government.

Time magazine hints that Sheikh Hasina is afraid of losing the upcoming election in the following lines, "The burning issue for Hasina is that were she removed from power she would likely encounter the same kind of repressive retribution that her government is currently inflicting."

It may be recalled that Time magazine took an interview with Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairperson and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia on 10 April 2006. William Green and Alex Perry took the interview. Militancy emerged in Bangladesh during BNP's regime from 2001 to 2006. A heinous grenade attack was carried out on Sheikh Hasina on 21 August 2004. Bombs were blasted on 500 spots at a time all over Bangladesh killing several judges and lawyers by Jamaatul Mujahedin Bangladesh (JMB). Khaleda Zia's picture on the cover page of Time magazine was clicked by Shahidul Alam.

Not just that, BNP gave ministerial posts to some politicians who opposed the Liberation War of 1971 and also ran international propaganda to discourage foreign countries to recognize Bangladesh right after Bangladesh's birth. These politicians mainly belonged to Jamaat-E-Islami some whom were convicted war criminals and were executed later on but Time magazine did not ask Khaleda Zia any questions about these phenomena. Bangladesh also turned out to be the most corrupted country in the world in a ranking by Transparency International during the time BNP-Jamaat nexus was in power.

Time magazine virtually termed Khaleda Zia an angelic figure, a rescuer and a troubleshooter while the magazine assassinated the character of Sheikh Hasina's party and her government.

Now questions have come up what role was played by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry over the publication of the above Time magazine article on Sheikh Hasina. The information and publicity secretary of the ruling party was not found doing anything about it either. Was any concrete action taken by the Press Wing of the Prime Minister's Office? Who will answer this question?

Sheikh Hasina is a timeless leader in Bangladesh politics. Bangladesh has become a development role model under Sheikh Hasina's leadership and the country's development pace is visible in a down to earth way. The entire world admires Bangladesh for the outstanding range of socio-economic advancement the country has achieved since 2009 till today.

Shoeb Chowdhury is an author, poet, sports organizer and Chairman, Editorial Board of The Asian Age.