WOMEN have played a pivotal role in the student protests seeking reforms in civil service job reformation flared into a mass uprising against the authoritarian Awami League government, but their contribution and voice have been largely ignored in the post-uprising political affairs and public narrative. From July 1, when the protests began, to August 5, when Sheikh Hasina was deposed, women students were in the forefront. Some protests scenes that have become emblematic of the resistance are of women鈥檚 participation. The post-uprising political processes have, however, quickly became a male affair and excluded women. The advisory council of the interim government is composed of 16 members. Only three of them are women. There is also no representation of minority community. The interim government includes two student leaders as advisers. They, too, are male. In the past two months, the government has formed 10 reform commissions to guide democratic transformation in different sectors. The composition of the commissions is also dominated by Bengali Muslim males. The tendency to exclude women from political processes is not unprecedented, but it is disappointing under the leadership of the chief adviser Mohammad Yunus, known for championing women鈥檚 empowerment.
The Students against Discrimination which played a significant role in mobilising students during the July protests has showed its patriarchal bias since its formation. The platform鈥檚 initial structure had 23 coordinators and only one of them was a woman. Women faced the same police brutality. Some even were detained and injured. But a number of women students have talked about how their voice was ignored in decision-making during the protests. The platform has recently reshuffled its leadership only to include one woman leader. Not only has the interim government failed to ensure women鈥檚 equal participation in the post-uprising governance structure, it has also toed the patriarchal line in setting its reforms agenda. A series of attacks on women in public places and many anti-women campaigns on social media platforms have recently been reported, but the incidents have not been tackled with the sincerity expected from a government committed to building a just, equal and pluralist society. The government has so far generally been exclusionary in its policy. In August鈥揝eptember, many workers were injured and at least two women apparel workers died by police brutality when workers took to the streets demanding their wages. It will, therefore, not be mistaken to suggest that the government unhesitantly inherited the patriarchal and classed ideological bias from its authoritarian predecessor.
The government should, therefore, immediately reconsider its patriarchal, classed ideological bias and ensure women鈥檚 equal participation in the political process. The government should also value women鈥檚 expertise and experience in setting the socio-economic reforms agenda and abandon the policy of token inclusion. The July Martyrs Memorial Foundation mandated to document the history and make a list of martyrs and the wounded in the uprising should pay special attention to women and working-class participation in the protests and ensure that no one is excluded.