For those looking from the outside, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina tells a captivating story. She is one of the world's longest-serving female presidents of state, a secular Muslim dressed in colourful saris who has combated Islamic extremism, brought millions out of poverty, and successfully maintained alliances with India and China. But this apparent triumph has come at a high cost. Ms. Hasina has firmly established her control and divided this nation of 170 million people during the course of her 15 of 20 years in office. Those who kissed the ring were rewarded with patronage, authority, and immunity. Dissenters faced crackdowns, legal entanglements, and imprisonment.For those looking from the outside, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina tells a captivating story. 

The ongoing protests in Bangladesh this month are a response to Ms. Hasina's formula for power: absolute, detached, and entitled. Her deadly crackdown, which has killed at least 150 people, has become the largest challenge to her supremacy, just months after she won a fourth consecutive term as prime minister.The ongoing protests in Bangladesh this month are a response to Ms. Hasina's formula for power: absolute, detached, and entitled. Her brutal crackdown, which has killed at least 150 people, has emerged as the most serious challenge to her supremacy in history, just months after she was elected prime minister for the fourth time in a row.

Analysts believe she is mostly responsible for the situation. Student-led protests began peacefully to oppose government job quotas that favour certain groups. The brutal response to the protests by government security forces and Ms. Hasina's party vigilantes pushed the country to the brink of anarchy. A curfew has been enforced. The military monitors the streets, with helicopters frequently flying overhead. The internet has been shut, and phone calls are severely restricted.Analysts believe she is mostly responsible for the situation. The student-led protests began as a peaceful demonstration of opposition to quotas that reserve desirable government employment for specific groups. Ms. Hasina's government security forces and vigilantes responded violently to the rallies.

Even in a country with a long history of fatal political violence, Ms. Hasina's crackdown has resulted in crimes that diplomats and analysts say are unprecedented in Bangladesh in recent decades. To many Bangladeshis, a line has been passed, and outrage at the overwhelming devastation is unlikely to subside anytime soon. Diplomats and officials say the figure of at least 150 deaths is a conservative estimate. Local tabloids have reported that the dead toll is closer to 200, but student protest leaders believe it is much more. Hundreds have been hauled into cells in Dhaka alone.Even in a country with a long history of fatal political violence, Ms. Hasina's crackdown has resulted in what diplomats and others term massacres.

Sending In the Troops

Ms. Hasina, 76, has deployed every force at her service onto the streets, including a feared paramilitary unit whose leaders have in the past faced international sanctions over allegations of torture, extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances.

To protest the brutal response, a group of foreign ambassadors met with Bangladesh’s foreign minister. They expressed concern that Bangladesh’s security forces had deployed helicopters and vehicles belonging to United Nations peacekeepers in their crackdown on the student protesters, one senior diplomat aware of the discussions said.

On Tuesday, the capital city, Dhaka, remained short of crucial supplies, as the curfew hampered the transport of goods. Prices of some essentials, particularly vegetables, have nearly doubled. People lined up outside electricity and gas offices, as the internet shutdown prevented them from reloading their prepaid meters.

Source-The New work times