Comparing Shahbag to other Movements

This is the fifth in a series of five blog posts by Razia Shariff, a Doctoral candidate in the Politics and International Relations programme, as she conducts her field work on the Agency of Social Movements in Bangladesh

By Razia Shariff (PhD candidate)

This final blog looks at how the Shahbag Movement in Bangladesh in 2013 was very different from those experienced before in Bangladesh, and its unique dimensions compared with movements elsewhere around the world.

The area of Bengal has a long history of resistance and social movements. It is situated within the rich delta planes where the major rivers in Asia meet and descend into the Bay of Bengal, making the land very fertile. This fertility has meant that during the time of the Princely States in Asia Bengal was the centre of wealth and riches, and renowned for its arts and culture. It was a key province for trade routes during the rule of the British East India Company not only for spices, color dies but also for tea. But because of the delta planes Bengal has also been the survivor of annual natural disasters, and as a result the people of Bengal have become resilient against nature, and during the time of the British Empire were the source of many a movement against imperialism, e.g. Nil Darpan 1859 ( the indigo riots, against the conditions of laborers producing the royal color purple), 1905 Swaraj movement ( opposing the British decision to partition Bengal into east and west) which was reversed in 1910, and was the birthplace of the Muslim League in 1906 which grew in strength politically and negotiated the religious partition of British India in India and Pakistan in 1947. After partition with a Pakistan divided into two land masses, this culture of resistance and movements against the oppressors continued in Bengal (East Pakistan), with the 1952 Language Movement, the 1969 demonstrations against Pakistan’s Government and the biggest voluntary peoples movement, the liberation war in 1971 where ordinary Bengali’s with bamboo sticks wearing lungi’s and a vest fought against the Pakistan army in military uniforms with guns and tanks and won. Since independence in 1971 there has been ongoing political instability with the military coup in 1975, and a succession of military and quasi military regimes, each one being finally removed through peoples movements, demanding democracy. But none have been as big nor as peaceful and successful as the Shahbag Movement.

Peaks, tensions, and lessons of the Shahbag Movement

This is the fourth in a series of five blog posts by Razia Shariff, a Doctoral candidate in the Politics and International Relations programme, as she conducts her field work on the Agency of Social Movements in Bangladesh

By Razia Shariff (PhD candidate)

From the literature the most appropriate definition for Shahbag as a social movement is by Tarrow as actions based on ‘dense social networks and effective connective structures which draw on legitimate, action orientated cultural frames that can sustain actions even in contact with powerful opponents’(2011: 16). The significance, in Shahbag, of ‘dense social networks’ and ‘action orientated cultural frames’ on its collective agency capability is something that is emerging as I wade through all my recorded interviews from Bangladesh, and will be explored in my research in more detail.

As with any social movement, there is a peak, and Shahbag was no exception. There is some dispute as to when the peak was with Shahbag, some of those interviewed suggest that this occurred within the first few days, most during the first few weeks, but all agree that it was the biggest movement since the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971 (see earlier posts for more background details.)