IT’S BEEN NEARLY a year since the fall of the tyrant Hasina in Bangladesh.
If you’re unfamiliar with what happened—or want to revisit those harrowing days—watch the Al Jazeera documentary closely. It’s brutal. It’s heartbreaking. And it’s deeply inspiring.
Whether at home or abroad, for many of us, life came to a halt as we followed the news hour by hour, fearing what fresh atrocities might unfold.
The documentary lays bare the extreme lengths tyrants will go to to cling to power. They weaponise the police, the secret services, the military, student militias, the media, the judiciary—every state institution meant to serve and protect the people is turned against them. They have a network of the wealthy and elite who benefit and support their tyranny. They twist the narrative, painting themselves as benevolent patriots and labelling the people as rebels to be crushed.
And yet, it also shows something far more powerful: that even in the face of overwhelming force, the youth of Bangladesh had the courage to rise. They were willing to sacrifice for a cause greater than themselves, and they proved what people often forget: that no tyrant is invincible.
It also reminds us that not all people are corrupt. The doctor who refused to falsify the cause of death despite great pressure from the regime. And of course, the military, which finally refused to turn their weapons on their fellow citizens. Their refusal to obey Hasina was a key turning point, ultimately forcing her to flee.
While we still have a long way to go, one truth stands out: the people have the power to bring change.
But lasting liberation—from tyranny and oppression—can only come through Islam and systemic change. If not, today’s liberators might well turn into tomorrow’s tyrants.
وَعَدَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ مِنكُمْ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ لَيَسْتَخْلِفَنَّهُمْ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ كَمَا ٱسْتَخْلَفَ ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ وَلَيُمَكِّنَنَّ لَهُمْ دِينَهُمُ ٱلَّذِى ٱرْتَضَىٰ لَهُمْ وَلَيُبَدِّلَنَّهُم مِّنۢ بَعْدِ خَوْفِهِمْ أَمْنًۭا ۚ يَعْبُدُونَنِى لَا يُشْرِكُونَ بِى شَيْـًۭٔا ۚ وَمَن كَفَرَ بَعْدَ ذَٰلِكَ فَأُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْفَـٰسِقُونَ
Allah has promised those of you who believe and do good that He will certainly make them successors in the land, as He did with those before them; and will surely establish for them their faith which He has chosen for them; and will indeed change their fear into security—(provided that) they worship Me, associating nothing with Me. But whoever disbelieves after this (promise), it is they who will be the rebellious. (al-Nur 55)
Living For Islam 