One thing unites people inside and outside Bangladesh right now.
“We like democracy. We like fair and free elections.”
That’s the word from Habib Rahman, the co-founder, anchor and social entrepreneur behind TBN24, the powerhouse livestream channel covering the South Asian nation’s growing diaspora scattered across the globe. Here in New York City, TBN24 works out of an impressive studio in Woodside, Queens. Epicenter frequently partners with the station, hosting roundtables on mental health issues and political debates; both of us are members of the URL Media network.
After the news that Bangladesh’s prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, had stepped down, Rahman was my first phone call. It’s been a grueling few weeks for him, and he recounted telling viewers last week that he doubted the current government could last much longer. I asked him how he and his team handled this story, the diaspora’s role, and lessons for media coverage of U.S. elections. Edited excerpts of our conversation:
S. Mitra Kalita: How are you all doing? How have you been covering this?
Habib Rahman: I have been very brave to speak out against the government. While Sheikh Hasina has been in charge, a lot of people told me: Don’t do it. It’s not good for you. It’s dangerous.
I don’t care. It’s not only that I don’t care because I live in the U.S. I travel, I go to Bangladesh, I know I will be in danger. Our stance as a network was cautious because we have an operation in Bangladesh. We had to be very cautious. But last Friday, I said one thing: When you oppress people, there’s a limit.
History repeats because we never learn from history. I told viewers: When I speak with you guys again next week, this government may not be in power. And this is exactly what happened.
SMK: What about the role of young people?
HR: This demonstration is very different because you started with one thing. That was to fix the quota system. (More background here: Students in Bangladesh were demanding reforms in its quota system, which had set aside government jobs for the descendants of freedom fighters, a provision that young people say made little sense more than a half-century after independence.) They didn’t listen. They started doing drama. This drama did not bode well for people. And they got angrier. They got angrier when the High Court says, “Okay, forget about the quota system.” There were 300 or 400 students killed by the army, the police, and border patrol guard. That angered people. How dare you kill us when we are demanding justice?
That was a mistake from the government of Sheikh Hasina to underestimate them and where this could have gone. Because she has been there for 15 years, she became arrogant. She thought she had everything under control. There’s nothing she could do. That’s one aspect. The other aspect is the army. She thought she had them in her pocket, but she made a miscalculation. The army said we are with the people.
SMK: Who’s in charge now?
HR: There’s a guy called Waker Uz-Zaman. He’s the general and head of the army who have taken control. He took four or five people from different walks of life, and they’re having a discussion now. There will be a transition government, and from there, from what I understand, there will be an election.
SMK: Do you worry that the next person might be worse than Hasina?
HR: No, nobody can be worse than Hasina.
SMK: Wow.
HR: I’m telling you what people think.
SMK: What was the role of U.S. Bangladeshis in this movement? I saw my friends here in Queens posting concern for family; there were rallies at Diversity Plaza. Others canceled travel plans. There were social media outages. Any thoughts from the diaspora communities you all cover?
HR: There’s a huge Bangladeshi diaspora in the U.S. and Canada. And I can also speak about the UK, Germany, France, Italy. In general, 90% overwhelmingly supported the student movement. We spoke with many people saying why are you supporting this. They had one thing in common. You know what it was? That she took away their one right: To speak. Hindu, Muslim, doesn’t matter. You have to worry about what you say and how you say it. That was common among all the people I interviewed.
It’s very simple. People in Bangladesh and here have one thing in common: We like democracy. We like free and fair elections, and unfortunately, that was not the case in Bangladesh anymore. (In January, Hasina won a fourth straight term in elections that were boycotted by opposition candidates.)
Also, people got angry over the level of corruption in the government. Bangladesh is a poor country. It started coming out that this minister and that one are buying properties in the U.S. and Canada and the U.K. And all of this while the inflation went up inside Bangladesh; food prices especially went up.
SMK: My last question is something you and I talk about all the time: Coverage of Donald Trump. There is a question mark over how U.S. media should cover democracy right now. Having just been through what you’ve been through in your home country, what are your thoughts on the coverage of this election, the U.S. election?
HR: Democracy is democracy. It’s in decline.
In the U.S., they say something that doesn’t match the democratic values or human rights. It’s just all words. You can see this all over the place, Venezuela, Cuba, Palestine.
If you look at the global South, they have more democratic values and understanding than the U.S. The immigrant community, people like us, is beginning to understand that this is not working well for us.
SMK: What’s the Bangladeshi vote looking like for the U.S. election?
HR: Right now, they are confused. It’s very strange. There are people who think that Trump is the better choice. That surprised me because he is not really any good for anything. He’s going to shoot himself in the foot when it comes to policy. But there are people who think that he did a good job with the economy and whatnot when he was in power.
Then they’re not sure about Harris. Like a lot of Americans who are not ready for a woman president, the Bangladeshi voters carry the same sentiment about a woman president. That’s very surprising because they had a woman as prime minister.
SMK: It sounds like you think Gaza is playing a role, too, since Bangladeshis include a large number of Muslim voters.
HR: Absolutely. Because Gaza has opened our eyes, and it has opened up eyes for anybody who has some humanity left. If there’s no humanity, there’s no democratic value left in them.
SMK: Do you have more faith in Bangladesh or the U.S. as a democracy right now?
HR: Good question. I would always put my faith in any third-world countries if there were no foreign interferences. Which is very unlikely. But if there is no foreign interference, which will always be there, democracy does prevail in third-world countries.
Look at the U.S. and all the lobbying and donation you have to do [to have a voice].
SMK: It sounds like you are saying in third-world countries, democracy feels more personal, or maybe an everyday exercise.
HR: That’s correct.
I’m very surprised among Bengalis who are pro-Trump. That has really shocked me. The Democratic Party in Michigan, in Minnesota, and even in Pennsylvania, in swing states and battleground states, they are in danger because you have these options: Don’t vote for anybody, which means less votes for Harris. That gives that win to Trump. Or just go vote for Trump and punish the Democrats for being genocidal.
People say to me, regardless of what happened in Palestine, you should vote for the Democratic Party because we are better than the Republicans, and we need to save democracy. My question is, why are they coming and begging me to save democracy? That was your job when we voted for you last time.
