Bangladesh’s economic rise and the new crisis, in charts

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rising unemployment, among other issues. Sheikh Hasina, the daughter of Bangladesh's founding leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, has been in power consistently since 2009: a period that also marked the country’s economic transformation and political stability. However, Bangladesh’s economic turnaround met with mass political unrest as Hasina’s governance began appearing dictatorial and elections were seen internationally as a mere formality.

At the core of the turmoil is the country’s jobs crisis. With unemployment on the rise, the proposed 56% reservation for the families of freedom fighters in government jobs did not sit well with the masses, which snowballed into a bigger protest. Also read: Why India needs to have a wary eye on the Bangladesh coup However, discontent over unemployment and jobs quota wasn’t the only reason: it met with a series of massive crackdown on civil liberties.

Hasina won the national election earlier this year for the fourth consecutive term but with a voter turnout of just about 40% (in comparison, the voter turnout in 2018 was over 80%). Moreover, Hasina was accused of heavy crackdown on the Opposition ahead of elections, leading to fears of turning the country into a one-party rule. The democratic backsliding was visible in the World Press Freedom Index, on which Bangladesh’s rank has declined steeply in the recent decade.

In May this year, Bangladesh was categorized as a “crisis" country by the Global Expression Report, which tracks freedom of expression in countries. Amid the political chaos, the country has taken steps to bring normalcy after Hasina left. Nobel Prize winner and Hasina’s long-term critic, Muhammad Yunus, has been chosen to run an interim government until fresh elections are