Govt winning people's trust for inclusive approach: Female frontliners of July uprising 

The interim government led by Chief Adviser Mohammad Yunus has started winning people's trust and confidence, mainly because of its inclusive approaches in making decisions about state affairs, said frontline female participants of the July uprising.     

Talking to the BSS, they came up with the evaluation of the 92-day-old interim government that came to power on 8 August.

Immediately after taking charge, the interim government took some measures, including reshuffling the administration, taking action against corrupt people, rehabilitation of the victims of July movement, formation of reform commissions, and restoration of confidence of international communities, especially the development partners, according to the student movement.

However, they suggested the government take steps to break market syndicates to bring the commodity prices to a tolerable level, ensure the security of each citizen, preserve the memories of the mass upsurge, and ensure proper treatment of injured people.       

Nusrat Tabassum, a key coordinator of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, said, "Such immediate measures have helped the government earn the trust of the countrymen irrespective of their beliefs and ideologies…and it is the most significant success of the interim government. 

"There was no record of winning such trust and confidence of the common people by any government in the past." 

Nusrat also praised the government's two major approaches – reviewing the decisions or correcting mistakes, and giving enough value to the public's views.

"The previous government used to ignore what common people think or want; rather they used to give very irrational alternatives whenever demands were raised by people on something to change or improve," she added.  

Since the interim government is sympathetic to the pro-people issues, the people, with huge expectations and optimism, have been rushing to the student coordinators, protesters, advisers as well as government officials for solutions, said Nusrat.

Umama Fatima, spokesperson of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, said democracy requires citizen trust in government to function effectively but the country faced a crisis of trust over the last one-and-a-half decade due to the authoritarian approaches of the past regime.

"Keeping trust in the government, the people have been safeguarding the government, which has been strengthening its role in fulfilling the countrymen's expectation of establishing a society free from discrimination," she added.  

Giving an example, Umama said, "During the floods or poor law and order situations, we saw how people stood by the flood victims, sacrificed lives to save others, managed traffic, cleaned streets or spent sleepless nights gathering in groups to maintain law and order."

She said, due to the citizen's trust in the government, the inflow of remittance has witnessed a rise significantly as migrant workers are now sending money through banking channels instead of other illegal means, boosting the country's forex reserves.    

However, Umama suggested the government to be more communicative with the general people to beef up reforms for restoring stability, and a proper working atmosphere in public entities to ensure smooth service delivery.

Rupaiya Shrestha Tanchangya, a protester who was active in the movement from the very beginning, praised the government for taking opinions from people with diverse backgrounds before formulating policies or making decisions.

"I've never seen any government consider people's opinions – regardless of their beliefs and ideologies – the way the interim government has on various state affairs," Rupaiya said.

Shahinur Shumi, a coordinator of the movement from Eden Mohila College,  said, "People's aspirations and expectations from the government are very high as it comes through sacrifices of lives of general people. So, the government should give more focus on pro-people issues."

Shahinur stressed taking pragmatic initiatives to address the price hike of essentials and ensure the security of the common people.

Nazifa Jannat, a central coordinator of the movement from East West University, said    the interim government's immediate and successful responses to some crises, including flood, public security, and price hikes have helped it earn people's trust. 

"The government should work on a priority basis to ensure the security of each citizen at each corner of the country and take immediate and stern actions to terminate all the market syndicates from their roots," said Nazifa.

If the government fails to address the problems related to citizens' basic needs, it will lose people's trust, Nazifa said, adding, "People will lose their patience if they don't see visible improvements in solving problems of the people."