Jyoti Rahman: As Mao Zedong once said, “Let a hundred flowers bloom.” From my perspective, the past two years since the uprising have witnessed the emergence and development of numerous initiatives and new ideas, both positive and negative. Overall, this process of “letting a hundred flowers bloom” and encouraging the growth of diverse ideas has been a positive one.

Rebellions are not unusual in the history of this region. Sheikh Abu'l Fazl Allami, the court historian of Emperor Akbar, once remarked in his description of this land that even its air carried the spirit of rebellion. However, Sheikh Hasina's system of rule had become so deeply rooted in personalised authoritarianism that I was always concerned about what would happen after the government's fall.

Even when power changes hands through popular movements, there is usually some degree of institutional continuity in the state structure. But the scale of state violence and repression in July was unprecedented. For the first time in the country's history, not only did the head of government flee during a mass movement, but the leaders of the state's principal institutions fled as well. As a result, the country effectively had no functioning government for three days.

And yet, despite the fresh memory of an extraordinarily bloody uprising, along with provocations from across the border and from various communal and sectarian groups within the country, our society displayed an astonishing degree of unity. Although that unity could not be sustained, partly because of the shortcomings of the interim government and partly because of the lack of foresight among political forces, our society nevertheless managed, through its own initiative, to contain much of the ensuing disorder. That is an encouraging sign.