Magazine Despite Bangladesh’s slide toward a one-party autocracy, “the current trajectory is not destiny.” Awami League leaders and activists celebrate their party’s victory in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Jan. 10, 2024. Credit: AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu Bangladesh’s ruling Awami League (AL), under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has cemented a fourth consecutive term in power – but not … Read more
In November last year, Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku, a standing committee member of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), asserted in an interview with an Indian daily, The Hindu, that the BNP is a secular party. He continued: “At one point, we had an alliance with the Jamaat [Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami] just the way political coalitions take … Read more
The outcome of the 12th parliamentary election in Bangladesh was expected, and long predicted. With the main opposition party, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), pulling out of the race, the path was always clear for the incumbent Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in office since January 2009, to tighten her grip on power. Even though calls were … Read more
Bangladesh’s January 7 general election, as expected, returned Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Awami League to power for a fourth consecutive term, in a poll boycotted by the opposition. According to results announced by the Election Commission on January 9, the AL won 222 out of 300 seats. A further 62 seats went to … Read more
As Bangladesh prepares for its 2024 elections, a familiar but chilling specter haunts the political landscape: the potential misuse of social media, which has reshaped the landscape since the 2018 parliamentary election. The stakes are high. More than 50 million Bangladeshis, more than half the population, are on social media, particularly young people who constitute … Read more
Bangladesh, one of Asia’s most promising cases of growth under democracy, will head to the polls on January 7. The country has become a test case for electoral democracy, with the election marked by descriptions of being “staged” and a “farce” even before the actual voting begins. With tens of thousands of opposition leaders and … Read more
Dhaka University authorities canceled a discussion on recent changes in the national curriculum just hours before it was to take place on December 13 after reportedly receiving a call from a “special place.” The person in charge, a professor at the university, defended the move by saying that the panelists were suspected of discussing things … Read more
Although Bangladesh’s general election, scheduled on January 7, 2024, is a little over a month away, there is no confusion as to what kind of an election it will be, and there is no uncertainty as to what results the election will deliver. With the deadline for submission of nomination papers now passed, 29 parties … Read more
Magazine The 2024 election is a matter of political survival for both the ruling Awami League and the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party. Smoke rises from flames near the stage set for a protest by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Oct. 28, 2023. Credit: AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu On November 16, the Election Commission … Read more
Bangladesh’s cricket team was not among the two teams that played in the final of this year’s Cricket World Cup. However, cricket fans in Bangladesh turned their enthusiasm instead toward rooting against the Indian cricket team. On November 19, when the Australian cricket team won the final match against India, it was like a festival … Read more