Bangladesh: Political history

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This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content.

Contents

A brief history

Sources include

Samad, Saleem, We won the war, but was Bangladesh really liberated in 1971?, The Times of India Aug 6, 2024 The writer is an independent journalist and columnist based in Bangladesh

Nov 19, 2023: The Hindu

The Times of India

Once a bottomless basket

“Bottomless basket,” US national security adviser Henry Kissinger called Bangladesh soon after it was formed [in 1971]. Five decades on, Bangladesh has turned that around, but as the [2024] turmoil has shown, democracy weakened (Samad, Saleem, ‘‘The Times of India’’ 2024)

1905- 1971: three partitions

India and Pakistan were partitioned once, in 1947. But Bangladesh was partitioned thrice — 1905, 1947 and 1971. The contentious theory of the origins of Bangladesh is that it goes back to 1905, when the British Viceroy of India Lord Curzon partitioned Bengal. Indian nationalists and the intellectuals of Bengal vehemently opposed it. The seeds of Bengali nationalism had been sown. (Samad, Saleem, ‘‘The Times of India’’ 2024)

The Pakistan movement and East Bengal

When the two-nation theory was floated, the name for the new homeland for Muslims, Pakistan, was suggested by a young Britain-educated lawyer Choudhary Rahmat Ali in 1933. P for Punjab, A for Afghan province (now KhyberPakhtunkhwa), K for Kashmir, I for Indus, S for Sindh, and ʻstanʼ for Balochistan. (Samad, Saleem, ‘‘The Times of India’’ 2024)

East Bengal found no mention. It angered the revolutionaries of Bengal. In 1940, fiery Bengal politician AK Fazlul Huq proposed the Lahore Resolution on behalf of the All India Muslim League — it called for independent states of Muslims in India — and nationalists began imagining an independent East Bengal. (Samad, Saleem, ‘‘The Times of India’’ 2024)

1947: East Pakistan Is Created

In 1947, Partition knifed through Bengal province. Unlike Punjab, this was not a swift and bloody exchange. Millions of Bengali Muslims were in Indian territory and millions of non-Muslims lived in East Pakistan — a full one-fifth of its population.(‘‘The Times of India’’)

1952 ‘bhasha andolon’

Soon, fights over resource-sharing sprang up. And then, a war over the national language erupted — Urdu alone, or also Bengali? This triggered the 1952 ‘bhasha andolon’ — or Language Movement. There were violent uprisings that the Pakistani army put down with force. This shattered one dream but ignited another: a secular, autonomous identity for the delta. In 1956, when Pakistan agreed to accept both Urdu and Bengali as state languages, the movement had gone beyond the question of language into one of autonomy and unfair resource allocation.(‘‘The Times of India’’)


The 1960s

By the 1960s, it had turned into a movement. Bangabandhu (friend of Bangladesh) Mujib, incarcerated on and off, was sent off to jail again in 1968 in the infamous ʻAgartala Conspiracyʼ case. Anger spilled onto the streets and spread to the rest of Pakistan, with violent student protests against Pakistanʼs military junta in 1969. The anti-government agitation ousted the decade-long military dictatorship of General Ayub Khan. (Samad, Saleem, ‘‘The Times of India’’ 2024)

1970: a landslide victory unpalatable to Pakistan

Mujib won a In the 1970 Pakistan elections, the Awami League won 167 of the 169 East Pakistani seats, giving them control over the National Assembly. Yahya Khan postponed the session. Even as talks with Mujibur Rahman were going on, he ordered the army to attack the autonomy movement’s nucleus. Amid vengeful targeted killings all over East Pakistan, the liberation war of 1971 began.(‘‘The Times of India’’)

Mujib won a landslide victory in the first ever general elections [in Pakistan] in December 1970. He was poised to be the head of the government of Pakistan. Three months later, opposition leaders from the provinces of Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and the North West Frontier Province (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) pledged allegiance to Mujibʼs Six-Point Political Agenda, which sought regional autonomy for the provinces in Pakistan. (Samad, Saleem, ‘‘The Times of India’’ 2024)

Between Mujib winning and this agenda being accepted by political leaders, General Khadim Hussain Raja, commander of the Eastern Command, planned Operation Blitz. It would mean suspension of all political activities and a return to military rule. (Samad, Saleem, ‘‘The Times of India’’ 2024)

The armed forces of Pakistan would be allowed to move against “defiant political leaders” and take them into “protective custody”. But Lieutenant General Yaqub Khan, who was chief of general staff of the Eastern Command, and Admiral Syed Mohammad Ahsan, who was governor of East Pakistan, scuttled the plan. Not for long, though. (Samad, Saleem, ‘‘The Times of India’’ 2024)

The frustrated General Yahya Khan, president of Pakistan, ousted both Khan and Ahsan. Later, General Raja was also shown the door. (Samad, Saleem, ‘‘The Times of India’’ 2024)

Mukti Bahini

Why the Mukti Bahini was formed)

Weeks before the genocidal campaign of March 25, 1971, codenamed Operation Searchlight, most officers and soldiers of the East Bengal Regiment and border guards East Pakistan Rifles revolted. The rebel officers and soldiers along with hundreds of border guard troops and policemen crossed into India, with fire cover from the Indian Border Security Force shielding them. (Samad, Saleem, ‘‘The Times of India’’ 2024)

The rebel officers held a crucial meeting on April 12 at Teliapara in Sylhet — the Mukti Bahini (Bangladesh Liberation Force) was formed under the command of Colonel (later General) MAG Osmany. The Mukti Bahini decided it would go the guerrilla way, on the lines of what Vietnam rebels did, instead of conventional war. Thousands of students, youths and farmers, including women, joined the Mukti Bahini. (Samad, Saleem, ‘‘The Times of India’’ 2024)

1971 War: The role, and tilt, of the USA

1971 War: The role, and tilt, of the USA

1971: The triumph

No liberation war in the world was as decisive as that of Bangladesh. The barefoot, half-naked soldiers of the Mukti Bahini had faced off with the Islamic militia of Pakistan and emerged victorious. A triumphant Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the leader of the East Pakistan Awami League who led the resistance for an independent East Bengal, was released from prison in January 1972. When he took over the reins of the country, he had a huge task ahead of him. Corruption was raging, a famine was sweeping the nation and the ravages of over a decade of struggle had rent the people apart. (Samad, Saleem, ‘‘The Times of India’’ 2024)

India got formally involved, as it saw itself as a champion of Bangladeshi self-determination, assisting the freedom fighters with military training and taking in refugees. Pakistan saw this as intolerable interference in its affairs. The Awami League leadership regrouped in India, forming a govt in exile. On Dec 3, 1971, as Pakistan bombed Indian airfields, the Indo-Pak war of 1971 began, ending on Dec 16. The new nation of Bangladesh was born.(‘‘The Times of India’’)

1972

In January 1972, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman returned from captivity in Pakistan and assumed leadership, forming an Awami League govt. Islamist parties were banned. Its constitution was committed to democracy, socialism, secularism and nationalism.(‘‘The Times of India’’)

However, Mujibur relied on a model of charismatic leadership and patronage, failing to expand economic opportunity. The state strong-armed opposition, even as guerrilla groups sprang up — disillusionment with the Awami League had set in, as a famine devastat- ed Bangladesh in 1974.(‘‘The Times of India’’)


1975-81

Mujib got to work but his compatriots betrayed him. He was assassinated in a military putsch on 15 August 1975 – when India was celebrating its Independence Day. Fifty years on, the secular ethos he died defending is under threat. (Samad, Saleem, ‘‘The Times of India’’ 2024)

In 1975, Bangladesh proclaimed an emergency. It suspended all fundamental rights and brought in a single-party presidential system with Mujibur as president, trying to initiate a social revolution from above.(‘‘The Times of India’’)

The army, which had long been resentful of India’s credit-taking and Mujibur’s closeness to India, put an end to this ‘civilian autocracy’. On Aug 15, 1975, three strike forces assassinated Mujibur and 40 members of his family. After two more military coups, General Ziaur Rahman took charge of Bangladesh until 1981, when he, too, was assassinated.(‘‘The Times of India’’)

1982-90

General Ershad seized office in a coup in 1982. He made Islam the state religion. But in 1990, he was overthrown and jailed by a popular uprising, taking Bangladesh back to civilian rule.(‘‘The Times of India’’)

Khaleda Zia: 1991-1996, 2001-2006

Khaleda Zia, the widow of Ziaur Rahman and leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, won the election. The Constitution was amended to make the presidency a ceremonial post, giving the prime minister top executive leadership.(‘‘The Times of India’’)

Khaleda Zia’s BNP was in govt from 1991-1996 and later from 2001-2006. Her democratic rival was the Awami League, led by Sheikh Hasina, the eldest daughter of Mujibur Rahman, who had been abroad when her family was assassinated. Sheikh Hasina took over as PM in 1996, but lost to Khaleda in 2001.(‘‘The Times of India’’)

2006-09

This two-party parliamentary democracy hit a snag in 2006, as elections had to be postponed because of violence. A military-backed interim govt took charge. In the 2009 polls, the Awami League won more than 250 of 300 seats in parliament. Sheikh Hasina became PM for the second time. Shortly after taking over, she formed a war crimes tribunal — five former army officers were executed for the murder of founding PM Mujibur Rahman.(‘‘The Times of India’’)

Islamist groups

Meanwhile, since the 1990s, Islamist groups and forces had gained clout in politics and society. Jamat-e-Islami’s role increased substantially after 2001, when the BNP allied with it. In 2013, a Jamaat leader was executed, leading to violent protests by the opposition. There was a crackdown on the opposition, and Khaleda Zia was placed under house arrest. In 2014, Sheikh Hasina was elected virtually unopposed as the opposition alliance refused to participate in an ‘illegitimate’ election. Khaleda Zia was charged with corruption and sentenced to jail, her release conditional on her refraining from political activity. In 2024, as the opposition boycotted another election and declared it farcical, Hasina returned for a fourth consecutive term, winning 224 out of 300 seats amid low voter turnout.(‘‘The Times of India’’)

2023: SC upholds verdict banning Jamaat i Islami from elections

Nov 19, 2023: The Hindu


Bangladesh's highest court on November 19 dismissed an appeal by the country's largest Islamist party seeking to overturn a 2013 ruling that barred it from participating in elections for violating the constitutional provision of secularism Bangladesh is set to hold its next national elections on January 7. (Nov 19, 2023: The Hindu)

A five-member bench of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan handed out the ruling. Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami's main lawyer did not appear before the court due to “personal problems” and his petition, filed previously, seeking to postpone the hearing for six weeks was also rejected. (Nov 19, 2023: The Hindu)

The High Court's decision 10 years ago canceled the party's registration with the Election Commission, thus stopping it from participating in elections or using party symbols. But it did not ban it from political particpation. (Nov 19, 2023: The Hindu)

The ruling, at the time, came amid calls to ban the party for opposing the country's 1971 independence war against Pakistan. The government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, after coming to power in 2009, sought to try Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami's top leaders for their role in acts of genocide and war crimes during the country's independence war. Some have been hanged or given life sentences since 2013. (Nov 19, 2023: The Hindu)

“The verdict of the High Court has been upheld,” Tania Amir, a lawyer who stood against the Jamaat-e-Islami party, said Sunday. (Nov 19, 2023: The Hindu)

“If they [Jamaat-e-Islami] attempt any meetings, rallies or gatherings or identify their party as legal to any high commission, embassy, foreign agency or state, we are at liberty to bring a new charge of contempt of court against them and an injunction,” she said. (Nov 19, 2023: The Hindu)

But Matiur Rahman Akanda, a lawyer for the party, said that the it would continue to be politically active. (Nov 19, 2023: The Hindu)

“The court gave its opinion on whether the registration [with the Election Commission] will be upheld," he said, “there is no way to ban politics constitutionally.” There have long been multiple calls in Bangladesh by secular forces and others to ban the Islamist party, but the government hasn't complied. (Nov 19, 2023: The Hindu)

The United States also considers it a moderate Islamist party. (Nov 19, 2023: The Hindu)

Despite Sunday's decision by the High Court, it again remained unclear if Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami could continue its activities. Usually, the Ministry of Home Affairs is the entity that bans radical groups deemed as anti-state.

(Nov 19, 2023: The Hindu)

Jamaat-e-Islami has been a key partner to the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, who has been the archrival of the current head of government, Ms. Hasina, for decades. The Islamist party and Zia shared power in 2001-2006 when the latter was the premier In January, Ms. Hasina will seek to return to power for a fourth consecutive term while Zia's party has threatened to boycott the polls. The Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami says they also will boycott elections under Ms. Hasina.

(Nov 19, 2023: The Hindu)

Sheikh Hasina: 1975, 1996-2024

Subir Bhaumik, August 6, 2024: The Times of India


Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has finally bowed to the people’s power that once brought her to high office in one of the most dramatic cases of political turnaround in the post-colonial world. In 1971, she was an unassuming housewife and the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who had led Bangladesh to freedom. In 1975, when almost her entire family, including her father, was wiped out in a military coup, she and her sister Rehana were in Europe with her husband, a nuclear scientist. Everything looked uncertain then. She took shelter in India, at the personal intervention of then PM Indira Gandhi.


It is only when Indira Gandhi returned to office here in 1980 that she went back to Bangladesh — possibly after Indira extracted a promise from Dhaka that no harm would come to Hasina in Bangladesh. Once back, Hasina took control of a demoralised Awami League. After years of agitation against the ruling military junta and reorganising her party, Awami League won the 1996 election.


Hasina was then the obvious choice for PM. But the next five years in office were a period of considerable uncertainty, with religious extremists even trying to assassinate her. After the Awami League lost the 2001 elections, she was back on the streets. In July 2004, she survived a grenade attack while addressing an Awami League rally, in which scores of senior party leaders were killed. Those close to her say this grenade attack changed Hasina. She was convinced that unless she was in office, she would not be safe.


During the 2006-08 rule by a military-backed caretaker govt, she was in and out of jail on what her supporters say were ‘trumped-up’ charges. This caretaker govt also jailed her bete noire and former PM Khaleda Zia.


But when the caretaker govt was finally forced to announce elections, the tide turned. Hasina led the Awami League to a decisive victory and assumed the office of PM for the second time. Since then, she has been in office, having won three successive — and controversial — elections. Hasina has been credited for Bangladesh’s amazing eco- nomic turnaround but accused of increased authoritarianism and blamed for the country’s increasing democracy deficit. In the last four years, there have been reports of massive corruption and uncontrolled price rise, which has added to anger at the grassroots level.


The anti-quota protest agitation that finally brought her down is a classic case of mishandling that, some say, was rooted in her growing arrogance. In 2018, following student protests against the unusually high quotas in govt jobs (56% in all, 30% for descendants of the 1971 freedom fighters), Hasina’s govt decided to scrap the quotas. But on June 5, Bangladesh’s High Court reinstated the quotas, and protests erupted again.


All Hasina had to do was tell the agitating students that her govt would appeal against the HC ruling in the Supreme Court. Instead, she unleashed a verbal tirade against the students, suggesting she was in favour of the quotas. The student movement gathered momentum and Hasina ordered a police crackdown. The pro-govt Chhatra League also attacked the students who, until then, were protesting peacefully. Around 300 people, mostly students, died over the course of the agitation — close to 100 on Sunday alone. The ensuing groundswell assumed the character of a mass movement, with students in the lead. This was history repeating itself. Student movements have traditionally fuelled mass agitations in Bangladesh that have proved difficult to control. The more violent the crackdown, the more fierce the resistance.


Already 76, it is unlikely Hasina will be able to make a comeback. As one of the longest-serving women leaders, she leaves behind a mixed legacy. Under her leadership, Bangladesh did make substantial economic progress that was both top down and bottoms up. She did reorganise the Awami League into a formidable force in the long years of agitation against military rule and then against the Islamist coalition governments of BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami.


But some of her detractors suggest she also undid a lot of these achievements towards the last few years in office. Corruption became rampant at all levels, the election process was seen as less than fair, nepotism increased. Under her leadership, the middle class leadership of the Awami League was slowly replaced by a new class of businesspersons known for their proximity to Hasina. Some of the country’s worst bank defaulters ended up as her advisers or ministers. Seventeen members from her extended family were in parliament. Hasina often spoke of cleansing her party and govt. Recently, she even made a public statement that one of her aides had amassed assets worth 400 crore taka. That did not go down well with poor Bangladeshis.


For India, Hasina was a trusted friend who addressed its security and connectivity concerns as none before. But with Hasina out of office and the country looking at an uncertain future, India will have much to worry about. BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia had said once that if the BNP were to come to office, all agreements that Hasina has signed with India will be up for review. The recent protest movement did have a strong anti-India flavour, primarily because the protesters saw India as a strong backer of Hasina.


The writer was a BBC correspondent and former editor at Dhaka-based bdnews24.com

Sheikh Hasina: 2009- 2024

[Mujib’s] daughter, Sheikh Hasina, who took over in 2009 after the country had seen three decades of autocratic regimes. The economy took off. She opened up the country to foreign investment from India, Japan, South Korea, the US, Turkey and European countries. (Samad, Saleem, ‘‘The Times of India’’ 2024)

Soon, Bangladesh became the second-largest exporter of readymade garments. Pharmaceutical products are its other big export, to more than 70 countries, and frozen fish and food to Europe, North America, the Middle East and Australasia. Bangladesh made big strides in meeting Sustainable Development Goals. Hasina has been elected Prime Minister thrice, holding office for 12 years. Her decision to take in more than a million Rohingya refugees who had fled Myanmar was appreciated globally. (Samad, Saleem, ‘‘The Times of India’’ 2024)

But the human rights record at home has been controversial. Sectarian violence against Hindus in mid-October of 2021 cast a shadow on the secular credentials of the country. Rights groups claim no perpetrator of sectarian violence against religious minorities, desecration of temples, arson and plunder faced criminal proceedings. Before the 2018 general elections, the authorities ignored human rights groups, civil society and journalistsʼ bodies to enact the Digital Security Act, which was believed to throttle freedom of expression. (Samad, Saleem, ‘‘The Times of India’’ 2024)

In three years since then, 1,516 cases have been filed under the law against 142 journalists, 35 teachers, 194 politicians and 67 students. None against Islamic evangelists who peddle hate speech online against womenʼs empowerment and elective democracy, and want a theocratic state. Nor against those uploading videos on YouTube demanding that the countryʼs flag be changed to a crescent and the national anthem be scrapped because a Hindu poet (Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore) wrote it. “It is a retreat from the commitments of 1971,” said acclaimed social scientist Prof Rehman Sobhan. (Samad, Saleem, ‘‘The Times of India’’ 2024)

The authorities are yet to complete a non-controversial registration of liberation war veterans. Successive regimes failed to prepare a genuine list of veterans. Letʼs not discuss the total number of genocide victims — researchers claim the number could be higher than 3 million. Tens of thousands of infants and elderly people died of cholera and diarrhoeal disease in refugee camps. Bangladesh has had seven governments since Mujibʼs. Not one took up the issues of 1971 seriously. Political historian Mohiuddin Ahmad quoted a Liberation War poster: “Banglar Hindu, Banglar Christian, Banglar Buddhist, Banglar Musalman, Amra shobai Bangalee (Bengali Hindus, Christians, Buddists, Muslims — we are all Bengalis).”(Samad, Saleem, ‘‘The Times of India’’ 2024)

He added, “If I knew Islamism would triumph over secularism, pluralism and tolerance, I would not have joined Mukti Bahini to liberate the country.”(Samad, Saleem, ‘‘The Times of India’’ 2024)

August 5, 2024 marked the end of Sheikh Hasina's reign as she finally bowed to the same people's power that had once brought her to the office of Bangladesh prime minister. (Samad, Saleem, ‘‘The Times of India’’ 2024)

DIP AFTER HIGH GROWTH under Hasina

44% Fall In Forex Reserves | From a peak of over $48 bn in 2021 to $26.8 bn in June this year(‘‘The Times of India’’)

28% Drop In Value Of Taka | From 84.5 taka/USD in June 2021 to 117.1 taka/USD in June this year(‘‘The Times of India’’)

Growth Slows | From 6% growth for 9 straight years to 2019, it’s predicted to grow at 5.7% in 2024(‘‘The Times of India’’)

High Inflation | From about 6% during the high-growth period it is now at 9.7%(‘‘The Times of India’’)

Unemployment Up | 5.1% is the official unemployment rate, but reports say the real rate is much higher with over 30 million youths jobless(‘‘The Times of India’’)

Only Textiles | 85% of Bangladesh’s exports is textiles and clothing(‘‘The Times of India’’)

Aug 2024

August 6, 2024: The Times of India


Dhaka : Bangladesh’s embattled PM Sheikh Hasina (76) resigned and fled the country following more than a month of deadly demonstrations that began as protests against job quotas swelled into a movement precipitating the end of her 15-year rule.


A source close to her told AFP her security team, gauging the mood on the ground, asked her to leave her residence and the country immediately and she didn’t get any time to pack up or record a farewell speech. Bangladesh army stepped in to fill the power va- cuum, ending one uncertain chapter and opening another in the nation’s restive history.


Sajeeb Wazed Joy, Hasina’s son and her ex-official adviser, said she wouldn’t make a political comeback and that she left the country for her own safety on her family’s insistence.


As news of Hasina’s departure spread, volatile crowds took to the streets here, some clambering on her father and Bangladesh founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s statue and smashing it with hammers in a lasting image underscoring the fickleness of history. Many went on a ransacking and looting spree in her residence. A mob vandalised Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre in Dhanmondi. Four Hindu temples also suffered “minor” damage.


In an address to the nation, army chief General Waqar-uz-Zaman said an interim govt would be formed and he had met members of most political parties. “I’m taking all responsibility (of the country),” he said. At night, President Mohd Shahabuddin ordered the release of prisoners from the protests as well as jailed ex-PM and key opposition figure Khaleda Zia of BNP. AGENCIES

China, ISI orchestrate trouble to install a regime inimical to India

Rajshekhar Jha, August 6, 2024: The Times of India


New Delhi : Intelligence establishment here sees the hand of Pakistan’s external intelligence agency, ISI, and its Chinese patron in escalating the protests and subversion that forced Sheikh Hasina to flee the country.


Information reaching here point to the not-so-subtle hand of Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS), the student wing of hardline Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh which is known for its anti-India stance, in inflaming the streets and turning the protest over quotas into a determined effort to replace Hasina with a regime that is friendly to Pakistan and China and hospitable for anti-India terror groups which would work out of Bangladesh before the crackdown ordered by the ousted Awami League govt.


The intelligence inputs alluded to meticulous planning undertaken by ICS members several months prior, aimed at instigating widespread violence across the nation. “The ISI-backed Jamaat-e-Islami had received substantial financial backing earlier this year to destabilise the Hasina govt. A significant portion of this funding is believed to have originated from Chinese entities operating in Pakistan,” an official disclosed.


Although Hasina tried to keep China in good humour, she was sensitive also to India’s interests—an even-hand-endess which was not to Chi- na’s pleasing. Interestingly, many leading figures of the Islamic student outfit managed to charm the western-affiliated NGOs by using jargon of democracy and rights.


The ICS has been under the surveillance of Indian intelligence agencies for an extended period, following the emergence of its active involvement in anti-India activities, including the propagation of a jihadiagenda in Indian territo- ries adjacent to Bangladesh. The ICS also operates in close coordination with the ISI-backed outfit, Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI), a Pakistan-based Deobandi terrorist group with an affiliate in Bangladesh. There exists visual evidence of ICS members undergoing training in Afghanistan and Pakistan. “The ultimate objective of Jamaat or ICS is to establish a Taliban type govt in Bangladesh, and the ISI has been assuring them of their support in achieving this goal. Their proximity became flagrant in the wake of the strengthening ties between the Indian and Bangladeshi governments,” an intelligence officer remarked.


The support from China’s ministry of state and security is also suspected to have extended a helping hand as Beijing has had been wary of Hasina’s ‘balancing act’ in its dealings with India and China. A govt in Dhaka over which Pakistan has a leverage will surely better serve Beijing’s interests better, said an intelligence source.

YEAR-WISE DEVELOPMENTS

1991-2018

Sheikh Hasina vs. Khaleda Zia

Sheikh Hasina vs. Khaleda Zia, 1991-2018
From: January 2, 2019: The Times of India

See graphic:

Sheikh Hasina vs. Khaleda Zia, 1991-2018

2018

Court jails ex-PM Zia for five years

Bangladesh court jails opposition leader Khaleda Zia for five years, February 8, 2018: The Times of India


HIGHLIGHTS

Zia, 72, was sentenced in connection with embezzlement of 21 million takas ($252,000) in foreign donations.

In the same case, her son Tarique Rahman and four others have been sentenced to 10 years in jail.


Bangladesh's former Prime Minister and opposition BNP chief Khaleda Zia was sentenced to five years in jail in a corruption case. Zia, 72, was sentenced by the Special Court-5 in the capital, Dhaka, in connection with embezzlement of 21 million takas ($252,000) in foreign donations meant for the Zia Orphanage Trust.

In the same case, her son Tarique Rahman and four others have been sentenced to 10 years in jail.

The ex-premier on November 30, 2014 lost her last ditch effort to evade the graft trial as the Supreme Court turned down her second 'leave to appeal' petition challenging her indictment and asked her to face trial in the lower court.

The high court earlier validated the trial in the lower court which on March 19, 2014 had indicted Zia on two graft charges brought by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). The ACC alleged that the two charities, the other being the Zia Charitable Trust, existed only on paper and a huge amount of money was misappropriated in the name of the two organisations while Zia was premier during the BNP's 2001-2006 government.

Awami League wins 288/ 300 seats, Hasina gets 3rd straight term

Hasina gets 3rd straight term as Awami League wins 288 of 300 seats, January 1, 2019: The Times of India


Bangladesh’s ruling alliance won virtually every parliamentary seat in the country’s general election, according to official results released Monday, giving PM Sheikh Hasina a third straight term despite allegations of intimidation and the opposition disputing the outcome.

The coalition led by Hasina’s Awami League party won 288 out of 300 seats, or 96%, in Sunday’s polls. The opposition alliance led by lawyer Kamal Hossain won only seven seats. The opposition rejected the outcome, with Hossain calling the election “farcical” and demanding a new one be held under the authority of a “nonpartisan government”. But chief election commissioner K M Nurul Huda ruled out any revote, saying there were no reports of irregularities.

With Hasina’s thumping win, India plans to continue investing in Bangladesh to build on the growing economy of its neighbour and make it the linchpin of India’s Act East policy.

Victorious debut for ODI skipper Mortaza

Hasina gets 3rd straight term as Awami League wins 288 of 300 seats, January 1, 2019: The Times of India


Bangladesh ODI captain Mashrafe Mortaza, 35, has become the first active cricketer in the country to be elected as a lawmaker. The Awami League candidate for Narail-2 constituency got 2.7 lakh votes — 96% of votes cast— while the Jatiya Oikya Front alliance nominee managed barely 8,000.

Bangla ODI captain wins by a landslide

January 1, 2019: The Times of India


Bangladesh ODI captain Mashrafe Mortaza has registered a landslide victory in the 11th general elections, becoming the first active cricketer in the country to be elected as a lawmaker.

Mortaza, an Awami League candidate for Narail-2 constituency, got 274,418 votes while his rival Jatiya Oikya Front alliance nominee Fariduzzaman Farhad received 8,006 votes, according to the Election Commission.

The total number of votes in the Narail-2 constituency is 317, 844. Mortaza’s vote share amounts to over 96%, the Dhaka Tribune reported. The 35-year-old pacer, known as the ‘Narail Express’, is the second national cricket team captain after Naimur Rahman Durjoy to become an MP. He is the first active player to achieve the honour, the report said.

Mortaza filed his nomination last month. He became the first-ever sitting cricketer to try his luck in national politics. PM Sheikh Hasina’s ruling Awami League-led alliance swept to a landslide victory in the general elections.

2024

Jan: Hasina secures 4th straight term as Bangladesh PM

January 8, 2024: Business Standard


Hasina secures 4th straight term as B’desh PM

Initial Results Show Her Party Has Won 2/3rd Of Seats; Wins Constituency With Landslide Margin; Voter Turnout 40%

Dhaka : Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina secured a record fourth straight term as her Awami League party won two-thirds of the seats in the general elections marred by sporadic violence and a boycott by the main opposition BNP and its allies. It will be her fifth term, overall.


Hasina’s party won 200 seats in the 300-seat parliament even as counting continued after the day-long voting. “We can call Awami League winner with the already available results but the final announcement will be made after the end of the counting of votes in the rest of the constituencies,” an election commission spokesperson told reporters. Hasina, 76, won the Gopalganj-3 seat for the eighth time since 1986. She bagged 249,965 votes while her nearest rival M Nizam Uddin Lashkar from the Bangladesh Supreme Party secured just 469 votes.
At least 18 arson attacks preceded the vote but the election day was relatively calm. Turnout was around 40%, chief election commissioner Kazi Hab ibul Awal said after the polls closed, citing initial estimates.
A total of 119.6 million registered voters were eligible to vote in over 42,000 polling stations. The 2018 election saw an overall turnout of more than 80%.
Security incidents, including four deaths in an arson attack on a passenger train on Friday, have intensified tensions ahead of the election that was shunned by the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its allied groups.

They accuse Hasina of turning Bangladesh into a one-party state and muzz ling dissent and civil society.
Authorities blamed much of the violence on the BNP, accusing it of seeking to sabotage the election. On Saturday, police arrested seven men belonging to the BNP and its youth wing for their alleged involvement in the train attack. The party denied any role in the incident.
The vote, like previous elections, has been defined by the bitter rivalry between Hasina’s Awami League and BNP, led by former premier Khaleda Zia, who is ailing and under house arrest on corruption charges, which her supporters claim are politically motivated. The BNP, whose ranks have been decimated by mass arrests, called a general strike and, along with dozens of others, refused to participate in a “sham election”. But Hasina called for citizens to show faith in the democratic process.

“The BNP is a terrorist organisation,” she told reporters after casting her vote. The government has rejected a monthslong demand by the BNP to have a neutral caretaker government administer the vote. The BNP previously boycotted the 2014 election but joined the one in 2018. Besides the BNP, fifteen other political parties boycotted the election this year.
Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader claimed that the people have rejected the boycott of the election by casting their ballots. “I sincerely thank those who braved the fear of vandalism, arson, and terrorism to participate in the 12th national parliamentary elections,” Quader said. BNP leaders claimed that the low voter turnout was proof that their boycott movement had been successful and said the party plans to intensify its antigovernment movement through a peaceful public engagement programme from Tuesday.
The government has defended the election, saying 27 parties and 404 independent candidates are participating.

But with scores of candidates from the Awami League running as independents and mostly smaller opposition parties in the race, analysts said that Hasina’s win was near inevitable.
Hasina, who has been ru ling the strategically located South Asian nation since 2009, is credited with transforming the economy of a young nation born out of war and making its garment sector one of the world’s most competitive. Her supporters say she has staved off military coups and neutralised the threat of Islamic militancy.

And internationally, she’s helped raise Bangladesh’s profile as a nation capable of doing business and maintaining diplomatic ties with nations often at odds with each other, like India and China.
Yet her critics say her rise has risked turning Bangladesh into becoming a one-party state where democracy is under threat, as emboldened government agencies increasingly use oppressive tools to mute critics, shrink press freedoms and restrict civil society.
On Sunday, Hasina cast her vote at Dhaka City College polling centre. Her daughter accompanied her. In response to a question on India, Hasina said the country is a “trusted friend” of Bangladesh. PTI, AP, AFP

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