An element of suspense was missing as Bangladesh went to polls on Sunday. The 12-th general election in the world’s eighth most-populous nation was marred by violence and arrest of thousands of opposition protesters but it is also poised to give Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina a fourth straight term in power. Admittedly, she’s shrewd and has shown the courage and capacity to steer the nation through thick and thin. Bangladesh is among the fastest growing economies, a credit mainly to Hasina’s 15 years in power. With a heavy hand, she put down attempts at violence and terrorism by the opposition and Islamic militants. The militants allegedly drew support from the principal Opposition, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party of Begum Khalida, who has been jailed and tamed for the past several years.
The BNP and some other opposition parties have boycotted the polls. Their demand was to hold the elections under the supervision of a caretaker government by arguing that a fair verdict would not emerge if Hasina’s dispensation oversaw the exercise. They alleged that the ruling Awami League fielded dummy candidates as independents to create the façade of a democratic election. Nearly 2000 candidates from 27 parties were in the fray. Other than the opposition Jatiya party and nearly 500 ‘independents’, the rest were from the Awami-led alliance. The results are expected later today. While the BNP and its allies may have reasons to hold a two-day protest against alleged “unfair polls,” they have to share the blame. Their failure to participate in the elections has resulted in the present scenario. Over 150 international observers including teams from India were in Bangladesh to ascertain whether the polling took place in a democratic manner. Sheikh Hasina knows how to handle matters. All along she has been a good friend to India, also as India ably backed her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to carry forward his Independence struggle against Pakistani domination, a grand success. Both Pakistan and the ISI-inspired terror outfits are uncomfortable with Hasina’s leadership of Bangladesh.
The fast-paced economic progress for Bangladesh, currently growing at around 6 per cent, is the main guarantee to Hasina’s continued leadership. What is now the second strongest economy in South Asia was the world’s second poorest country in 1971. Having given eminent stress on industrialization, Bangladesh is the second largest exporter of garments, after China. It ensured employment to women on a massive scale. In several sectors, more professionals from India are seeking jobs in Bangladesh, not the other way round, due mainly to the better salary offers there. The migration of the poor from Bangladesh to India is now an old story. Good leadership ensured Bangladesh’s economic growth and better human development indices in several sectors, when compared to India.
