DHAKA, July 15: Bangladesh, a country that was on the brink of regaining democracy after its former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted in a student-led uprising, has been grappling with growing political uncertainty, religious polarization, and a challenging law-and-order situation. The student protesters who led the uprising formed a new political party, promising to break the influence of two major dynastic political parties: the Bangladesh Nationalists Party (BNP) and Hasina’s Awami League. However, the party’s opponents have accused it of being close to the Yunus-led administration and creating chaos for political mileage by using state institutions.
The country’s largest Islamist party, the Jamaat-e-Islami, has returned to politics more than a decade after being suppressed by Hasina’s government. Aligned with the student-led party, it is trying to fill the vacuum left by the Awami League, which was banned in May. The strength of Jamaat-e-Islami, which opposed Bangladesh’s independence from Pakistan in 1971, is unknown. Both BNP and the Jamaat-e-Islami party are now at loggerheads over establishing supremacy within the administration, judiciary, and even university campuses.
Yunus has delayed an election because he wants reforms, including changes to the constitution, elections, the judiciary, and police. Discussions with political parties, except Hasina’s Awami League, are ongoing. Some of the reforms include putting a limit on how many times a person can become the prime minister, introducing a two-tier parliament, and appointment of a chief justice. There appears to be little consensus over some basic reforms, and the Jamaat-e-Islami also wants to give the interim government more time to complete reforms before heading into polls.
Human rights in Bangladesh have remained a serious concern under Yunus, with minority groups, especially Hindus, accusing his administration of failing to protect them adequately. The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council says minority Hindus and others have been targeted in hundreds of attacks over the last year. The Yunus-led administration denies these allegations.
Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, says while the interim government has stopped enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions that had occurred under the Hasina government, there has been little progress on lasting security sector reforms or to deliver on the pledge to create robust, independent institutions. Islamist factions, some of whom have proposed changes to women’s rights and demanded the introduction of Sharia law, are vying for power and are planning to build alliances with bigger parties like the BNP or the Jamaat-e-Islami.
Dhaka must now reframe its relations with an unconventional US administration that will largely view Bangladesh through a commercial lens. (AP)
