Bangladesh is in sore need of legitimate and constitutionally-sanctioned leadership today. Just how far the country has slipped in its position vis-à-vis the rest of the world has been made manifest in the months since the Awami League government headed by long-time Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was removed from power.
In these many months, an unelected regime, styled as an interim government, has been in place, though the degree to which it has been able to exercise its authority has been a huge question.
The country at this point requires a general election that will enable democratic politics to return to centre stage. Of course, this is not the first time that political leadership has been forced off the stage or into silence.
The period following the assassinations in August-November 1975 of Bangladesh’s founding father, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and his four colleagues instrumental in steering the country to liberation in 1971, was the earliest instance of a well-planned undermining of constitutional politics.
Add to that the two periods of martial law, which further vitiated the political atmosphere in the country. The difference, though, between those earlier periods of unconstitutional rule and the one under Muhammad Yunus today is not to be missed.
While all earlier periods of unconstitutional or extra-constitutional rule did nothing that would undercut Bangladesh’s historical legacy in relation to its War of Liberation in 1971, the current regime has presided over a systematic destruction of that legacy in these past eight months.
It is not merely historical structures that have been destroyed or demolished. Mob violence has been perpetrated on the graves of Sufis and even of politicians who were vocal against communalism in their lifetime. Vigilantes have been having a field day.
The manner in which Bangladesh has been sliding is to be observed in the contrition expressed by many of the young who took part in the anti-Hasina movement last year. Young women are flabbergasted that what they called a revolution has slipped out of their hands.
The worry is understandable, given the religious fanaticism which has been busy compelling women to observe a dress code according to their specifications.
Young women have come under assault by elements who have made known their intention to turn Bangladesh into a theocracy.
Indeed, the rise of the Jamaat-e-Islami, the Hizbut Tahrir and a number of other such entities has fuelled the rise of religious extremism in the country.
The consequences have been worrisome. The country’s secular forces are in retreat, while its rich secular cultural heritage spanning generations has been under grievous assault.
The nation’s President, duly elected by a Parliament which now stands dissolved, has been rendered a virtual prisoner at Bangabhaban, the presidential residence. All functionaries of the Sheikh Hasina government are either in hiding or have made their way out of the country.
In effect, a political vacuum defines the national landscape in Bangladesh today. This is why it is now important for the nation’s political forces to work out a clear and well-laid strategy to have the country transition to democracy and parliamentary politics at the earliest.
For its part, the interim Yunus regime appears to be in little hurry to call elections anytime soon. The Chief Advisor has now made it known that elections will take place sometime between the end of this year and the middle of the next.
The move has not made politicians, especially in the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), happy. And when one considers statements by the sycophantic followers of the current regime to the effect that Yunus should be in power for five years, it is easy to see why the political classes are rattled.
The requirement today is for politics to be reclaimed and reorganised by the political parties that matter in Bangladesh. Obviously, the BNP cannot go it alone and will, in all probability, require the support and cooperation of the Awami League in initiating a campaign to force the interim regime to announce a formal date for elections rather than wait till June 2026 for the vote to take place.
Again, for the BNP and other recognised political parties, it will be essential to voice the demand that the repression which has been perpetrated on the Awami League needs to stop and the party must not be hindered in its moves to reappear in public.
The reality in Bangladesh since the late 1970s has been that the Awami League and the BNP matter on the national stage. In recent times, the Jatiyo Party of the late military ruler General Ershad has also been playing a role in the promotion of democratic values in the country.
No effort at reforms or, for that matter, any attempted change can afford to ignore the relevance of these parties.
The Awami League, the BNP, and the JP remain the country’s mainstream political organisations. They represent Bangladesh’s liberal ethos and therefore are well placed to be a unified bulwark against the ongoing destruction of politics and history in the country.
Though both the BNP and the JP took shape courtesy of military regimes in the past, in these four decades or so, they have convincingly identified themselves with the cause of democracy. That gives hope to Bangladesh’s citizens in these parlous times.
The clear and present danger for Bangladesh is the so far uninhibited rise of forces militating against the foundational principles of the country. The danger can be tackled through the AL, the BNP and the JP coming together to shape a concrete and credible consensus on the core issues the country faces today.
In the first place, the senior leadership of the three parties need to engage in conversation with one another in order to focus on and respond to everything that has been going wrong since August 2024.
In the second, the three parties must work out the modalities on the basis of which they will take part in the elections, essentially through calling perhaps for a new administration to replace the current interim regime before the vote is arranged.
In the third, they will need to formulate a consensus on the role of Parliament, in particular their policies on upholding national history in its undiluted form, on a unified foreign policy that will speak of national interests abroad, on firm action against elements intent on disrupting law and order as also against those arrayed against the secular basis of the country.
For constitutional rule and democracy to be restored in Bangladesh, there can be no alternative to cooperation by the Awami League, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the Jatiyo Party in reinventing and restoring political pluralism.
The electoral exercise will revolve around these parties and after that will come the tough job of restoring Bangladesh to its original pedestal.
Together, these parties will be expected to undertake a thorough reconstruction of the social and political landscape damaged since last August.
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The wounds inflicted on Bangladesh have been unimaginable and therefore shocking in the extreme. Those who have been involved — and their patrons — in the carnage since August last year, in unleashing anarchy, in inciting mob violence, in suppressing the media must be brought to justice once an elected Parliament and a constitutionally empowered government take charge.
To repeat: Bangladesh needs strong, purposeful political leadership in order for its self-esteem to be restored, for constitutional rule to be reintroduced and deepened.
