Nava Thakuria
Delhi : After meticulous preparations for a free & fair election, which turned into reality with a festive electoral exercise, Bangladesh went to polls on 12 February, where the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP, led by Tarique Rahman) established a landslide victory. One of the oldest political parties in the south Asian nation, the BNP won over 200 constituencies in the 300-member national parliament (Jatiya Sansad), where Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh secured around 70 seats. The country’s pioneer political party Awami League was out of the race as its activities were banned by the interim government in Dhaka, as its chairperson and former premier Sheikh Hasina fled to India on 5 August 2024. The Muslim majority country of 170 million people was ruled by Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus since 8 August soon after Hasina’s sudden departure.
The 13th Jatiya Sansad polls, conducted amid tight security and improved technological monitoring, witnessed the voters’ turnout around 60% (out of 127 million electorates). The polling was largely peaceful and the registered voters exercised their franchise, which was otherwise unusual in Bangladesh as it continued witnessing controversial polls with very lower voter turnout. Nearly 2000 candidates belonging to 51 political parties as well as independent contestants were in the fray. For the first time in 35 years no one was killed in election-related violence on the polling day, even though seven people died around polling centers across the country because of natural causes. One polling officer collapsed while on duty in Brahmanbaria, a former BNP leader in Khulna and five voters died due to illness in Dhaka, Chittagong, Gaibandha, Kishoreganj and Manikganj.
Unaware of Bangladesh till the polling is over, many Indian news outlets have woken up to appreciate the Bangladeshi voters for their wise decision to prefer the relatively secular BNP than the Islamist hardliner Jamaat candidates.
Amazingly the National Citizen Party (NCP, formed by the youths who took the lead in the anti-Hasina movement during July-August 2024 mass uprising) had allied with the Jamaat for the polls and got limited to single digit outcome. Even the union government in New Delhi maintained a cordial relation with the seemingly ‘liberal and democratic’ party in Bangladesh. Even when Tarique Rahman’s mother and former prime minister Khaleda Zia was suffering from serious illness, Prime Minister Narendra Modi publicly expressed his concern and also offered necessary support. The BNP was quick to respond with sincere gratitude.
When Begum Zia passed away, New Delhi smartly sent foreign minister S Jaishankar to attend her funeral in Dhaka. During his brief visit Jaishankar also met the bereaved family and handed over Tarique Rahman a personal condolence letter from PM Modi. Later Modi became the first global leader to congratulate him for the convincing electoral victory and expressed interest to work with Dhaka to strengthen multifaceted relations between the two neighbouring countries. On the ground, Tarique Rahman also maintained a sober version against New Delhi and did not instigate any kinds of anti-India hate messages.
Critics argue that the election in Bangladesh was not inclusive as it prevented the participation of Awami League, a major political player before its independence in 1971, in the polls. But the last three general elections held in 2014, 2018, 2024 witnessed the boycotting of BNP leaders and also alleged rigging by Awami League workers, where the voter’s turnout was too low. Once an electoral ally to the BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh has now emerged as the prime opposition party in the Parliament, thus paving the way for Islamist forces to enter the mainstream political space.
Bangladesh Election Commission and the interim government led by Prof Yunus thanked the voters in particular and people in general for a peaceful election and referendum in a festive environment. Often criticized for mishandling many Bangladesh issues by pro-Hasina activists and sympathizers, Prof Yunus stated that spontaneous participation of voters, responsible conduct of political parties, restraint shown by candidates and professionalism of all institutions involved in the electoral process collectively demonstrated that the commitment to democracy in Bangladesh remains unwavering. As expected, the ousted premier Hasina denounced the election as a farce. She also demanded the resignation of Yunus-administration and to conduct a fresh polling in a free, fair and inclusive manner.
The Hindu majority India takes concern over the sharp demographic decline of religious minorities in the Muslim dominated country where the Sanatani Hindus constituted around 23 percent of the population in 1947. Now it has diminished to less than 8 % as relentless violence, forced conversions and other religious repercussions continue irrespective of the faces of rulers in Dhaka. Even during Hasina’s second tenure as the premier (2009 to 2024) could not prevent atrocities on Hindu families and their places of worship compelling many of them to gradually leave their country of birth. However, Hasina has successfully misled the larger Hindu population of India with a victim card, whereas the Hindus in Bangladesh were actual victims !
Modi’s congratulatory telephone call to the PM-in-waiting changed the perception about Bangladesh in India and it influenced the media fraternity of the largest democracy on the globe as well. Now for some time, it’s the moment for Tarique Rahman, who has a tremendous challenge to lead a country with full of anti-Hindu sentiments, and seemingly subdued coverage to Hasina, who has taken a temporary shelter in India and meanwhile faced a death sentence in her home country and subsequent extradition pressure, but continued making political statements overriding the essence of Modi’s goodwill gesture to the neighboring country’s government head in waiting. Is she a brave lady or reckless unwanted guest for Bharat, only time will define!