Now, at any moment, a mob can be summoned and the state paralyzed. The potential that emerged after Hasina’s fall is now impossible. This country will become a playground for fallen Indians and Chinese.
If 1971 is to remain meaningful, it cannot be owned. It must be debated, carried with care, and opened to complexity. Otherwise, the Liberation War risks becoming either a party banner or a demolition tool. In both cases, the injury is the same: a past turned into a weapon rather than a shared ground on which a plural future might be negotiated.
Do not read these polls as a scoreboard. Read them as a map of the public's fears, confusion, and silent hopes. The party that understands what the polls are not saying -- the doubts of the undecided, the nuances in the responses on reform, expectations on law and order, corruption, employment will be the one that truly wins the mandate of Bangladesh.
Prof Yunus had pledged to hold elections before Ramadan in 2026 and looks to have delivered. There is many a slip twixt cup and lip, but we are on course for our free, fair and festive elections on February 12.
A functional India-Bangladesh relationship -- built on mutual respect and interests -- is an economic and geo-strategic imperative. Otherwise, India’s fears of “strategic encirclement” risks becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The truth is: the only path by which Islamists can succeed is exactly the path the League had chased them down. But will it be enough now that the League is history? Only time and the wisdom -- or lack thereof -- of the other political parties will tell.
It is all very well to chart out a pathway to reform, but it is in the implementation that the wheels hit the road, and it is here that the process lacks clarity and cohesion.
Not the overthrow of dictators, but the revolution of humility, compassion, and forgiveness. A lesson Bangladesh has never practiced, but one leader showed us how it is done.
At the very least, the people of Bangladesh should be able to keep the criminal, the corrupt, and the compromised from running in the upcoming elections
Everything you wanted to know about the PEPS survey. A closer reading of the survey's findings unearths a treasure trove of information for the political parties and the general public. Too many commentators have only looked at the surface, hence they are missing the true insights.
Bangladesh’s interim government under Muhammad Yunus is driving bold reforms and prosecuting Sheikh Hasina in exile, but rising violence and political rifts threaten stability. The 2026 election will decide whether this upheaval delivers real democratic change or deeper turmoil.
The greatest danger of our age is not simply that authority will be rejected, but that authority itself will lose all legitimacy, leaving nothing in its place but the law of the jungle
His prolonged stay in the UK is now the defining issue for the country’s opposition politics. His potential return could reshape public perception, reinvigorate the BNP, and alter the national political equilibrium.
The BNP has an opportunity now to define itself and set the direction of the country for years to come. But it must present itself as the party of the ordinary Bangladeshi, and especially those from 35-60 who will shape the country's immediate future.
And what lesson is there for Bangladesh about the culture of political violence and trying to find common ground instead of using bullets and brickbats to resolve our differences?
Whoever sits in power today must imagine themselves out of power tomorrow. If they cannot accept that thought, then their governance is not democracy but monarchy in disguise.
