New Delhi: Tension is rising in Bangladesh’s political landscape as the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) expresses growing concern over the emergence of a new political force.
Likely to be formed by students who spearheaded the Anti-Discrimination Students’ Movement during the summer of 2024 that led to the overthrow of the Awami League government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, this group is now eyeing a larger role in the country’s parliamentary elections. The BNP, long a major player in the nation’s politics, is wary of the potential challenge posed by this new faction, fearing that it could siphon away critical support and alter the dynamics ahead of a fresh high-stakes parliamentary elections.
The Jatiya Nagorik Committee, a Bangladeshi political platform formed in the aftermath of the July 2024 Revolution with a view to building consensus on rebuilding Bangladesh as an inclusive democracy following the ouster of Hasina, said earlier this week that it and the Anti-Discrimination Students’ Movement will announce a moderate political party by next February.
“The political party that is coming in the next month is going to emerge under the initiative of the Jatiya Nagorik Committee and the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement,” Jatiya Nagorik Committee member secretary Akhtar Hossain said while interacting with journalists during a public meeting at Kaunia Bazar in Rangpur on Thursday. “We hope to see that political party by February.”
Hossain also stated that the Awami League would not be allowed to return to politics “until the trial of the heinous genocide committed by killer Hasina and her associates in Bangladesh”.
“The people of Bangladesh will deploy all their strength against those who are trying to bring them to the polls,” he said. “If we see any activities of fallen fascists in Bangladesh, whether on Facebook or elsewhere, we will ask the enforcers to take stern action against them.”
Since the parliamentary elections in January 2024, Bangladesh has been embroiled in significant political turmoil, marked by widespread protests, allegations of electoral fraud, and growing unrest. Many opposition parties, including the BNP that boycotted the polls, accused the ruling Awami League of using state machinery to secure an unfair victory.
The political crisis also attracted the attention of international actors, especially Western governments and organisations that have expressed concerns over the integrity of the 2024 elections. The US and the European Union had criticised the lack of transparency and the suppression of opposition forces, while calling for the restoration of democratic norms.
After Hasina’s election as Prime Minister for a fourth time in a row in January last year, her popularity ratings fell because of what people saw as her autocratic style of functioning. An anti-job quota movement started by students in Bangladesh in June blew up into a full-fledged revolution involving Islamist fundamental elements against Hasina’s Awami League government forcing her to flee to India on August 5.
The next day, Bangladesh President Mohammad Shahabuddin dissolved the country’s parliament and on August 8 installed an interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus as Chief Adviser.
Now, even as he announced the likely formation of a new political party by February, Jatiyo Nagorik Committee’s Hossain has also subtly targeted the BNP ahead of new parliamentary elections saying that the main opposition party did not participate in the elections of 2014, 2018 or 2024 because of which elections have been proven to be one-sided affairs. He said that the new party would emerge from a moderate political practice in Bangladesh.
“We will not tolerate the long-standing Islamophobia in Bangladesh,” he stated. “Similarly, we will not tolerate Hindu extremism or Muslim extremism.”
In the wake of this, Tarique Rahman, son of BNP leader and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, said that though the student leaders are welcome to form a new political party, it would disappoint the people if it is seen to enjoy the state and current administration’s support.
“If any of these young people, deprived of democratic and political rights, form a new political party to establish the rights of the people, BNP certainly welcomes the initiative,” the Daily Messenger quoted Rahman as saying during a discussion on Saturday via virtual mode from London. “But if anyone seeks help from the state and administrative support to form a political party, it will disappoint the people.”
He was quoted as saying that if the behaviour, comments, or statements of those intending to form a new party are antagonistic and vindictive towards other political parties, that would also be undesirable to the people.
“The student leaders of the Anti-Discrimination Movement feel that they are in the driving seat,” Saifur Rahman Tapan, a Dhaka-based journalist, told ETV Bharat over the phone. “They are trying hard to stop the Awami League from participating in fresh parliamentary elections just to gain political mileage.”
Rahman explained that the electorate in Bangladesh is divided into two sections. One is centered round the 1971 Liberation War led solely by the Awami League while the other section comprises anti-Awami League voters.
“However, the anti-Awami League faction is divided into two camps – the BNP and the Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI),” he said. “Now the student leaders are trying to get space in the anti-Awami League faction. There is a conflict between the BNP, the JeI and the student leaders. At the same time, the student leaders are getting allied with the JeI to snatch voters from the BNP.”
Rahman said that the BNP would have liked the Awami League to participate if fresh parliamentary elections are held. That way, they would have felt safe anticipating anti-Awami League votes.
“Now, if the JeI and the student leaders keep the Awami League out of the fray, the BNP’s relevance among the voters will come down,” he said. “That is why we are watching the conflict between the BNP and the JeI-student leaders’ combine. Interestingly, both the BNP and its competitors are accusing each other of patronising the Awami League.”
In a related development, Election Commissioner Brig. Gen. (Retd.) Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah said that whether the Awami League can participate in the elections will depend on judicial processes as well as political wisdom and consensus.
“The overall political and judicial processes concerning the Awami League’s participation in elections will be addressed when the registered parties are included in the schedule,” the Dhaka Tribune quoted Sanaullah as telling reporters on Sunday. “It is not appropriate to comment in advance as this requires judicial procedures and political consensus.”
Asked whether the Awami League would actually participate if the elections are held, Rahman said that it is a million-dollar question. “The Awami League is at a great disadvantage as the party’s structure is almost abolished,” he said. “They will have to restructure the party and this will require a lot of time.”
Meanwhile, another Election Commissioner, Abdur Rahmanel Masud, said earlier this week that the next general elections in Bangladesh will be held either in December this year or January next year. Rahman, though, dismissed this saying that the poll panel is just playing to the gallery. “The interim government is controlled by the students who want to delay the elections,” Rahman said.
According to another report in the Dhaka Tribune on Sunday, the BNP and several other political parties have been demanding that the election be held by August, following necessary reforms.
“They argue that delaying the election could exacerbate the economic crisis, lead to rising prices, and worsen law and order issues,” the report stated. “Additionally, many of the reform programmes initiated by the interim government are long-term and require parliamentary approval.”
According to an Indian expert on the politics and economy of Bangladesh who spoke to ETV Bharat on the condition of anonymity, the leaders of the students’ movement were actually trained in madrassas in Bangladesh run by the pan-Islamist and fundamentalist organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir.
“Their only agenda is to win the elections and run the country,” the expert said. “Yunus is with them. That is why he keeps saying that he is getting old and whatever these students want should be done quickly and he can get away. These students want to create an Islamic Republic of Bangladesh.”
