INTRODUCTION

Bangladesh is considered a democracy in South Asia with a one-party system. The era following the independence of Bangladesh marks the period of power revolving around one party dominating the policymaking, government and legislature for an extended period marked by violent power transfer. Therefore, the article intends to focus on the critical highlights of Bangladesh’s politics by analysing its turbulent political history from the conclusion of colonial rule to the current period.

EAST PAKISTAN: INITIAL YEARS

During partition, the boundary delimitation of East Bengal was based on religion. The region started its journey in the post-colonial period as a part of Pakistan, with a constituent assembly responsible for making the constitution. The central government based in West Pakistan did not reflect the local population. The central leadership urged the adoption of a common language, Urdu, for use in the armed forces and general administration. Khwaja Nazimuddin became the first Chief Minister of East Bengal. From 1948 onwards, the Bengali population started voicing resentment over the non-acceptance of Bengali as the official language in the bureaucracy dominated by the central government based in Karachi.  After the death of Pakistan’s Governor-General Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Nazimuddin became the Prime Minister of Pakistan, installing Ghulam Mohammad, a Punjabi, as the governor-general in the central government. Ghulam Mohammad consolidated his power by dismissing Nazimuddin and the constituent assembly.  

In the elections of 1954, the majority of seats were won by the United Front, a coalition of parties led by Fazl ul-Haq and his Tenants Party. The period saw the comeback of Huseyn Suhrawardy, the former premier of United Bengal with a new party, the Awami League. Under Major General Iskander Mirza, East Bengal was renamed as  East Pakistan as he assumed the office formerly held by Ghulam Mohammad. The constitution by the newly elected constituent assembly in 1956 gave the federal government wide-ranging powers. Suhrawardy was obliged to be appointed as the Prime Minister of Pakistan by the-then President but left the office in 1957.

PAKISTAN'S POLITICAL INSTABILITY AND BANGLADESH'S BIRTH

The discontent over the implementation of Urdu found a voice under Mujibur Rahman. Being  a founding member of the Awami League in 1949, Mujibur Rahman had been a front-runner since the death of Suhrawardy in 1963. Following the war in 1965 between India and Pakistan, Mujib sent his demands for East Pakistan’s autonomy under a six-pointer demand proposal. In December 1970, Yahya Khan, the President and commander-in-chief of the armed forces of Pakistan ordered elections, and Awami League won 167 out of 169 seats in East Pakistan’s National Assembly. In comparison, the Pakistan People’s Party, led by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, won 81 out of 144 seats in East Pakistan. Yahya Khan continued to negotiate with Mujib throughout March 1971 as the government in West Pakistan continued to deploy a heavy number of troops across East Pakistan. 

On March 25, the army launched massive attacks and destruction, with students being the prime target as opposition to the East Pakistani administration exacerbated over the imposition of Urdu. With the arrest of Mujibur Rahman, the Awami League leaders set up a government-in-exile in Calcutta and declared East Pakistan as Bangladesh. Internal resistance continued by the Bengali units of the Pakistan Army, with Major Zia Ur-Rahman holding out Chittagong which was ultimately lost to the Pakistan Army from the West. He retreated to the border and organised guerrillas. The brutality resulted in the migration of millions of Bengali refugees into India. With India’s intervention, the Indian Army liberated Bangladesh as Pakistani defence forces surrendered on December 16, 1971. Mujib was released from prison and returned to the new country’s capital, 

Dhaka, receiving a hero’s welcome.  With the independence of Bangladesh, Mujib assumed office as the first prime minister of the new parliamentary government of Bangladesh, with Abu Sayeef Choudhury as the President. However, conflicts continued with the presence of the infamous Razakars, who supported the cause for Pakistan. The Bengali Razakar force was called Al-Badr, and the Urdu-speaking forces were called Al-Shams. With the rise of Bangladeshi retribution on pro-Pakistani elements, many Urdu speakers were displaced and fled to the areas where they had the majority for self-preservation. Thousands of the Urdu speakers lived in refugee camps and awaiting asylum in Pakistan. The constitution in 1973 guaranteed the creation of a secular, democratic state. The country confronted numerous developmental challenges. The state inherited the businesses and industries with persistent economic problems, inflation and scarcity, followed by great famines in 1974 with a massive death toll.  

On August 15, 1975, Mujib was killed with the majority of his family, with Major General Zia Ur-Rahman assuming power. Major General Zia Ur-Rahman positioned himself with an anti-India stand favouring pro-Pakistan elements, becoming President in 1977. Zia was accused of corruption and was assassinated in Chittagong on May 30, 1981, by army officers. Following the assassination in 1981, Abdus Sattar became the president in a nationwide election held in 1981, but the power resided with Lieutenant General Hussein Mohammad Ershad and the National Security Council of Bangladesh. In March 1982, Ershad removed civilian-backed Sattar as the chief martial law administrator. He assumed the office of President in 1983 and formed his own political party, the National Party (Jatiya Party), to validate his position. The elections of 1986 were boycotted by opposition parties, with the National Party winning a majority of the seats in the legislature.  Ershad withdrew the martial law, and the principal opposition party, the Awami League led by Sheikh Hasina Wazed and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led by Khaleda Zia, wife of the assassinated president, boycotted the election. 

The country was demarcated by an ailing economy, which put pressure on General Ershad. In December 1990, violent anti-government demonstrations forced Ershad to step down, making Chief Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed be chosen by the opposition parties with elections in 1991. The BNP triumphed in the election, with Khaleda Zia becoming the Prime Minister. Her tenure was marked by strikes by the then opposition, the Awami League and other opposition parties and by a cyclone in 1991 that killed 140,000 people. In February 1996, general elections were held, and the BNP won an overwhelming victory as opposition parties boycotted the polls. Amid opposition and public pressure, Khaleda Zia resigned in six weeks in favour of a caretaker government. In the following elections, Hasina became the Prime Minister. The opposition, with anti-government demonstrations, boycotted the parliament sessions. The government improved its relations with India by signing a treaty on the Ganges River.

POLITICS FROM 2021 TO 2024

In 2001, Khaleda Zia returned to power, capturing two-thirds of the seats in the legislature. She again stepped down in 2006 by transferring power to a caretaker government. The tensions between the two political parties made the interim head of government resign to constitute a new caretaker administration only to witness election cancellation. The administration targeted the leaders of two parties, 

Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia by filing corruption and extortion charges in 2007. In 2008, the party chiefs were released to contest elections, with the Awami League prevailing in the elections held from late December 2008 to January 2009. A tribunal was hosted in 2010 to try the war crimes committed in the 1971 War of Independence targeting the Jamaat-e-Islami party members with supporters demonstrating against the targeting, and the court barred the party from contesting elections in 2013. In January 2014, the general elections remained a significant setback with the rise in corruption and power abuses to suppress the opposition. The demands included the creation of a caretaker government during the elections, which was ignored. The BNP and other opposition parties returned to their campaign trail in 2018 with demands being rejected by the government and the imprisonment of Khaleda Zia, making it impossible for her to run for elections. 

The elections resulted in the victory of the Awami League, with the BNP winning a few seats. With the advent of the pandemic,  the country witnessed inflation in goods and services. The government was accused of extra-judicial killings, and accusations were lodged against the country’s elite Rapid Action Battalion, with international sanctions targeting its present and former members. The elections of 2024 were boycotted by the opposition, followed by the rise of student movements protesting against the introduction of quotas for public services reserved for the descendants of people who fought in the 1971 War of Independence. The protests called for Hasina’s resignation and resulted in the death of at least 100 people. The situation deteriorated in August 2024, with Hasina ending her rule by resigning and escaping Bangladesh as the protestors stormed her official residence.

STRATEGIC IMPLICATIONS FOR INDIA

The revival of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaar-e-Islami (JI) with protests across the country and their potential assumption of power in the region will result in possibilities of closer ties with Pakistan and India. The parties have traditionally called the infamous ‘India Out’ campaigns that were supported by the leadership of opposition parties. With the fall of Hasina, the attacks against religious minorities are likely to increase with rising concerns for Delhi’s sensitives.

CONCLUSION

Bangladesh’s political situation over the years has demonstrated the tradition of violence and electoral boycotts marked by increased political and economic turmoil. In most cases, the transfer of power and the occasional periods of free and fair elections have been marked by extreme internal disturbances involving direct attacks on the government.  The transfer of power resulted in the domination of a specific political party and its factions, with clear disparities in the rule of law and policy discontinuity from one administration to another.

BY TEAM GEOSTRATA