[VIDEOS] Bangladesh army chief confirms PM Hasina’s resignation [Update at Post#189]

[Devadwal]

So Arakan Army has penetrated ten kilometers into Bangladesh !!!

https://www.bbc.com/bengali/articles/clygndjrxd3o

 

[Bhaijaan]

Post in thread ''Avoid rhetoric and protect minorities first' - PM Modi to Bangladesh Leader Muhammad Yunus after Northeast remark'

May 25, 2025

Bangladesh cancels $21M defence deal with India amid trade disputes

Bangladesh has cancelled a $21 million defence contract with India’s state-owned shipbuilder, Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd (GRSE). The contract was for an advanced ocean-going tug for the Bangladesh Navy. GRSE confirmed the cancellation after talks with the Bangladesh government. The cancellation marks a setback in defence cooperation between the two countries.

The deal was awarded in July 2024 and was seen as a key part of India-Bangladesh military ties. Bangladesh did not give an official reason...

• BouncerGuy

• 

yesp...LOL

And not a single word on this by any indian guy here... trying to hide it..

21 million USD maybe a lot of money for Pakistan which is in the verge of begging for survival since a decade but in Bharat that’s like loose change a shopkeeper carries in major cities.

That same company is already in talks with Indian agencies for a contract 100X the value.

 

[BouncerGuy]

21 million USD maybe a lot of money for Pakistan which is in the verge of begging for survival since a decade but in Bharat that’s like loose change a shopkeeper carries in major cities.

That same company is already in talks with Indian agencies for a contract 100X the value.

It is not about money...it is about reputation...

 

[Bhaijaan]

It is not about money...it is about reputation...

Reputation is all that we earned in decades.

It’s not earned by begging or selling the country to US, China.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Reputation is all that we earned in decades.

It’s not earned by begging or selling the country to US, China.

Yeah, world saw the reputations so they cancelled the defense deal... CHILL BRO.

Be brave.

 

[Bhaijaan]

Yeah, world saw the reputations so they cancelled the defense deal... CHILL BRO.

Be brave.

A 21 million dollars deal lol

Again, we dont blink an eye for that kind of money. Bangladesh owes billions of dollars to us already. They have bad cash flow. We don't need this business anyway. You don't become world's 4th largest economy by entertaining beggars.

 

[BouncerGuy]

A 21 million dollars deal lol

Again, we dont blink an eye for that kind of money. Bangladesh owes billions of dollars to us already. They have bad cash flow. We don't need this business anyway. You don't become world's 4th largest economy by entertaining beggars.

TALKING ABOUT MONEY AGAIN AND AGAIN shows that you care about money more than reputations... good luck.

 

[sweep_shot]

TALKING ABOUT MONEY AGAIN AND AGAIN shows that you care about money more than reputations... good luck.

They have to bring up money everywhere. It is quite stupid.

Chinese are more richer than the Indians but Chinese people don't talk about money like this. This is an Indian speciality.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Bangladesh orders fugitive ex-leader Hasina to return to face trial

Bangladesh’s war crimes court ordered fugitive ex-leader Sheikh Hasina on Monday to return to face trial on charges amounting to crimes against humanity.

Hasina, 77, fled Dhaka by helicopter to India in August 2024 at the culmination of a student-led mass uprising. She has defied an extradition order to return to Bangladesh.

Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024 when Hasina’s government launched a crackdown in a failed bid to cling to power, according to the United Nations.

Hasina and former senior figures connected to her ousted government and her now-banned party, the Awami League, are being prosecuted in Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT).

Prosecutors have filed five charges against Hasina, including abetment, incitement, complicity, facilitation, conspiracy and failure to prevent mass murder — charges that amount to crimes against humanity under Bangladeshi law.

“The court directed the prosecution team to issue a notice as soon as possible summoning them to appear before the court,” chief prosecutor Muhammad Tajul Islam said on Monday.

The trial will resume on June 24 without her if she fails to return.

The prosecution argues that Hasina ordered security forces, through directives from the interior ministry and police, to crush the protests. Hasina is on trial with two other officials.

One of them, former interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, who faces similar charges, is also a fugitive.

The second, ex-police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun, is in custody and was in court on Monday.

The prosecution of senior figures from Hasina’s government is a key demand of several of the political parties now jostling for power.

The interim government has said it will hold elections in April 2026, although some parties are pushing for an earlier vote.

Bangladesh orders fugitive ex-leader Hasina to return to face trial

Trial to resume on June 24 without her if she fails to return.

www.dawn.com

 

[sweep_shot]

Bangladesh orders fugitive ex-leader Hasina to return to face trial

Bangladesh’s war crimes court ordered fugitive ex-leader Sheikh Hasina on Monday to return to face trial on charges amounting to crimes against humanity.

Hasina, 77, fled Dhaka by helicopter to India in August 2024 at the culmination of a student-led mass uprising. She has defied an extradition order to return to Bangladesh.

Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024 when Hasina’s government launched a crackdown in a failed bid to cling to power, according to the United Nations.

Hasina and former senior figures connected to her ousted government and her now-banned party, the Awami League, are being prosecuted in Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT).

Prosecutors have filed five charges against Hasina, including abetment, incitement, complicity, facilitation, conspiracy and failure to prevent mass murder — charges that amount to crimes against humanity under Bangladeshi law.

“The court directed the prosecution team to issue a notice as soon as possible summoning them to appear before the court,” chief prosecutor Muhammad Tajul Islam said on Monday.

The trial will resume on June 24 without her if she fails to return.

The prosecution argues that Hasina ordered security forces, through directives from the interior ministry and police, to crush the protests. Hasina is on trial with two other officials.

One of them, former interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, who faces similar charges, is also a fugitive.

The second, ex-police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun, is in custody and was in court on Monday.

The prosecution of senior figures from Hasina’s government is a key demand of several of the political parties now jostling for power.

The interim government has said it will hold elections in April 2026, although some parties are pushing for an earlier vote.

Bangladesh orders fugitive ex-leader Hasina to return to face trial

Trial to resume on June 24 without her if she fails to return.

www.dawn.com

If India have any self-respect, they should return Hasina ASAP.

They are giving shelter to an evil fugitive. Shameful.

 

[Ball Blazer]

Bangladesh court sentences Sheikh Hasina to 6 months in jail in contempt case​

Bangladesh's deposed prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, has been sentenced to six months in jail in connection with a contempt of court case by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), The Dhaka Tribune newspaper reported.

The verdict against Hasina was issued by a three-member bench of the International Crimes Tribunal-1, headed by Chairman Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder. The tribunal also sentenced Shakil Akand Bulbul of Gobindaganj in Gaibandha to two months in prison.

This is the first time that the ousted Awami League leader has been sentenced in a case since she left office last year and fled the country. Hasina's nearly 16-year Awami League regime was toppled by a student-led protest on August 5, forcing her to flee and take refuge in India. While Hasina is in India, her ministers and several party leaders are behind bars or on the run at home and abroad since the fall of her government.

The ruling comes days after Bangladesh's crime tribunal removed the state-appointed counsel for Sheikh Hasina after a controversy erupted over his previous demand for her execution. The counsel was removed after his Facebook post from last year resurfaced, leading to his removal. Aminul Gani Titu, her former counsel, acknowledged the execution demand made by him; however, he claimed that had he been allowed to carry on his task, he would have done it professionally. Hasina was accused of mass killings during July-August 2024 and enforced disappearances.

She, along with two other officials, was previously charged with 'crimes against humanity' by Bangladeshi prosecutors for their alleged roles during the mass protests in July 2024.

Source: https://www.business-standard.com/w...nce-awami-league-protests-125070200613_1.html

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Ex-Bangladesh leader authorised deadly crackdown, leaked audio suggests

A deadly crackdown on student-led protests in Bangladesh last year was authorised by then prime minister Sheikh Hasina, according to audio of one of her phone calls verified by BBC Eye.

In the audio, which was leaked online in March, Hasina says she authorised her security forces to "use lethal weapons" against protesters and that "wherever they find [them], they will shoot".

Prosecutors in Bangladesh plan to use the recording as crucial evidence against Hasina, who is being tried in absentia at a special tribunal for crimes against humanity.

Up to 1,400 people died in last summer's unrest, according to UN investigators. Hasina, who fled to India, and her party reject all charges against her.

A spokesperson for her Awami League party denied the tape showed any "unlawful intention" of "disproportionate response".

The leaked audio of Hasina's conversation with an unidentified senior government official is the most significant evidence yet that she gave direct authorisation to shoot anti-government protesters, tens of thousands of whom had taken to the streets by last summer.

The protests began against civil service job quotas for relatives of those who fought in the 1971 war of independence and escalated into a mass movement that ousted Hasina, who had been in power for 15 years. It is the worst violence Bangladesh had seen since the 1971 war.

Some of the bloodiest scenes occurred on 5 August, the day Hasina fled by helicopter before crowds stormed her residence in Dhaka.

The BBC World Service investigation established previously unreported details about a police massacre of protesters in the capital - including a much higher death toll.

Sheikh Hasina authorised deadly Bangladesh crackdown, leaked audio suggests

Sheikh Hasina authorised lethal force against protesters, according to leaked audio verified by the BBC.

www.bbc.com

 

[sweep_shot]

Ex-Bangladesh leader authorised deadly crackdown, leaked audio suggests

A deadly crackdown on student-led protests in Bangladesh last year was authorised by then prime minister Sheikh Hasina, according to audio of one of her phone calls verified by BBC Eye.

In the audio, which was leaked online in March, Hasina says she authorised her security forces to "use lethal weapons" against protesters and that "wherever they find [them], they will shoot".

Prosecutors in Bangladesh plan to use the recording as crucial evidence against Hasina, who is being tried in absentia at a special tribunal for crimes against humanity.

Up to 1,400 people died in last summer's unrest, according to UN investigators. Hasina, who fled to India, and her party reject all charges against her.

A spokesperson for her Awami League party denied the tape showed any "unlawful intention" of "disproportionate response".

The leaked audio of Hasina's conversation with an unidentified senior government official is the most significant evidence yet that she gave direct authorisation to shoot anti-government protesters, tens of thousands of whom had taken to the streets by last summer.

The protests began against civil service job quotas for relatives of those who fought in the 1971 war of independence and escalated into a mass movement that ousted Hasina, who had been in power for 15 years. It is the worst violence Bangladesh had seen since the 1971 war.

Some of the bloodiest scenes occurred on 5 August, the day Hasina fled by helicopter before crowds stormed her residence in Dhaka.

The BBC World Service investigation established previously unreported details about a police massacre of protesters in the capital - including a much higher death toll.

Sheikh Hasina authorised deadly Bangladesh crackdown, leaked audio suggests

Sheikh Hasina authorised lethal force against protesters, according to leaked audio verified by the BBC.

www.bbc.com

Such an evil lady.

This is the type of evil RSS India is sheltering.

RSS India should return Hasina to Bangladesh so that she can be prosecuted.

 

[BouncerGuy]

RSS India should return Hasina to Bangladesh so that she can be prosecuted.

Why would they... They were supporting her during her regime, now they are protecting her because she was in their pockets for a long time.

 

[Ball Blazer]

Ousted Bangladesh PM Hasina's palace being converted into revolution museum

DHAKA: The former official residence of Bangladesh's ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina is being turned into a museum as a lasting reminder of her autocratic rule.

Photographs of jubilant flag-waving crowds clambering onto the rooftop of the Dhaka palace after Hasina fled by helicopter to India were a defining image of the culmination of student-led protests that toppled her government on August 5, 2024.

One year later, with the South Asian nation of around 170 million people still in political turmoil, the authorities hope the sprawling Ganabhaban palace offers a message to the future.


Graffiti daubed on the walls condemning her regime remains untouched.

"Freedom", one message reads. "We want justice."

Hasina's rule saw widespread human rights abuses, including the mass detention and extrajudicial killings of her political opponents. Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024 in her failed bid to cling to power, according to the United Nations.

The 77-year-old has defied court orders to attend her ongoing trial on charges amounting to crimes against humanity in Dhaka, accusations she denies.

"Dictator", another message reads, among scores being protected for posterity. "Killer Hasina".

Muhammad Yunus, the 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner who is leading the caretaker government until elections are held in early 2026, said the conversion to a museum would "preserve memories of her misrule and the people´s anger when they removed her from power".

Fascism symbol
Mosfiqur Rahman Johan, 27, a rights activist and documentary photographer, was one of the thousands who stormed the luxurious palace, when crowds danced in her bedroom, feasted on food from the kitchens, and swam in the lake Hasina used to fish in.

"It will visualise and symbolise the past trauma, the past suffering — and also the resistance," he said.

"Ganabhaban is a symbol of fascism, the symbol of an autocratic regime".

The complex was built by Hasina's father, the first leader of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and Hasina made it her official residence during her 15 years in power.

Tanzim Wahab, the curator of the under-construction museum, told AFP that exhibits would include artefacts of the protesters killed.

Their life stories will be told through films and photographs, while plaques will host the names of the people killed by the security forces during the longer period of Hasina's rule.

"The museum's deeper purpose is retrospective, looking back at the long years of misrule and oppression", said Wahab.

"That, I believe, is one of the most important aspects of this project."

Wahab said the museum would include animation and interactive installations, as well as documenting the tiny cells where Hasin's opponents were detained in suffocating conditions.

"We want young people [...] to use it as a platform for discussing democratic ideas, new thinking, and how to build a new Bangladesh," Wahab said.

Bolstering democratic institutions
That chimes with the promised bolstering of democratic institutions that interim leader Yunus wants to ensure before elections — efforts slowed as political parties jostle for power.

The challenges he faces are immense, warned Human Rights Watch ahead of the one-year anniversary of the revolution.

"The interim government appears stuck, juggling an unreformed security sector, sometimes violent religious hardliners, and political groups that seem more focused on extracting vengeance on Hasina's supporters than protecting Bangladeshis' rights," HRW said.

But while Hasina's palace is being preserved, protesters have torn down many other visible signs of her rule.

Statues of Hasina's father were toppled, and portraits of the duo torn and torched.

Protesters even used digger excavators to smash down the home of the late Sheikh Mujibur Rahman — which Hasina had turned into a museum to her father.

"When the dictatorship falls, its Makkah will go too," said Muhibullah Al Mashnun, who was among the crowds that tore down the house.

The 23-year-old student believes that removing such symbols was necessary for Bangladesh to move forward to a better future. "They were the statues of dictatorship," Mashnun said.

Source: Thenews.com.pk

 

[sweep_shot]

Ousted Bangladesh PM Hasina's palace being converted into revolution museum

DHAKA: The former official residence of Bangladesh's ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina is being turned into a museum as a lasting reminder of her autocratic rule.

Photographs of jubilant flag-waving crowds clambering onto the rooftop of the Dhaka palace after Hasina fled by helicopter to India were a defining image of the culmination of student-led protests that toppled her government on August 5, 2024.

One year later, with the South Asian nation of around 170 million people still in political turmoil, the authorities hope the sprawling Ganabhaban palace offers a message to the future.


Graffiti daubed on the walls condemning her regime remains untouched.

"Freedom", one message reads. "We want justice."

Hasina's rule saw widespread human rights abuses, including the mass detention and extrajudicial killings of her political opponents. Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024 in her failed bid to cling to power, according to the United Nations.

The 77-year-old has defied court orders to attend her ongoing trial on charges amounting to crimes against humanity in Dhaka, accusations she denies.

"Dictator", another message reads, among scores being protected for posterity. "Killer Hasina".

Muhammad Yunus, the 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner who is leading the caretaker government until elections are held in early 2026, said the conversion to a museum would "preserve memories of her misrule and the people´s anger when they removed her from power".

Fascism symbol
Mosfiqur Rahman Johan, 27, a rights activist and documentary photographer, was one of the thousands who stormed the luxurious palace, when crowds danced in her bedroom, feasted on food from the kitchens, and swam in the lake Hasina used to fish in.

"It will visualise and symbolise the past trauma, the past suffering — and also the resistance," he said.

"Ganabhaban is a symbol of fascism, the symbol of an autocratic regime".

The complex was built by Hasina's father, the first leader of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and Hasina made it her official residence during her 15 years in power.

Tanzim Wahab, the curator of the under-construction museum, told AFP that exhibits would include artefacts of the protesters killed.

Their life stories will be told through films and photographs, while plaques will host the names of the people killed by the security forces during the longer period of Hasina's rule.

"The museum's deeper purpose is retrospective, looking back at the long years of misrule and oppression", said Wahab.

"That, I believe, is one of the most important aspects of this project."

Wahab said the museum would include animation and interactive installations, as well as documenting the tiny cells where Hasin's opponents were detained in suffocating conditions.

"We want young people [...] to use it as a platform for discussing democratic ideas, new thinking, and how to build a new Bangladesh," Wahab said.

Bolstering democratic institutions
That chimes with the promised bolstering of democratic institutions that interim leader Yunus wants to ensure before elections — efforts slowed as political parties jostle for power.

The challenges he faces are immense, warned Human Rights Watch ahead of the one-year anniversary of the revolution.

"The interim government appears stuck, juggling an unreformed security sector, sometimes violent religious hardliners, and political groups that seem more focused on extracting vengeance on Hasina's supporters than protecting Bangladeshis' rights," HRW said.

But while Hasina's palace is being preserved, protesters have torn down many other visible signs of her rule.

Statues of Hasina's father were toppled, and portraits of the duo torn and torched.

Protesters even used digger excavators to smash down the home of the late Sheikh Mujibur Rahman — which Hasina had turned into a museum to her father.

"When the dictatorship falls, its Makkah will go too," said Muhibullah Al Mashnun, who was among the crowds that tore down the house.

The 23-year-old student believes that removing such symbols was necessary for Bangladesh to move forward to a better future. "They were the statues of dictatorship," Mashnun said.

Source: Thenews.com.pk

Very good.

I am a bit disappointed some Awami League leaders managed to flee the country. They should've been jailed and some of them needed to be executed for crimes aganst Bangladesh.

Awami League had a torture house named "Ayna Ghor". Maybe they should've been put in their own torture house. That would've been poetic justice. I am not saying they should've been tortured. But, I feel they could've been lawfully and mercifully executed there; in their own torture house.

Awami League is a symbol for toxic boomer politics. This evil party was uprooted by young people (Gen Z and Millennials). Hopefully young people of Bangladesh will ensure these boomer parties don't rise up again. Bangladesh need new 21st century parties and it seems to be heading that way.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Bangladesh announces election as country marks year since ex-PM fled

Bangladesh will hold its first elections since protests toppled its former prime minister next February, the country's interim leader said on the anniversary of her overthrow.

Muhammad Yunus made the announcement at the end of a day of celebrations for what some have called the country's "second liberation".

Sheikh Hasina fled to India on 5 August last year, following weeks of student-led protests, bringing an end to 15 years of increasingly authoritarian rule.

Nobel laureate Yunus was brought in to head a caretaker government days later, promising reforms which some say he has struggled to deliver amid continuing political turmoil and a struggle to maintain law and order.

Among the issues dividing the country's politicians has been the date of the election. Yunus initially suggested June 2026 as a potential date.

However, representatives of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), as well as the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami party and the student-led National Citizen Party (NCP), all joined Yunus on stage in the capital Dhaka on Tuesday.

Later, Yunus said he would write to the Election Commission to request the vote be held "before Ramadan in February 2026".

"For many years, none of us have been able to vote," the 85-year-old said in a televised broadcast. "This time, we will all vote. No one will be left out. Let us all be able to say, 'I cast my vote to set the country on the path to building a new Bangladesh'."

Tuesday also saw Yunus reiterate promises on widespread reform, reading out the "July Declaration", which seeks to recognise the student-led protests which toppled Hasina in the constitution.

Hasina's time in office was marked by widespread allegations of human rights violations and the murder and jailing of political rivals. Members of the Awami League government ruthlessly cracked down on dissent. The BBC has spoken to numerous people who were "disappeared" into a network of secret jails across the country.

But it was the student-led protest against a civil service jobs quota system which escalated into calls for the government to stand aside in July and August 2024 that eventually prompted Hasina to flee.

The government collapsed, and the Awami League has since been banned. Analysts note hundreds of Awami League supporters have been detained without trial over the last 12 months.

As part of the declaration read on Tuesday, those who were killed in the uprising will be recognised as "national heroes", Yunus said.

The document - which also promises a democratic state that would uphold the rule of law and moral values, as well as a justice process for those who engaged in violence during Hasina's rule - is seen by advocates as the basis of institutional reform, although critics say it is largely symbolic and without power.

Meanwhile, in an open letter to Bangladesh's citizens on Monday, Hasina argued she had not actually stood aside, describing the events of 2024 as a "coup".

"Despite claims to the contrary, I never resigned from my duties as your prime minister," she wrote.

"I believe in you. I believe in Bangladesh. And I believe that our best days are yet to come."

Hasina is currently on trial in absentia in Bangladesh, having refused to return to face charges which amount to crimes against humanity, related to the deadly crackdown on protesters which left hundreds dead. She denies the charges.

BBC

 

[BouncerGuy]

Exiled leader to return to Bangladesh for historic vote after uprising

The man tipped to be the next prime minister of Bangladesh has ended months of speculation by saying he will return from two decades overseas to fight landmark elections.

"The time has come, God willing, I will return soon," Tarique Rahman, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party's acting chairman, told BBC Bangla in his first face-to-face interview for nearly 20 years.

The BNP is the frontrunner in the vote due in February and Rahman, the son of its ailing leader, is expected to lead the country if it wins.

Many view it as one of the most consequential in Bangladesh's history after mass protests ousted three-time PM Sheikh Hasina in 2024. Her Awami League party is unlikely to be allowed to take part.

According to UN investigators, up to 1,400 people died in the 2024 unrest, which included a deadly crackdown on student-led demonstrations that ousted Hasina.

Hasina, who fled to India, is on trial in absentia for crimes against humanity alleged to have been committed during the demonstrations.

Since she was toppled, many have questioned why Rahman was still in London, where he has lived since 2008.

"Maybe due to some personal reasons, the return has not happened yet. But I think the time has come," he said.

"This is an election for which people had been waiting, I cannot keep myself away during this time."

The Awami League crushed the BNP, its long-term rival, and other opponents during 15 years of rule. Rahman, who was sentenced in numerous cases in absentia, was cleared of all charges after Hasina was ousted.

The interim government, led by Nobel laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus, has banned the Awami League from political activity until the trial of its leaders is over. Both Hasina and her party reject all the charges against them.

Although the BNP has criticised the interim government over the past year for not announcing an election date, they appear to share similar views on the Awami League's participation.

"Those who ordered killing and torture, they must be brought to justice," said Tarique Rahman.

With its main rival absent, many speculate the BNP will have a comfortable lead in the election – and if the party wins, Rahman, 58, is expected to be the next prime minister. His mother, former PM Khaleda Zia, who is 80, is ill and unlikely to take an active part in the campaign.

However, Jamaat-e-Islami, the country's largest Islamist party, has seemingly gained some ground over the last year. Its student wing won majorities in two public university student union elections for the first time, energising the party.

Rahman thinks the results of the student union won't have an implication for the general election. Their proportion of votes in previous elections was much smaller compared to the two major parties.

Jamaat-e-Islami is now in talks with some other Islamist political parties to form an alliance, but Rahman says he is not worried about this prospect.

"The BNP faced competition in the election before. There is nothing to be worried about," he said.

In the early 2000s, the BNP and Jamaat formed a coalition government, but have recently pursued independent paths.

Meanwhile, a new party led by student leaders of the uprising, the National Citizen's Party (NCP), failed to gain much support in the student union elections. For a youth-led party, losing on their home turf has raised questions about their prospects in the national election.

Relations with Bangladesh's largest neighbour, India, have been tense since Hasina found shelter in Delhi.

Bangladeshi courts have issued a warrant for her arrest, and Bangladesh has sought her extradition. India has yet to officially react.

The relationship with India is a sensitive issue in Bangladeshi politics. The country shares the vast majority of its land border with India. Political parties, including the BNP, have consistently criticised Delhi for its support for the Awami League, including the three controversial elections held during its rule.

BBC
"If they [India] want to displease Bangladeshi people by sheltering a dictator, then we have nothing to do about it," said Rahman.

A central issue in the election is likely to be the promise of democratic reform and freedom of speech. The Awami League government was widely criticised for suppressing dissent, including a court order that banned the media from publishing speeches by Tarique Rahman.

He told the BBC he would ensure such restrictions are not repeated if he comes to power.

The interim government is attempting to build a consensus among political parties on a set of reforms, but progress has been slow. For many Bangladeshis, particularly the young people who led last year's uprising, ensuring basic freedoms will be a key test for the country's next government.

 

[sweep_shot]

BNP is likely to win this election.

However, I think NCP may become a dominant party in the long run. NCP has good support from millennials and Gen Z. It is a party that attracts young people. It is getting traction too.

BNP and Awami League are corrupt boomer parties (20th century dynasties). These outdated parties should be abolished in the long run. Can't happen overnight I guess.