While Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has repeatedly committed to continuing “non-violent protests” to the international community, particularly the US administration, it has resorted to terrorist acts, including arson attacks, which now reminds everyone in Bangladesh and abroad its similar notoriety during 2013-2014 – which had forced a number of nations in the world in branding BNP as a terrorist organization. Commenting on such scenario, Geoffrey Macdonald, Ph.D., in an article in the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) wrote: “With Bangladesh’s parliamentary elections set for early January, the opposition’s push for the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the installation of an interim election-time government has reached its crescendo — sending the country’s streets and politics into tumult in the process. With no sign of political compromise in sight, Bangladesh’s January elections will likely do little to repair its deep political divisions”.
In an August 2023 article, USIP said, the International Republican Institute (IRI) released a national survey and focus group discussion (FGD) study that shed light on Bangladesh’s political, economic, and social dynamics. This research showed that though citizens are pessimistic about the state of the economy and elections, the government’s policies on infrastructure and development have buoyed the prime minister’s public support. Furthermore, while the opposition’s popularity is growing and its calls for a caretaker government are breaking through, Bangladeshis appear skeptical of its boycott strategy.
The Bangladeshi public’s pervasive pessimism appears to be boosting the opposition’s popularity but has not yet substantially weakened the Sheikh Hasina government. About 70 percent of Bangladeshis say the prime minister is doing a good job, and majorities approve of the government’s performance on various policy issues from access to drinking water to improving education.
“If I look at development, then I see that [Sheikh Hasina] has done something”, said a female FGD participant from Khulna. “Like you see roads, the Padma Bridge, and the Metrorail”.
It is a fact acknowledged by majority of people in Bangladesh, irrespective of their political affiliations that the country has achieved tremendous progress during the 2009-2023 rule under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, while a significant portion of the people even believe, if Islamist forces such as BNP-Jamaat nexus returns to power, the pace of progress and prosperity will not only come to a standstill, with convicted terrorist such as Tarique Rahman and his gang of looters, corrupts and thieves would ultimately turn Bangladesh into a failed state.
It may be mentioned here that, while Back in November 2008, the US State Department imposed visa restriction on the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader and son of then Prime Minister Khaleda Zia by branding him as a “notorious and feared figure” and “symbol of kleptocratic government and violent politics in Bangladesh”, for the past three years, surprisingly this convicted terrorist Tarique Rahman and his ultra-Islamist party have become a new-darling of the Biden administration while Washington is making frantic bids in toppling a secularist government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and let BNP and its Islamist-jihadist partners, including Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), Hefazat-e-Islam (HeI) and even Al Qaeda and Islamic State (ISIS) return to power and turn Bangladesh into an anti-Semite and Hindu-hating jihadist launchpad.
Leadership vacuum inside BNP
Although Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) still is considered as the main opposition force in Bangladesh with its substantial vote bank, the party currently suffers from a vacuum that would actually stop it from returning to power as it is solely dependent on its acting Tarique Rahman who is a convicted terrorist and Khaleda Zia who also is serving prison term on charges of misappropriation of orphanage fund. Meaning, under Bangladesh’s existing law, none would be able to lead any government unless they are acquitted by the apex court. Even BNP leaders are unable to respond to questions repeatedly raised by the international community on alternatives to Tarique or his mother Khaleda Zia. Some of the hardline BNP leaders reportedly have told the United States and European nations that they have “no alternative” to Tarique Rahman and Khaleda Zia as the party cannot be headed by anyone from outside the Zia family. Meaning, BNP is a party without head and it actually is unfit for returning to power unless it can get Tarique and his mother acquitted from prison terms by exerting undue pressure on the apex judiciary, which again is a mission impossible.
Commenting on the Bangladesh situation, USIP said: “the BNP has claimed, with some corroboration, that its supporters’ violence was either deliberately provoked or part of government sabotage to defame the protest. But its role in violence and property destruction cannot be credibly denied. In response, the AL government has arrested thousands of BNP members and supporters, including the party’s secretary general and dozens of other leaders. The AL argues that the BNP’s political violence cannot go unpunished — while the opposition and rights groups claim the anti-government movement is being unjustly dismantled under the guise of law and order.
“Since its foiled rally, the opposition has escalated its tactics, shifting from public demonstrations to calls for nationwide strikes and blockades to paralyze transportation and commerce across the country. During the first two weeks of opposition-led blockades, at least 100 vehicles were set ablaze. The BNP is again pushing evidence of government connivance in this violence, but its supporters are implicated in many instances. The government claims the blockade and accompanying violence, which have left many previously bustling public spaces desolate, have cost the economy billions”.
Under such circumstances, for BNP and its ideological ally Jamaat-e-Islami the only option is intensifying terrorist acts, including arson attacks under the guise of “agitation program”. This party wants to push Bangladesh towards an extremely chaotic situation where unconstitutional forces can seize power and unseat Awami League from power.
