Saudi newspaper Arab News says, Sheikh Hasina, the longest-serving female head of government in the world has placed Bangladesh into geopolitical significance

Following January 7, 2024 general election, as Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina emerges as the longest-serving female head of government in the world – her fourth straight term in office, influential newspaper of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – Arab News published a 6-page featured article on her, which is jointly penned by Oubai Shahbandar, a former Pentagon analyst who currently is an international documentary filmmaker covering conflict zones and compelling humanitarian stories around the world; and Adelle Nazarian, a foreign policy and media analyst and consultant with over 15 years of experience in journalism who also is a Senior Fellow at the Gold Institute for International Strategy.

Commenting on the magnanimous statesmanship of Sheikh Hasina, the Arab News article said, “During Hasina’s time in office as prime minister since 1996, Bangladesh has undergone an economic transformation deemed by international development experts to have been nothing short of miraculous”.

It further said:

Bangladesh’s geopolitical significance is on the rise, evidenced by its expanding strategic alliance with India and burgeoning economic ties with both China and the Arab world. The nation is also solidifying its position as the world’s second-largest exporter of ready-made garments, with the EU as its primary market. 

With the US and its allies vying with China for influence in the South China Sea and the broader Indo-Pacific region, Bangladesh’s geographical position is boosting a strategic significance emphasized by the development of a deep-water port in the Bay of Bengal, funded by Japan. This port not only bolsters Bangladesh’s maritime capabilities, but also serves as a crucial link between South and Southeast Asia, enhancing Bangladesh’s role as a pivotal player in regional connectivity and as a potential fulcrum in the balance which claimed it did not trust the process or the impartiality of the Election Commission, decided to boycott the election and, accordingly, did not field any candidates.

Yet, despite the boycott, voter turnout was a respectable 40 percent, and the overwhelming consensus of election observers from over 40 countries, including from the Arab Parliament and Organization of Islamic Cooperation, was that the Election Commission had delivered a transparent voting process.

China and India immediately congratulated Hasina on her reelection and endorsed the legitimacy of the poll — the two countries also happen to be major sources of funding for multiple infrastructure megaprojects that have become the hallmarks of Hasina’s administration.

Commenting on Washington’s baseless claim stating January 7 elections were not free and fair, the Arab News said:

China’s ambassador to Dhaka presented the prime minister with a replica of a traditional Bengali fishing boat the electoral symbol of her Awami League party, and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, who has built a close working relationship with Hasina, remarked that India was “committed to further strengthen our enduring and people-centric partnership with Bangladesh.

Russia, which is providing funding for Bangladesh’s only nuclear power plant, currently under construction, also congratulated the prime minister.

In stark contrast, the US Department of State declared that “the United States shares the view with other observers that these elections were not free or fair, and we regret that not all parties participated”. Furthermore, Us President Joe Biden’s administration also passed limited sanctions on Bangladesh, and accused some in Hasina’s administration of “undermining the democratic election process”.

The Biden administration is facing renewed criticism that it is making a major foreign policy mistake when it comes to a South Asian country that has emerged in recent years as a formidable economic force with ambitious aspirations.

Many Bangladeshi officials believe Washington is unfairly singling out Bangladesh, despite the election having passed off without serious violence or interference in the Election Commission’s neutrality.

On Bangladesh’s commendable economic progress under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina, Oubai Shahbandar and Adelle Nazarian wrote:

According to independent economic data, Bangladesh is on course to become an upper middle-income country (the criteria requiring at least $4,000 GDP per capita) by 2031. Bangladesh, once labeled a “basket case” by former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, has roared back in the past 15 years as Hasina, the Muslim world’s only female leader, has embarked on a massive economic development program that has been hailed by development experts worldwide as a model for how developing countries can sustainably lift millions out of poverty.

Today, the World Bank officially recognizes Bangladesh as one of the fastest-growing economies in South Asia Experts also cite secular social changes pushed by Hasina as an important driver of Bangladesh’s economic transformation. Recently, she unveiled an ambitious development strategy and vision for the country called “Smart Bangladesh,” aimed at achieving broad-based national progress by 2041.

On assassination attempts on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Arab News article said: “Hasina’s transformation of Bangladesh has not been achieved without personal cost. She has survived at least 19 assassination attempts, and her administration has faced numerous terrorist attacks while cracking down on extremist ideologies, and taking action against a broad network that supports and propagates terror”.

In this case, I would humbly request editors of the Arab News as well as Oubai Shahbandar and Adelle Nazarian to publish a follow-up article with details of Al Qaeda connected Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) which plotted gruesome grenade attacks on August 21, 2004 with the dangerous agenda of assassinating Sheikh Hasina along with senior leaders of Awami League. In this terrorist attack, BNP used members of Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami Bangladesh (HuJI-B) as well as trained fighters of Al Qaeda.

On April 14, 2002, journalist Alex Perry gave bone-chilling description of how at the invitation of BNP leaders, a group of Al Qaeda members led by Osama bin-Laden’s second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri visited Bangladesh, stayed for months and held secret meetings with several key-figures of BNP and JeI.

BNP’s current acting chairman and the then Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s son Tarique Rahman, is seen by the US administration as “notorious and widely feared son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia” and “a symbol of kleptocratic government and violent politics in Bangladesh”.

Recently, Bangladesh Nationalist Party launched “India Out” movement xeroxing that of Maldives with the dangerous agenda of provoking anti-India and anti-Hindu sentiment in Bangladesh and use it towards toppling Sheikh Hasina from power through an Iranian-styled Islamic revolt. As the matter started getting exposed following publication of report in Blitz, BNP assigned an activist of Jamaat-e-Islami who is working at AFP to suppress the news about its involvement in “India Out” movement.