Late Wednesday night, a surreal scene unfolded in Dhaka’s Dhanmondi area. Hundreds of students gathered, lighting candles to honor those who had fallen and injured during what is now referred to as the “July Revolution” in Bangladesh, which led to the end of Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year autocratic rule. Initially, the students observed the night in […]

The post Anti-Hasina Bangladeshis on alert for ‘evil remnants’ appeared first on Asia Times.

The banning of Bangladesh’s largest Islamist party while the nation is on the boil amid student-led protests about government job quotas that have morphed into something much larger has put the ruling Awami League on a razor’s edge. The Awami League, which has been in continuous power for the last 15 years thanks to three […]

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Bangladesh is still shaking from violent student protests in recent weeks that resulted in over 170 deaths, a crackdown that has drawn unflattering global attention to the unprecedented brutality of police forces against civilians and an alleged government-enforced internet blackout that lasted for over five days. As the situation starts to stabilize and internet access—at […]

The post Hasina missing the point in post-protest Bangladesh appeared first on Asia Times.

After Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s record-equalling yet subdued election victory, official congratulations came swiftly from neighboring Bangladesh. Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina wrote to Modi that he carries the “hopes and aspirations of people of India” and scheduled a visit across the border to attend the Indian leader’s oath-taking ceremony for a third consecutive […]

The post More Modi, more anti-India sentiment for Bangladesh appeared first on Asia Times.

Bangladesh’s economy faces a perfect storm with double-digit inflation pinching wallets, foreign exchange reserves dwindling and economic growth fading away. To weather the crisis, the government is desperately seeking foreign loans. Enter China into the eye of the tempest. With a timely US$5 billion soft loan, Beijing has positioned itself as Bangladesh’s potential financial savior. […]

The post China, India duel for riverine lifeblood of Bangladesh appeared first on Asia Times.

While scrolling through Facebook on a recent morning, I came across news about the potential appointment of a new US ambassador to Bangladesh. David Meale appeared poised to take over for Peter Haas, who might well go down as the most impactful US envoy in Bangladesh’s recent history. The idea of a foreign diplomat wielding […]

The post Bangladesh: Where a US ambo can still captivate a nation appeared first on Asia Times.

At least 15 Rohingya refugees drowned and dozens more were unaccounted for after their overcrowded wooden boat heading for Malaysia sank on Tuesday off the coast of Saint Martin’s Island in the Bay of Bengal. Malaysia is the favored destination of the Rohingya as it is a Muslim majority nation and has a sizeable Rohingya […]

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Aside from the Bangladeshi president and prime minister, very few government officials have been listing the gifts they receive to the Toshakhana – the official federal government depository – on a regular basis, sources in the Cabinet division say. The issue of people who hold key government posts acknowledging gifts came to light after a […]

The post Nothing official about ‘gifts’ to Bangladesh minister appeared first on Asia Times.

Extra-judicial killing is not new in Bangladesh. What is new is a campaign by elected lawmakers in Parliament to legitimize killings by the police that are not court-mandated. Last week, some members of the Bangladesh Parliament demanded that law enforcement agencies should kill rapists “in a crossfire” to stop incidents of sexual violence against women. […]

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Bangladesh Minister for Foreign affairs AK Momen on Sunday said both Dhaka and New Delhi want “zero deaths” along the two countries’ borders. “Unfortunately this is not happening,” said Momen while talking to reporters at his office in the foreign ministry. He was flanked by foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen and Secretary Maritime Affairs Unit […]

The post Death toll rising on the India-Bangladesh border appeared first on Asia Times.

For the current Bangladeshi regime, maintaining the stance that the formation of the National Register of Citizen (NRC) and the subsequent enactment of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) are India’s “internal matter” has become an increasingly difficult task. Sheikh Hasina’s government has been having a hard time assuaging the increasing number of opposing voices inside […]

The post India-Bangladesh on a diplomatic tightrope appeared first on Asia Times.

In face of protests and criticism from many quarters, the Bangladesh government on Wednesday withheld the list of Razakars – local collaborators with the Pakistani occupation forces before the war of liberation in 1971. Published on December 16, Bangladesh’s 49th Victory Day, the list contained gross anomalies as it named some of the renowned freedom […]

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The brutal murder of a young woman who dared to take on a powerful religious teacher – accusing him of sexual harassment, which led to his arrest – has been described as an unprecedented case in the history of Bangladesh. In jail, the teacher plotted her murder and sent instructions to his followers to coerce […]

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Throughout her three consecutive tenures spanning more than a decade, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has never turned away from the news media. She has not flinched from any query thrown at her during press conferences, which she arranges on a regular basis after important local developments and foreign trips. But it appears there is […]

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Nearly half of the world’s population is at risk from dengue, a mosquito-borne viral infection which usually hits during monsoon season. According to the World Health Organization the incidence of dengue has increased 30-fold over the last 50 years. It is now estimated that 50-100 million infections occur annually in over 100 endemic countries. Bangladesh […]

The post Dhaka grapples with record dengue outbreak appeared first on Asia Times.

The students of Bangladesh, who last year jolted the State to take steps towards making the nation’s roads safer, have this week once more taken to the streets after another student was killed in a traffic accident. “There seems no end to deaths in road accidents. Once again, a student becomes the victim of reckless driving. […]

The post Student road safety protests return in Dhaka appeared first on Asia Times.

Saudi Arabia signed a slew of agreements with Bangladesh on March 7 worth up to US$20 billion in investments. The Saudi investment will cover different development projects in Bangladesh connected with energy, industries and infrastructure. This significant increase in Saudi-Bangladesh economic relations did not come out of the blue. When Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina […]

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The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) – one of the country’s biggest political parties – is enduring the worst days since its formation four decades ago, with its leader and former prime minister Khaleda Zia languishing in jail for over a year. Zia was found guilty of corruption and sent to jail for five years on February […]

The post Zia and the BNP crushed by a legal avalanche appeared first on Asia Times.

It became known as one of the world’s biggest cyber-heists in banking history, and last Friday the central bank of Bangladesh filed a federal lawsuit in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, accusing a Filipino bank, its top brass and others of facilitating the theft of US$81 million from its account […]

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Bangladesh is experiencing the strange problem of finding a parliamentary opposition deemed to be suitable and acceptable, after the latest national elections were completed on December 30. Bangladesh is one of the world’s largest parliamentary democracies. Upon completion of the latest election, which many independent observers termed “controversial”, the country’s 11th national parliament sees the Jatiya Party, […]

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