Many of the players in the high-volume, disruptive, and violent street protests that brought down the Sheikh Hasina government in Bangladesh now stand exposed in the election results. It’s a moment of reckoning. Street power—driven by spectacle, social media virality, and TV coverage—doesn’t easily translate into electoral popularity.
BNP victory signals Bangladesh’s desire for strategic re-configuration. India must work with it
Bangladesh’s political compass has been reset with BNP Tarique Rahman victory and Jamaat-e-Islami in the opposition. New Delhi has read Dhaka’s signals as a desire for strategic re-configuration. It requires proactive, interest-driven engagement. India must go beyond relying on sentiment and history and work with the realism of emerging geopolitics.
Street power gained by murdering and silencing is not power. This is why democracy is such an effective way of polity. Remove that and the murderous ones become the most powerful without any checks and balances. However, India must be alert because the Jamaat has indeed strenghthened itself in border areas.