Topic: Bangladesh elections

US State Department spokesperson said Monday that the country was 'concerned by the arrests of thousands of political opposition members and reports of irregularities on election day'. US State Department spokesperson said Monday that the country was 'concerned by the arrests of thousands of political opposition members and reports of irregularities on election day'.

Whatever America’s game plan may be about Bangladesh, an opposition-mukt political space will only make things difficult for Sheikh Hasina going forward.

Even as Modi govt steadfastly backs the ruling Awami League and Hasina, experts say New Delhi risks putting all its eggs in one basket in the long-run.

It is for Hasina to show the world that even though the State religion is Islam, Hindus can live in peace in Bangladesh.

Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party has called a three-day hartal from Tuesday to protest against what it terms the Hasina govt's violent crackdown on protests for her resignation.

Bangladesh exploded with violence in July. The BNP has taken to the streets to win polls. It is reminiscent of the post-poll violence when it won in 2001.

Shammi Ahmed, International Affairs Secretary of Awami League, talks about US policy that restricts visas for Bangladesh nationals believed to have ‘undermined democratic election process’.  

Many biographies of Mujib have come out over the years, including a 10-part graphic novel targeting the country’s youth.

Opposition BNP in poll-bound Bangladesh is seen as anti-India and anti-Hindu. Its top Hindu faces, Nitai Roy Chowdhury and his daughter Nipun, are trying to counter this perception.

Bangladesh used electronic voting machines in six seats in the 11th parliamentary polls; the poll body wanted EVMs in at least 150 of the country’s 300 seats next year.