BANGLADESH: In pursuit of a one-party state?
Dhaka’s abstention in Ukraine vote is an anomaly Ali Riaz With democratic backsliding unfolding in an incremental manner in Bangladesh for years, concerns have been expressed since 2016 whether the country will descend into a one-party state. The Strategic Forecast predicted in May 2016 that the country would shift toward single party authoritarianism (Strategic Forecast, […]
Bangladesh Opposition Fears Election Commission Law Favors Ruling Party
Bangladesh Opposition Fears Election Commission Law Favors Ruling Party Ahammad FoyezCourtesy: Benar News-https://www.benarnews.org/english/news/bengali/election-commission-01272022153823.html A bill passed by Bangladesh’s parliament on Thursday institutionalizes election-management practices that favor the incumbent government, setting the stage for the Awami League to remain in power through the next election, opposition parties and critics say. It formalizes procedures used by current […]
Bangladesh one-party local elections turn deadly
Bangladesh one-party local elections turn deadly Overall Death Toll in Union Council Polls Tops 100 Ahammad FoyezCourtesy: Benar News-https://www.benarnews.org/english/news/bengali/bangladesh-union-council-poll-violence-01052022152313.html The death toll from violence around Union Council elections in Bangladesh surpassed 100 on Wednesday, as at least 10 people were killed in the latest stage of polling, including some by police gunfire, local authorities and […]
Human Tragedy And Political Failure In Bangladesh
Human Tragedy And Political Failure In Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina is suddenly confronted with a moral dilemma for which her authoritarian political system is unprepared William B Milam Courtesy: Friday Times Among our important worries of today–the new Covid 19 variant Omicron, the Russian threat to invade Ukraine, the kinks in the global supply chain that […]
World closely monitoring Bangladesh govt’s actions
A total of 15 press freedom and human rights organizations, including the Committee to Protect Journalists, have said that the Bangladesh government should be aware that the world is closely monitoring its retaliatory actions against family members of exiled journalists and government critics. They asked the Bangladesh government to release Nusrat Shahrin Raka, sister of […]
PREDATOR SHEIKH Hasina
PREDATOR SINCE 2014 (AT LEAST) Bangladesh, 152nd/180 countries in the 2021 World Press Freedom Index PREDATORY METHOD: THE DIGITAL SECURITY ACT, ULTIMATE WEAPON FOR IMPOSING SELF-CENSORSHIP The eldest child of Sheikh Mujib, Bangladesh’s independence hero, Sheikh Hasina has been a leading figure in Bangladeshi politics since the early 1980s. For years, she led the opposition […]
Exiled Bangladeshi journalist Kanak Sarwar says sister’s detention won’t silence him
Exiled Bangladeshi journalist Kanak Sarwar says sister’s detention won’t silence him By Sonali Dhawan/CPJ Asia Researcher For years, exiled Bangladeshi journalist Kanak Sarwar advised his family members not to keep public profiles on Facebook, fearing his critical reporting would lead to harassment by supporters of the Awami League-led government. So he was alarmed when his […]
Bangladesh’s democracy erodes amid tilt to China
25 January 2022Author: Ali Riaz, Illinois State University Bangladesh remained firmly under the grip of the incumbent Bangladesh Awami League in 2021. The ruling party faced no formidable opposition, the country celebrated its 50th year of independence and the COVID-19 pandemic was less devastating than was predicted. Bangladesh Awami League (political party in Bangladesh) held […]
Human Rights Sanctions On Bangladesh —A Prediction Or A Warning?
Human Rights Sanctions On Bangladesh —A Prediction Or A Warning? For the US, the question is how to be aggressive enough to keep some democratic alleys open for the future. William B Milam Curtesy: FridayTimes As far as I could tell, most Bangladeshi leaders were not particularly upset that their country did not get invited […]
UN: Ban Abusive Bangladesh Unit from Peacekeeping
Role of Rapid Action Battalion Should Be Reviewed Following US Sanctions, HRW Reports (New York, Jan 21, 2022) – The United Nations Department of Peace Operations should ban Bangladesh’s notoriously abusive paramilitary Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) from UN deployment, 12 organizations said in a letter to Under-Secretary-General Jean-Pierre Lacroix, made public today. Human rights organizations […]
