Dhaka and the contestation over the public space

Abstract

This paper examines the growing contestations over public space of Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, between Islamic and secular groups since the country’s independence in 1971. The contestations illustrate the deeper ideological competitions between the secular, liberal and right‐wing religious ideologies in a country where 85% of the 150 million people are Muslims. The city’s public space has been the site of a prolonged struggle and the negotiated juxtaposition of both civic and sacred spaces reflecting a spirit of accommodation and tolerance. The recent contestations reflect a rising tide of political Islam in a society with roots in secularism.