Bangladesh Nationalist Party Research Articles

Investigating political news coverage patterns in Bangladesh during 2013-2022 using computational methods

The political landscape in Bangladesh is complex and multifaceted, with limited exploration in relation to the rapidly growing news industry. This study aims to address this gap by analyzing 15,801 news articles, utilizing trend analysis and topic modeling. The findings reveal a consistent decline in political news coverage, with sporadic increases during parliamentary election years. The dominant focus of news topics revolves around the two major political parties, the Awami League (AL) and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), indicating the country’s two-party-centric nature of politics. Smaller political parties receive media coverage primarily when they form coalitions with major parties, further highlighting the dominance of the two major parties in political news coverage. The study also uncovers a preference for individual political figures over incidents or events in news coverage, suggesting a patron-client relationship within major political parties and a hierarchical decision-making system. In addition, the study identifies shifts in news framing during significant events, such as national elections, indicating changes in person-centric news frames, but always involving one of the two major political parties. Finally, the study highlights and raises important questions about potential political control over media and journalistic activities, stimulating discourse on journalistic freedom and political free speech.

Discipline, Development, and Duress: The Art of Winning an Election in Bangladesh

ABSTRACT Bangladesh’s ruling Awami League Party has now won three consecutive general elections, an unprecedented achievement in the country’s political history. The 2014 and 2018 elections were, however, mired in controversy. Current analyses of the most recent of these center on the institutional and coercive tactics used by the Awami League to limit the political opposition. International media outlets have focused on allegations of vote rigging and intimidation. This article develops a deeper analysis of the Awami League victory, focusing on two city constituencies, both of which are traditional strongholds of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party. Based on research before and after the 2018 election, it shows that managing party discipline enabled a coherence in the election not achievable by the opposition. The Awami League has, furthermore, successfully built a narrative around development achievements in the country and its vision for the future, both of which have had genuine traction with the public. The 2018 election revealed three pillars of the Awami League’s success: discipline, development, and duress.

Nationalism and national identity formation in Bangladesh: A colonial legacy behind the clash of language and religion

The nature of identity formation is complex. The production of identity in South Asia, with its colonial past, has been largely dependent on the region’s colonial history. In this article we chart the process of political identity formation in Bangladesh. We identify the various historical causes that led to the creation of each of the two types of identity prevalent today. These two divisive identities based on language and religion, one pitted against the other, each became the central platform of each of the two major political parties, the Awami League (AL) and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). This disquisition shows clear patterns of political distress that resulted in the bifurcation of these two divisive political identities that ossified by the late 20th century due chiefly to the actions of the colonial government of the Raj.

LEGITIMACY CRISIS IN BANGLADESH: A CASE STUDY OF 10th GENERAL ELECTION

Method of an election, the participation of voters and political parties to the election without barriers, conducting a free and fair election, credibility of election’s result, as well as legitimacy of the government, are one of the arguable issues in Bangladeshi politics. The 10 th general election in Bangladesh was held on 05 January 2014 with the lack of all of the criteria of legitimacy. The ruling Bangladesh Awami League (BAL) government was accused to use all possible ways to prevent the opposition political parties from participating the election as a result Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led opposition political parties boycotted the national election in the issue of caretaker government (CTG) and the BAL came in power again without any competition. The majority of parliament members (MPs) were elected without any contest, voters’ turnout was about 22.66%, a lot of polling centers were empty, a large number of opposition party leaders and candidates were arrested, and many people died in the clash. Local and International experts, observers, and donor agencies expressed their dissatisfaction with the credibility of the election although the ruling party claimed the election was free and fair. The BAL government had faced a legitimacy crisis both at home and abroad. From 2014 to 2018 Bangladesh had missed all norms of democracy practically but formally it was a “democratic regime”! The main question of the research is how the 2014 national election made the BAL govt. illegitimate? For this study the data was collected from both primary and secondary sources what includes books, articles, newspapers, periodicals, statements of the political parties; statements of the various election observers’ organizations as well as Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) both national and international. The current paper has designed with three parts. The introductory part decorated with the conceptual framework and literature review. The second part tried to give a clear picture of the 2014 national election. This part explained how the 2014 national election made the BAL govt. illegitimate and why it was a step of one-party rule. The third part concluded with some findings. Article visualizations:

Islamo-nationalism, domestic politics, and Bangladesh’s policy of balancing against India since the 1990s

This article examines the connection between politics of Islamo-nationalism in Bangladesh and Bangladesh’s policy of balancing against India. In response to India’s regional supremacy in South Asia, especially India’s dominance over Bangladesh, policy makers in Bangladesh have constantly faced two options: either ‘bandwagoning’ with India, or ‘balancing’ against the regional hegemon. Interestingly, since the 1990s until 2013, Bangladesh’s response has always swung from one side to another – from bandwagoning to balancing – in connection with the rotation of Bangladesh regime between two major political parties: the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Bangladesh Awami League (AL). Bangladesh – with the BNP’s hold on power – preferred a policy of balancing against India’s dominance. During the regime of the AL, such policy dramatically shifted towards bandwagoning with India. The BNP’s preference for a balancing policy constitutes a puzzle. Weak states – which are not capable of changing unequal outcomes in the face of a preponderant power – generally pursue a policy of bandwagoning. Thus, the puzzle is as to why Bangladesh – despite being a weak actor vis-a-vis India’s overwhelming regional supremacy – pursued a policy of balancing against India during the BNP’s hold on power. This article asserts that the BNP’s politics of Islamo-nationalism is a key variable that can answer the above puzzle. The ‘self–other’ notion of Islamo-nationalism defines the national ‘selfness’ of Bangladesh in terms of the Islamic identity for its overwhelming Muslim masses, and constructs India, henceforth in this article, ‘Hindu India’, as the ‘enemy–other’ to ‘Muslim Bangladesh’.

Islam’s role in Bangladesh–Pakistan Alignment against India under the BNP’s Rule

This article engages with Bangladesh’s policy of seeking alignment with Pakistan, pursued by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government in different tenures from the 1990s on. In this endeavour, the article takes into account the BNP’s politics of Islamic identity as a key variable of analysis. This identity factor tacitly presents Bangladesh, Pakistan and India as ‘Muslim Bangladesh’, ‘Muslim Pakistan’, and ‘Hindu India’, respectively. It frames ‘Muslim Pakistan’ as a mutual ally of ‘Muslim Bangladesh’ and shares with Pakistan a view of ‘Hindu India’ as the enemy-other. It operates in foreign policy through domestic politics in Bangladesh, wherein for the BNP, being anti-Indian is synonymous with being pro-Islam. It is claimed in this article that this politics of Islamic identity draws Bangladesh into an alignment with Pakistan, dragging Bangladesh into Pakistan’s own conflict with India.

Maiden Partisan Rural Local Government Elections: Bangladesh Experience

A paradigm shift in the political system has been taken in Bangladesh on 12 October, 2015 with the final approval by the Cabinet to hold local polls on partisan basis. The long historical practice of non-partisan local polls has been shifted to first ever partisan poll that brought major challenges for the existing confrontational political parties of Bangladesh. Ruling Bangladesh Awami League considered demonstrating its popularity at grass-root level and controlled all political institution through this election while Bangladesh Nationalist Party had opposed these partisan local government elections as a political trick with an ill motive by the government. For the first time in Independent Bangladesh, 9th Union Parishad[1](UP) election hold on partisan basis at six phases across the country from March to June 2016. The articles tried to explore the experiences of this maiden partisan UP polls and what are the immediate consequences on the local governance as well as electoral system through reviewing seceondary materials specially the Daily Newspapers. Unfortunately massive violence, record deaths and uncontested elected Chairman, election fraughts & irregularities, reluctant role of Election Commission, strong dominant of ruling party over electoral system were common phenomenon in this maiden partisan election.[1] Lowest tier of rural local government in Bangladesh.

First-ever Local Government Election on Party Lines in Bangladesh: Reflection on Result of Municipal (Pourashava) Elections 2015

For the first time in history, Bangladesh introduced party lines local government election in the municipal elections in 2015. For holding the municipality polls on party lines, President Abdul Hamid promulgated the ‘Local Government (Pourashava) (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015’. In the municipal elections, leading political parties of Bangladesh faced each other with their party symbols seven years after the 2008 general election. Twenty political parties joined the electoral race in 234 municipalities. In previous local government elections like upazila council, City Corporation, municipal and many more, election candidates took part with hidden party support. But in municipal elections in 2015, different political parties nominated their own candidates for mayoral and councillor posts for different municipalities that is called party lines election. There is a reflection of party lines election on the election results of municipal elections, 2015. The election results showed a remarkable gap between the numbers of votes secured by the Awami League mayor candidates and Bangladesh Nationalist Party mayor candidates. The voter turnout was also high.

Shifting Tides in South Asia: Bangladesh’s Failed Election

Abstract: The 10th Parliamentary election in Bangladesh held on 5 January 2014 produced a parliament with opposition party. The election, boycotted by the main opposition party the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), delivered a two-thirds majority to the incumbent Awami League (AL). The election result and behavior of the ruling party both pre- and post- election indicates that the future for a multi-party inclusive democratic process in Bangladesh is facing a serious setback. This paper argues t hat since democratization process began in 1991 Bangladeshi politics revealed symptoms of hybrid regimes, but a non-inclusive flawed election is a step back from the democratization process and it may lead the country to a de facto one-party authoritarian state.

Parliamentary By-Election in Bangladesh: The Study of Bhola-3 Constituency

This analytical study based on the secondary sources examines the nature of the by-election in the Bhola-3 constituency held on April 24, 2010. The ruling party Awami League (AL) took this by-election as a prestige issue and chance for a renewed mandate in favour of the Hasina government, while the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s (BNP) plan was to create an issue by saying that the by-election was rigged. The Election Commission (EC) and the ruling party clamed that the poll was free and fair, while the BNP rejected the electoral outcome for widespread corruption. The analysis shows that the election was not free, fair and peaceful and the role of EC was controversial. The EC didn’t deploy the army, although BNP demanded this several times to maintain law and order. Moreover, the EC didn’t take any action against the violation of electoral laws by the ruling party’s candidate. Widely shared anecdotal evidence of voter intimidation and physical violence besmirched the election. Key words: By-election; AL; BNP; Election Commission

Household exposure to violence and human rights violations in western Bangladesh (I): prevalence, risk factors and consequences

BackgroundThe ruling parties in Bangladesh have systematically used violence against political opponents and criminals. It is essential to 1) determine the magnitude and burden of organised crime and political violence (OPV) and human rights violations in the affected community, and to 2) identify the risk factors and key indicators for developing effective health intervention and prevention measures.MethodsThe population-based study consisted of two parts: a household survey and OPV screening at mobile clinics (presented in Part II). A cross-sectional, multistage cluster household survey was conducted in the Meherpur district in February-March 2008; 22 clusters with a sample size of 1,101 households (population of 4,870) were selected.ResultsAround 83% of households reported being exposed to at least two categories of OPV or human rights violations: 29% reported that the family members had been arrested or detained; 31% reported torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Crude mortality rate was 17.9/1,000 and under 5 mortality rate was 75/1,000. The annual injury rate was 36%, lifetime experience of violence-related injury was 50%, and pain experience within 2 weeks was reported by 57%. Over 80% of the population over 35 years old complained of pain. High prevalence of injury, lifetime experience of OPV-related injury and pain complaints are related to the level of exposure to OPV and human rights violations. A financial burden was imposed on families with an injured person. A geographical variation was revealed regarding reports of torture and lifetime experience of violence-related injury. A combination of individual, relational, community and societal factors, including variables such as political party affiliation, conflict with other families, household income and residential area, affected the risk of victimisation in the household. The odds ratio for reporting extrajudicial execution of a family member was 9.22 for Awami League supporters, 9.15 for Bangladesh Nationalist Party supporters; and 3.97 for Jamaat-e-Islami Party supporters compared with families with no political involvement.ConclusionThe level of violence and human rights violations is high. The affected population suffers from violence-related injuries and traumas, which could be a factor contributing to poverty. Victimisation is not random.

The Changing Bilateral Contours of Indo-Bangladesh Relations

The Sheikh Hasina led Awami League government came to power in Bangladesh in January 2009. This paper attempts to capture two contrasting phases in the bilateral context in the last decade despite the issues remaining more or less the same. In view of the several outstanding issues that exist between India and Bangladesh the positions adopted by Bangladesh's two main political parties — Awami League and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) — have changed the contours of the bilateral relations between the two South Asian neighbours. Over the years, bilateral issues have remained unchanged although a new dimension was added in the last decade. Irrespective of the political party in power in Bangladesh, India's policies vis-à-vis its neighbouring country have not altered significantly. Bangladesh, however, has approached India rather differently wherein its two main political parties adopted significantly different policies. The differences these parties had in their domestic agenda also spilled over to the bilateral relations. However, it now appears that both India and Bangladesh have shown keenness to make optimum use of the opportunity to progress towards forging strong and friendly ties.

Lessons on Women’s Political Leadership from Bangladesh

T wo women, Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina, have served as prime ministers of Bangladesh, ruling the country for fifteen consecutive years (1991–2006) as power alternated between the two political parties they led, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Awami League (AL), respectively. What are their political legacies? What do their experiences tell us about the challenges to women’s political leadership? Did these pathbreakers succeed in claiming a larger space for women in politics? Did they promote women’s rights and concerns as legitimate issues of governance? Did issues such as fundamentalism, economic growth, and militarization, which pose challenges to all who make state policy, create unique challenges for women leaders? Did these first women political leaders make any headway in shedding patriarchal values long entrenched in Bangladeshi society? Although this brief article can serve only as a pointer, hinting at the contours of a full-fledged discussion, I argue here that both Hasina and Zia, bred in patriarchal political culture, were unable to mount any sustained challenge to that culture. They did not question their own internalized patriarchal values, nor did they use the power at their disposal strategically to contest the gendered political system or to enhance women’s political strength. Moreover, they did not succeed in addressing multiple challenges emanating from their immediate environment, such as sporadic acts of terrorism and the emergence of fundamentalist forces, which, although significant, are outside the scope of this brief essay.

State of Governance in Bangladesh

The present state of governance in Bangladesh is evaluated here using the concept of governance, particularly good governance. Bangladesh shows all the symptoms of an underdeveloped polity. Democracy has not been institutionalized. Politics continues to be dominated by big money, goons and people with little background and training in formal politics. Elections have become such an expensive affair that ordinary citizens act only as passive voters. Power and authority are concentrated at the top echelons of government. Corruption has become so endemic that it has engulfed the entire society. Both the supreme leaders of two major political parties, ie the Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, were handed top leadership positions for reasons of heredity and kinship. This permanent nature of supreme leadership has thwarted internal democracy in political parties' function and management. The dominant position of the executive is widely known. The parliamentary system that is in existence can best be termed a prime ministerial system. The parliament is content to play second fiddle to the executive. Lack of independence of the judiciary has resulted in its heavy dependence on the executive. Lack of accountability and transparency in the affairs of the state is a major impediment to effective governance. The human rights situation remains unsatisfactory. One of the pressing problems of governance is the politicization of the public bureaucracy, with adverse effects on performance. Expenditure on the military continues to rise without any apparent justification.

Bangladesh in 2002: Imperiled Democracy

The year did not bring any improvement in the way government and politics function in Bangladesh. Murder, intimidation, suppression, and harassment of political opponents worsened the atmosphere of vendetta and violence that has marked the country's politics in the past few decades. To tackle the deteriorating law and order situation, the government called in the army in October. The administration appeared to be adrift, caught in factional feuds within the ruling coalition. There were also signs of dynastic succession within the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party. The economy did not register any significant improvements. Relations with Pakistan improved but Indo-Bangladesh relations hit their lowest point in decades. Citizen disenchantment with political leaders continued to grow.

A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE BUDGETS OF BANGLADESH DURING THE DECADE OF NINETIES

An attempt was carried out for comparative analysis of the national budgets of Bangladesh formulated during the decade of nineties. Consequently, the study not only compares the budgetary functions, objectives and attainments of the Jatiyo Party (JP), the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Awami League (AL) governments but also compares the economic position of the country under dictatorship with that under democracy. Aspects like setting of specific targets in the fields of revenue earnings, foreign grants, foreign loan, annual development programme etc. and attainment of set goals, collection of tax and non-tax revenue, expenditure pattern of the successive governments have been covered in the present discussion. The paper makes it clear that though there are significant differences in the political ideology of the three main political parties they share same policy prescriptions in the field of economics. The only significant difference that lies between dictatorship and democratic rule is that the former regime is characterized by heavy dependence on foreign funds whereas the latter regime made the scenario up side down. Concerning the democratic rule the conclusion is that whether the highlighted period is a story of success or failure, credit or discredit for that goes to both the BNP and the AL.

BANGLADESH IN 2000 Searching for Better Governance?

In the year 2000, Bangladesh was mired in lawlessness, intractable governance, executive-judiciary acrimony, enfeebled diplomacy, and economic stagnation. However, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina remained firmly saddled in power. She showed little sign of yielding to the opposition pressure to hold a fresh election under the caretaker government, ignored the fusillades of allegations against her government, and endured as a feisty leader of the ruling Awami League (AL), confident of winning the next election. The standoff between the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the AL changed little and their rhetoric continued to divide the nation. The meandering hope of the year was the modified opposition strategy to lower the old-style prolonged hartals (general strikes), and roiling and indefinite work stoppages. However, the BNP and its partners in the opposition alliance did not lift their boycott of the Sangshad, the national parliament, except for stints to retain their lawmakers’ status. The BNP-led alliance also kept the hartal option for the future, a political weapon without which the opposition is not taken seriously in Bangladesh.

Political Unrest and Democracy in Bangladesh

Two focal demands dominated the 22-month confrontation, bitter impasse, widespread anti-government rioting, and for a period of time, strident non-cooperation movement during 1994-96 in Bangladesh. They were: (1) the resignation of Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, and (2) her replacement by a nonpartisan caretaker government to supervise new elections and transfer of power to newly elected leaders. Both demands originated with the Awami League's (AL) allegations that the governing Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) had blatantly rigged a by-election in the district of Magura and that the AL could not hope for free and fair voting under a BNP-led government. But Khaleda refused to yield to what she perceived as unconstitutional opposition pressure and stayed to the end of her term despite the opposition's boycott of Parliament. The government held a general election in the middle of violent political unrest on February 15, 1996, without any nonpolitical interim executive to supervise it. The protest intensified drastically after the election, which the BNP won easily-with all major opposition parties boycotting the polls-and Khaleda was inaugurated as the prime minister for a second term. But as the protests reached a climax, she acceded to opposition demands, and the 13th constitutional amendment establishing a caretaker government to supervise future elections was hurriedly approved by the newly elected Parliament to facilitate her resignation. Once the constitutional provision was in place, the Parliament elected in February was dissolved and Khaleda stepped down in March. A nonpolitical caretaker executive headed by former Chief Justice Habibur Rahman assumed authority under the amended Constitution, the second interregnum in five years entrusted with the supervision of an election and trans-

Bangladesh in 1995: Politics of Intransigence

By the end of 1995, the political impasse engendered early the previous year by the opposition parties' parliamentary boycott still had not been resolved. Neither the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) nor the opposition Awami League (AL), Jatiya Party (JP), and Jamati-Islami (JI) had budged appreciably from their positions, removing any possibility of a viable solution. Opposition Members of Parliament resigned en masse in December 1994, and Parliament was dissolved November 22, 1995, three months before the end of its regular five-year term. In the society, an unprecedented deterioration of law and order created a high level of public insecurity and risked the survival of democracy. Amid the political vendettas and protracted battles for power, economic growth remained low and even threatened the survival of growing industries such as garments.' Foreign investment also continued to remain shy.

Bangladesh Votes-1991: Building Democratic Institutions

The sudden and, indeed, unexpected collapse of the regime of President Hossain Muhammad Ershad in December 1990 led to the appointment of Chief Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed as acting president. His role was that of a caretaker leader whose primary responsibility was to conduct a and election to Parliament, one in which all parties, including the Jatiya Party (JP) of the fallen (and incarcerated) Ershad, would be permitted to contest.' The election on February 27, 1991, was free and fair as has been attested by a number of foreign groups who observed the process, including groups from the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), the Commonwealth, France, and the United States. The result was a plurality for the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led by Khaleda Zia (Khaleda), the widow of Ziaur Rahman (Zia) who led Bangladesh from 1975 until his assassination in 1981. She was able, with the support of the Jamaat-i-Islam (JI), to form a ministry that was sworn in with her as prime minister on March 20. She thus became the second woman to be prime minister of a predominantly Muslim country, following Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan; in so doing she completed the record of the principal countries of South Asia in having female prime ministers, the others being Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka and Indira Gandhi of India. At the same time, Sheikh Husina Wajid (Husina), leader of the Awami League (AL) and daughter of the first leader of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (Mujib), became the leader of the opposition in Parliament, a position she had held earlier in the Parliament elected in 1986.