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Bangladesh

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A rising Bangladesh starts to exert its regional power

The recent announcement that Bangladesh would provide US$200 million in aid to Sri Lanka is an important turning point as that country moves from being an impoverished supplicant towards an increasingly influential regional state. It is an outcome of years of high economic growth and points to Dhaka
By David Brewster
10 Jun 21
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Bangladesh: Sculptures, statues and hard-liners

The High Court of Bangladesh has directed that action be taken against those involved in causing damage in recent weeks to sculptures, statues and murals in the country. At the same time, an influential minister in the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has asked individuals and
By Syed Badrul Ahsan
11 Dec 20
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In Bangladesh, Covid adds to a list of maladies

The Covid-19 situation has had a devastating effect on the local economy, the brunt being borne by the country’s export-oriented garments industry. It has propelled owners of various businesses – and that includes the media sector – into showing employees the door, and with rising unemployment
By Syed Badrul Ahsan
01 Oct 20
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Bangladesh: Fight the power or shut up?

Hip-hop artists have long used rap music to launch cultural protests about social injustice, police brutality, inequality and discrimination.  Songs such as Tupac Shakur’s “Trapped”, which talks about seclusion of black youths in American neighbourhoods, NWA’s “F**k tha Police” or
By Mubashar Hasan
16 Sep 20
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Covid-19: The need to aid Asia to open up

Two things about the public health and economic impacts of Covid-19 are now clear. First, with just a few exceptions, most affected countries have suffered egregiously, and in many cases unnecessarily. This is a tragic situation. Second, the response has been mainly left to the national
By Haider A. Khan, Peter McCawley
20 May 20
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Stalemate leaves Rohingya refugees trapped

It has been two years since the forced exodus of Rohingya from Myanmar, and for about a million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, there is no sign of returning in the foreseeable future. The growing uncertainty of repatriation, diminishing international aid, and an aggrieved local host community have
By Ashraful Azad
27 Sep 19
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Down and out in Dhaka

Bangladesh is certainly not in a happy state these days. With more than 21,000 people falling prey to dengue fever in Dhaka, and the epidemic rippling out to wider regions of the country, authorities are simply unable to contain the problem. The city corporations in the capital – there are two
By Syed Badrul Ahsan
08 Aug 19
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Bangladesh’s road to the BRI

There are a lot of different ways for the region to approach China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). We should not assume that all BRI projects are necessarily one sided or economically unfeasible. Indeed, some countries have been better than others in maximising the benefits of BRI investment and
By David Brewster
30 May 19
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South Asia diplomacy hostage to a bitter legacy

The bitter legacy of the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947 continues to be an impediment to normal relations between Pakistan and India. Proper and meaningful diplomacy between Bangladesh and Pakistan remains elusive nearly 50 years after the war of 1971. India and Bangladesh remain
By Syed Badrul Ahsan
18 Oct 18
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Bangladesh: the latest assault on free speech

Bangladesh already suffers poor standards when respecting freedom of expression, but a new set of laws will enable the government to suppress political dissent and free speech using brutal means. A recently passed law known as the Digital Security Act 2018 has
By Shafquat Rabbee
02 Oct 18
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The Rohingya are stuck

This is the second of a series of three articles on the Rohingya crisis, featuring Morten Pederson on the domestic drivers of conflict, and Andrew Selth on the potential danger from transnational terrorist networks.  Most of the Rohingya who were forced from their homes in
By Nicholas Farrelly
05 Sep 18
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Beleaguered Bangladesh and big neighbour trouble

A new threat from beyond its borders looms over Bangladesh. With as many as nearly a million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar having already taken shelter in the south-eastern part of the country, there is now bad news filtering in from the neighbouring Indian state of Assam. The state, recently
By Syed Badrul Ahsan
03 Sep 18
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“Gunfights” in Bangladesh

In the past three weeks, no fewer than 130 people have died in what Bangladesh’s security forces have described as “gunfights”. The police and other forces, such as the Rapid Action Battalion, used this term to persuade citizens into believing that gangs of drug dealers and law enforcers
By Syed Badrul Ahsan
13 Jun 18
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Bangladesh: breaking with dynasty

Bangladesh tends to languish near the bottom of corruption-watchdog Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index. So it is perhaps unsurprising that former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia and her son and heir apparent, Tarique Rahman, are facing legal action over a long-
By Joseph Allchin
06 Apr 18
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The urgent need for leadership on the Rohingya crisis

Jubaida is one of a million refugees in Cox’s Bazaar, Bangladesh. When she thinks back six months, her memories of playing marbles with friends rest oddly alongside episodes of torture, death, and images of the burning home her family fled. She is 11. Jubaida, her parents, sister, and three
By Claire Rogers
21 Mar 18
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