Bangladesh elections on cusp of change

The election scene in neighbouring Bangladesh is on the cusp of a change with the arrival of Tarique Rahman, son of first female prime minister Khaleda Zia who founded the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). His assurance of the BNP resolutely standing for a secular polity and inclusive society should come as a balm for the Hindu minority which has been dreading the emergence of Islamists who could spell marginalisation of the large Hindu minority which is part and parcel of the nation that seceded from Pakistan in 1971 after immense bloodshed.

With former prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League banned from the contest in the elections announced for February 12 by the interim government, right wing Jamaate Islami is likely to be the major contender against the BNP. It is useful to be reminded that BNP and the Jamaat had been allies against the Awami League in previous elections. How the two former allies would now oppose each other is a matter of conjecture.