The hastily struck tariff deal with the Trump administration has brought a measure of relief to Bangladesh, both economically and politically. But if the early signs are any indication, the story is far from over. Reports in the media have mostly focused on the positives—most notably, a surge in orders for readymade garments, in some cases rerouted from neighboring countries facing higher tariffs. Some US buyers are now diverting orders to Bangladesh, giving the impression of a short-term boost. Encouraging as this may be for the apparel sector, the bigger picture is still unfolding, and the long-term impact is anything but clear. Trade Adviser Sheikh Bashir Uddin has revealed that the government is working to reduce the US-imposed reciprocal tariff from 20 percent to 15 percent. Speaking to reporters on August 13, he said talks with Washington were ongoing and that a reduction could come before the final agreement. “We hope that the steps we have taken to reduce the US-Banglades...

 In the hours before Sheikh Hasina fled Gonobhaban, her official residence in Dhaka, on 5 August, Bangladeshi security forces killed scores of protesters who had joined a huge march to the capital demanding an end to her autocratic rule. Around the same time, it has since been reported, Hasina had pressured the army chief to enforce a curfew using deadly force, which would have meant the military joining the bloodbath. The army chief refused. The prime minister’s desperate hold on power finally slipped when security chiefs warned that the advancing protesters would reach Gonobhaban within an hour and they doubted their ability to contain the crowd. Speculation that India, her strongest international ally, would intervene in her favour proved unfounded, and Hasina was left at the mercy of the military, which ultimately facilitated her escape across the border. She wound up at a safe house in Delhi, trying but failing to gain asylum in the United Kingdom. All told, the...

  The recent designation of Bangladesh’s former army chief, Lieutenant General (Rtd) Aziz Ahmed, by the United States under its anti-kleptocracy and human rights law has raised significant questions, particularly: why now? This designation, under Section 7031(C), disqualifies him and his immediate family members from obtaining entry visas to the US. In an interview with this daily, Aziz himself questioned the timing, noting that he could have been banned in 2021 when Al-Jazeera aired the investigative documentary All the Prime Minister’s Men, which alleged gross misuse of power and significant corruption by him. He recalled that despite the controversy, his official visit to Washington proceeded as planned, even though nine NGOs had called for its cancellation. This decision drew strong criticism from activists. The timing of this measure is particularly puzzling as it follows a visit by  US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Donald Lu, aimed at "rebu...

On 7 January, Bangladesh’s prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, is set to claim re-election in what some observers have called “staged polling”, the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has termed a “dummy election” and   The Economist  has described as a “farce”. Desperate to avoid a genuine democratic exercise, Hasina’s government has preemptively removed its only real challenger from the field. More than twenty thousand BNP activists are behind bars, as are key BNP leaders, and the opposition party has decided to boycott the election rather than contest an unfair vote. The farce is best explained with the facts. For the 300 directly elected seats in Bangladesh’s parliament, the ruling Awami League has official nominees in 263 constituencies. In addition, it also has 269 party members standing as “independent” candidates, meaning there are two or sometimes even more Awami League candidates in many places – and that’s not counting the candidates of other parties allied to ...

  Our worst apprehension, which we so desperately wanted to escape, has tragically become reality with an avoidable loss of lives - of a policeman and an opposition activist. With the government’s change of heart in allowing the opposition BNP to hold its grand rally in front of its party office in Nayapaltan, Dhaka, we thought the tension that had risen due to the ruling party’s vow to keep hold on the city streets would be eased. Despite reports of several obstructive measures being put in place to restrict a huge flow of opposition supporters entering Dhaka, there was little chances, until midday, that the protest would become violent.  Observers were rather worried over how the stand-off between police and Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh activists over the latter’s vow to hold an unauthorised grand rally at Shapla Chattar turn out. Instead of any trouble, Jamaat was allowed to have its rally, just a few hundred metres away from their planned spot in Motijheel. It was so content...

After exactly 4 years and 11 months, we saw with huge disappointment that the European Union has decided not to deploy a full-fledged election monitoring mission in Bangladesh for the coming parliamentary elections. It was  October 18, 2018,   that the then EU delegation chief in Dhaka communicated their decision to the then chief election commissioner K M Nurul Huda that they would not be sending an election observation mission. At that time the EU didn’t give any reason for its decision. It, however, said that they would send two experts with a mandate to work on the electoral process and submit their recommendations to the European Commission. Since then we have not heard anything about their visit, recommendations, and the purpose of such exercise. This time, the EU has explained the reasons behind its decision for refraining from election monitoring to the Election Commission. But there was no public announcement. According to EC Secretary Jahangir Alam, the EU decision h...

The welcoming reactions from the mainstream opposition parties to the recently announced visa policy by the United States for Bangladesh was predictable, as they have been relentlessly complaining about the systematic destruction of a credible electoral institution. But the often confused reactions from the government and the ruling party seem surreal, as if this foreign intervention in favour of a free and fair election in the country is a blessing for them, too. The official reaction given by the foreign ministry was so welcoming that Matthew Miller, spokesperson of the US Department of State, said, “We were heartened by the announcement from the government yesterday (May 24) that welcomed the steps that we took.” The foreign ministry statement, perhaps, was symptomatic of the consistently inconsistent statements made by the minister-in-charge. We have heard countless times from Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen that his government does not want any country to get involved in Banglades...

After months of speculation and anticipation, Bangladesh has unveiled its ‘Indo-Pacific outlook’(IPO) that ‘envisions a free, open, peaceful, secure, and inclusive Indo- Pacific for the shared prosperity for all.’ The United States, which originally conceived and floated the Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS) and has been urging Bangladesh for the last few years to join them in implementing the IPS. Though Bangladesh doesn’t use the term strategy or IPS, the vision it lays out is remarkably similar to the IPS.  If we review the joint statement made on June 2, 2022 after the Second Bangladesh - US High-Level Economic Consultation held in Washington, it would be difficult to differentiate the language. The joint statement under the subhead Infrastructure/ Trade reads,”Both countries share a common vision of a free, open, inclusive, peaceful, and secure Indo-Pacific region with shared prosperity for all.”   These words have been repeated innumerable times by the US officials to def...