Bangladesh's bloody history and saga of its elections

A quick timeline of events around Bangladesh's elections over the years and the key events that took place against this backdrop.

Bangladesh is holding its General elections today. Pollsters believe that the outcome of the elections will be quite one-sided, and the results are all but certain. The incumbent PM Sheikh Hasina and her party Awami League (AL) are eyeing their fourth straight term as the main Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) are boycotting the polls.

Notably, BNP’s qualms about the fairness of Bangladesh’s electoral process has historical baggage. Very few elections in Bangladesh have been considered free and fair by all parties involved. In fact, no election held under a partisan government has been unblemished from accusations of impropriety.

In this article, we'll discuss about the timeline of Bangladesh's elections over the years and the key events that took place against the backdrop.

1971: Bangladesh was born after separating from Pakistan as a result of a long and bloody war which lasted for years. After the end of the War of Liberation, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his party Awami League took over the reigns of the country.

1975: Mujib is assassinated in a military coup along with most of his family. His two daughters Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana, who were abroad at the time, survive and seek asylum in New Delhi. Army General Ziaur Rahman takes over the throne of Dhaka.

1981: Ziaur is assassinated. His deputy Abdus Sattar takes over and wins general elections.

1996: Sheikh Hasina comes to power for the first time.

2001: BNP wins elections under caretaker government; notably, gives Cabinet ministries to Islamist Jamaat; electoral violence targets Bangladesh’s Hindu minority.

2018: Awami League wins landslide victory even as reports of violence, voter suppression, and rigging mar elections again; BNP boycotts elections once again.