Hope, fear as Bangladesh votes today

There is hardly any traffic on the otherwise notoriously congested roads of Dhaka. Young boys play cricket on the streets as most shops and offices are shut ahead of the Thursday polling to elect a new government in India’s eastern neighbor.

Campaign posters and festoons adorn every nook and corner, promising a new Bangladesh. Graffiti condemning the ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is a reminder of the 2024 Gen-Z uprising that swept away the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government, forcing the former PM into exile.

Thirteen crore registered voters will elect 299 lawmakers of the 300 parliamentary seats. The election results, expected to pour in by Thursday night, will decide the next prime minister. People will also vote on a referendum seeking political and constitutional reforms. Over nine lakh security forces have been deployed to ensure free and fair polls in a country that has been reporting a steady rise in violent incidents against its minorities.

At the Rabindra Sarovar Park, close to the house of the first Prime Minister, Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, that was gutted in last year’s protests, young boys are discussing the country’s politics over cups of bhaanrer cha (tea in a handleless clay cup). It is the quintessential adda that defines the spirit of Bengalis across borders, regardless of their religion.

There is a cautious optimism in the air.

“I want to see a government that is free from corruption and ensure freedom of speech for everyone, irrespective of caste, creed and religion. As citizens, we should vouch for protection of the rights of everyone, including women,” says 19-year-old Turzo, who wants to be a civil engineer.

He recognises the role of India in the 1971 liberation war, wants the new government to have a relationship based on mutual trust and respect with its biggest neighbour, but argues that Delhi should deport Hasina to face punishment for her crimes.

Unlike Turzo, though, not many are speaking freely to journalists on the second elections in less than two years.

The BNP (Bangladesh Nationalist Party) led by Tarique Rahman, son of former PM Khalida Zia, who returned to Bangladesh only in December last year after 17 years of political exile, is the frontrunner.

He is challenged by the radical Jamaat-e-Islami led by 67-year-old former government doctor Shafiqur Rahman, backed by smaller parties and the National Citizens Party or NCP, born out of the GenZ students’ movement led by popular face Nahid Islam.

The Awami League, which enjoyed 15 long years in power under Hasina, has not been allowed to contest by the interim Mohammed Yunus regime.

Minorities and Bangladeshi Hindus, who constitute around 10% of the electorate, are asking if the elections would indeed be fair. Many are undecided if they should vote at all or choose the BNP, which they see as a lesser evil compared to the radical Jamaat.

“If Jamaat wins, they will implement sharia law,” warns Monindra Kumar Nath, acting General Secretary of the Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, an umbrella organisation of minority groups. Manik Rai, a Bangladeshi Hindu doctor, has decided to boycott the polls and feels the future looks bleak with the current options.

But the Jamaat Emir, who met foreign journalists on Wednesday afternoon, insisted that everyone is equal in Bangladesh. It is a claim many question, given Jamaat’s history of connivance with the Pakistan army in the liberation war.

Also concerning is the issue of women’s rights, with the Jamaat talking about separate public transport and education spaces for the gender that forms 51% of the country’s population. Women who have been the backbone of the country’s textile sector, and at the front of several social and political movements over the decades, are hoping that gender segregation does not become their lived reality in a new Bangladesh.

It’s an issue the BNP has latched onto to woo women voters.

“We will financially and socially empower the mother of the house and give further opportunity to live with dignity where even the male members of the family will be depending on them,” claimed Mahdi Amin, the advisor to Tarique Rehman, in an exclusive conversation.