Balancing The Wheel

With polls pending, Khaleda Zia in jail and Hasina pampering Islamists, Bangladesh is on edge

- Pranay Sharma

Bangladesh, in recent decades, has been ruled by two women. The first one, Khaleda Zia, led a regime that was corr­upt, anti-­Indian and governed with the fundamentalist Isla­mic group Jam­­aat-e-Islami, before she lost power. Sheikh Hasina, who came in next, was not very different. But despite allegations of corruption and a growing autocratic way cropping up aga­inst her, it was her avo­wed commitment to secula­rism that made the Awami League lea­der India’s preferred choice as an ally.

For New Delhi, backing Hasina meant safeguarding the interest of Hindus, while taking care of India’s security priority in keeping the eastern flank stable.

That position of comfort and dependabi­lity is being questioned by many in Bang­ladesh and India. They want New Delhi to review its decade-long position and deal with the emerging reality in Dhaka.

The discomfiture stems from the Ban­gl­adesh prime minister’s recent cosiness with radical Islamic groups like the Hefa­zat-e-Islam—which demands imposition of stricter Islamic law, including a blasphemy code—and has started worrying liberal sections in Bangladesh as well as the Indian foreign policy establishment.

Many wonder if this budding entente with Islamists is just part of an Awami League tactic to face the challenge of the year-end parliamentary polls. The worse fear, of course, remains that of Hefazat members eventually exerting significant influence over government policies to fundamentally alter the pluralistic nature of Bangladeshi society.