🇧🇩 🕌 The Jamaat’s rebrand in Bangladesh – Southasia Weekly #103

This week saw several stories vying for our attention. Leaked letters from Korea’s Unification Church revealed the church’s influence on Nepal’s political parties. The exiled former prime minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, made a public address in Delhi, sparking anger. But this week saw the European Union and India sign a landmark trade agreement even as many countries in the Global North have been imposing more restrictions on Southasians. We scour the headlines week on week so you don’t have to, so make sure to sign up to our Patrons programme to support our work on Southasia, from Southasia. 

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This week in Himal

Shakeel Anwar writes about the alliance between the student-led National Citizen Party and the Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami, giving the latter a chance to rebrand ahead of the first elections after the July 2024 protests that led to the ousting of Sheikh Hasina, and revealing the country’s political condition, leading to uneasy coalitions.