Bangladesh’s BNP fights to make a political comeback

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has seen an upsurge in political mobilisation in recent months, with numerous large rallies held in various divisional cities, culminating in a final mega-rally in Dhaka attended by thousands of party supporters and members of the general public. This indicates that the BNP is slowly but surely making a political comeback, especially as the ruling Awami League-led government has relaxed its chokehold on the rival party following the US sanctions against a Bangladeshi law-enforcement agency, the Rapid Action Battalion, which has been accused of extrajudicial killings and human rights abuses.

The government, using state machinery, responded to the rallies with repression, arresting two top BNP leaders, Mirza Abbas and Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and keeping them incarcerated for a month. Further, the Awami League has organised counter rallies and, on the policy front, introduced "Smart Bangladesh" – replacing the previous "Digital Bangladesh" policy – promising to implement 40 mega-projects across multiple sectors by 2041.