What led to the growth of the Bengali nationalism in favor of the Awami League (AL) in East Pakistan during the 1970’s election period? Was it all about politics, or did some other factors contribute to AL's victory? Did you ever wondered about it? Lets talk about it.
The Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina (Sheikh Hasina) announced at the 70th anniversary of the ruling Awami League (AL) that she will continue to successfully meet all challenges. Flanked by party leaders and supporters, the fiery leader said at a meeting last month that the largest and oldest party in this lower country is deeply rooted in public consciousness and cannot be overthrown.
On June 23, 1949, two years after Britain separated India and Pakistan, a group of disgruntled politicians formed the Awami Islamic League in East Pakistan at the time. Later, the term "Muslim" was deleted. These politicians were dissatisfied with the ruling political groups at the time. These parties advocated centralization of government, pro-Islamist prejudices and discriminatory policies against the Bangladeshi people and politicians in the east wing of Pakistan. The UAE's political agenda focused on "voting rights and the right to food" and Bangladesh's nationalism and self-determination rights. It was very popular and shocked the Western Pakistani-dominated political and military institutions.
The party won an absolute majority in the 1970 general elections, but the ruling political elite and the military refused to hand over power, sparking large-scale street protests. After the brutal military crackdown on March 25, 1971, Bangladeshi nationalists launched what they called the War of Independence.
After Bangladesh gained its independence from Pakistan that year, Hasina's father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (Sheikh Mujibur Rahman) led rampant unemployment and poverty ravaged by hunger and poverty amid the upheaval. And the Awami League government riddled with corruption. Decline and rise In August On 15, 15, 1975, a group of disgruntled soldiers and most of his family murdered the man named "Mujib". Political opponents inside and outside the Awami League are generally believed to be connected to the assassination through an international conspiracy. In November of that year, the military killed four of Mujib's allies in Dhaka prison.
The Ershad (Ershad) military regime, led by strongmen Ziaur Rahman and H.M., cooperated with the so-called Islamic political organization from 1975 to 1990. Ziau Rahman formed the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Ershad formed another nation called the Jatiya Party. AL has been in power since 2008 and won three general elections in a row. Hasina's ironclad has been rising step by step. Progressive authoritarianism The 2008 elections were seen as fairly overseen by an army-backed interim government, but the 2014 elections were seen as a blemish. When Hasina refused to allow the interim government to oversee the vote again, the rival Bangladesh National Party (BNP) and its allies boycotted the election, allowing AL to easily win a majority in parliament.
In December 2018, AL and its allies won 288 seats in the 350-seat parliament due to widespread accusations of electoral violations, such as electoral manipulation. Critics of the government cited intimidation of opponents, including religious and ethnic minorities, especially through prosecutions and enforced disappearances. Already in 2011, AL restored secularism as a fundamental principle of the country. However, due to fears of a backlash from hardline Muslims, the status quo of recognizing Islam as the "state religion" has not changed since then, nor has the reference to "Allah" in the Constitution changed. , which is a legacy of the past military government. Dr. Shantunu Majumder, associate professor of political science at Dhaka University, told ucanews.com that with the strong internal Islamism that prevailed for a time, AL has weakened its previous support for secularism.
Generally speaking, all the major parties except AL are anti-secular, but it has failed to change the public perception of secularism as an anti-religious concept. Dr. Majumder added that, therefore, if it persists, it can cause political losses. However, in recent years, freedom of expression has been restricted in dozens of killings by local Islamic radicals. Although Hasina has been accused of trying to appease hardline Islamists in the past, more than 50 militants have been killed in large-scale suppression operations and some extremist organizations have been neutralized. However, there are still no more threats with Muslim radicals, some of whom are under the influence of international terrorist organizations such as the so-called Islamic State.
Once accused of being a pro-Indian party, Los Angeles managed to maintain a balance of foreign and investment policies with regional powers India and China. In recent years, Prime Minister Hasina has sheltered thousands of Rohingya refugees fleeing persecution in Myanmar, and the country's international image has been significantly improved.
In the past ten years, the annual average growth rate of gross domestic product (GDP) has exceeded 6% to 7%, and the proportion of Bangladeshi population living below the official poverty line has fallen from 31% in 2010 to 21.8 in 2018 %. The current income per capita is $1,751. The country reached "middle income status" in 2015. Bangladesh is expected to become the world's fastest growing country in the number of high-net-worth individuals in the next five years, but in Oxfam\u2019s latest Global Inequality Index, Bangladesh ranks 148th out of 157 countries.
The Secretary of Good Governance Citizen Affairs Dr. Badiul Alam told ucanews.com that development projects and policies have created a wealthy and politically connected elite, while the poor have been ignored. Bishop Gervas Rozario, vice chairman of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Bangladesh, believes that AL has proved to be the worst person given the bad records of other political parties and military regimes. Politically speaking, most people are still immature, Bishop Rozario pointed out. Therefore, when they have income and food to eat, they do not care about democratic principles such as freedom of association and expression. This is a great weakness of democracy and very bad news.