The ongoing political and human rights situation in Bangladesh has triggered debate in the British Parliament, with MPs highlighting bans on political parties, corruption allegations against a UK lawmaker, and actions taken by the interim government.

Concerns over democratic norms and human rights

Over the past year, MPs have repeatedly raised concerns about human rights in Bangladesh. In a December 2024 House of Commons session, Labor MP Barry Gardiner and former home secretary Priti Patel warned about rising violence against the Hindu community. Catherine West, minister for the Indo-Pacific, said the UK government is closely monitoring the situation and remains in contact with the administration of Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus to ensure minority protection.

On July 15, MP Bob Blackman and the Bangladesh Unity Forum hosted a parliamentary event highlighting Bangladesh’s constitutional crisis. Speakers denounced the use of anti-terror laws against political opponents and described the May 2025 ban on Awami League activities as an unprecedented assault on democracy. A message was also sent to the International Criminal Court (ICC), detailing allegations of arbitrary arrests and extrajudicial killings.

UK’s stance on upcoming election

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has stressed the need for elections within a set timeframe to restore stability. It said free, fair and participatory polls are vital for a functioning democracy. British MPs have urged the interim government to publish a roadmap and call early elections, while also demanding guarantees of freedom of expression and protection for political dissent.

Corruption allegations and MP’s resignation

Another issue drawing attention was the corruption allegation raised by Bangladesh against British MP Tulip Siddiq, niece of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina. Following Hasina’s ouster, Siddiq was accused of corruption and resigned from the post of economic secretary to the treasury and city minister in January 2025, following allegations of misconduct. She has denied the allegations, calling them politically motivated propaganda.

Withdrawal of controversial report

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on the Commonwealth faced criticism over a November 2024 report accused of being biased in favors of Hasina’s ousted government. The report was withdrawn in January 2025. Labor MP Rupa Huq dismissed it as irrelevant and described it as a vicious attack on Bangladesh’s interim government.

Earlier on August 30, Gono Odhikar Parishad activists set the Jatiya Party central office on fire

The Jatiya Party (JaPa) central office in Dhaka’s Bijoynagar was once again targeted on Friday evening, as miscreants vandalized and set fire to the office. Around 7:15pm, stones were thrown at the office. Earlier, at about 6:30pm, leaders and activists of the Gono Odhikar Parishad held a demonstration at Shahbagh intersection, burning tires to demand a ban on JaPa, before marching towards the office at Bijoynagar.

Ramna police station duty officer, Sub-Inspector (SI) Sajjad Hossain, told Bangla Tribune: “Suddenly, a few miscreants launched an attack on the Jatiya Party office. They vandalized some furniture inside and set fire. On receiving the report, police quickly arrived, extinguished the fire, and brought the situation under control.”

Eyewitnesses said that around 5:45pm, a group of people gathered in front of the office, carried out several rounds of attacks, and later attempted arson. A local shopkeeper said: “Suddenly, a few youths came shouting slogans, entered the office, and began vandalizing. I saw smoke rising soon after. They dispersed when police arrived.”

The area remains tense, and this is not the first time the office has faced such attacks. Earlier on August 30, activists of Gono Odhikar Parishad set the Jatiya Party central office on fire.

Bangladesh Bank has once again invited applications from investors to establish the country’s first digital banks, with an aim of ensuring faster and more accessible financial services through a fully branchless model. In a notice issued on Tuesday, the central bank said it will accept applications between September 1 and September 30, 2025, under section 31 of the Bank Company Act, 1991.

Applicants must submit proposals with a non-refundable processing fee of Tk 5 lakh. Failure to provide the required documents will lead to automatic cancellation, it said. The central bank framed its digital bank guidelines on June 14, 2023, and recently revised them to strengthen capital and operational requirements. The minimum paid-up capital has been raised to Tk 300 crore from Tk 125 crore earlier.

Digital banks must also launch an initial public offering (IPO) within five years of licensing, with the IPO size not less than the sponsors’ initial capital. According to the guidelines, a digital bank will operate entirely online with only a head office, requiring no physical branches, sub-branches, ATMs, or cash-deposit machines.

All services will be app-based and delivered through mobile phones and other digital devices. While structurally different from traditional banks, digital banks must comply with the same business, governance, and operational standards.

Bangladesh Bank said the move reflects global shifts toward technology-driven finance and aims to widen access to credit, particularly for cottage, micro, and small enterprises (CMSEs) and underserved groups, according to the notice.

Promoting innovation-led growth and financial inclusion is also seen as crucial to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and adapting to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, it said.

This is not the first attempt to introduce digital banks.

The central bank previously invited applications in 2023 and approved Nagad as a digital bank, though the licence was later cancelled following the fall of the Awami League government in August 2024.

Currently, 61 scheduled commercial banks and 35 non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) operate in Bangladesh, with many already offering digital banking services. However, about 20 banks and 25 NBFIs have faced near collapse in recent years due to loan irregularities, mismanagement, and corruption. Critics have questioned the necessity of licensing new banks in such a troubled sector, arguing that strengthening existing institutions should take priority. Still, the central bank insists that dedicated digital banks could drive efficiency, expand outreach, and reduce costs in delivering financial products across the country.

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the High Court’s acquittal of BNP acting chair Tarique Rahman and 48 others in the August 21, 2004 grenade attack cases, effectively nullifying the lower court’s conviction of all 49 accused. At least 24 people, including senior Awami League leader Ivy Rahman, were killed and scores, including the then opposition leader and AL president Sheikh Hasina, were injured when grenades were hurled at the AL rally in front of the party central office at Paltan in the capital.

Meanwhile, any activities of the Awami League have been banned until the competition of trials of those involved in the crimes against humanity committed during the July 2024 mass uprising that ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina and she fled to India on August 5, 2024.

On October 10, 2018, Dhaka’s Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 sentenced 19 people, including former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar, to death, Tarique Rahman and 18 others to life term imprisonment, and 11 more to various prison terms.

Tarique, along with 15 other accused, was tried in absentia, as he has been living in London since 2008. The Appellate Division also struck down the High Court directive for a further investigation into the attack, in the verdict that such an instruction to the executive branch violated the constitutional principle of separation of powers.

The apex court emphasised that courts should not interfere in matters of government policy, citing the constitutional principle of separation of powers. It also ruled that the HC observation amounted to judicial overreach by stepping into the domain of policymaking. As a result, the apex court ordered that part of the HC judgment to be expunged.

The chief justice, Syed Refaat Ahmed, pronounced the unanimous decision of the six-judge bench in 12 minutes in a crowded courtroom while dismissing the state’s appeal that challenged the High Court verdict delivered on December 1, 2024, acquitting Tarique, Babar, and 47 others of murder and charges related to explosives, citing legal and procedural flaws in the 2018 trial-court judgment.

Five other Appellate Division judges were Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam, Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury, Justice Md Rezaul Haque, Justice SM Emdadul Hoque, and Justice Farah Mahbub. The Appellate Division issued an order in advance asking the jail authorities to immediately release all the acquitted individuals unless they were wanted in other cases.

It also cited serious doubts over the voluntariness of second confessional statements made in 2007 by three accused — Harkat-ul Jihad leader Mufti Hannan, his brother Mohibullah, and Moulana Sharif Shahidul Alam — all within five and a half hours in a single day.

The Appellate Division observed that the prosecution’s case was significantly weakened by the execution of accused Mufti Abdul Hannan before he could be examined under Section 342 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Mufti Hannan was executed on April 12, 2017 in connection with the grenade attack on then British high commissioner Anwar Choudhury in Sylhet on May 21, 2004. The attack injured Anwar Choudhury and killed two bystanders and a police officer. The apex court stated that the second-occasion confessions were either extracted under coercion or made under oppressive and unlawful conditions.

As a result, the apex court ruled, the confessions failed to meet the legal standard of reliability and could not be used as credible evidence. This finding played a key role in upholding the HC decision to acquit the accused.

The Appellate Division said that several accused, including Mufti Abdul Hannan, were in a prolonged custody — some in death-row cells — before being presented to magistrates in 2007 for recording the confessional statement. Others were held in police custody for extended periods without proper judicial oversight.

The court highlighted that the 2007 confessional statements by Hannan and three other convicts had been recorded on the same day by a single magistrate in what it called an ‘unusual haste,’ violating procedural safeguards.

It further pointed out that the accused had later retracted their confessions, alleging they were made under duress, including torture and illegal detention by law enforcement agencies. On October 10, 2018, Dhaka’s Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 sentenced the 19 people to death, Tarique and 18 others to life-term imprisonment, and 11 more to varying prison terms.

The High Court acquitted all the convicts and asked the home ministry to initiate a proper investigation by expert and impartial agencies to ensure justice for the victims. The verdict read, ‘This heinous and tragic incident requires a thorough and independent investigation to bring justice to the victims, including Ivy Rahman, the then AL leader, and others who lost their lives. The earlier proceedings failed to deliver fair justice.’

Earlier in 2011, a supplementary charge sheet added 30 new accused, including Tarique Rahman and Lutfozzaman Babar, based on Hannan’s second confession in 2007. This followed a fresh investigation launched in 2009 during the Awami League regime. Sixty-one witnesses testified during the trial. The original charge sheet, submitted in 2007, named 22 accused, including Mufti Hannan, former BNP state minister Abdus Salam Pintu, and Moulana Tajuddin. Altogether, 49 people were tried and convicted.

Two cases — one for the murders and another under the Explosive Substances Act — were filed by the police against unidentified people in connection with the grenade attack.

The HC verdict observed that 30 additional individuals, including Tarique, Babar, former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s political secretary Harris Chowdhury, Jamaat-e-Islami leader Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujahid, who was executed in a war crime case, and former National Security Intelligence director general Rezzakul Haider Chowdhury, were named in a supplementary charge sheet.

Chief defence counsel SM Shajahan told New Age that it was true that many people were killed in the grenade attack but the trial targeted the wrong individuals to harass them politically as the real perpetrators were not properly identified due to a flawed investigation.

Md Jalal, branded as ‘Joj Miah,’ spent four years in jail after being falsely implicated in the August 21, 2004 grenade attack case. His wrongful detention highlighted flaws in the investigation during the BNP regime. Jalal, hailing from Senbagh, Noakhali, was imprisoned from June 10, 2005 to June 27, 2009. He was exonerated of the murder charges after CID superintendent Fazlul Kabir submitted the first charge sheet on June 9, 2008.

The Election Commission (EC) has finalized the boundaries of 300 constituencies for the upcoming 13th National Parliamentary Election and issued a gazette notification. Senior Secretary of the EC Secretariat, Akhtar Ahmed, announced the move on Thursday evening, saying, “The boundary notification for the 300 parliamentary constituencies has been issued and will be published in the gazette.”

According to the final list, Gazipur has gained one additional seat, increasing its constituencies from five to six, while Bagerhat has lost one, reducing its constituencies from four to three. In Brahmanbaria-3, the constituency now covers Brahmanbaria Sadar Upazila and the unions of Ichapura, Champaknagar, Pattan, Dakhin Singerbil, Paharpur, and Harashpur in Bijoynagar Upazila.

Ahead of the election, a specialized committee reviewed constituency boundaries. On July 30, the EC published a draft that kept 261 constituencies unchanged from the 13th Parliament, with minor changes to 39 constituencies. Citizens had until August 10 to submit objections or suggestions.

The EC received 1,893 responses, including 1,185 objections concerning 84 constituencies across 33 districts, and 708 recommendations. Both supporters and opponents voiced opinions, which the EC first reviewed. From August 24–27, hearings were held over four consecutive days to examine the objections. Following the review, the secretary had said the final list would be published as soon as possible. Click Here to see the 300 seat distribution list.

Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain has said BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman’s desire to return to the country is entirely his own. If there was any problem regarding his travel documents, it will be resolved, he said on Thursday evening at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs while responding to journalists’ questions on contemporary issues.

The adviser said he was not aware whether Tarique Rahman has applied for a passport. “Whenever he comes, whatever passport or travel document is required, we will be able to provide it,” he added. Asked whether the government would take the initiative on its own, he said: “I think that is not necessary. When he wants to return to the country, we will definitely provide as much assistance as we can.”

On a question regarding whether there had been any contact with India after sending the most recent letter to bring back ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, he said: “After that, we did not send any more letters on this. It was sent once; if it is sent again, you will know.”

The Trump administration has finally named its nominee for US ambassador to Bangladesh, choosing a seasoned career diplomat to fill the top post at its Dhaka mission.

Brent Christensen, of Virginia, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Counselor, has been nominated to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, according to an announcement on the White House’s official website dated September 2, 2025.

Christensen’s name was unveiled in a slew of appointments and nominations, that included the nomination of the current State Department spokesperson, Tammy Bruce, as ambassador to the United Nations, and Sergey Gor as ambassador to India.

All three nominations are subject to approval by the Senate.

Christensen has previous experience in Bangladesh, having served as Counselor for Political and Economic Affairs at the US Embassy here from 2019-2021, according to his official profile on the State Department’s website.

Early on in his career, he also served as Bangladesh Country Officer in the Office of Pakistan and Bangladesh Affairs, which no longer exists under that name, at the State Department.

His other appointments include Deputy Director, Office of Regional Security and Arms Transfers, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs at the Department of State (2016-2019), and as a Pearson Fellow on detail to the majority staff of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific (2015-2016).

He has also been Special Assistant to the Special Representative for North Korea Policy, Bureau of East Asia and Pacific Affairs Cyber Coordinator, Deputy Counselor for Economic Affairs at the US Embassy in Manila, Deputy Economic Counselor at the US Embassy in San Salvador, Economic Officer at the US Embassy in Riyadh, and Vice Consul at the US Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

The US Embassy in Dhaka has been running without an ambassador since Peter Haas wrapped up his eventful tenure in the summer of 2024.

Since then, a series of charge de affaires or CDAs have filled the role, with Tracey Ann Jacobson, the current CDA, having been in the position since January.

The Bangladesh ambassador to Washington DC post has been vacant since Asad Alam Siam became foreign secretary

Dhaka: Ambassador Tareq Md Ariful Islam, who served as the permanent representative of Bangladesh to the UN Offices in Geneva, is going to be Bangladesh’s next ambassador to the United States. The post of Bangladesh ambassador to Washington DC has remained vacant for months since Ambassador Asad Alam Siam was appointed foreign secretary.

A senior official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told on Wednesday that Ambassador Tareq has moved out of Geneva to Washington DC. Tareq served as Bangladesh envoy to Sri Lanka before his appointment as Bangladesh envoy to the UN offices in Geneva in June 2024, succeeding Ambassador Mohammad Sufiur Rahman in this capacity. Ambassador Tareq, a career diplomat belonging to the 17th batch of the BCS (Foreign Affairs) Cadre, joined the service in 1998.

Prior to taking up the current position in November 2020, he was serving as the Deputy Permanent Representative in the Bangladesh Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York.

As for his other assignments abroad, he had another stint (from 2005 to 2009) in the New York Permanent Mission as First Secretary initially and at the later part as Counsellor. He then served in the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata, India (2009-2012) as counsellor as well.

At the headquarters, he served as director general (South Asia Wing) and before that in various other capacities, including director (South Asia Wing), director (Foreign Minister’s Office) as well as in the personnel wing and the foreign secretary’s office.

Ambassador Tareq obtained a Master of Diplomacy and Trade degree from the Monash University, Australia and a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet).

Brahma Chellaney: The recent violent upheaval that led to a military-backed regime change in Bangladesh, followed by the country’s pleas for $6.5 billion in international bailouts, raise concerns about the future direction of the world’s eighth most-populous country.
The toppling of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government has also triggered an ominous resurgence of radical Islamism, including systematic attacks on religious minorities.

As recently as 2022, Bangladesh was seen internationally as headed toward rapid economic development. But today, nothing better illustrates the unraveling of Bangladesh’s economic success story than its urgent requests for a new $3 billion International Monetary Fund bailout, as well as $1.5 billion from the World Bank and $1 billion each from the Asian Development Bank and the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

Hasina, while becoming increasingly undemocratic during her over 15-year reign, gave Bangladesh political stability and impressive economic growth, before the global economic fallout from the Ukraine war began weighing on Bangladeshi finances. In fact, the country’s stability and remarkable-growth trajectory stood in stark contrast to the chronic political and economic turmoil in Pakistan, from which Bangladesh seceded in 1971 following a bloody war of liberation that left up to 3 million civilians dead in a genocide perpetrated by the Pakistani army and other pro-Pakistan forces.

Today, the military-picked interim civilian-led regime is struggling to restore the rule of law and revive an economy pummeled by large-scale mob violence and destruction that both preceded and followed Hasina’s overthrow in a youth-led uprising, with her loss of support from the powerful military proving decisive. The military has traditionally been a key player in Bangladeshi politics.

Several hundred people were killed in the violence, many in police firings but also in shootings by Islamists and other rioters, some of whom, according to the new regime, looted rifles from law-enforcement officers and others. Mobs also captured some policemen, beating them to death. At least 44 policemen were killed by mobs, with bodies of some hung from bridges in Dhaka, the nation’s capital.

With the overthrow of the 76-year-old “Iron Lady,” the Islamists have returned with a vengeance, resulting in widespread attacks on the country’s long-persecuted and dwindling Hindu minority.

To make matters worse, political vendettas have gained momentum, as the new regime has engaged in or condoned human rights abuses, including purges, arbitrary arrests, physical assaults on political detainees in courts and curtailment of the rights to liberty and freedom of expression. Academics, journalists, former justices, local officials, lawyers, political opponents and other dissidents have also been jailed on trumped-up murder charges.

In a case last weekend, an ailing, 75-year-old retired Supreme Court justice, after being arrested in a dehumanizing manner, was so badly beaten up in a magistrate’s court, including repeatedly kicked in the groin, that he needed emergency surgery.

All this raises the question whether Bangladesh could go the way of Pakistan, whose broken economy and dysfunctional politics have engendered unending violence, including Islamist extremism and cross-border terrorism. Elections in Pakistan have failed to weaken the vise-like grip of its military on national politics.

Like in Pakistan, the military in Bangladesh has now returned as the final arbiter in national politics, with the army chief becoming the power behind the throne. As if to let the cat out of the bag, M. Sakhawat Hussain, a retired military general holding a minister-level position in the interim regime, warned those pursuing political extortion that he had “requested the army chief to break your legs.” The interim administration, led by an 84-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner, Muhammad Yunus, lacks constitutional legitimacy.

The Bangladeshi military holds substantial commercial assets in multiple economic sectors, like Pakistan’s armed forces.

Just as Pakistan continues to teeter on the brink of default, the Bangladesh economy is in dire straits, with foreign reserves dwindling rapidly, inflation spiraling, the banking sector in turmoil and economic activity largely at a standstill. It will not be easy to restore the confidence of foreign investors after the large-scale looting, vandalism and arson since July. Many countries’ advisories against travel to Bangladesh remain in effect.

Today, the Islamist resurgence poses a serious law-and-order challenge in Bangladesh, as it has long done in Pakistan. In fact, just as Pakistan’s military maintains cozy alliances with militant groups, the Bangladesh military has had a nexus with radical Islamists.

Hasina’s secular government had cracked down on such violent religious groups. But amid the protests, mobs broke into prisons and freed hundreds of radical Islamists and terrorists, including those wanted in India for terror activity. The attacks on prisons began more than two weeks before the government’s toppling, but gathered pace in the aftermath of Hasina’s forced departure to India. The Hizb ut-Tahrir extremist group, which was proscribed by Hasina and some Western governments, is now operating freely in Bangladesh, holding big rallies.

It was Bangladesh’s chief of the army, Gen. Waker-uz-Zaman, who told the nation in a televised address on Aug. 5 that Hasina had quit and left the country, saying he was “taking full responsibility” and would help to “form an interim government.”

But, instead of a broad-based government of national unity, a partisan administration is now in office that includes two student protest leaders, a hard-line Islamist preacher and three retired military generals. This has contributed to continuing purges, as well as revenge attacks and killings.

Bangladesh is a highly polarized country with a poisonous political culture that, over the decades, has fostered a cycle of frenzied violence and deadly retributions. The recent brutal violence is the latest example.

Without sincere efforts to initiate national reconciliation and healing, the deep splits in Bangladesh will likely stoke greater hate, vengeance and economic disruption, with the risk that the nation could become a mirror image of its old nemesis, Pakistan.

Pakistan intensifies outreach to Bangladesh, seeking new partnerships as regional power dynamics shift.

Islamabad, Pakistan – When the foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, landed at Dhaka airport on a windswept, overcast morning on August 23, it was the first time in 13 years that such a senior Pakistani official had visited Bangladesh, which had broken from Pakistan 54 years ago.

Dar, who also serves as Pakistan’s deputy prime minister, struck an optimistic tone, calling the “historic” tour the start of “a new phase of our reinvigorated partnership”.

Acknowledging a thaw in bilateral relations, he pointed to the “significant progress” made over the past year.

“We must work together to create an environment where youth from Karachi to Chittagong, Quetta to Rajshahi, Peshawar to Sylhet and Lahore to Dhaka join hands to face challenges and realise their shared dreams,” Dar said, naming cities across both countries.

His visit symbolised a breakthrough after months of diplomatic and military engagements between Pakistan and Bangladesh. Relations have warmed rapidly since the August 2024 ouster of former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was widely perceived as being close to India, and who was forced out by massive student-led protests.

But Masood Khalid, Pakistan’s former ambassador to China, cautioned that the past continues to complicate trust-building between the two nations.

“The new government of Bangladesh has responded positively to Pakistan’s gestures. Clearly, there were artificial barriers to close relations that have now been removed,” he told Al Jazeera.

What was now needed, he said, was a “framework for deeper engagement, where constructive dialogue can dispel misunderstandings”.

Military and diplomatic engagements intensify

While Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus, leader of Bangladesh’s interim government, twice last year, few analysts expected such a swift improvement in ties, or the regular, high-level exchanges that followed.

In January, Lieutenant General S M Kamr-ul-Hassan of the Bangladesh Army visited Islamabad to meet Pakistan’s army chief, General Asim Munir. In February, Bangladesh’s naval chief, Admiral Mohammad Nazmul Hassan, followed, and two months later, Pakistani Foreign Secretary Amna Baloch travelled to Dhaka.

Dar’s trip had been delayed by Pakistan’s four-day clash with India in May, but July saw Minister of Interior Mohsin Naqvi visiting Dhaka.

Dar’s eventual arrival in Dhaka in August coincided with that of Lieutenant General Muhammad Faizur Rahman, the quartermaster general of the Bangladesh Army in Pakistan, where he held talks with the chairman of the Pakistani Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, General Sahir Shamshad Mirza.

Delwar Hossain, an international relations professor at the University of Dhaka, said that Pakistan’s “hasty efforts” to strengthen ties are strategic.

“Pakistan was trying to normalise relations even under the Hasina government. Now they see an opportunity to revive the bond they enjoyed in the post-1975 era,” he told Al Jazeera, referencing the period after the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh’s founder and Hasina’s father.

Relations between Islamabad and Dhaka normalised under Ziaur Rahman, Bangladesh’s military chief-turned-president, who led the country from late 1975 until he, too, was assassinated in 1981.

“Regime change has historically created a binary of friendship and antagonism in Bangladesh’s ties with India and Pakistan. Pakistan may also want to exploit the current tensions in Bangladesh-India relations. This is a common diplomatic practice,” Hossain added.

Bangladesh’s war of independence legacy

For decades, Islamabad and New Delhi have viewed ties with Dhaka through the prism of their rivalry, a dynamic rooted in Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence.

When Pakistan and India gained independence from Britain in 1947, Pakistan was created as a Muslim-majority state with two geographically separated wings.

The western wing, home to about 34 million people of diverse ethnicities, was seen as dominant. The eastern wing, East Pakistan — which would become Bangladesh — was more populous, with more than 42 million Bengali speakers. India stood between the two parts of Pakistan.

As grievances grew in the east, India supported the Bengali liberation struggle. Pakistan’s military and allied militias carried out atrocities, killing hundreds of thousands of people and allegedly raping an estimated 200,000 women.

With India’s military backing, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his Awami League party led Bangladesh to independence. He became the country’s founding president.

Hasina, who led Bangladesh for 16 years before her removal last year, is widely seen as close to India, where she has been living since last year.

Aizaz Chaudhry, Pakistan’s former foreign secretary, said that the shared grievances over India’s “regional hegemony” have spurred Islamabad and Dhaka to repair ties.

“Bangladeshis have experienced Indian hegemony, and we, in Pakistan, saw it in the May conflict. Both nations now understand the need for balance of power in South Asia,” he told Al Jazeera.

In May, India and Pakistan fought a brief but intense four-day aerial war after gunmen killed 26 people, mostly tourists, in an attack in Pahalgam, in Indian-administered Kashmir. India has blamed Pakistan for the attack, allegations that Islamabad rejects.

Shahab Enam Khan, the executive director of the Bangladesh Center for Indo-Pacific Affairs, described Dhaka’s relationship with New Delhi as “lukewarm”, despite India being a significant neighbour, but added that foreign policy is driven by economic imperatives.

“Anti-India sentiment is often exaggerated,” he said. “Bangladesh historically avoids viewing relations, especially with Pakistan, through a purely security or military lens, preferring economic and regional cooperation.”

China’s growing role

Regional dynamics are further complicated by China’s growing influence in South Asia. Beijing, a close ally of Islamabad, had strong relations with Hasina, who successfully juggled her friendship with India and China – though the two Asian giants are otherwise rivals.

Dhaka University’s Hossain said that China had managed to retain a significant presence in Bangladesh even after Hasina’s ouster. In March, Yunus visited Beijing, followed by Bangladesh Army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman’s weeklong China trip in August.

“Bangladesh is considering buying 12 J-10C fighter jets to boost its air power,” he added, referring to Chinese-made planes that Pakistan also has, and that Islamabad used in the May conflict. China is also Pakistan’s closest strategic partner, and the source of both economic loans and investments as well as military equipment.

“These developments are bringing Dhaka and Islamabad closer, transforming ties into a strong partnership,” Hossain said.

Trade, politics as countries seek partnership

Dar’s two-day visit to Bangladesh was packed with meetings, including talks with Yunus and Adviser for Foreign Affairs Touhid Hossain.

He also met leaders from a range of political parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), and the student-led National Citizen Party (NCP), which spearheaded the protests that toppled Hasina.

Those meetings were particularly significant as Bangladesh is preparing for elections in early 2026, said Abdul Basit, a former Pakistani high commissioner to India. “No matter what happens between India and Bangladesh, Pakistan and Bangladesh will forge ahead,” he told Al Jazeera. “We have issues from the past, but they can be handled skilfully and should not become barriers.”

Both could benefit from closer economic relations, too, suggested Pakistan’s former China ambassador Khalid and Dhaka University’s Hossain.

Bangladesh, with a growth rate of 6 percent since 2021, is among South Asia’s fastest-growing economies. Pakistan lags behind, recording 2.5 percent growth last year. At the moment, bilateral trade is modest, tilted towards Pakistan, whose exports to Bangladesh totalled $661m in 2024, compared with $57m in imports.

But if both countries try and revitalise trade relations, Hossain said they could each benefit from the other – both as a source of raw materials and as a potential market.

The academic said Bangladesh may benefit from importing cotton and textile products, rice, cement, fruits and processed food from Pakistan. On the other hand, Pakistan can import jute and jute products, hydrogen peroxide, chemicals and tobacco products from Bangladesh.

“Bangladesh and Pakistan have a combined population of 430 million”, he pointed out, “which is more than twice the size of West Europe”.

Historical grievances remain

The deepest fault line in Pakistan-Bangladesh relations is the legacy of the 1971 war. Dhaka continues to demand a formal apology for the atrocities.

Then there is the dispute over the status of more than 200,000 Urdu-speaking Muslims in Bangladesh. After the partition in 1947, the community had mostly moved to East Pakistan from Bihar in present-day India. East Pakistan — today Bangladesh — was closer to Bihar geographically than West Pakistan. But Bangladesh, whose formation in 1971 was built on Bengali nationalism, has only given Urdu-speaking Muslims limited rights, and wants Pakistan to take them, something Islamabad is reluctant to do.

Bangladesh also seeks a division of the pre-1971 assets of the state of Pakistan, and the transfer of aid that was promised by West Pakistan to East Pakistan in 1970 after a devastating cyclone, in which an estimated 300,000 people died. The slow and largely inadequate response of the West Pakistan-based government is cited by many historians as a major catalyst for the liberation war that led to the formation of Bangladesh.

Still, Chaudhry, the former Pakistani foreign secretary, argued that public sentiment in both countries supports reconciliation.

“People of Pakistan are also as sad about the events of 1971 as the people of Bangladesh. I think this pain is common, and people in both countries now want to move on,” Chaudhry said.

However, Dhaka University’s Hossain said that, despite strong support from the current political forces for strengthening Bangladesh-Pakistan relations, issues related to the 1971 war continue to remain a barrier for improved ties.

“It is important to remember that the ouster of Hasina from power has not fundamentally changed the mindsets of the people of Bangladesh about the liberation war and an expectation from Pakistan for healing the past,” Hossain said.

Still, he added, Dhaka did not want to stay stuck in the past either.

“Diplomacy is a dynamic process. Both the countries can move forward for cooperation in economic, diplomatic and cultural sectors, while they will continue to maintain the healing process,” he said.