Political protests paralyse Bangladesh daily life
Protests have become part of daily life in Bangladesh's capital, with residents either taking part as political parties jostle for power after an uprising last year -- or avoiding them.
The South Asian nation of around 170 million people has been in political turmoil since former prime minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted in August 2024, fleeing by helicopter as crowds stormed her palace.
Hasina's 15-year-long authoritarian rule contained protests like a pressure cooker, until the student-led movement spearheaded a revolt that toppled her from power.
On Wednesday, at least half a dozen demonstrations were held in the sprawling megacity of Dhaka, home to more than 20 million people.
This was a typical day, with the demonstrations ranging from political rallies and counter-protests, to worker strikes and celebrations at the release of an Islamist leader from death row.
"I got released this morning after being imprisoned for 14 years," A.T.M. Azharul Islam said, waving at thousands of supporters of the country's main Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami.
The tight-packed crowd cheered as the senior leader was released from a prison hospital in central Dhaka, a day after the Supreme Court overturned his death sentence and acquitted him of war crimes.
"There was no justice in the past... we expect the court will ensure that the people get justice in the coming days," Islam said.
Leftist parties say they will demonstrate in opposition to his release.
Across Ramna Park in the neighbourhood of Naya Paltan, thousands choked the streets as part of a rally in support of the Bangladesh National Party (BNP).
Political parties are readying for hugely anticipated elections which the interim government has vowed will take place by June 2026 at the latest.
- 'Unpredictable' -
While tens of thousands gather at major intersections across Dhaka with their demands, others spend hours navigating their way through traffic-snarled streets.
"All the major roads are blocked during the day," chicken seller Zakir Hossain said Wednesday.
"We've had to shift our schedules. I start work at midnight now, even though the law and order situation is worsening every day, and muggings have become common."
It worries many, remembering the violence last year when police tried -- and failed -- to crush the protests that toppled Hasina.
"The situation is unpredictable -- the protests can turn violent at any moment," said a 43-year-old housewife, asking not to be identified as her husband is a government employee.
"I never used to call my husband much, but now I do. If he is even a little late coming home from the office, all sorts of bad thoughts come to my mind."
Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus, the 84-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner who is leading the caretaker government as its chief adviser until elections are held, has called for parties to build unity and calm intense political power struggles.
The government warned on Saturday that "unreasonable demands" and obstruction had been "continuously obstructing" its work.
- 'A balance' -
Yunus has said polls could be held as early as December but that having them later would give the government more time for reform.
Rallies organised by the powerful BNP are calling for the government to set an election date, as well as a raft of other demands, including the sacking of multiple members of Yunus's cabinet.
In other protests, tax authority workers, angered at an overhaul of the body that would place it under the finance ministry's control, held a two-week partial strike.
That escalated on Sunday when security forces surrounded the national tax headquarters, before the government later backtracked on its reform.
Civil servants this week also demonstrated at the main government ministry complex to rally against orders changing employment rules -- which the government then said it will reconsider.
On the streets, the protests continue.
"Customers rarely come to the bank when they see the roads blocked," said bank manager Muhammed Sazzad.
While he supported the right to assemble, he suggested the government "could designate a specific area for protests".
Rakib Hasan Anik, a lecturer at the Bangladesh University of Professionals, said that "academic discipline is suffering", with students stuck in traffic and missing class.
"There needs to be a balance," he said. "We can only hope all sides reach a consensus that prioritises the public."
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Newsweek
29 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Hamas Ally Calls on Group to Accept 'Partial' Ceasefire in Gaza
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The Intercept
an hour ago
- The Intercept
Trump Travel Ban Punishes Victims of the U.S. War Machine
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In a video address posted on social media, Trump said a recent terror attack in Boulder, Colorado, 'underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted, as well as those who come here as temporary visitors and overstay their visas.' He added, 'We don't want 'em.' The man charged with that attack is from Egypt, which is not one of the countries listed in the travel ban. The list overlaps with the sites of U.S. military and CIA misadventures stretching back more than a century, including Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen. The inclusion of Afghanistan angered many who have worked to resettle its people in America. The travel ban makes exceptions for Afghans on Special Immigrant Visas, or SIV — a classification granted to people who worked closely with the U.S. government during the two-decade-long war there. That still leaves many former allies and their families on the outside looking in. 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'However, there are still many allies who served shoulder-to-shoulder with the United States who are being left behind because they do not qualify for the SIV program,' he said. 'This includes those who were injured in the line of duty and were unable to complete a full year of service, the women and men of the Afghan National Army who trained and served with U.S. Special Forces, and many more.' 'People in other nations fall victim to the same cycle — trusting U.S. promises, only to be abandoned when perceived strategic interests shift.' Trump's Afghan abandonment isn't unique, however. It follows in a long tradition of American desertion of wartime allies that includes partners from Southeast Asia — like Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia — to the Middle East. 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He also cited its visa overstay rates as a reason for the nation's inclusion in the new travel ban. Sullivan said many U.S. allies would be harmed by the restrictions. 'They stood by us in war but now face danger because of their service with no clear way out,' he told The Intercept. 'We must keep our promise to them as well.' Earlier this week, around 100 members of Congress called on the Trump Administration to reverse its decision to end TPS for Afghans. 'This decision is devastating for resettled Afghan nationals in the United States who have fled widespread violence, economic instability, challenging humanitarian conditions, and human rights abuses in their home country,' they wrote, noting that it would negatively impact approximately 9,000 Afghan nationals. 'Many of these Afghans fearlessly served as strong allies to the United States military during the war in Afghanistan, and we cannot blatantly disregard their service. We respectfully ask that you redesignate Afghanistan for TPS to ensure Afghan nationals in the U.S. are not forced to return to devastating humanitarian, civic, and economic conditions.' Sperling said the United States should be upfront about its history of abandoning its partners when they outlive their usefulness. 'If American policymakers are serious about building durable soft power around the world, they should reckon with this history and ensure that future allies understand the risks before taking U.S. advice,' he told The Intercept, noting that America's latest exercise in ally abandonment may have far reaching consequences. 'Many Afghans reasonably relied on U.S. promises and put their trust in the U.S.-backed plans for their country,' he said. 'Turning our back on them now is both immoral as well as a strategic blunder that will undermine U.S. interests in the region for the foreseeable future.'
Time Magazine
an hour ago
- Time Magazine
Supreme Court Unanimously Sides With Straight Woman In ‘Reverse Discrimination' Case
Lawsuits for 'reverse discrimination' will face an easier path after the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously sided on Thursday with a woman who argued that she was passed over for a promotion and later demoted because she is straight. The court's ruling is a departure from previous court decisions that have set a higher bar in cases where people who are part of a majority group, such as those who are white and straight, filed lawsuits alleging discrimination under federal civil rights law. But the Supreme Court said in its ruling that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race and sexual orientation, among other characteristics, 'draws no distinctions between majority-group plaintiffs and minority-group plaintiffs. Rather, the provision makes it unlawful 'to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.'' 'By establishing the same protections for every 'individual'—without regard to that individual's membership in a minority or majority group—Congress left no room for courts to impose special requirements on majority-group plaintiffs alone,' Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote for the court. The case was brought by Marlean Ames against the Ohio Department of Youth Services, where she started working in 2004. In 2019, she applied for a promotion, but was turned down and a colleague with less seniority—who was a lesbian woman—received the promotion instead. Ames was later demoted and her previous role was given to another colleague who had less seniority, a gay man. She sued under Title VII, alleging in her lawsuit that she was denied the promotion and then demoted due to her sexual orientation. Her supervisors, however, said Ames was passed over for the promotion because she didn't have the vision and leadership skills needed for the role and demoted because they had concerns about her leadership skills. Lower courts had previously ruled against Ames, saying her lawsuit failed to demonstrate 'background circumstances to support the suspicion that the defendant is that unusual employer who discriminates against the majority.' But the Supreme Court ruled that requirement was 'not consistent with Title VII's text or our case law construing the statute.'
