What is happening in Bangladesh?

The academic and author speaks about the country’s political atmosphere and what the latest spate of violence means for its future.

Bangladesh is presently in a state of nation-wide upheaval after a students’ protest demanding reform in the country’s reservation system for government jobs turned violent and forced Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina out of power. India’s ties with Bangladesh are essential and the continuance of violence and unrest can adversely affect the bordering States and other parts of the country. Hasina was one of India’s close strategic partners in a neighbourhood which is fraught with anti-Indian sentiment. So what does the latest spate of violence mean for Bangladesh’s future? 

In the latest episode of Frontline Conversations, senior journalist Saba Naqvi speaks with academic and author, Swati Narayan, over Zoom, about her book, Unequal: Why India Lags Behind Its Neighbours, which focusses on Bangladesh’s social and economic growth over decades, its political instabilities, and citizens’ secular practices. Professor Narayan also discusses Hasina’s contentious tenure as Prime Minister and the state of upheaval the nation is currently in following her ouster and the swearing-in of the caretaker government led by Dr Muhammad Yunus.