ON DECEMBER 5, about three months after he took oath as the head of an interim government following the ouster of Sheikh Hasina, Muhammad Yunus urged all political parties in the country to unite. His call came at a meeting with leaders of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the country's second biggest party after Hasina's Awami League, the fundamentalist Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and a clutch of Islamic groups. Awami League and its ally Jatiya Party, founded by former military dictator Hussain Muhammad Ershad, were not invited to the meeting.
By several accounts, the atmosphere at the meeting's venue-the Foreign Services Academy-was sombre, quite different from the euphoria over the ouster of the "fascist" Hasina regime in July-August. The triumphalism has now been tempered with a sense of anxiety over the future in the absence of a clear roadmap. Bangladesh today finds itself at a crucial juncture with the interim government busy firefighting the fallout of alleged atrocities against Hindus. The arrest of former International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) member Chinmoy Krishna Das, who had been helming street protests by Hindus across Bangladesh under the banner of Bangladesh Sommilito Sanatani Jagaran Jote (United Sanatan Awakening Alliance), added fuel to the already raging fire in Bangladesh's political cauldron. The protests and clashes after the arrest and the killing of a Muslim lawyer point to two things: One, the law and order situation remains anything but stable, and two, it has taken a communal colour.
Bu hikaye THE WEEK India dergisinin December 22, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye THE WEEK India dergisinin December 22, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Circle of influence
The circle of influence is not an isolated one. It is etched by myriads of experiences, relationships and learnings that we amass, helping us address tectonic shifts in life.
people
Andrew Garfield and Shraddha Kapoor was a cross-pollination waiting to happen.
Women riders and drivers
I am honestly surprised at how little interest the rest of India has in the Himalayan region in general. Right from Kashmir and Ladakh to Himachal, Uttarakhand and the northeast-these areas are filled and fueled by their own unique stories and histories, but are almost foreign to the rest of us.
The 'made in heaven' couple
Sobhita Dhulipala won countless hearts-and broke a few-when she married actor Naga Chaitanya at a hyper traditional Telugu Brahmin ceremony, where every ritual was scrupulously followed.
Raj Kapoor's socialism was Nehruvian
No other Indian actor or director was as popular in Russia, Eastern Europe and China as Raj Kapoor was.
The world is his canvas
Kochi-Muziris Biennale curator Nikhil Chopra views his new role as an evolution of his artistic practice to that of a collaborator
A FORGOTTEN ROAD
William Dalrymple's new book traces ancient India's role in spreading ideas and religions across the world
TALES FROM THE TOURS
India lost one match after another in this competition, except against East Africa.
We should not play Pakistan at all
If Mohinder Amarnath's life was a movie, it would be a franchise with too many sequels to count. He describes it as a 'Hitchcock thriller.
Merry Christmas and all that
You have a shell-shocked car, but Hukum has a fine bum,\" said the missus in a muffled voice.
