Bangladesh, Democracy, Dr Yunus, Islamism, Opinion, Secularism

Bangladesh at the UNGA: Stagecraft for an Islamist-Nationalist Regime

Iconus Clustus 25 September 2025

Muhammad Yunus’s reformist rhetoric masks an exclusionary coalition that sidelines secular forces while seeking international legitimacy.

25 September 2025

1. UNGA: Stagecraft and Legitimacy The United Nations General Assembly is where states strive not just to be heard but to be recognised as legitimate actors on the world stage. Against this backdrop, Bangladesh’s interim regime has chosen Muhammad Yunus as its emissary, projecting an image of “national unity” and “reform.” The symbolism is calculated: a Nobel laureate with global stature fronting a fragile, contested coalition. This choice is less about representation and more about stagecraft. For Western ears, Yunus’s polished rhetoric about democracy and renewal is reassuring; for the regime at home, it serves as a shield against scrutiny. Yet this diplomatic theatre conceals a harsher reality, one in which the UNGA is being weaponised not to advance Bangladesh’s democratic aspirations, but to launder the legitimacy of a project that is deeply exclusionary and regressive. 2. The Regime’s Composition: A Coalition Built on Exclusion Behind the international façade lies a coalition defined less by inclusivity than by exclusion. Its

core is a marriage of convenience between the centre-right Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the far-right Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami (rehabilitated into politics in 1979 when BNP opened the doors to Islamist participation), and the pseudo-centrist National Citizen Party (NCP). The NCP, born from the 2024 uprising’s Islamist-infiltrated student movement, cloaks its rejection of 1971’s secular Bengali nationalism in a “Muslim-Bengali” identity, softening theocratic leanings for broader appeal. Liberal, secular-nationalist, and progressive forces – AL, CPB, JSD, BSD – which collectively commanded roughly 40-45% of votes in past elections (2001 estimates) and hold deep roots in the liberation struggle – have been conspicuously sidelined. The gravitational pull within this alliance is unmistakably toward an Islamist-nationalist axis. Jamaat has reemerged not only as a political actor but as a dominant force, its cadres intimidating opponents and seizing local power in the post-August 5 chaos while extending its reach into institutions like the judiciary and the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT-BD). The ICT-BD, once tasked with…

Journalism, Opinion

Journalist Bibhu Ranjan Sarker: Chronicle of A Death Foretold?

Shweta Irina 20 September 2025

Journalist Bibhu Ranjan Sarker is no more. His death is a mystery, which the government does not want to solve. We are almost forgetting the letter he left for us, where he narrated the hardship of an honest journalist in Bangladesh. This article is a tribute to our Bivu'da.

20 September 2025

April is the cruelest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, … stirring Dull roots with spring rain. (The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot). Is April the cruelest month in Bangladesh, too? Or August? Can the vast and torrential downpouring erase the blood-drenched assassination of our Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, with almost all the members of his family? Or the surrealistic piles of dark, monsoon clouds can hide that blood stain? After a 21- years’ 21-year-long arduous struggle, Bangladesh could become ‘Bangladesh’ again in 1996-2001. This delta had achieved miracles of economic, infra-structural, and cultural heights during 2008-2024. This monsoon too was no good at all. Let me be succinct now. Mystery shrouds the death of veteran journalist and columnist Bibhu Ranjan Sarker. Bangladesh is passing through one of its darkest epochs of tyranny and vandalism at present, bringing news pieces of new murders, arrests, and mob attacks every morning. It compels us to forget

the saddest event of even yesterday. This is why it’s no wonder that Bibhu da’s strange but sad demise gets evaporated from our discussion within a time-frame of just around one month. Our sharply opinionated state, however, could not help but get divided upon this issue too: was Bibhu da’s death a mere suicide or a killing? Or even if a suicide, was it a ‘structured silencing’ or not? Life and Career of the departed journo: Late Bibhu Ranjan started his career as a schoolboy reporter for Dainik Azad and then moved to work at daily Sangbad, Rupali, and some other weeklies, according to his last writing that he e-mailed to bdnews 24.com on 21st August morning (9:15 AM on Thursday). In this last write-up, he recollected his five-decade-long career in the press. He, however, gained popularity for his political columns in the weekly ‘Jai Jai Din’ during the mid-eighties. But he had to adopt a pen name, ‘Tarikh Ibrahim’,…

21 August, 21 August 2004, Analysis, Awami League, Bangladesh, Current Affairs, grenade attack, Opinion, Politics

The tale of 21 August grenade attack in Bangladesh

Jahanara Nuri 20 August 2025

1. Early rainy season’s subtle steps was felt in the hot, humid afternoon in Dhaka on August 21, 2004. Bangladesh. The sun hung low on the horizon, shadows of people and everything around them stretched long across Dhaka’s bustling Bangabandhu Avenue. The city's pulse beat fervently as thousands convened for the peace rally of Awami League— a party accustomed to the shadow of political strife since 1949-announced its stand against violence. Their rally was initially planned for Muktangon, the venue shifted to the broad crossroads near the Party headquarters after the permission for Muktangon was not available. The megacity's atmosphere mirrored the rally's intent—solemn yet resolute. At the heart of the gathering, Sheikh Hasina, the leader of the Awami League, stood on a truck. Encircled by leaders spanning generations of the party, she addressed the crowd with a voice of steely determination, condemning terrorism and championing justice and democracy. Waves of supporters, brandishing banners and flags, cheered her on, their

hope defying the precarious political climate. At precisely 5:22 PM, the air buzzed with anticipation as Sheikh Hasina concluded her speech with the defiant cry, “Joy Bangla, Joy Bangabandhu.” "I had barely completed my speech and was going to get down from the truck when I heard a big bang and the next moment blood splashed on my body." The ear-splitting explosion of a grenade detonated just yards from Hasina's podium sent a cascade of shrapnel into the crowd and shattered the assembly's energy. Chaos erupted. Screams of terror mingled with the acrid smell of gunpowder as panic swept through the sea of people, scattering them like leaves in a gale. 2. In a swift and seamless motion, leaders around Sheikh Hasina formed a protective human shield with a singular, instinctive resolve, their outstretched arms defying the onslaught and helping her get into the car with security personnel. Time seemed to suspend; the explosion's echo lingered in the air as…

Opinion, Politics

Why the Colour Revolution in Bangladesh Lacks Philosophical Legitimacy: A Kantian and Weberian Critique

Robi Das 6 August 2025

We must admit that what happened in July – August 2024 is not a “revolution”. The present government is not a legitimate government and they do have any authority to issue a charter, whatsoever.

6 August 2025

The so-called July 2024 “Colour Revolution” in Bangladesh, which led to the collapse of Sheikh Hasina’s long-standing government and the formation of an interim government, has been widely celebrated as a democratic breakthrough. Yet, from the perspectives of Immanuel Kant, Max Weber, and several contemporary theorists, this revolution raises serious questions about its philosophical and sociological legitimacy. This came to my attention while talking with another author Jahanara Nuri, who has already published an article on this platform after Yunus announced a “July Charter” at the anniversary of the so-called “revolution”. We must admit that what happened in July – August 2024 is not a “revolution”. However, the National Citizens Party (NCP), Bangladesh Jamat-e-Islami (BJI) and its students’ wing Islami Chatra Shibir (ICS), and other Islamist right wing political parties are claiming it as “revolution”, while Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and left-wing political parties are claiming it as “mass uprising” or “resurgence”. The Bangladesh Awami League and its allies are claiming

it as a “coup”, since it is a part of a “meticulous design” as Yunus and his team claimed it. After having this conversation with Jahanara Nuri, I understood that there is a necessity to explain why philosophically this is not a “revolution”. Hence, in this article I have discussed Kant and Weber’s philosophies to explain why this is not a revolution and why the government lacks the legitimacy to declare this July Charter. Kant: Revolution Is Morally Impermissible Immanuel Kant’s political philosophy is grounded in legalism and moral duty. In his Doctrine of Right, part of the Metaphysics of Morals, Kant categorically states: “There is… no right to sedition, still less to rebellion, and least of all is there a right against the head of a state… to attack his person or even his life on the pretext that he has abused his authority.” Kant’s rejection of revolution stems from his belief that law is the condition…

Opinion

Milestone School Tragedy: Everything ‘Under Erasure (Sous Rature)”?

Shweta Irina 29 July 2025

A water color image of Mahreen and Masuka

‘Now we begin to see how Derrida’s notion of ‘sous rature’ differs from that of Heidegger’s. Heidegger’s Being might point at an inarticulable presence. Derrida’s trace is the mark of the absence of a presence, an always already absent present, of the lack at the origin that is the condition of thought and experience.’ [Translator’s Preface in ‘Of Grammatology’ by Jacques Derrida, page: xvii (Translated from French to English by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, The Johns Hopkins University Press; First Published; Maryland, 1976 and First Indian Edition by Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited, Delhi).] Although renowned French philosopher Jacques Derrida had explained the term ‘sous rature (under erasure)’ from a linguistic, philosophical and metaphysical viewpoint, today the epithet ‘sours rature (under erasure)’ is being used from a more comprehensible prism. ‘Under Erasure’ seems equivalent to ‘self-censorship.’ Now what is ‘self-censorship?’ ‘Self-censorship, also known as self-censure, is a phenomenon that occurs when individuals purposefully choose to limit or restrain their own

expression, thoughts, or actions. It often arises out of fear or apprehension of potential consequences, such as social backlash, legal repercussions, or professional harm. While self-censorship can be seen as a means of self-preservation or complying with societal norms, it is a complex and intricate concept that warrants deeper examination (https://psychologyfanatic.com/self-censure/). To put in more lucid terms: do the authors, journalists or even common people feel ‘self-censured’ before writing anything which may challenge authority, hierarchy or hegemony? Be it state, government, religion, patriarchy, culture or anything with a cumulative force against an ordinary individual or a group of individuals with less power to bargain? How much free are we in the real sense? Can we speak up, write or claim for our just demands within a coercive state machinery? If Derrida seems too difficult to be understood, novelist Milan Kundera may sound somehow easier who underscored ‘the struggle of man against power as the struggle of memory against forgetting.’ Kundera,…