Wednesday, March 22, 2023
British Herald
Advertisement
  • Home
  • World
    • UK
    • Europe
    • Asia
    • Africa
    • Oceania
    • USA
    • Middle East
    • Latin America
  • Politics
  • Business
    • ECONOMY
    • Financial Markets
    • Companies
  • Sport
  • Fintech
  • Videos
  • Coffee Table Book
  • BH Magazine
  • More
    • Health
    • Entertainment
    • Science & Technology
    • Climate & Environment
    • Sustainability
    • Food and Travel
    • Fashion
    • Culture and Lifestyle
    • Articles
    • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
British Herald
  • Home
  • World
    • UK
    • Europe
    • Asia
    • Africa
    • Oceania
    • USA
    • Middle East
    • Latin America
  • Politics
  • Business
    • ECONOMY
    • Financial Markets
    • Companies
  • Sport
  • Fintech
  • Videos
  • Coffee Table Book
  • BH Magazine
  • More
    • Health
    • Entertainment
    • Science & Technology
    • Climate & Environment
    • Sustainability
    • Food and Travel
    • Fashion
    • Culture and Lifestyle
    • Articles
    • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
British Herald
Home World Asia

The ageing ‘uncle’ seeking to bring down Bangladesh PM Hasina

Editorial Bureau by Editorial Bureau
November 28, 2018
0
The ageing ‘uncle’ seeking to bring down Bangladesh PM Hasina

Kamal Hossain, a leader of the opposition alliance Jatiya Oikyafront, is pictured during an interview with Reuters in Dhaka, Bangladesh, November 22, 2018.REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain

74
SHARES
1.2k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

DHAKA (Reuters) – An octogenarian former comrade of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s father in the country’s independence struggle is now the face of an embattled opposition seeking to end her decade-long rule increasingly tainted by accusations of authoritarianism.

You might also like

Ma Ying-jeou, former Taiwan leader will visit China

North Korea launches long range missile hours before Tokyo summit

More clashes in Pakistan after Imran Khan’s arrest

In a general election due next month, Hasina’s ruling Awami League will be fighting to retain power against a new alliance led by Kamal Hossain, an Oxford-educated international jurist who drafted the country’s constitution – and whom Hasina grew up calling “kaka”, or uncle.

The 82-year-old lawyer says his decision to forge an alliance with the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) was critical to restoring democracy in the country.

Hasina, the daughter of Bangladesh’s independence hero Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, is the longest serving leader in its short history. She began a second straight term in power in 2014, after an election boycotted by the BNP and shunned by international observers, with more than half the seats uncontested.

“What has happened in the last five years is unprecedented,” Hossain told Reuters in an interview. “We have never had a government for five years that was unelected.”

Hasina and BNP chief Khaleda Zia share a long and bitter rivalry and have alternated in power for most of the past 28 years. But the BNP has been in disarray since Khaleda was jailed on corruption charges, which she denies, early this year.

The BNP’s participation in the Dec. 30 election was in doubt until last month, when it and three other parties announced the formation of a new alliance, the Jatiya Oikya Front, or National Unity Front, helmed by Hossain, who runs a group called Gano Forum, or People’s Forum.

Hossain walks with a stick, and says he is not seeking to become prime minister as he is too old.

But some in the coalition, he said, privately compare him to Mahathir Mohamad, the Malaysian prime minister who took power aged 92 earlier this year, after defeating a predecessor mired in graft allegations.

“Maybe his health is better than mine,” quipped Hossain.

“NOT A REBEL”

Hossain was born to a physician father under British rule in what is now Kolkata in eastern India. That was before the division into India and Pakistan, out of which Bangladesh was carved following a war in 1971.

He was jailed alongside Hasina’s father, and later served him as the country’s first law minister.

He went on to work in various roles at the United Nations after quitting the Awami League in the early 1990s to form the rival People’s Forum.

BNP insiders say his international standing and image as a freedom fighter were reasons behind bringing him in to front the alliance.

Siding with the BNP, though, sets him up as a target for Hasina. The BNP has ties with the banned Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami, which opposed independence from Pakistan and several of whose members have been sentenced to death for committing war crimes.

Days after the new coalition was announced, Hasina declared that Hossain had “joined hands with killers”.

“Yes, the BNP did a lot of things I never appreciate,” said Hossain. “They injected a degree of communalism into politics which is very regrettable.”

But he said the coalition would be secular and have nothing to do with groups such as Jamaat-e-Islami.

Some question whether he has the characteristics needed for the uglier side of Bangladeshi politics.

“He is not a rebellious leader, he is a classic constitutional lawyer,” said Shahdeen Malik, a supreme court advocate and a professional acquaintance. “Intuitively, he would do things by the book, and in our politics that can be a disadvantage – that to me is his main weakness.”

“ONE-PERSON STATE”

Some political analysts predict a strong anti-incumbency sentiment in the election.

Besides detaining scores of opposition members on charges the BNP terms fictitious, Hasina’s government has also gone after critics such as prominent photographer Shahidul Alam, who was arrested for comments he made on social media. Hossain’s daughter Sara is a well-known lawyer who helped secure Alam’s bail last week.

Hasina has introduced laws that rights groups say give her sweeping powers to go after dissenters and gag the media.

Hossain called them a “pre-planned effort” to create “not even a one-party state, but a one-person state”.

“The real danger of having an authoritarian government like the present one is, God forbid if it survives the next election, many of us will not be able to remain in the country,” said Hossain in reference to his fears that critics will be targeted by the government.

The Awami League has denied trying to curb free speech or media freedom, and called cases filed against BNP members legitimate.

Previous elections have been marred by outbreaks of violence, ballot-stuffing and intimidation of voters, and Hossain said the alliance was planning to have several “observers” at polling booths and seeking international monitors.

But even a loss will not completely dent his optimism.

“I don’t think a bad election will be long lasting,” Hossain said. “I believe those who are aspiring autocrats don’t realise how deep the democracy commitment is in the blood of our people.”

(Reporting by Zeba Siddiqui and Ruma Paul; Editing by Martin Howell and Alex Richardson)

Share30Tweet19
Editorial Bureau

Editorial Bureau

Recommended For You

Ma Ying-jeou, former Taiwan leader will visit China

March 20, 2023
Ma Ying-jeou, former Taiwan leader will visit China

Former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou will visit China next week. In an effort to defuse hostilities between the self-governing island and the mainland, according to a spokesman. Ma...

Read more

North Korea launches long range missile hours before Tokyo summit

March 16, 2023
North Korea missile launch during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul

North Korea conducted a test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile on Thursday, ahead of the Tokyo summit. Just hours before the leaders of South Korea and Japan...

Read more

More clashes in Pakistan after Imran Khan’s arrest

March 15, 2023
Supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan face riot police officers during clashes, in Lahore, Pakistan

Supporters of former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan threw bricks at police in Lahore, Pakistan. Police have been besieging the 70-year-old opposition leader’s house in the eastern city...

Read more

Honduras to establish relations with China, end of ties with Taiwan.

March 15, 2023
Honduras under her administration is opening diplomatic relations with the People´s Republic of China.

Honduras President Xiomara Castro announced Tuesday that her government will seek to establish diplomatic relations with China. Which would imply severing relations with Taiwan. The switch would leave...

Read more

Japan, S. Korea summit must overcome history to renew ties

March 14, 2023
Japan, S. Korea summit must overcome history to renew ties

Leaders of South Korea and Japan will meet in Tokyo this week, hoping to resume regular visits after a gap of over a decade and overcome resentments that...

Read more
No Result
View All Result
Japan won the World Baseball Classic for record third time

Japan won the World Baseball Classic for record third time

March 22, 2023
UBS and Credit Suisse

Swiss worry on size of new Superbank

March 22, 2023
Bulgaria arms trade booms on Ukraine war

“Guns and Roses” Bulgaria arms industry booms amid Ukraine war

March 22, 2023

Tags

amazon australia boris johnson brexit britain British Herald CHINA Coronavirus coronavirus cases coronavirus outbreak COVID-19 COVID-19 Vaccine daily roundup Donald Trump Dubai expo 2020 england European Union facebook France germany Hong Kong ICC Men's T20 india iran israel italy japan joe biden lockdown London new zealand north korea Rishi Sunak russia south korea spain T20 T20 World Cup taiwan thailand Trump turkey UK Ukraine usa
British Herald

Top News in World: Read Latest News on Sports, Business, Entertainment, Blogs and Opinions from leading columnists.

CATEGORIES

  • Africa
  • Articles
  • Asia
  • Brand Feature
  • Business
  • Climate & Environment
  • Companies
  • Crypto
  • Culture and Lifestyle
  • Daily Roundup
  • Economics
  • ECONOMY
  • edel
  • Entertainment
  • Europe
  • Fashion
  • Finance
  • Financial Markets
  • Fintech
  • Health
  • IN UK 01
  • IN UK 02
  • Investing
  • Latin America
  • Market
  • Middle East
  • nsp
  • Oceania
  • Opinion
  • Pharma/BioTech
  • Politics
  • Reviews
  • Science & Technology
  • Sport
  • Sustainability
  • Tech
  • Technology
  • Travel
  • UK
  • Uncategorized
  • USA
  • Videos
  • World

BROWSE BY TAGS

amazon australia boris johnson brexit britain British Herald CHINA Coronavirus coronavirus cases coronavirus outbreak COVID-19 COVID-19 Vaccine daily roundup Donald Trump Dubai expo 2020 england European Union facebook France germany Hong Kong ICC Men's T20 india iran israel italy japan joe biden lockdown London new zealand north korea Rishi Sunak russia south korea spain T20 T20 World Cup taiwan thailand Trump turkey UK Ukraine usa

Herald Media Network Limited (UK). 2023. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • World
    • UK
    • Europe
    • Asia
    • Africa
    • Oceania
    • USA
    • Middle East
    • Latin America
  • Politics
  • Business
    • ECONOMY
    • Financial Markets
    • Companies
  • Sport
  • Fintech
  • Videos
  • Coffee Table Book
  • BH Magazine
  • More
    • Health
    • Entertainment
    • Science & Technology
    • Climate & Environment
    • Sustainability
    • Food and Travel
    • Fashion
    • Culture and Lifestyle
    • Articles
    • Opinion

Herald Media Network Limited (UK). 2023. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?