Distinguished Professor Dr. Ali Riaz has published an essay in the New Age on the occasion of the Victory Day, a day marking the end of the war of independence of Bangladesh in 1971.
The essay highlights the political history of the country since 1971, especially the watershed moments. The essay titled Many Decembers: Where is Bangladesh heading? noted that over the past five decades, the country’s hopes and aspirations for a democratic governance have been raised and dashed. He writes that the 2018 election revealed the emergence of a new political settlement where the political elites were junior partners, subordinated by coercive and administrative apparatuses of the state. Political elites are now tasked to applaud the leader as are the business elites.
It is in this context, Riaz looks at the country’s trajectory and writes, “the country is now on the precipice of a longer and deeper crisis. Looking at the possible future trajectory of the system of governance, understanding the perils of the great game being played in the front yard, inferring the scale of potential economic disaster, we ask—where is Bangladesh heading?”
