India-US chasm opens over Bangladesh

http://atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/SOU-02-210114.html



India-US chasm opens over Bangladesh
By Hasan Mir
Jan 21, '14

The 10th parliamentary election took place in Bangladesh on January 5 amid widespread boycotts, violence, vote rigging and without much fanfare. While the ruling Awami League claimed victory, it is hard to imagine a scenario where this election - where the fate of 154 parliament seats out of 300 were decided before a single vote was cast - could bring stability to this increasingly important country.

The Awami League, led by Sheikh Hasina, came to power in 2008 with a two-thirds majority. While opportunities abounded for the Awami League to start a new era of politics in Bangladesh, it willfully wasted every chance to do so. The Awami League's fall from grace over the past few years can be directly attributed to widespread corruption by cronies of Hasina, violence against opposition members and intolerance of any type of opposition views.

The Awami League promised to nurture a democratic society with a progressive attitude towards governance. Buoyed by a strong mandate, the Awami League started to do the exact opposite from the get go.

During the Awami League's reign, the stock market declined to a record low due to manipulation by corporate interests close to Hasina, leaving millions of people without their hard-earned money. High profile swindling cases by close associates of Hasina were much too common, and millions were squandered. While there are plenty of media outlets in Bangladesh, Hasina worked very hard to dismantle any exposing her government's failures. Numerous news outlets were shut down and journalists were thrown into jail.