Two makeshift election campaign camps of the local BNP candidate in Meherpur have been vandalised.

BNP candidate of Meherpur-2 constituency, Javed Masud Milton blamed ruling Awami League for it, our Kushtia correspondent reports.

He alleged, ruling party activists led by local UP Member Liton Hosen vandalized two of his election camps in Chatian and Bamundi areas.

He claimed, he did not get any help from police or the returning officer of the area to this end.

UP Member Liton has denied his involvement and said he did not know who were behind the attacks.

Shukumar Biswas, officer-in-charge of Gangni Police Station, said that nobody filed any complaint over the incidents.

Today’s episode of The Daily Star’s ‘The Election Talks 2018’ brings Dr Akbar Ali Khan, former adviser to a caretaker government, to the studio.

Dr Khan sheds light on the state of democracy in the country and the promises made by political parties ahead of the election in a tete-e-tete with Shakhawat Liton, planning editor of The Daily Star.

According to his opinion, “if this election fails then it will be a massive harm for democracy”.

“No opposition party of Bangladesh believes that a fair election can take place without a caretaker government. But this time they have taken the risk of contesting the polls under a partisan government,” he shares.

“So, if this election fails then it will be very harmful for the democracy,” he added.

Regarding the election manifestos of the political parties, he said that no real progress has been made in the political culture of the country. The manifestos are just the continuation of the past activities and present situation of the parties, he said.

Actually, even the voters are not concerned with all the aspects of the manifestos, he said.

Watch the video to know more!

The July 2024 uprising in Bangladesh marked a pivotal moment as students and citizens rallied for transformative change, challenging established political hierarchies. Unlike previous movements, this protest operated independently of any political party leadership, underscoring a grassroots demand for reform that had eluded mainstream opposition efforts for over a decade. For the first time, a mass uprising forced the removal of a seemingly entrenched regime through sheer public resolve, demonstrating the often-overlooked power of collective action—an "event" as described by eminent French philosopher Alain Badiou: a disruptive break from the status quo of conventional political order.

On August 8, the formation of an interim government emerged as a critical turning point in Bangladesh's political landscape, briefly uniting opposition forces, including the BNP, around a shared agenda for paradigmatic change. Initially supportive of the student movement, some argue that the BNP later tempered its endorsement, seemingly distancing itself strategically from some of the demands for structural reform of extractive institutions widely seen as enabling the rise of illiberal, authoritarian governance, epitomised by the recently ousted regime. Notably, the BNP is now subtly yet unmistakably shifting away from calls for the immediate resignation of the sitting president—a figure closely tied to the discredited past—and towards advocating for a more cautious, electoral roadmap. This strategic repositioning has allowed the BNP to present itself as a stabilising force focused on continuity and gradual reform through electoral processes, a choice that critics argue reflects a conservative impulse to preserve familiar structures.

According to cultural theorist Frederic Jameson, understanding such political decisions requires analysis through multiple lenses or "horizons." On the "political horizon," Jameson's first level of analysis, the BNP's reluctance to support student-led calls for immediate presidential removal can be viewed as a tactical move to balance reform aspirations with stability. By prioritising an electoral roadmap over sudden upheaval, the BNP is perhaps portraying itself as a seasoned opposition force. This approach positions the party as a measured alternative amid calls for radical change—a strategic choice to avoid being swept up in what it might see as "instant gratification" in favour of long-term goals. However, critics argue that this approach risks the party appearing overly conservative and misaligned with the youth-driven energy fuelling the July uprising.

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The fight for social accountability in Bangladesh

The "social horizon," meanwhile, explores deeper class and institutional interests that shape political choices, often unconsciously. Here, the BNP's distance from grassroots reform demands can be seen as aligning with the entrenched two-party system, which has long structured politics in Bangladesh. By prioritising incremental reforms and institutional stability over radical transformation, BNP implicitly supports structures that have historically benefited both itself and the Awami League. This reluctance to disrupt institutional power structures could be understood through Jameson's concept of the "political unconscious," where underlying class interests influence behaviour that may appear pragmatic but, in effect, serves to protect established hierarchies. The BNP's stance could be reflective of this tendency, preserving a status quo that risks sidelining the radical reforms that some segments of the public are increasingly demanding.

In the "historical horizon," Jameson's final layer of interpretation, BNP's response to the uprising can be seen as part of Bangladesh's cyclical political struggles. Rather than embracing a transformative shift, BNP's positioning could suggest a reluctance to break from long-standing political rivalries, framing itself as the ideological heir to the student movement's anti-Awami League sentiment while resisting a deep engagement with systemic overhaul. But this positioning could risk reducing the uprising's transformative vision to another episode in the Awami League-BNP rivalry. In Jameson's view, such cyclical politics underscore a missed opportunity for genuine change, as BNP's actions could hint at continuity within Bangladesh's familiar political pattern to some, rather than a break from it.

French philosopher Alain Badiou's concept of the "moment" underscores the unique potential of the July 2024 uprising to introduce new political realities. For Badiou, such a moment represents a radical rupture from established norms, challenging entrenched power structures and creating the possibility of unforeseen political reforms. The uprising's mass mobilisation of public sentiment without major party backing exemplifies that this kind of "event" informed disruptive rupture, a grassroots force demanding structural change that bypasses established political channels.

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Enforcing economic and social rights through constitutional interpretation

However, Badiou also warns that these transformative moments can be co-opted or neutralised if not sustained by active revolutionary commitment, or what he calls "fidelity" to the event. The BNP's stance, which shifted from initially aligning with the students to later portraying the president as a stabilising figure, could risk dissipating the transformative potential of this "moment." By reverting to conventional political processes, BNP's approach could undermine the movement's radical energy, restoring the status quo ante, rather than actualising the profound systemic reforms demanded by some people.

Ultimately, the BNP's decision to prioritise stability over radical change illustrates a complex dilemma: straddling the aftermath of a revolutionary "event" and realpolitik. While the party's cautious stance may preserve order and avoid immediate risks, it also places the BNP at odds with some segments of society that have become increasingly disillusioned by traditional politics. This hesitance could alienate reform-minded citizens, especially younger voters who may view BNP's position as self-serving or evasive. Rather than merely adopting the movement's ideological legacy, BNP's strategic ambivalence risks positioning it as another entity within the political duopoly that the uprising implicitly critiques.

BNP's strategic choices in the wake of the July uprising reveal a tension between preserving continuity and embracing transformative potential. While Jameson's "Three Horizons" show how the party's stance aligns with established power structures, Badiou's concept of the "moment" underscores the revolutionary potential that the BNP risks missing. By aligning itself too closely with stability, and gradualism, BNP could marginalise itself in the eyes of a public yearning for meaningful change. To truly capture the movement's spirit, the party may need to move beyond mere strategic positioning and fully engage with the grassroots demands that fuelled the July uprising—demands that traditional, incremental politics can no longer afford to overlook. By the same token, this challenge also calls for a delicate balancing act of realpolitik, as the party weighs transformative ambitions against the pressures of political continuity and stability in an unpredictable landscape.

Faridul Alam lives in and writes from New York City, US.

Views expressed in this article are the author's own.

Follow The Daily Star Opinion on Facebook for the latest opinions, commentaries and analyses by experts and professionals. To contribute your article or letter to The Daily Star Opinion, see our guidelines for submission.   

Once a fierce critic of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), former Foreign Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud now finds himself in an unexpected role. The Awami League (AL) politician, who is currently in London, recently sang praises for the BNP—or, as some may put it, he tried "wooing" his once-despised rival. After 15-plus years of relentless criticism and jabs aimed at the BNP, Hasan's sudden pivot, following the ouster of his government through the July uprising, has left political analysts and laypeople scratching their heads. A tale as twisted as a Dickensian plot, his evolution from BNP's heckler to a begrudging admirer is nothing short of literary satire.

Let's rewind to a simpler time: the era of Mahmud's full-throated attacks on the BNP, almost as consistent as the sunrise, and twice as intense. He labelled BNP as a "party of parasites" and often credited them with conjuring chaos as easily as Shakespeare's Iago wove schemes in Othello. BNP leaders, according to him, were architects of anarchy, always "misleading the masses" and "haunted by the 'Tarique-ghost,'" referring to the party's acting chairman, Tarique Rahman. His words were chosen with such precision and relish, it was as if he had plucked them from Dante's Inferno, casting BNP leaders into circles of political damnation.

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Bread before ballots and rice before reforms

One could almost hear his booming voice, drenched in theatrical scorn, recounting BNP's supposed failure to win the people's favour as he proudly paraded AL's achievements with an air of unearned grandeur. "The BNP presented a fake adviser to Joe Biden," he would proclaim with mock indignation, using his platform like a mediaeval troubadour, weaving tales of his rivals' bumbling with all the flair of a Marlowe villain.

With the authoritarian AL regime suddenly overthrown, Mahmud went from denouncing BNP's every move to extolling the virtues of "restoring democracy," a concept he had once wielded as a cudgel to suppress dissent. His rhetoric, once thick with sarcasm and scorn, now drips with the honeyed appeal of a suitor attempting to rekindle an old flame—except, of course, that the "old flame" is the very party he tried to extinguish.

Now, as if reliving Romeo and Juliet, he calls for "working together" with the BNP for the "greater good" of Bangladesh. In an ironic twist, Mahmud has become something of a Capulet seeking Montague's embrace, promising a collaborative future he once vehemently rejected. Some critics have taken to calling this performance "The Tragedy of Dr Hasan," a farce in which a once-proud antagonist now plays the role of political supplicant.

It was not long ago that Mahmud championed AL's "unassailable" record of peace and prosperity. He proclaimed with the conviction of an orator from ancient Greece that his party had brought unprecedented development to the country. He scoffed at BNP's concerns for democratic reforms, dismissing them as desperate ploys of a "party that cannot survive without scandal." He scoffed at BNP's advocacy for free and fair elections, dismissing it as an "elaborate hypocrisy." And yet, here he stands now, as humbled as King Lear on the stormy heath, calling for the very reforms he once deemed folly.

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A moment of truth for BNP

At a recent event—his first appearance after weeks of silence post-uprising—Mahmud appeared almost repentant, though it was clear that old habits die hard. Attempting a dignified pivot, he assured his audience that he was "always an advocate for democratic values." The line was delivered with the sincerity of a character in a Restoration comedy, and the audience responded with what could only be described as a collective gasp of incredulity.

A keen observer might draw comparisons to Chaucer's Pardoner, a man who sells indulgences with a face so earnest that one could almost forget his dubious dealings. Much like the Pardoner, his newfound alignment with BNP's calls for transparency and electoral fairness reeks of opportunism dressed as redemption. "I agree with the BNP on many issues," he declared in a voice as smooth as an actor's monologue, his words carefully rehearsed for maximum effect.

Mahmud has gone beyond mere agreement; he now echoes BNP's proposals as if they were his own, including the idea of a bicameral parliament. With a straight face, he praised BNP's acting chairman for "championing the cause of intellectual inclusion," seemingly oblivious to his own years-long campaign against him and the BNP. In a feat of cognitive dissonance that would make Orwell proud, Mahmud now promotes Tarique's vision for governance reform, a cause he had once called "antithetical to Bangladesh's stability."

One might wonder, is this newfound admiration genuine, or merely a last-ditch attempt to salvage his relevance in the present scenario? Perhaps he sees himself as a transformed man, like Scrooge on Christmas morning, proclaiming his repentance to an unsuspecting world. Yet, unlike Scrooge, Mahmud lacks the charm of a man humbled by self-awareness; instead, he projects the aura of a politician whose convictions change as easily as the tides.

This metamorphosis, this shedding of old skin for a new one, is almost too convenient to believe. Just as Shakespeare's Polonius is quick to switch allegiances to remain in favour with the court, Mahmud's chameleon-like shift seems less an act of principle and more a strategy of survival. The difference, however, is that Polonius's fickleness ultimately led to his downfall—a cautionary tale that Mahmud might do well to heed.

In his newfound role as BNP's begrudging ally, Mahmud's journey resembles that of a character from Molière—perhaps Tartuffe, the unctuous hypocrite who feigns virtue to gain favour. If history is any guide, his overtures will likely be met with the same distrust and ridicule as Tartuffe's grand gestures. After all, in the court of public opinion, where actions speak louder than words, Mahmud's record as AL's attack dog cannot be erased with a few conciliatory statements.

As we watch this spectacle unfold, one cannot help but see the humour in Mahmud's plight. Here is a man who spent over a decade railing against BNP's every move, only to find himself on the other side of the table, professing solidarity with those he once derided. It is a tale worthy of satire, a drama of contradictions played out on the national stage. Perhaps the moral of Mahmud's story is one he himself might struggle to accept: that in politics, as in literature, irony has a way of catching up with those who least expect it.

HM Nazmul Alam is lecturer at the Department of English and Modern Languages in the International University of Business, Agriculture and Technology (IUBAT). He can be reached at nazmulalam.rijohn@gmail.com.

Views expressed in this article are the author's own.

Follow The Daily Star Opinion on Facebook for the latest opinions, commentaries and analyses by experts and professionals. To contribute your article or letter to The Daily Star Opinion, see our guidelines for submission.