Bangladesh’s Democracy at Crossroads: Challenges and Potentials – A Panel Discussion

In July 2024, a student-led pro-democracy movement toppled the autocratic Sheikh Hasina government in Bangladesh. High public expectations of democratic restoration and the ideals of the 1971 Liberation War, culminated in the appointment of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus as the chief advisor of an interim administration. However, within a year, these hopes stand shattered. The nation faces mob violence, suppression of dissent, and a resurgence of anti-liberation elements in institutions. Freedom fighters are being humiliated, Bengali culture assaulted, women's freedoms curtailed, Baul shrines vandalized, war monuments destroyed, and minorities endure communal attacks and fear. 

This talk critically explores Bangladesh's democratic trajectory during this transition, examining political instability, extremism, governance failures, and the erosion of secularism, while proposing pathways for reform and sustainable democratic consolidation.​​
 

Panellists: 
 

Dr. Nasir Uddin (Visiting Professor at SAI & Professor of Anthropology at the University of Chittagong)
 

Dr. Eva Gerharz (Professor of Sociology at the Department of Social & Cultural Sciences at the Fulda University of Applied Sciences)
 

Dr. ASM Mostafizur Rahman is an Adjunct Lecturer at the Department of Political Science, South Asia Institute, Heidelberg University.