Bangladesh’s last general election in 2018 was by no means fair and to suggest otherwise would perhaps be comical and equally tragic. Since the government in Dhaka reportedly did not come to power through democratic means, opposition parties may feel threatened whenever they want to organize large rallies in the city. For example, from October 12 to December 3 last year, the opposition BNP held massive rallies in nine divisional towns. Despite the inexplicable, bizarre transport attacks allegedly orchestrated by the government to thwart them, all nine rallies were marked by the presence of large crowds of people. 10th And the BNP’s final rally – the climax in that series – was to be held in Dhaka on 10 December 2022. It was equally successful but faced more hostility and non-cooperation from the government.
Why do opposition rallies in Dhaka raise concerns for the government?
Incidentally, on the day of the BNP’s Dhaka rally, I happened to experience a social event which may throw some light on this question at a micro level.
I met a family in Kuala Lumpur. A father and his young son were there as guests. On entering the house, the child snatched some toys that belonged to the child of the host family. Now whenever the host child approaches his guest counterpart (the toy grabber) – even without the intention of taking back his possessions – the guest child screams and wants his father to hand the host child over. kill. This drama went on for a few hours and the whole house was in an uproar.