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On Thursday, Bangladeshis will hold their first election since they overthrew their former leader in mass demonstrations in August 2024. But as NPR's Diaa Hadid reports from the capital, Dhaka, some voters might not accept the outcome.
DIAA HADID, BYLINE: At a rally, Mohammad Abdul Qayoum says his loyalties are with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, set up by one of the men who led the country to liberation.
MOHAMMAD ABDUL QAYOUM: So he's the greatest leader in our country.
HADID: Politics here long flipped between the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, or BNP, and the party of ousted leader Sheikh Hasina, until 2009, when analysts say the last fair elections were held. After that, Sheikh Hasina ran compromised elections. After she was ousted, her party was barred from running. That's made space for others, like the Islamic party known as Jamaat. Abdul Qayoum claims, without evidence, that the current interim government, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, favors Jamaat. Qayoum warns that if BNP followers believe election results are rigged, there'll be...
ABDUL QAYOUM: Very big violence in Bangladesh. God knows where the country will go.
HADID: At a Jamaat rally, loyalist Abdullah Jubair also worries their election victory will be stolen from them. He accuses BNP of intimidating Jamaat voters.
ABDULLAH JUBAIR: You know, they're trying to force people and scare them not to vote.
HADID: That mistrust is partly because most folks don't remember what a vibrant election looks like.
THOMAS KEAN: You know, Bangladesh hasn't had a credible election in 17 years.
HADID: Thomas Kean consults on Bangladesh for the International Crisis Group, and he adds, polls are hazy.
KEAN: One of the beautiful things about this election is the wide range of potential outcomes, ranging from victory for Jamaat to a BNP landslide.
HADID: Jamaat was long vilified because they opposed independence for Bangladesh during its liberation war of 1971. But Kean says they gained support after coming out in force in protests that ousted the former leader in 2024, and they're seen as free of the corruption associated with Bangladesh's older political parties. On a roadside, driver Mohammad Imran tells us Jamaat will smash extortion rackets.
MOHAMMAD IMRAN: (Speaking Bengali).
HADID: "They'll clean up the country."
ABDUL QAYOUM: (Speaking Bengali).
HADID: Imran adds, "and Jamaat will make women cover their faces, or at least their hair." Men and women tell us this repeatedly and enthusiastically, even though Bangladesh is a largely Muslim country, where most women already dress modestly. Jamaat says what women wear isn't a priority for now. But the party has proposed offering a subsidized five-hour workday to mothers so they can care for their household. Across town, it's popular with women like 42-year-old Pravin, who works in a nursing clinic.
PRAVIN: (Speaking Bengali).
HADID: She says, "women here pull 12-hour shifts, then do housework." She says, "even if men are at home, they do nothing."
PRAVIN: (Speaking Bengali).
HADID: She says, "we never get to sleep." Back at the BNP rally, 19-year-old Ashwya Khandihi says this is her first ever election. She's excited. She's also worried about how the rival Jamaat party will treat women.
ASHWYA KHANDIHI: You can see that Jamaat has give the less importance to woman.
HADID: She suspects the five-hour workday is a way of keeping women home. But if Jamaat is elected, she says, her party will just have to try harder next time. If others will be so sanguine remains an open question. Diaa Hadid, NPR News, Dhaka.
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