24 | Bangladesh 2017 1971 assassinated inamilitarycoup. of Bangladesh,andmosthisfamilyare Sheik MujiburRahman,foundingpresident 1975 be marriedinspecialcases. Restraint Actthatpermitsgirlsunder 18to Parliament passestheChildMarriage 2017 police custody. to violence.Atleast112die,including40in BNP protestagainstALgovernmentleads 2015 violence, andbombingsensue. of independence.Large-scaleprotests, Mollah executedforcrimesduringwar Islamist partyleaderAbdulQuader 2014 government. two yearsofmilitary-backedcaretaker Ninth parliamentaryelections,afternearly 2008 month oftheensuingstateemergency. and 29killedbylawenforcementinthefirst Military coup.Over52,000arearrested 2007 Sheikh Hasina. 200, includingformerprimeminister League (AL)rally,killing24andinjuring Islamist groupHuji-BattacksAwami 2004 displaced peopleinCHTbyJanuary2015. continue. Thereare280,000internally signed, butviolenceandBengalisettlement Chittagong HillTractsPeaceAccordis 1997 assassinated inamilitarycoup. Bangladesh NationalistParty(BNP),is Former presidentZiaurRahman,ofthe 1981 in prison. sentencing 15oppositionlawmakerstolife thousands ofactivistsandIslamists AL clampsdownonopposition,arresting 2016
first bombingofaShiitesiteinBangladesh. Islamic State(IS)affiliateclaimscreditfor 2015 groups. increasingly targetedbyviolentIslamist injures 20.Religiousminoritiesare Catholic churchbombingkillsnineand 2001 Hindus tofleeoremigrateIndia. Postelection violenceforcesnearly200,000 2001 parliamentary democracy. End ofmilitarydictatorshipandreturnto 1991 security forces. struggle againstBengalisettlersand of theChittagongHillTractslauncharmed The indigenous,mostlyBuddhist 1976 million deaths. Bangladeshi authoritiesclaimasmany3 War ofindependencefromPakistan. 1971 hostages. Dhaka. Twenty-eightdie,including 20 IS affiliateattacksHoleyBakery caféin 2016 extremist groupAnsarullahBanglaTeam. First murdersofsecularbloggersbyIslamic 2013 criminal. shops followdeathsentenceforIslamistwar Communal attacksonHinduhousesand 2013 injured. minorities, andhundredsofdead leading toarmedviolence,attackson BNP boycottstenthparliamentaryelections, 2013
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* Rankingsarebasedonthelast15yearsandrelativetootherAsiancountries. Bangladesh secuted, while the government is unable or unwilling to address the underlying causes. backdrop, communal violence has escalated, and religious minorities continue to be per political this Against country. the in attacks terrorist of targets primary the been have lives of 28 people. Foreigners, secular journalists and bloggers, and religious minorities 2015 alone. In July 2016, Dhaka had one of in its deadliest attacks terrorist terrorist attacks, which 450 took over the had Bangladesh groups. extremist local utilizing ground gaining are al-Qaeda, and State Islamic as such organizations, terrorist Transnational climate and flawed democratic process appear to be feeding violent Islamist extremism. erupted, killing over 140 people between March and June 2016. The polarized political compared to national elections in the past, deadly violence between political opponents candidates in local government elections. Even though local elections had been peaceful after the government amended the law allowing registered political parties to nominate situation. Political rivalry at the national level also affected the local political landscape position protests and the government’s heavy-handed response further exacerbated the the ruling and opposition parties, resulting in over 500 deaths from violent clashes. Op national parliamentary elections in 2014 highlighted the intense political tension between Bangladesh has faced rising political violence and terrorist attacks in recent years. The At a glance a At Overview Low Separatism andautonomy Medium Transnational terrorism High National politicalconflict Absent National civilwar Urban crimeandviolence Medium Local resource conflict High Local politicalandelectoralconflict Medium Communal/ideological conflict Low - -
25 | Bangladesh 26 | Bangladesh mated alowertoll. researchers haveesti died, althoughsomeindependent claim thatasmany as 3 million people national parliamentaryelectionswereheldinDecember2008. of their senior staff. After nearly two years of the military-backed caretaker government, the ninth 52,000 were arrested, over and agencies, enforcement law by killed were people 29 emergency, of state country’s the of month first the In election. general the to prior unrest political widespread following clared de was emergency of state a when 2007, January in place took coup military latest The 1981. in husband) late Zia’s Khaleda leader BNP and president (former Rahman Ziaur and 1975; in father) Hasina’s Sheik Minister Prime and president first (the Rahman Mujibur Sheik state: of ended in massacres of political leaders and their families, including assassinations of two heads by theALwasbiggestinstigatorofviolence( coalition government from 2001 to 2006, taking 2,722 lives. The antigovernment movement led lent clashes with supporters of the ruling party. Political violence intensified during the BNP-led vio to leading streets, the to matters take parties opposition parliament, the in issues debating of Instead power. in is it when other the undermine to tries each and rivals, bitter are parties Bangladesh The military has also played a large role. The country underwent several coups d’état that d’état coups several underwent country The role. large a played also has military The 100 200 00 400 500 600 00
(AL) and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) have often led to violence. to led often have (BNP) Party Nationalist Bangladesh the and (AL) League Awami the between tensions 1991, in system parliamentary the of revival Political violence is a major feature of the Bangladeshi political landscape. Since the National politicalconflict authorities Bangladeshi Pakistan. East of population Bengali the against mainly 1971. During the Bangladesh Liberation War, widespread atrocities were committed, There has been no civil war in Bangladesh since its independence from Pakistan in National civilwar 0 Figure 1. 2001 Source:
1