A Moment Heavy with History
On 25 December 2025, Bangladesh witnessed a moment laden with symbolism and political consequence: the return of BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman after nearly seventeen years in exile. His homecoming unfolded amid massive public gatherings, heightened security, and a national atmosphere shaped by recent political upheaval, entrenched state violence, and deep democratic uncertainty.
This return did not occur in a vacuum. It followed the collapse of a long-standing authoritarian order after the 2024 student-people uprising, the formation of an interim administration led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, and a society still grappling with the trauma of enforced disappearances, custodial deaths, and violent crackdowns documented by international observers.
For Bangladesh, this moment represents not merely a political transition—it marks a democratic reckoning.
State Violence and the Legacy of Fear
The context surrounding this return is inseparable from the record of state violence that defined the preceding decade and a half. According to United Nations assessments cited in international reporting, up to 1,400 people were killed during the 2024 uprising, following years marked by extrajudicial killings, torture, and enforced disappearances of political opponents, activists, and critics.
These patterns produced what many Bangladeshis describe as a fear state—a condition in which dissent becomes dangerous and silence a survival strategy. Any democratic transition that fails to confront this legacy risks reproducing the very structures of repression it claims to replace.
Rahman’s public commitment to peace, restraint, and coexistence must therefore be assessed not as rhetoric alone, but against the urgent need for institutional guarantees: effective civilian control over security forces, independent investigations into past abuses, and credible mechanisms of justice.
Media Freedom Under Siege
The days preceding Rahman’s return were marked by attacks on newspaper offices and journalists, underscoring the acute fragility of media freedom in Bangladesh. In his public address, he acknowledged this crisis directly, stating that Bangladesh wants its “freedom of expression back.”
This acknowledgement is significant. Media freedom is not a secondary democratic concern—it is a first-line safeguard against state violence and authoritarian relapse. Without structural protections for journalists and media institutions, any electoral process risks becoming performative rather than genuinely participatory.
For both international partners and domestic civil society, the critical test will be whether political actors commit to repealing repressive laws, ending intimidation of media workers, and restoring an independent and pluralistic regulatory environment.
Minority Rights: Between Promise and Reality
One of the most critical dimensions of the current moment is minority protection. Rahman explicitly framed his vision of Bangladesh as a secure home for Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, and indigenous communities, from hills to plains.
Yet this promise emerges amid stark and troubling realities: communal violence following the death of Islamist leader Sharif Osman Hadi, attacks on Hindu communities in multiple districts, and the brutal lynching of Dipu Chandra Das in Mymensingh—incidents that were widely condemned but inadequately investigated and prosecuted.
Minority rights cannot be safeguarded solely through speeches. They require:
Equal protection under the law
Rapid, impartial investigation of communal crimes
Accountability for both perpetrators and complicit officials
Without these measures, pluralism remains rhetorical rather than real.
Political Rights and the Meaning of Participation
Elections scheduled for February 2026 are widely viewed as a decisive turning point. Surveys suggest that the BNP may emerge as the largest parliamentary force, but democratic legitimacy will depend not on outcomes alone, but on process.
Political rights extend far beyond the ballot box. They include:
Freedom of assembly and association
Protection of opposition activists and dissenting voices
Non-partisan administration, policing, and electoral oversight
Bangladesh’s history demonstrates that elections conducted without these safeguards often deepen polarisation and instability rather than resolve them.
“I Have a Plan”: Symbolism, Hope, and Accountability
In both Bangla and English speeches, Rahman invoked Martin Luther King Jr., declaring: “I have a plan—for the people of my country, for my country.” Bangla political commentaries likened this moment to a moral appeal rather than a detailed policy declaration, framing it as a call for collective responsibility, restraint, and national renewal.
Another analysis described the address as statesmanlike, emphasising tone, symbolism, and reconciliation over confrontation.
Yet from a human-rights perspective, the essential question remains unavoidable:
Will this plan translate into enforceable safeguards, or will it remain aspirational?
Democratic Accountability: The Non-Negotiable Test
Bangladesh now stands at a crossroads where reconciliation without accountability risks repeating cycles of abuse. Democratic accountability must therefore include:
Independent, credible investigations into past state violence
Guarantees that no future government can weaponise law enforcement against dissent
Transparent, impartial electoral oversight and judicial independence
This responsibility does not rest on one leader alone. It belongs collectively to political parties, the interim administration, civil society, state institutions, and the international community.
Conclusion: Beyond Return, Toward Renewal
The return from exile is not the end of Bangladesh’s struggle—it marks the beginning of a far more difficult and consequential phase. A phase in which promises must confront painful truths, and leadership must be measured not by popularity, but by the protection of rights and the restraint of power.
For Bangladesh to move forward, democracy must be rebuilt not only through elections, but through dignity, justice, accountability, and equal protection for all.
About the Author
Minhaz Samad Chowdhury is an Independent Human Rights Defender from Bangladesh, focusing on state violence, media freedom, minority protection, political rights, and democratic accountability.
🌐 https://hr-defender.blogspot.com
This article is based on an analysis of multiple international and national sources, including Reuters, Al Jazeera, The Hindu, Prothom Alo, and Bangla political commentaries.
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Mob Violence in Bangladesh: Why Independent International Scrutiny Has Become a Democratic Imperative
A Bangladesh That Fears Dissent Is Not Yet Fully Democratic
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