Party Politics and Political Violence in Bangladesh

Abstract

This article analyses the causes, manifestation and consequences of political violence inBangladesh. The analysis is based on two arguments: fi rst, that there is a cyclical relationship between inter-party confl ict, political violence, and inter-party enmity; and secondly, interparty confl ict and violence at the horizontal level leads to political non-cooperation and stalemate at the vertical level between the ruling party and the opposition. Political violence emerges from a deep rooted political culture of intolerance, antagonism, revenge and arrogance. Apparent immediate causes of political violence are expressions of underlying differences and rifts along the lines of ideological, political, religious and institutional dimensions. Political violence results in distrust, institutionalisation of violence as a legitimate means of political expression and socialisation of violence-politics for the new generation of party loyalists.

Patriarchal Investments: Marriage, Dowry and the Political Economy of Development in Bangladesh

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“…23 Students are pictured as an unruly and faceless group involved in large-scale riots at the educational institutions, and in unlawful activities such as extortion, assaults and even killings. They are seen as instigators of violence, for example at politically-motivated hartals or general strikes where student activists work as 'picketers', forcibly closing down shops, offices and transport in the major cities, and assaulting people who are trying to break the strikes or just moving about the cities.…”

Sport as a critique of politics: Everest climbing, nationalism and the failure of politics in Bangladesh

“…It would be interesting to know to which, if either, of these nationalisms the mountaineers subscribe -the former of which is rooted in ethnolinguistic and ethno-cultural characteristics and served to unite the inhabitants of Bengal or East Pakistan during the war of independence or the latter which was introduced initially by General Zia in an effort to link religion to national identity. As a consequence, the very identity of the nation itself became a major feature of the country's ideological divisions (Moniruzzaman, 2009). According to Hossain and Kahn (2006: 326), 'Bangali nationalism is a natural manifestation while Bangladeshi nationalism is an imposed one'.…”