Bangladesh

The World Bank’s decision to withhold funding for the Padma Bridge embarrassed a government that has been doing reasonable work especially in checking extremism at a time when radicalism is sweeping many parts of the world.

The elevation of its bilateral relationship with Bangladesh allows the United States to counter China’s ‘String of Pearls’ strategy.

The failed coup indicates the penetration of Islamists and more specifically that of the Hizb ut-Tahrir whose main support base is among the educated youth, who are highly motivated and belong to affluent families in urban areas.

Ever since the India-friendly Sheikh Hasina government came into office after sweeping the December 2008 general elections, her domestic opponents and their foreign patrons have been plotting the ouster of her government through undemocratic means.

Though Pakistan and Afghanistan still continue to be embroiled in religious and ethnic conflict, the rest of South Asia appears keen to check and go beyond such tendencies.

The Sheikh Hasina government has been able to crack down on militant outfits by initiating a process of de-radicalisation ever since it came to power in 2009. This has been evident from the fact that since 2009 the violent activities of the Islamic extremists have been curtailed with relatively little bloodshed. And the same has been the case with the left wing extremists in the country. The Sheikh Hasina regime is more determined, than any government since the formation of Bangladesh to de-radicalise the political as well as the social structure of Bangladesh.

The demand to prohibit the Muslim clergy from issuing Fatwa is gathering momentum in Bangladesh.