For over three decades,Bangladeshhas been governed continuously by women — a rarity in South Asian politics. FromSheikh Hasinato lateKhaleda Zia, female leadership has shaped Bangladesh's political narrative after years of military rule. Yet, days before the February 12 national elections, the first since Sheikh Hasina's ouster following a student uprising in August 2024, women are now marching on the streets demanding greater rights and representation. The protests have exposed a striking paradox: Does having women at the top automatically translate into empowerment for women on the ground and in the political space? Looking at the on-ground situation, it doesn't seem so in Bangladesh.
On the last day of campaigning, Bangladeshi women marched on the streets of Dhaka carrying flaming torches, demanding justice and political representation. The march began at Sunday midnight and ended during the early hours of Monday. For the unversed, the march comes against the backdrop of rising incendiary rhetoric targeting women at political rallies, and growing attempts to push them out of public life despite women leaders playing a central role in the 2024 uprising.
"Whatever regime is in place, repression of women appears in many different forms," Priya Ahsan Chowdhury, 31, a Supreme Court lawyer, who joined around 100 women chanting slogans and singing in front of parliament, told AFP. "In some places, we haven't seen any representation of women at all — only men. That is what drove us to come out and speak up," she added.
Since the early 1990s, Bangladeshi politics has largely revolved around two women - Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina and Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader late Khaleda Zia. Hasina and Zia had together pulled Bangladesh out of the grip of military ruler Hossain Mohammad Ershad in 1990 and established a democratic government there.
The two women shaped the country’s democratic trajectory, foreign policy alignments and economic model and their prolonged feud, known as the “Battle of the Begums,” came to define Bangladeshi politics for over three decades.
Khaleda Zia entered politics after the assassination of her husband, President Ziaur Rahman, in 1981. She took charge of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party in 1984 and went on to lead the party to power in 1991. Zia served as Prime Minister from 1991 to 1996, briefly in 1996, and again from 2001 to 2006. Her tenure was marked by economic reforms, infrastructure expansion, and intense political rivalry with Sheikh Hasina.
Hasina, who is now living in exile in India, has served as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh for around 20 years, from 1996 to 2001 and again from 2009 to 2024. Sheikh Hasina is Bangladesh’s longest-serving PM and one of the longest-serving female leaders globally. Under her rule, Bangladesh made steady progress in female education, maternal health indicators, and workforce participation, especially in the garment sector. Women became a visible force in the economy.
While Bangladesh saw improvements in several sectors under the 'Begums', political power at the grassroots remained tightly controlled by party hierarchies dominated by men and the present-day scenario presents the evidence for the same.
Ahead of the elections, the BNP, led by chairmanTarique Rahman(Zia's son), has promised to work towards women's empowerment. “It is impossible for the country to progress by keeping more than half of its workforce—women—outside the mainstream of the state, politics, and economy,” Tarique Rahman said in his speech earlier this week. “Among all BNP plans, ensuring employment and decent working conditions at home and abroad for the unemployed youth and women is our first and foremost priority,” he added.
On the contrary, the BNP has fielded only 10 female candidates in 300 constituencies in the February 12 national polls. Notably, Tarique Rahman's BNP is seen as the frontrunner in the elections, with Sheikh Hasina's Awami League, the largest party in the country, being barred from contesting the polls.
Source: India Latest News, Breaking News Today, Top News Headlines | Times Now
