The State of Conflict and Violence in Asia 2021

Bangladesh

Timeline

May 1971 War of independence from Pakistan. Bangladeshi authorities state as many as three million die.

August 1975 Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, founding president of Bangladesh, and most of his family are assassinated in a military coup.

1976 The indigenous, mostly Buddhist Jumma of the Chittagong Hill Tracts launch armed struggle against Bengali settlers and security forces.

May 1981 Former president Ziaur Rahman, of the Bangladeshi Nationalist Party (BNP), is assassinated in a military coup.

1991 End of military dictatorship and return to parliamentary democracy.

December 1997 Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord is signed, but violence and new settlement continue. By January 2015, 280,000 people are internally displaced.

2001 Postelection violence forces nearly 200,000 Hindus to flee or emigrate to India.

June 2001 Catholic church bombing kills nine and injuries 20.

August 2004 Islamist group Huji-B attacks Awami League (AL) rally, killing 24 and injuring 200, including former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

January 2007 Military coup. Over 52,000 are arrested and 29 killed by law enforcement in the first month of the ensuing state of emergency.

2013 BNP boycotts elections, leading to armed violence and attacks on minorities.

2014 Islamist party leader Abdul Quader Mollah executed for crimes during war of independence. Large-scale protest, violence, and bombings ensue.

2015 At least 112 die, including 40 in police custody, following antigovernment protests.

October 2015 Islamic State (ISIS) affiliate claims responsibility for first bombing of a Shiite site in Bangladesh.

August 25, 2017 In Myanmar, a violent military crackdown after militants launch deadly attacks on police posts leads to the exodus of over 700,000 Rohingya Muslims to Bangladesh.

February 8, 2018 Khaleda Zia, the leader of BNP, is imprisoned.

September 2018 Digital Security Act is enacted.

December 30, 2018 Landslide victory for Awami League in parliamentary elections.

January 1, 2019 A mother of four is gang-raped in Noakhali’s Subarnachar, allegedly by 10 to 12 Awami League activists.

March 19, 2019 Seven people, including four law enforcement officials, are shot dead in Rangamati district during violence in local elections.

March 8, 2020 The first three cases of Covid-19 are reported in the country. By the end of the year Bangladesh will have reported over 500,000 cases and 7,000 deaths.

March 25, 2020 Khaleda Zia is released from prison.

Overview

Bangladesh continues to make progress, especially on economic and human development. Successive governments have managed long-term challenges to peace and stability including terrorism and extremism, subnational tensions, ethno-religious friction, confrontational political rivalries, violent crime, and problems arising from neighboring countries.

Authorities continue to crack down on Islamist militant groups and suspected terrorists and have managed to significantly reduce the risks from groups affiliated with or influenced by the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda. Intolerance towards other religious beliefs remains an ongoing concern and a primary source of sectarian violence and militant extremism.

Political conflict remains a major issue. Rivalry within political parties is very common and causes more casualties than interparty conflicts, killing 122 and injuring 9,892 people in 2017–2018. Several laws have been passed on political assemblies and to strengthen online censorship. The enactment of the Digital Security Act in 2018, in addition to the Information and Communication Technology Act, has put several activists, journalists, and social media users in prison. A number of politicians belonging to opposition parties have been arrested and prosecuted.

There has been some progress in legal protections for women although gender-based violence in various forms remains a persistent problem. Bangladesh continues to house Rohingya refugees from Myanmar—over a million individuals by some estimates. In January 2020, the government moved forward with a relocation plan establishing a refugee camp on the island of Bhasan Char, though Rohingya activists opposed the plan due to fears of the island flooding during monsoon season.