Abstract. Taslima Nasreen, the exiled Bangladeshi author, was forced to leave India, her adopted ... more Abstract. Taslima Nasreen, the exiled Bangladeshi author, was forced to leave India, her adopted homeland, in March 2008 after being under ‘security protection ’ for months following street agitation against her writings in Kolkata. The events between August 2007, when she was physically attacked in Hyderabad, and March 2008, when she left the country, were reminiscent of those in Bangladesh in 1994 which led to her departure from there. In both instances, the states ’ responses were her forced removal from the country to placate the agitators. In this paper I analyze the events on the ground and the responses of the states. I argue that these events demonstrate how ‘outraged communities ’ are constructed, and symbols are invented to mobilize the community. The role of state has received little attention in the extant discussions while I contend that states bear a significant responsibility in engendering the controversy.
Bangladesh has attracted international media attention for heightened militant activities in 2015... more Bangladesh has attracted international media attention for heightened militant activities in 2015, particularly after a series of killings of bloggers by a local militant group allegedly associated with Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and after murders of foreign nationals, responsibility of which was claimed by the Islamic State (IS). Islamist militant groups in Bangladesh which emerged in the 1990s have undergone several transformations. Originally grown out of the volunteers who joined the Afghan war against the Soviet Union, these groups have since then taken different shapes. Since the 1990s, five ‘generations’ of militant groups appeared on the scene. In some measures, the militant groups have come full circle: they began as a result of a global agenda fighting an ‘atheist’ Communist system (war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan) to now being part of establishing a global ‘khilafat’ (by joining the IS in Syria and Iraq) via pursuing a circumscribed local agend...
It is well recognized in the extant discussion that election poses a dilemma to the leaders of th... more It is well recognized in the extant discussion that election poses a dilemma to the leaders of the hybrid regimes: they want to show a veneer of democracy through a contested election but want to ensure their victory. As these elections only deliver success to the regime, the question remains of whether participation in these elections is worth for opposition. This chapter discusses the pros and cons of participation in the election in a hybrid regime, draws on various countries’ experiences, and describes the situation in Bangladesh leading to the 2018 election.
While there has been a significant growth of the media industry during the last two decades, Bang... more While there has been a significant growth of the media industry during the last two decades, Bangladesh has also experienced serious erosion of media freedom. To unpack the complex relationship between ownership and media, gathering data and understanding the overlapping features of ownership are essential. It is against this background that this report has explored the question: who owns the media in Bangladesh? Relevant informationand statistics on the media in Bangladesh—both in terms of numbers of media outlets and their typologies, e.g., print, electronic, radio and web-based etc., the nature of media ownership and the scope of press freedom are presented in this report
Motor vehicles scrap tires and tube rubbers generate a large amount of waste with different chara... more Motor vehicles scrap tires and tube rubbers generate a large amount of waste with different characteristics and compositions, contaminating the environment when not properly disposed. Waste inner tube rubber (isobutylene isoprene) representing a threat to the environment can be used as valuable source of energy. Waste inner tube rubber was pyrolyzed thermally under atmospheric pressure both with and without catalyst. Parameters of temperature, time, and catalyst weight were optimized for catalytic and thermal pyrolysis of isobutylene-isoprene rubber into liquid fuel, using MgO as catalyst. It was found that one-hour heating time at 350 °C using 2 g catalyst (MgO) constitutes a suitable parameter for the maximum conversion of scrap inner tube rubber into oil. The oil obtained was characterized by physical and chemical tests. Among the physical tests, Density, specific gravity, viscosity, kinematic viscosity, analine point and flash point were determined according to IP and ASTM stand...
Beginning mid-2015, Bangladesh experienced a dramatic decline in the space for dissent, and freed... more Beginning mid-2015, Bangladesh experienced a dramatic decline in the space for dissent, and freedom of expression and assembly became highly restricted. The main opposition party, Bangladesh Nationalist Party, was pushed to the corner after its mass movement failed and was weakened as its leaders faced frivolous criminal changes. The overall social and political climate became more restrictive. Various methods, such as extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances, were employed to create a climate of fear among the citizens. Media was muzzled through co-optation and unwritten censorship. Existing draconian laws were used and new restrictive laws were introduced to curb online activities. Two non-partisan grassroots movements were quelled through heavy-handed measures. This chapter describes the overall fearful situation before the election cycle began.
We use techniques of proof mining to extract computable and uniform rates of metastability (in th... more We use techniques of proof mining to extract computable and uniform rates of metastability (in the sense of Tao) for iterations of continuous functions on the unit interval, firstly (following earlier work of Gaspar) out of convergence proofs due to Franks, Marzec, Rhoades and Hillam and then out of an argument due to Borwein and Borwein that pertains only to Lipschitz functions.
ABSTRACT With the global proliferation of hybrid regimes, manipulated elections are on the rise a... more ABSTRACT With the global proliferation of hybrid regimes, manipulated elections are on the rise as the rulers of hybrid regimes organize elections to maintain the veneer of democracy. Yet available studies on hybrid regimes have not explored the detail mechanisms of election manipulation and the role of various institutions in the process. This article intends to address this gap through the case study of 2018 Bangladeshi election. This article examines the parliamentary election held on 30 December which has delivered an unprecedented victory to the incumbent Bangladeshi Awami League (BAL). The article demonstrates how the ruling party adopted various methods to rig the election. These include creating a climate of fear, neutering opposition candidates through imprisonment and confinement, disqualifying opposition candidates, limiting the effective oversight of the electoral process through denying international observers, and establishing control over media before the election day and ballot stuffing. It also discusses the roles of the electoral commission, civilian administration, law enforcing agencies and the courts.
After decades of proliferation of democracy around the world as a part of the ‘Third Wave’, by th... more After decades of proliferation of democracy around the world as a part of the ‘Third Wave’, by the early 2000s, the democratization process stalled in many countries and a new form of governance emerged in some countries either by choice or by default. This new form, while having some democratic institutions, is essentially authoritarian in its nature. It became evident to researchers that these regimes are not in transition. They are neither subtypes of autocracy nor of democracy, but instead are a regime type of their own. They are called hybrid regimes. This chapter traces the emergence of the concept of hybrid regime, explores its defining features, and examines the spread of such regimes around the world.
The Making of Contemporary Maldives: Isolation, Dictatorship and Democracy, 2020
This paper explores the tumultuous political history of Bangladesh since it embarked on democrati... more This paper explores the tumultuous political history of Bangladesh since it embarked on democratization process in 1991 after two decades of civilian and military authoritarianism, using the political settlement framework. Political settlement, in this paper is understood as, an agreement among elites and other social forces regarding ‘distribution of benefits supported by its institutions consistent with the distribution of power in the society’ (Khan, 2010). At the political level the arrangement is expected to ensure that the system would not unravel by conflict and violence. In the past decades, the country not only experienced repeated episodes of violence but also hopes of a democratic transformation have faded. Bangladesh has moved towards a non-inclusive political system. The paper argues that the period in question is marked by the emergence and collapse of a political settlement among political elites. It explores the nature and scope of the political settlement that emerg...
Although Bangladesh was founded in 1971 on the basis of secularist principles, in the past four d... more Although Bangladesh was founded in 1971 on the basis of secularist principles, in the past four decades Islam has emerged as a political ideology and the Islamists as formidable political force. A series of constitutional amendments have allowed Islamist parties to be a part of the political landscape and made Islam the state religion. Additionally, the largest Islamist party was in state power as a member of a center-right coalition between 2001 and 2006. Despite reinstating secularism as a state principle, the fifteenth amendment of the Constitution has reaffirmed the influence of Islamism. The rise of the Islamists has also influenced the traditional social institutions and practices. This paper is an exploration of the cause of and conditions for these dramatic changes, and their impact on the society and politics of Bangladesh. This paper argues that both domestic and external factors are responsible for these changes. It demonstrates that the emergence of Islamism as a political ideology is intrinsically connected to the crisis of the ruling classes of Bangladesh; while the sustenance of religio-political forces is a consequence both of global changes and the domestic political environment.Bien que le Bangladesh ait été fondé en 1971 sur la base de principes sécularistes, l’islam, dans les quatre dernières décennies, a émergé en tant qu’idéologie et les islamistes comme une formidable force politique. Une série d’amendements constitutionnels ont permis aux partis islamistes de représenter une part du paysage politique et ont fait de l’islam la religion d’État. En outre, le parti islamiste était au pouvoir en tant que membre de la coalition centre-droit entre 2001 et 2006. En dépit du rétablissement du sécularisme comme principe d’État, le 15e amendement de la Constitution a réaffirmé l’influence de l’islamisme. L’essor des islamistes a aussi influencé les institutions sociales et les pratiques traditionnelles. Cet article est une exploration de la cause et des conditions de ces changements dramatiques et de leur impact sur la société et la politique du Bangladesh. Cette contribution défend l’idée que des facteurs à la fois nationaux ou extérieurs sont responsables de ces changements. Il démontre que l’émergence de l’islamisme en tant qu’idéologie politique est intrinsèquement connectée à la crise des classes dirigeantes du Bangladesh, tandis que la subsistance des forces religieuses et politiques est une conséquence à la fois des changements globaux et de l’environnement politique intérieur
Abstract. Taslima Nasreen, the exiled Bangladeshi author, was forced to leave India, her adopted ... more Abstract. Taslima Nasreen, the exiled Bangladeshi author, was forced to leave India, her adopted homeland, in March 2008 after being under ‘security protection ’ for months following street agitation against her writings in Kolkata. The events between August 2007, when she was physically attacked in Hyderabad, and March 2008, when she left the country, were reminiscent of those in Bangladesh in 1994 which led to her departure from there. In both instances, the states ’ responses were her forced removal from the country to placate the agitators. In this paper I analyze the events on the ground and the responses of the states. I argue that these events demonstrate how ‘outraged communities ’ are constructed, and symbols are invented to mobilize the community. The role of state has received little attention in the extant discussions while I contend that states bear a significant responsibility in engendering the controversy.
Bangladesh has attracted international media attention for heightened militant activities in 2015... more Bangladesh has attracted international media attention for heightened militant activities in 2015, particularly after a series of killings of bloggers by a local militant group allegedly associated with Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and after murders of foreign nationals, responsibility of which was claimed by the Islamic State (IS). Islamist militant groups in Bangladesh which emerged in the 1990s have undergone several transformations. Originally grown out of the volunteers who joined the Afghan war against the Soviet Union, these groups have since then taken different shapes. Since the 1990s, five ‘generations’ of militant groups appeared on the scene. In some measures, the militant groups have come full circle: they began as a result of a global agenda fighting an ‘atheist’ Communist system (war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan) to now being part of establishing a global ‘khilafat’ (by joining the IS in Syria and Iraq) via pursuing a circumscribed local agend...
It is well recognized in the extant discussion that election poses a dilemma to the leaders of th... more It is well recognized in the extant discussion that election poses a dilemma to the leaders of the hybrid regimes: they want to show a veneer of democracy through a contested election but want to ensure their victory. As these elections only deliver success to the regime, the question remains of whether participation in these elections is worth for opposition. This chapter discusses the pros and cons of participation in the election in a hybrid regime, draws on various countries’ experiences, and describes the situation in Bangladesh leading to the 2018 election.
While there has been a significant growth of the media industry during the last two decades, Bang... more While there has been a significant growth of the media industry during the last two decades, Bangladesh has also experienced serious erosion of media freedom. To unpack the complex relationship between ownership and media, gathering data and understanding the overlapping features of ownership are essential. It is against this background that this report has explored the question: who owns the media in Bangladesh? Relevant informationand statistics on the media in Bangladesh—both in terms of numbers of media outlets and their typologies, e.g., print, electronic, radio and web-based etc., the nature of media ownership and the scope of press freedom are presented in this report
Motor vehicles scrap tires and tube rubbers generate a large amount of waste with different chara... more Motor vehicles scrap tires and tube rubbers generate a large amount of waste with different characteristics and compositions, contaminating the environment when not properly disposed. Waste inner tube rubber (isobutylene isoprene) representing a threat to the environment can be used as valuable source of energy. Waste inner tube rubber was pyrolyzed thermally under atmospheric pressure both with and without catalyst. Parameters of temperature, time, and catalyst weight were optimized for catalytic and thermal pyrolysis of isobutylene-isoprene rubber into liquid fuel, using MgO as catalyst. It was found that one-hour heating time at 350 °C using 2 g catalyst (MgO) constitutes a suitable parameter for the maximum conversion of scrap inner tube rubber into oil. The oil obtained was characterized by physical and chemical tests. Among the physical tests, Density, specific gravity, viscosity, kinematic viscosity, analine point and flash point were determined according to IP and ASTM stand...
Beginning mid-2015, Bangladesh experienced a dramatic decline in the space for dissent, and freed... more Beginning mid-2015, Bangladesh experienced a dramatic decline in the space for dissent, and freedom of expression and assembly became highly restricted. The main opposition party, Bangladesh Nationalist Party, was pushed to the corner after its mass movement failed and was weakened as its leaders faced frivolous criminal changes. The overall social and political climate became more restrictive. Various methods, such as extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances, were employed to create a climate of fear among the citizens. Media was muzzled through co-optation and unwritten censorship. Existing draconian laws were used and new restrictive laws were introduced to curb online activities. Two non-partisan grassroots movements were quelled through heavy-handed measures. This chapter describes the overall fearful situation before the election cycle began.
We use techniques of proof mining to extract computable and uniform rates of metastability (in th... more We use techniques of proof mining to extract computable and uniform rates of metastability (in the sense of Tao) for iterations of continuous functions on the unit interval, firstly (following earlier work of Gaspar) out of convergence proofs due to Franks, Marzec, Rhoades and Hillam and then out of an argument due to Borwein and Borwein that pertains only to Lipschitz functions.
ABSTRACT With the global proliferation of hybrid regimes, manipulated elections are on the rise a... more ABSTRACT With the global proliferation of hybrid regimes, manipulated elections are on the rise as the rulers of hybrid regimes organize elections to maintain the veneer of democracy. Yet available studies on hybrid regimes have not explored the detail mechanisms of election manipulation and the role of various institutions in the process. This article intends to address this gap through the case study of 2018 Bangladeshi election. This article examines the parliamentary election held on 30 December which has delivered an unprecedented victory to the incumbent Bangladeshi Awami League (BAL). The article demonstrates how the ruling party adopted various methods to rig the election. These include creating a climate of fear, neutering opposition candidates through imprisonment and confinement, disqualifying opposition candidates, limiting the effective oversight of the electoral process through denying international observers, and establishing control over media before the election day and ballot stuffing. It also discusses the roles of the electoral commission, civilian administration, law enforcing agencies and the courts.
After decades of proliferation of democracy around the world as a part of the ‘Third Wave’, by th... more After decades of proliferation of democracy around the world as a part of the ‘Third Wave’, by the early 2000s, the democratization process stalled in many countries and a new form of governance emerged in some countries either by choice or by default. This new form, while having some democratic institutions, is essentially authoritarian in its nature. It became evident to researchers that these regimes are not in transition. They are neither subtypes of autocracy nor of democracy, but instead are a regime type of their own. They are called hybrid regimes. This chapter traces the emergence of the concept of hybrid regime, explores its defining features, and examines the spread of such regimes around the world.
The Making of Contemporary Maldives: Isolation, Dictatorship and Democracy, 2020
This paper explores the tumultuous political history of Bangladesh since it embarked on democrati... more This paper explores the tumultuous political history of Bangladesh since it embarked on democratization process in 1991 after two decades of civilian and military authoritarianism, using the political settlement framework. Political settlement, in this paper is understood as, an agreement among elites and other social forces regarding ‘distribution of benefits supported by its institutions consistent with the distribution of power in the society’ (Khan, 2010). At the political level the arrangement is expected to ensure that the system would not unravel by conflict and violence. In the past decades, the country not only experienced repeated episodes of violence but also hopes of a democratic transformation have faded. Bangladesh has moved towards a non-inclusive political system. The paper argues that the period in question is marked by the emergence and collapse of a political settlement among political elites. It explores the nature and scope of the political settlement that emerg...
Although Bangladesh was founded in 1971 on the basis of secularist principles, in the past four d... more Although Bangladesh was founded in 1971 on the basis of secularist principles, in the past four decades Islam has emerged as a political ideology and the Islamists as formidable political force. A series of constitutional amendments have allowed Islamist parties to be a part of the political landscape and made Islam the state religion. Additionally, the largest Islamist party was in state power as a member of a center-right coalition between 2001 and 2006. Despite reinstating secularism as a state principle, the fifteenth amendment of the Constitution has reaffirmed the influence of Islamism. The rise of the Islamists has also influenced the traditional social institutions and practices. This paper is an exploration of the cause of and conditions for these dramatic changes, and their impact on the society and politics of Bangladesh. This paper argues that both domestic and external factors are responsible for these changes. It demonstrates that the emergence of Islamism as a political ideology is intrinsically connected to the crisis of the ruling classes of Bangladesh; while the sustenance of religio-political forces is a consequence both of global changes and the domestic political environment.Bien que le Bangladesh ait été fondé en 1971 sur la base de principes sécularistes, l’islam, dans les quatre dernières décennies, a émergé en tant qu’idéologie et les islamistes comme une formidable force politique. Une série d’amendements constitutionnels ont permis aux partis islamistes de représenter une part du paysage politique et ont fait de l’islam la religion d’État. En outre, le parti islamiste était au pouvoir en tant que membre de la coalition centre-droit entre 2001 et 2006. En dépit du rétablissement du sécularisme comme principe d’État, le 15e amendement de la Constitution a réaffirmé l’influence de l’islamisme. L’essor des islamistes a aussi influencé les institutions sociales et les pratiques traditionnelles. Cet article est une exploration de la cause et des conditions de ces changements dramatiques et de leur impact sur la société et la politique du Bangladesh. Cette contribution défend l’idée que des facteurs à la fois nationaux ou extérieurs sont responsables de ces changements. Il démontre que l’émergence de l’islamisme en tant qu’idéologie politique est intrinsèquement connectée à la crise des classes dirigeantes du Bangladesh, tandis que la subsistance des forces religieuses et politiques est une conséquence à la fois des changements globaux et de l’environnement politique intérieur
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