A YEAR has passed since the people of Bangladesh rose in defiance of a brutal autocracy, bringing an end to Sheikh Hasina Wajed’s 15-year rule. The image of protesters breaching the gates of Ganabhaban, dancing in its halls and swimming in its lakes, captured not just the collapse of a regime, but the arrival of a rare moment of collective power. Now, the Ganabhaban has been turned into a museum. Yet the country is still stuck in a dangerous limbo. The caretaker government led by Muhammad Yunus, the elderly Nobel laureate and a widely respected figure, promised a reset. It swiftly banned Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League from politics and moved to prosecute her allies for crimes ranging from corruption to crimes against humanity. But a year later, the roadmap to democracy remains vague. Political groups that once stood shoulder to shoulder are now at odds. Disagreement over the scope of constitutional reforms — including proposals for a bicameral legislature and electoral proportionality — has mired the National Consensus Commission in deadlock. Meanwhile, instability is rising. Crime is up, the police are demoralised, and rival political factions jostling for dominance in towns and tenders alike. While economic indicators have improved — inflation is down, reserves are up — political legitimacy is lagging.

The revolutionaries of 2024 did not march for indefinite caretaker rule, nor for one unelected elite to replace another. Bangladesh needs an election — not in early 2026, as currently promised, but much sooner. The longer the wait, the more brittle the interim consensus becomes. Crucially, the credibility of that election depends not only on reform but on inclusivity. Banning large swathes of the political spectrum may please the revolutionaries, but it will not restore democratic normalcy. Delay too long, and Bangladesh risks repeating the very cycle it sought to break.

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2025