Cultural organisations in Bangladesh are relieved that the Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s (BNP) victory in the country’s national elections is likely to end “mobocracy” and sudden attacks on their institutions. Jamaat and its allies have secured 77 out of 299 seats in Bangladesh’s national elections, its best performance ever. Two of Bangladesh’s prominent cultural institutions, Chhayanot and Bangladesh Udichi Shilpigoshthi, were attacked and torched when unrest gripped Bangladesh last December. The next evening, a group rampaged Bangladesh Udichi Shilpigoshthi, a Left-minded cultural organisation on Dhaka’s Topkhana Road. What worries many cultural institutions is Jamaat’s 77 seats.

Source: The Telegraph February 16, 2026 01:04 UTC