The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has won a clear-cut victory, securing 212 of the 299 parliamentary seats. A decade later, his widow, Khaleda Zia, assumed power as military rule in Bangladesh came to a close. In the interim, especially under General Ershad, Bangladesh had increasingly moved away from its original secular foundations. Instead, religion was progressively enshrined in the country’s politics, with Islam being declared the state religion in 1988. Finally, even before the ouster of Sheikh Hasina, China had made diplomatic and military inroads into Bangladesh.

Source: Indian Express February 22, 2026 05:56 UTC