DHAKA: Bangladesh’s leader has warned that any deviation from planned elections would be “extremely dangerous,” as violent political rivalries deepen a year after the overthrow of longtime prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
The warning comes after protests in the South Asian nation, which left a key leader hospitalized, with parties vying for power ahead of the first elections since the uprising.
Arguments between parties have escalated, including over who will be able to contest in the polls, scheduled for February, as well as the bid by interim leader Muhammad Yunus to push through a raft of democratic reforms.
“The chief adviser said there is no alternative to an election,” Yunus’ press secretary Shafiqul Alam said late Sunday. “Any deviation from it would be extremely dangerous for the country.”
Yunus, the 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner who has been leading the caretaker government as its chief adviser since the August 2024 uprising, held rounds of meetings with key parties on Sunday.
A key recent source of contention is whether the Jatiya Party, seen as a former ally of Hasina, should be allowed to take part in elections.
On Friday, violent clashes erupted in Dhaka when the Gono Odhikar Parishad party held a rally demanding it be banned.
Gono Odhikar Parishad party leader Nurul Haque Nur was badly beaten when the police and military sought to stop the rally.
Jamaat-e-Islami, the main Islamist party in the Muslim-majority nation of 170 million people, has also demanded Jatiya be excluded. Hasina’s Awami League has already been banned.
Violent protests were reported in universities, including at Chittagong University, where around a hundred students were injured on Saturday.
Parties are yet to agree on efforts by Yunus to create a charter for democratic reforms.
Yunus has previously said he inherited a “completely broken down” system of public administration, and that it required a comprehensive overhaul to prevent a future return to authoritarian rule.
A 28-page draft proposes limits on prime ministerial powers to two terms, and the expansion of presidential powers.
Parties are yet to agree on the proposed reforms – and whether they would be legally binding, or even override the existing constitution.
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Bangladesh leader warns ‘extremely dangerous’ if polls derailed
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Bangladesh leader warns ‘extremely dangerous’ if polls derailed
- A key recent source of contention is whether the Jatiya Party, seen as a former ally of Sheikh Hasina, should be allowed to take part in elections
- Jamaat-e-Islami, the main Islamist party in the Muslim-majority nation of 170 million people, has demanded Jatiya Party be excluded
Pentagon to cut academic ties with Harvard: statement
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, on X: ‘Harvard is woke; The War Department is not’
- Pentagon to review its ties with all Ivy League colleges for military training and education
WASHINGTON, United States: The Pentagon is to cut all academic ties with Harvard University, ending military education, fellowships and certificate programs, it said in a statement on Friday.
The move is the latest in the Trump administration’s battle with Harvard over claims that the Ivy League institution promotes “woke” ideology.
“For too long, this department has sent our best and brightest officers to Harvard, hoping the university would better understand and appreciate our warrior class,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in the statement.
“Instead, too many of our officers came back looking too much like Harvard — heads full of globalist and radical ideologies that do not improve our fighting ranks.”
The Pentagon said the severance of ties would begin in the 2026-2027 school year, with military personnel attending classes able to finish their studies.
In a separate post on X using his preferred term for the Department of Defense, Hegseth said: “Harvard is woke; The War Department is not.”
Hegseth said the Pentagon would review its ties with all Ivy League colleges for military training and education.
“The goal is to determine whether or not they actually deliver cost-effective strategic education for future senior leaders when compared to, say, public universities and our military graduate programs,” he said.
Hegseth is himself an Ivy Leaguer, graduating from both Princeton and Harvard, though he reportedly sent his degree back to the latter institution, and the former Fox News host had criticized it on air for its allegedly left-leaning policies.
President Donald Trump on Monday said that his administration would seek $1 billion in damages from Harvard after a New York Times report said the college had won some concessions in ongoing settlement negotiations with the government.
Trump administration officials have accused Harvard and other colleges of failing to sufficiently protect Jewish students during pro-Palestinian protests, filing legal complaints and demanding exorbitant payouts.
The Trump administration’s pressure on universities has sparked some academics, including Harvard’s former president, to raise concerns about the possibility of eroding academic freedom.
Trump has previously sought to cut more than $2.6 billion of funding to Harvard, and has moved to block the entry of international students — a quarter of its student body.
The move is the latest in the Trump administration’s battle with Harvard over claims that the Ivy League institution promotes “woke” ideology.
“For too long, this department has sent our best and brightest officers to Harvard, hoping the university would better understand and appreciate our warrior class,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in the statement.
“Instead, too many of our officers came back looking too much like Harvard — heads full of globalist and radical ideologies that do not improve our fighting ranks.”
The Pentagon said the severance of ties would begin in the 2026-2027 school year, with military personnel attending classes able to finish their studies.
In a separate post on X using his preferred term for the Department of Defense, Hegseth said: “Harvard is woke; The War Department is not.”
Hegseth said the Pentagon would review its ties with all Ivy League colleges for military training and education.
“The goal is to determine whether or not they actually deliver cost-effective strategic education for future senior leaders when compared to, say, public universities and our military graduate programs,” he said.
Hegseth is himself an Ivy Leaguer, graduating from both Princeton and Harvard, though he reportedly sent his degree back to the latter institution, and the former Fox News host had criticized it on air for its allegedly left-leaning policies.
President Donald Trump on Monday said that his administration would seek $1 billion in damages from Harvard after a New York Times report said the college had won some concessions in ongoing settlement negotiations with the government.
Trump administration officials have accused Harvard and other colleges of failing to sufficiently protect Jewish students during pro-Palestinian protests, filing legal complaints and demanding exorbitant payouts.
The Trump administration’s pressure on universities has sparked some academics, including Harvard’s former president, to raise concerns about the possibility of eroding academic freedom.
Trump has previously sought to cut more than $2.6 billion of funding to Harvard, and has moved to block the entry of international students — a quarter of its student body.
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