The July lesson: Restore the contract that allows democracy to self-correct

This is an opinion article published in The Daily Star (Bangladesh) on August 5, 2026, marking the two-year anniversary of the student-led mass uprising that ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Written by geopolitical analyst Asif Bin Ali, the article argues that Bangladesh's democratic crisis stemmed from both major political parties — BNP and Awami League — repeatedly breaking the post-1990 social contract that required peaceful, electoral transfers of power, with Awami League ultimately abolishing the caretaker government system and using enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings to entrench authoritarian rule through the 2014, 2018, and 2024 elections. The article also examines how a changing middle class, youth unemployment, and anti-elite sentiment contributed to the pressure that exploded in the July–August 2024 uprising. The author's central argument is that Bangladesh must establish a new social contract in which all political parties commit unconditionally to free elections and peaceful transfers of power, warning that when democratic self-correction through voting is blocked, society eventually resorts to violent rupture.

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The Daily Star

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The Daily Star

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