September 12, 2004 ☼ Foreign Affairs
Siddharth Varadarajan has more on the rift that is tearing Bangladesh apart
“This is no time for jokes,” the owner of a Bengali-language daily told The Hindu , “but the only thing that can be said about the identity of the assailants with a fair degree of certainty is that half of Bangladesh secretly believes India did it while the other half is convinced the culprit is Pakistan,” which still has links with collaborationist elements — mostly Islamist — who opposed the 1971
liberation war. “Quite frankly, the situation is really bad,” a senior BNP leader said. “Unless I see the two ladies appear on television together soon, signalling an end to this destructive bitterness, things are going to go from bad to worse. One might as well pack up one’s bags and leave the country.” [The Hindu]Packing up and leaving was the only option the World Bank’s Country Director for Bangladesh had, when confronted with death threats. Bangladesh’s image has taken a severe beating in recent months. Unless the battling begum’s find a modus vivendi, the damage could well become permanent.
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