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#BNP and PM #TariqueRahman have demonstrated their true “commitment” to #democracy by endorsing the Interim Govt’s deeply controversial decision to effectively ban one of the largest political parties in #Bangladesh through legally flawed amendments to the Anti-Terrorism Act, 2009. Today, under a proposal by Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed, the BNP-majority #parliament passed the Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Ordinance Bill 2026. This legislation ratifies provisions originally introduced by the Interim Govt, granting the executive sweeping powers to suspend the activities of any organization indefinitely. It also prohibits all forms of support for such proscribed entities. The provisions were previously used by the Interim Govt to impose a de-facto ban on the #AwamiLeague. The newly passed law goes even further by introducing penalties for violations, thereby entrenching and expanding the IG’s restrictions. This decision runs counter to the recommendations of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, @volker_turk, several independent experts from the @UN_HRC , as well as numerous international and national human rights and civil society organizations. By aligning itself with the Yunus Regime’s undemocratic position on the arbitrary banning of political parties, BNP has undermined its own credibility in advocating for democratic principles and has forfeited the moral high ground to critique other parties and their stance on democracy, including the Awami League. This marks a deeply troubling moment for #democracy in Bangladesh, with potentially far-reaching and destabilizing consequences for the country’s political landscape. …. #BangladeshCrisis @SRjudgeslawyers @UN_SPExperts @hrw @AgnesCallamard @UNHumanRights @antonioguterres @amnestysasia @PearsonElaine @ESandersFCDO @cnni @OHCHRAsia @StateDRL @EURightsAgency @kajakallas @GERonSouthAsia @State_SCA @eu_eeas @FCDOGovUK

#Bangladesh’s first female Speaker arrested by the #BNP Govt in a trumped-up, politically motivated case stemming from the events of July–August 2024. Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, the first woman to serve as Speaker of the National #Parliament, was detained earlier today by the Detective Branch of Police in connection with a “attempted murder” case filed at Lalbagh Police Station in #Dhaka. The case relates to the violence during the Anti-Quota Movement of July–August 2024. DB claims they are examining her alleged “involvement” in incidents of violence and vandalism during that period, an assertion that is as laughable as it is sad. News: thedailystar.net/news/crime-jus… In Bangladesh, arrests of this scale rarely occur without approval from the highest levels of government. It is therefore reasonable to conclude that the current administration led by #TariqueRahman played a decisive role in this action. Notably, under the previous #Yunus-led Interim Govt, former Deputy Speaker Shamsul Haque was also arrested in October 2024 under a similar wholesale criminal case tied to the same events. Dr. Chaudhury served as Speaker from April 30, 2013, until her forced resignation on September 2, 2024. A top constitutional lawyer, she also served as Chairperson of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association from 2014 to 2017, the first ever Bangladeshi to hold the position. This arrest highlights three troubling realities: First, Tarique Rahman’s stated commitment to the rule of law appears increasingly questionable; Second, the pattern of political targeting initiated under the Yunus regime is not only continuing but intensifying under the BNP Govt; Third, Bangladesh risks entering another prolonged cycle of political retaliation that could destabilize the nation for years to come. …. #BangladeshCrisis @commonwealthsec @IPUparliament @hrw @amnestysasia @meeganguly @PearsonElaine @ESandersFCDO @volker_turk @UNHumanRights @StateDRL @AgnesCallamard @justiceinfonet @IBAHRI @forum_asia @article19org @FortifyRights @BonaveroIHR @IHRF_English

For people who have reservations about the @BangladeshSonod regarding its entry specifically on "Nationalism," here are my two cents: Being Bangalee is GEOHISTORICAL, not ETHNOLINGUISTIC. To define 'Bangalee' as an "ethnolinguistic" identity is to mistake the vessel for the soul; being Bangalee is, fundamentally, a geohistorical condition. While critics may argue that the Bangla language is the sole bedrock of this identity, such a view ignores that the language itself was forged by the unique, fluid ecology of the Bengal Delta - a landscape that dictated how people moved, traded, and resisted. This identity is not just a collection of shared phonemes, but a product of the land’s specific historical trauma, specifically the repeated genocides and human-made famines that have "refined" the delta’s inhabitants through survival. To call it geohistorical is to acknowledge that a Bangalee is defined less by a static ethnic category and more by a shared endurance within a volatile geography that has been repeatedly contested, carved, and defended. 🙏