| Background article on the problems B'desh is having in the run-up to elections. |
In the week since the Bangladeshi president sent soldiers onto the streets to quell violent political protests, there has been an unexpected turn in public sentiment -- a growing number of people are clamoring for them to stay on and take charge. It is an option that is still largely discussed in private -- over sweet, milky tea in the back rooms of grimy shops or over whiskey and sodas at upscale dinner parties.
| The desire to see the return of military rule is a testament to the disaster that is Bangladeshi democracy... |
But with the coming election shaping up to be the latest in a string of bloody and chaotic votes, the sentiment is there, even if the military appears unready to make such a move. "I know it sounds absurd, we fought so hard to end military rule. But what else can we do?" said Faruq Hossain, a 46-year-old Dhaka shop owner. "Everyone knows we're headed for a disaster."
Disasters, natural and man made, have plagued Bangladesh since independence from Pakistan in 1971 and many hoped this crowded and poor country had seen the last of its political calamities when rigidly authoritarian military rule ended in 1990. The desire to see its return is a testament to the disaster that is Bangladeshi democracy, a violent, deeply corrupt process that centers on two women whose hatred for one another runs so deep they have not said a word to each other for years. |