Dhaka diary: The fresh smell of elections

“Politics” is often a negative word the way we use it. But to be in Dhaka on the eve of the elections made me realise just how vital it is.

After more than a decade, Bangladeshis saw their first free and fair election. The Awami League’s Sheikh Hasina might have had many virtues, but conducting fair polls was not one of them. As a result, Dhaka was buzzing with energy when I landed to cover the elections. For many Bangladeshis, this would be the first time in their lives that they were voting.

At a cramped Chittagononian eatery, my table was right next to a young couple whose entire conversation revolved around the elections. Both of them agreed whom to vote for (the now-centrist Bangladesh Nationalist Party) but differed on the role of the interim government that has run the country since Hasina fled to India in August 2024 (the lady was far more critical).

My cab driver when I was in Dhaka, on the other hand, was a strong Jamaat supporter. Like many young urban men, the many years of non-politics had moved him to the right. But he was crestfallen that his boss would not give him leave to go back home to the...

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