Our meeting about the recent momentous changes in Bangladesh marked the first time a professional opera singer has spoken at a LIBG meeting. Monica Yunus, who was a soprano at the Metropolitan Opera in New York for years, is also the daughter of Nobel Peace Prize winner Professor Mohamad Yunus who now leads Bangladesh’s transitional government. Throughout 2024, Monica campaigned to keep her father from being imprisoned on trumped up charges by Bangladesh’s ruler, Sheikh Hasina. Monica was then at her father’s side as young people led a popular uprising that Hasina’s regime used disproportionate violence against. The protests continued until August 2024 when Hasina and her Awami League governing party were driven from power. During the LIBG meeting, Monica showed a short video about the uprising and the brutality of Hasina’s security services. 

Professor Yunus now oversees the transitional government, including 11commissions drafting a new constitution, and examining the justice system, public administration, anti-corruption, police reform, electoral system reform, among other areas. Professor Farhana Sultana spoke of the challenges facing the transitional government, including a legacy of corruption and a relentless campaign of daily disinformation spread by the Awami League and its backers overseas. She said there was evidence that the Indian government spreads falsehoods about Muslim attacks on the Hindu minority. 

Professor Sultana touched on Sheikh Hasina’s crimes, the UN investigation report on the unrest in 2024, and how justice is being denied as India refuses to extradite Hasina. There are also targeted attacks on Professor Yunus and the interim government, deliberately diverting social media attention from the injustices and corruption of the Hasina regime. This means the interim government is forced to constantly debunk disinformation and clarify false accusations, while trying to build democracy. It also creates tension with India, although Bangladesh has repeatedly stated it wants good relations with India. Professor Sultana believes India wants Bangladesh to be a vassal state it can control geopolitically, financially, resource-wise, and ideologically, all of which it lost with the fall of Hasina. China is taking advantage of this to open friendly relations with the interim government.

I recommend this article by Professor Sultana in which she reprises the talk she gave LIBG:  https://www.laprogressive.com/foreign-policy/democracy-after-dictatorship

Maher Sattar is an award-winning journalist and senior editor at the Fuller project in the States. He has published research on the way in which the central role of women in the 2024 uprising has been downplayed, with women marginalized. He has also highlighted the treatment of women in Bangladesh’s massive garment industry – an industry that now faces crippling tariffs on its exports thanks to the Trump administration. 

Mumtaz Hussain is the first British Bangladeshi to be elected to Birmingham City Council. She represents an area with a significant British Bangladeshi population, and where supporters of the Awami League remain active. She admitted she didn’t follow events in Bangladesh closely, busy as she is working for the people who she represents in Birmingham.

Many thanks to Rebecca Tinsley for organising this event.

This joint LIBG and LDEG event was interesting, in-depth and well attended.The guest speakers were FDP MP Thomas Hacker, former MEP and founder of Women In Parliaments Silvana Koch- Mehrin, and LDEG chair (and resident of Germany) Rob Harrison. Sir Graham Watson chaired.

Initially each speaker spoke about the elections and their Liberal party, the Free Democratic Party which lost all seats, having been a junior coalition member. There was excellent analysis about how the party can improve itself as well as regret that they cannot help to influence the Bundestag at such an important time when Germany needs to be strong in Europe.

The far-right AfD achieved approximately 20% of the vote. They see themselves as the ‘nice face’ of the Nazis. The far-left party Die Linke also did well and these two extremist parties, which are both friendly with Putin, could vote together and prevent policies being adopted. So new Chancellor Merz will try to get a vote on some of the necessary changes BEFORE the new Bundestag comes in.

An analysis of voting patterns showed that AfD voters tend to be from East Germany and male voters from poorer regions in the West so integration is still an important issue for the new government.  

Regarding defence and security, the new government should be stronger and play an important role in a more united Europe, possibly with French nuclear weapons stationed in Germany. On Ukraine, when the socialists were the strongest party, they managed to stop weapons to Ukraine. The Liberals succeeded in pushing for money to be given instead.

Thomas Hacker says, we have survived one month of Trump so only another 47 to go!