Reckoning in Dhaka: A year since the coup, Bangladesh is in a shambles

In the year since Sheikh Hasina was ousted as Prime Minister, Bangladesh has transitioned from a model of economic transformation and poverty reduction to one of South Asia’s most unstable countries, dominated by Islamic fundamentalists aligned to the China-Pakistan axis. In the process, India has lost one of its staunchest allies, now replaced by an implacably hostile regime. An indecisive “interim” government under Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus is increasingly prey to non-democratic Islamists, who envisage a Bangladeshi caliphate. None of this augurs well for the country or South Asian stability.

 

Inevitably, the Bangladesh economy has taken a hit. Since Dr