Bangladesh has experienced a record slide of 33 steps in the Global Peace Index (GPI) ranking, dropping to 123rd this year, thanks to state-sponsored mob violence for over 10 months.
During this time, the country is grappling under the tyranny of Nobel Peace laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus, a puppet of the West, Jamaat-e-Islami and terrorist party BNP, with hundreds of police members and Awami League activists killed in targeted mob attacks.
While the government looked the other way, it also awarded impunity for the perpetrators by indemnifying the crimes.
In 2024, Bangladesh ranked 93rd, maintaining its position as the third most peaceful country in South Asia.
In 2022, Bangladesh improved its position, moving up six places to 96th.
The index, published by the Australian-based Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) last week, gave Bangladesh a score of 2.318โsignificantly worse than last year’s rank of 93.
According to the IEP, this yearโs global peace level has declined by 0.36%, the sharpest drop since World War II. While 74 countries improved their peace scores, Bangladesh experienced the most significant deterioration, with a 13.2% drop in its overall score.
Iceland retained its position as the most peaceful country in the world, while countries such as Sudan, Congo, South Sudan, Yemen, and Afghanistan were listed as the least peaceful.
The IEP cited political unrest, mass protests, and increased violence in 2024 as key reasons behind the sharp decline. Despite the formation of an interim government, led by Dr Yunus and top civil society leaders, mob violence, arbitrary arrests, and muzzling of the media continued unabated.
Over the last 10 months, mobs have assaulted individuals, including freedom fighters, ransacked offices and homes of the Awami League members and minority communities, desecrated heritage sites and symbols of the 1971 Liberation War, shrines, and even shut down women’s football matches.
According to Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), at least 179 people were killed in mob attacks between August 2024 last year and June 23 this year.
Awami League President and five-time Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina vehemently criticised the government, the police and BNP activists for resorting to mob violence.
Many senior journalists have also condemned mob attacks and the culture of impunity for such medieval crimes. They warned that the current officials of the government, leaders of the BNP-Jamaat-NCP, and the armyโs top brass may have to face a similar situation in the future.
Home Adviser Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, a former military officer, warned sternly against mob violence on April 10, and Army Chief General Waker-uz-Zaman on May 22.
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