Why you must boycott this rigged election

By Aminul Hoque Polash Dr. Muhammad Yunus’s illegitimate interim regime is set to stage a thoroughly orchestrated national election and referendum on February 12. Having illegally ousted an elected government and seized power, Yunus has spent the past 18 months rushing to resolve every personal interest tied to himself while signing one anti-national agreement after another to please his foreign backers. Critical decisions on national security, the economy, natural resources, ports, and other vital sectors have been handed over to foreign hands. Thursday’s so-called “election” is nothing more than a theatrical performance designed to grant legitimacy to all of Yunus’s treasonous misdeeds.

Ask yourself honestly: In the last 18 months, has this government done a single thing in the public interest? Right after grabbing power, the regime released top terrorists and militants from prison, turning Bangladesh into a safe haven for criminals. Murder, rape, mob violence, theft, robbery, mugging, and extortion have become everyday realities. Do you feel safe stepping out of your home anymore?

The economy is in freefall. Without undertaking any meaningful development work, this government has borrowed Tk4 lakh crore in just 18 months. Where did all that money go? Printing nearly Tk50,000 crore in new notes has driven inflation to record levels—you feel the heat every time you go to the market. Investment has plummeted to historic lows. Yunus’s press secretary once promised a “flood of jobs.” The grim truth? Hundreds of factories and industries have shut down, leaving at least 20 lakh people unemployed.

Pure political self-interest and the desire to cling to power have wrecked relations with friendly nations. Just to favour one country, ties with others have been deliberately damaged—business relationships sacrificed for short-term gain. Bangladesh will pay the price for years to come.

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Yunus famously declared: “We will not go abroad; foreigners will come to us.” He has indeed succeeded in that one promise: almost every country has now suspended or severely restricted visas for Bangladeshis. Foreigners do come—but only to serve their own interests. Young people dreaming of higher education or a better life abroad should search online right now: see how slim your chances have become.

Some may argue, “Let the election happen anyway—Yunus will leave afterwards.” You are dangerously mistaken. The referendum bundled with this election is the final nail in the coffin of Bangladesh’s democratic system. By rigging a “Yes” victory in the referendum, Yunus aims to legalise all his crimes while amending the Constitution to install a governance model from which no future elected government can escape his anti-national decisions. Bangladesh will be reduced to a banana republic.

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And who stands to “win” this farce? Either the BNP or the Jamaat-NCP alliance. Reflect for a moment on their conduct over the past 18 months. Did either raise even the mildest protest against a single anti-national act by Yunus? Did they launch any programmes for public welfare? The answer is a resounding no. Instead, driven by lust for power, they repeatedly posed for smiling photos with Yunus at Jamuna, acting as willing accomplices to every treasonous move of this illegal regime.

Under this regime, freedom fighters have been humiliated with shoe garlands around their necks, and monuments to the Great Liberation War have been demolished. Independence Day and Victory Day parades have been cancelled; the Ekushey Book Fair shut down. Yet the so-called pro-liberation, “progressive” BNP never uttered a word of protest. Its grassroots activists have been busy extorting money nationwide, seizing bus stands and tempo stands, while top leaders remained preoccupied with praising Yunus—some even claiming they see General Ziaur Rahman in him!

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Meanwhile, Jamaat—the party of war criminals—is fully engaged in turning Bangladesh into a fundamentalist state, with active support from Pakistan’s ISI. They have already placed their people in key positions across the country. All that remains is to rig the election results in their favour—then the next phase of establishing a Taliban-style regime begins. Jamaat’s attitude toward women—half the population—is crystal clear from their Amir’s own words in an Al Jazeera interview: Bangladeshi women are “not yet ready for leadership.” Yet for the past 33 years, since 1991, this country has twice elected women prime ministers and seen women as opposition leaders, speakers, home ministers, foreign ministers, justices, university vice-chancellors, major generals, and pilots. Jamaat’s repeated failures—its Amir’s security forfeited three times—fuel their resentment born of sheer impotence. Women of Bangladesh: close your eyes for a moment and ask, how have the last 18 months been for you? What kind of future awaits if they succeed?

Jamaat’s new ally, the freshly minted NCP (the so-called “July ideal” party), has done nothing since birth except appointment scams, favouritism rackets, extortion, and mob terror—filling their pockets while contributing zero to the nation. Their only future is dissolution into Jamaat.

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Back to Yunus. In an interview with Mehdi Hasan at the UN General Assembly, he sneered that Bangladeshis sell their votes for Tk500–1,000, so quick elections are no solution. Recently, he declared that Bangladeshis are world champions in fraud. This is the real Yunus—his contempt for the people of Bangladesh laid bare. And now this same man is staging a sham election to whitewash his crimes.

Think calmly for a moment: Do you want to become complicit in Yunus’ anti-national betrayals? Do you want to grant legitimacy to the BNP or Jamaat-NCP alliance—their accomplices—so they can continue these treasonous acts? Do you want to throw away the Constitution written in the blood of 3 million martyrs? Do you want women confined to medieval domestic imprisonment? Do you want a Taliban-style state?

If the answer to any of these is no, then boycott the rigged election on February 12. Do not go to the polling centre. Encourage others to stay away.

We stand at a historic crossroads. Your thoughtful decision today is what can bring Bangladesh back to the right path.

Aminul Hoque Polash: Former diplomat and security analyst.