The Bangladesh Nationalist Party has stepped into its 48th year. On 1 September 1978, late president Ziaur Rahman, along with a group of visionary individuals, founded the party with the dream of building a new Bangladesh.
After that, the BNP has undergone numerous ups and downs, but never compromised its core political ideology. It has remained persistent in upholding the country's independence, and sovereignty. The BNP has never deviated from centrist politics in terms of building an inclusive state.
In terms of political philosophy, the BNP stands out as the only true centrist party in Bangladesh. At most, it can be described as centre-left, the party has never adopted an extreme position. It has maintained cordial relations with liberal forces while also fostering mutual respect with religious groups.
Basically, the BNP believes in the principle that all political views, and ideologies should be given space. However, the reality is that the BNP has often been criticised, and labelled as right-wing. Core Islamists groups tend to consider the BNP as an ideological ally.
At one point, the BNP formed a government with the Jamaat and Islami Oikya Jote. But this was an electoral alliance, not an ideological one. Across the world, electoral alliances often involve parties with differing ideologies, but this does not erase their political identities.
However, there has been a deliberate effort to mischaracterise the BNP as a right-wing or Islamist party. Recently, this tendency has become evident among some Islamists groups, including Jamaat. These groups have begun to attack BNP's centrist position in a very malicious manner.
They wonder why the BNP does not behave like an overly Islamist party. The BNP believes in Islamic values, but it also believes in the freedom, and dignity of all religions.
At the centre of BNP's politics lies the ideology of Bangladeshi nationalism which is rooted in inclusivity, the goal of building an inclusive society and state. The BNP was the first to effectively introduce the politics of centrism in the country. Before this, no political party in Bangladesh had embraced liberal centrism from a philosophical, and principled standpoint.
During British colonial rule in Bengal, neither the Muslim League nor the Indian National Congress could be called truly centrist parties. Both were largely influenced by the political ideologies of Islam and Hinduism.
As a result, both were unable to establish themselves as a centrist party, despite having many secular leaders, especially within Congress which may have had a reputation for secularism, but in practice, it could not detach itself from political ideology influenced by Hinduism.
The Muslim League faced a similar fate. Although it sought to practice secular politics in British Bengal, during the Pakistan era, it became effectively a party for Muslims.
After the creation of Pakistan and India in 1947, the Awami League emerged in East Pakistan as a breakaway from the Muslim League and began so-called secular politics. But since the politics of the Awami League was built on Bengali nationalism, it quickly evolved into a party characterised by extreme ethno-nationalism.
Over time, the Awami League gradually began to reveal its aggressive Bengali nationalist character, eventually turning into fascism.
After the Liberation War, the Awami League came to power three times. In two of these, it established an authoritarian, fascist rule. The first time was when Sheikh Mujibur Rahman imposed one-party rule through the formation of Baksal, introducing the people to the face of fascism.
The second instance was created under Sheikh Hasina, who, upon her return to power, oversaw an even more oppressive and undemocratic regime, marked by widespread human rights violations.
Among the newest political parties in the country is the National Citizen Party. Initially, the NCP presented itself as a centrist party. However, just within a few months of its formation, the party began to exhibit characteristics of "hard line" right-wing politics.
Ultimately, it may eventually evolve into a party like Recep Tayyip Erdogan's party in Turkey. But moving away from right-wing politics seems unlikely for the NCP, as the conduct and behaviour of most of its leaders and supporters clearly reflect a right-wing tendency.
Apart from this, the various leftist parties, Marxist, Leninist or Maoist, and Islamist parties such as the Jamaat and Islami Oikya Jote openly declare their political ideologies. Some of them are extreme left, some are extreme right. The Jatiya Party lacks any clear political ideology, making it difficult to categorise within any specific ideological framework.
The BNP remains the only party that can truly be called a liberal centrist party. The BNP from a political philosophy standpoint, erased the divisive barriers between Bengalis, and non-Bengalis.
It united people from hills and plains under a single political identity. It never embraced identity-based division within the state or society.
BNP's liberal and centrist character is not just theoretical, it's reflected in the party's political practices. It is the only major political party in Bangladesh that, despite holding power for multiple terms, has peacefully transferred power through democratic process.
It has never taken a rigid stance on clinging to power. In contrast, the Awami League has twice been ousted from power under tragic circumstances, first in 1975, when Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated and BAKSAL collapsed, and most recently in 2024, when the Awami League leadership had to flee to India, following public outrage and accusations of mass killings.
The BNP is exceptional. It has never entangled itself in the web of extremist politics. Instead, through its own practice of liberal centrism, it has tried to spread those values across the political spectrum.
Maruf Mallick is a political analyst
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