Bangladesh, Aug. 14 -- On February 15, 2024, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir walked out of jail for the last time under the Awami League. It was some 39 days after the one-sided January 7, 2024 election that had sounded yet another death knell for democracy in the country, and over three-and-a-half months Fakhrul and other senior party leaders had been picked up centring the BNP's October 28, 2023 programme demanding the coming elections be held under a caretaker government.

Immediately after walking out of Dhaka Central Jail, Fakhrul said the movement to 'restore the right to vote' would continue. He said the BNP did not lose anything - rather it was the government that had lost by holding a one-sided election. In less than six months, the...