Maneeza Hossain, at the Bangladesh Watchdog (‘Withdraw emergency, restore democracy, secularism, and freedom of speech’),  asks- is Dhaka on the path to Islamabad?

Instead of containing Islamism and paving the way for the blossoming of democracy, the current arrangement has delegitimized democracy in practice as well as in culture, and in doing so has helped to consolidate and strengthen Islamist movements.

A sensible approach for the current government of Bangladesh would be to adhere to its formal task of preparing for elections using technical, not political, criteria. It should also immediately stop attempting to force reforms within political parties; this is a task that should be left for the electorate.

Democrats worldwide, notably in India, Europe, and the United States, should unequivocally demand that the state of emergency be lifted at once in preparation for the restoration of democracy.

The Bangladeshi experimentation with democracy was riddled with problems. But that is the nature of democracy. A democracy’s problems have to be resolved within the context of democracy, not within the context of military rule.