Minority community worried about safety in Feb 12 election: CGS

Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) honourary fellow economist Debapriya Bhattacharya on Sunday said it was time for the interim government to step aside, arguing that its reform capacity had been exhausted and that its remaining constitutional duty was to deliver a credible and non violent election. He also claimed that the statement of the Chief Adviser does not match the actual work.

He made the remarks at the release of a research report by the Centre for Governance Studies at a hotel in the capital on Sunday. Center for Governance Studies (CGS) president Zillur Rahman presented the report titled From Commitment to Practice Political Inclusion and Democratic Accountability Bangladesh Elections 2026.

Explaining his position, Debapriya Bhattacharya said, "Whatever opportunity there was for reform and justice, their capacity is now at its end. They have run out of steam. The most they can do now is to organise a good and violence- free election." He said the chief adviser's statements did not match reality. "He said everyone would be under one umbrella regardless of religion or caste. But the umbrella has not been opened. It is raining but the umbrella has not been opened," he added.

Criticising what he termed intellectual propaganda, Debapriya accused the interim government of distorting information on attacks against religious minorities. "Information on minority oppression has been presented fragmentarily which hides the reality of violence against a vulnerable population," he said. Referring to a January briefing, he said, "There were 645 attacks on religious minorities in 2025 but only 71 were called communal. This shows the nature of distortion."

He questioned the classification of violence, saying attacks described as land, business or neighbourly disputes were still communal in nature. "There have been attacks because they are a weak population," he said, alleging lack of effective prosecution. "When intellectual propaganda takes the form of distortion it is time for that government to go," he added.

On the elections, Debapriya said party manifestos lacked clarity and inclusion remained deficient, though there was still time to improve participation. "Women, minorities and dissenting political forces everyone must participate," he said, rejecting calls to abstain from voting. "Voting is our strength."