Meanwhile, leaders of the Anti-discrimination Student Movement that spearheaded the uprising against Hasina have decided to form a new political party called the Jatiya Nagorik Party (JNP), claiming that the ideologies of existing political parties do not reflect the will of the people. The formation of a party by the students has been in the pipeline for some months and seems set to challenge the dominance of Bangladeshi politics by the BNP and Hasina’s Awami League. It remains to be seen what sort of relationship the JNP will have with Bangladesh’s smaller political parties, such as the Jamaat-e-Islami, Jatiya Party and Islami Oikkyo Jot, which have traditionally backed either the BNP or the Awami League when they were in power. However, the close links between some elements of the student leadership and the Jamaat-e-Islami, traditionally perceived as an anti-India force, has not gone unnoticed in New Delhi.

While the Awami League has not been banned yet by the caretaker administration — and the country’s election watchdog has not so far ruled out its participation in a popular election — it has been greatly weakened by last year’s ban on its powerful student wing, the Bangladesh Chhatra League, and the fact that the narrative in Bangladesh’s streets and textbooks is systematically erasing the party’s role as well as that of its founding leader Sheikh Mujibur Rehman in the country’s freedom movement and initial years as an independent nation. International observers have also questioned a push by sections of the student leadership for a ban on the Awami League given such action does not augur well for Bangladesh’s democratic credentials.

While Yunus is highly regarded, the interim government has little to show so far when it comes to the handling of Bangladesh’s economic problems or the restoration of complete normalcy following the chaos and instability that accompanied last year’s uprising. When Zaman called for the holding of elections, he made it clear how much the political setup is beholden to the military for the maintenance of law and order. In this context, Zaman’s call for Bangladesh’s political forces to end their squabbling was especially striking, as were his comments denouncing political attacks on the armed forces. His public comments emphasised the need for the interim government to come up with a firm timeline for holding elections, instead of linking the polls to the completion of political and other reforms, a process that can drag on interminably.

India will need to keep a close watch on developments in Bangladesh and safeguard its relationship with its Eastern neighbour in a party-agnostic manner — all the more important against the backdrop of China reportedly hosting a delegation of representatives of the student movement, political parties and think-tanks from Dhaka.