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<ul><li>The Awami League, which is led by Prime Minister <keyword id="66026" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sheikh-Hasina">Sheikh Hasina</keyword>, has reportedly locked up 1,972 workers from the opposition <keyword id="395630" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bangladesh-Nationalist-Party">Bangladesh Nationalist Party</keyword> (BNP) in the past month. </li><li>The BNP’s spokesperson, Rizvi Ahmed, said that the Awami League had fabricated a number of cases against party leaders and officials in order to have them arrested. </li><li>After the ruling party was granted a walkover in 2014, it was widely believed that this round of national <keyword id="6355644" type="DEFINITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="elections">elections</keyword> would be well-contested despite the fact that the head of the BNP <keyword id="108177" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Khaleda-Zia">Khaleda Zia</keyword> has been imprisoned on corruption charges. </li></ul>It seems that the party currently running Bangladesh, the Awami League, is doing what it can to retain power as the <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/world/bangladesh-general-election-bnp-awami-league-5442639/">30 December</a> deadline for national elections nears. The party, which is led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has reportedly locked up 1,972 workers from the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in the past month, according <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/2177138/bangladesh-opposition-says-hundreds-supporters-held-polls">to media reports</a>. The BNP’s spokesperson, Rizvi Ahmed, said that the Awami League had fabricated a number of cases against party leaders and officials in order to have them arrested. The arrests will likely prevent people from coming out to vote for the opposition. In fact, it has also been reported that police officials are campaigning in favour of the Awami League in some parts of the country. That is unfortunate. After the ruling party was granted <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/after-a-walkover-in-2014-bangladeshs-ruling-party-will-finally-face-an-opposition-in-next-months-general-elections/articleshow/66589995.cms">a walkover</a> in 2014, it was widely believed that this round of national elections would be well-contested despite the fact that the head of the BNP Khaleda Zia has been imprisoned on trumped-up corruption charges. Zia was eventually <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/bangladesh-election-ec-rejects-jailed-ex-premier-zia-s-plea-to-contest-polls-118120800596_1.html">barred from participating </a>in elections when the Bangladesh Electoral Commission rejected an appeal from her camp last week. She has, however, filed a follow-up motion appealing the decision. As the BNP complains about the arrest of its supporters, the Awami League has also alleged that the BNP is <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/pakistan-high-commission-meddling-with-poll-process-bangladesh/articleshow/67019150.cms">in cahoots with the Pakistani government</a> with several leaders from the party meeting officials from the Pakistani High Commission in the past week. Meanwhile, the Indian government will be watching the elections closely. Given BNP’s history of anti-India rhetoric, India is likely pinning its hopes on Hasina’s re-election. An alliance of opposition parties Hasina’s bid for a third consecutive term will be hindered by an opposition alliance comprised of the BNP, the Jatiya Oikya Prokriya (JOP) and regional parties. BNP has so far announced the names of <a href="https://unb.com.bd/category/Politics/bnp-shares-58-seats-with-oikyafront-20-party-partners/8116">242 </a>of its own candidates for the upcoming elections, while an additional 58 candidates have been picked following discussions with its alliance partners. It is counting on a wave of resentment against the Awami League for its supposedly authoritarian policies and crackdown on dissenters. However, the BNP is yet to announce a prime ministerial candidate to run against Hasina even though the alliance is led by JOP leader Kamal Hossain, a former stalwart of the Awami League. It will likely make a decision once the question of Zia’s candidacy is settled once and for all. In a bid to ensure that the elections are carried out peacefully and fairly, the US is reportedly <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bangladesh-election-observers/u-s-to-send-observers-to-bangladesh-election-amid-opposition-concerns-idUSKCN1O031A">sending a team of observers </a>to Bangladesh, which will fan out across the country to survey the ground situation as voting commences. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/after-a-walkover-in-2014-bangladeshs-ruling-party-will-finally-face-an-opposition-in-next-months-general-elections/articleshow/66589995.cms">After a walkover in 2014, Bangladesh’s ruling party will finally face an opposition in next month’s general elections</a>

As national elections near, Bangladesh's government is reportedly locking up workers from the opposition party

<ul><li>Bangladesh has appealed to the Indian government to withdraw the ban imposed on <keyword id="6484394" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Onion-export">onion export</keyword> as soon as possible, keeping the import flow of <keyword id="50894" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Onion">onion</keyword> from India uninterrupted </li><li>Veteran Indian politician and Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar has also requested the Indian government to lift ban on onion exports, saying "this decision has led to strong reactions from the onion growing belt in Maharashtra". </li><li>The ban jeopardises India's export share in the onion markets of Gulf countries, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, he tweeted.</li></ul>Bangladesh has appealed to the Indian government to withdraw the ban imposed on onion export as soon as possible, keeping the import flow of onion from India uninterrupted. State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam said on Tuesday: "We are expecting a positive result soon in this regard, Dhaka has requested New Delhi to revoke its ban on onion export as India earlier had made an 'unofficial' pledge to Bangladesh of a continuing supply of onion here." The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) of India on Monday issued a notification imposing restrictions on onion export with immediate effect. This decision has posed a negative impact on onion markets in Bangladesh. Veteran Indian politician and Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar has also requested the Indian government to lift ban on onion exports, saying "this decision has led to strong reactions from the onion growing belt in Maharashtra". The ban jeopardises India's export share in the onion markets of Gulf countries, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, he tweeted. Alam said there is an "unwritten" understanding between Bangladesh and India that New Delhi would not impose a ban on onion export and if New Delhi takes such a decision, they would inform Dhaka beforehand. Being informed about India government's decision of imposing ban on onion export last night, the State Minister said Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi has raised the issue to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs immediately. Alam also added that the Commerce ministry of Bangladesh is looking into the onion import issue. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/-indias-surging-covid-19-infections-is-testing-the-health-infra-once-again/articleshow/78143000.cms">India’s surging COVID-19 infections is testing the health infra once again — beds added during lockdown aren’t enough</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/we-wont-have-enough-covid-19-vaccine-for-everybody-until-2024-warns-worlds-largest-vaccine-producer/articleshow/78111779.cms">We won't have enough COVID-19 vaccine for everybody until 2024, warns world's largest vaccine producer</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/amid-india-china-standoff-tencent-is-back-with-an-investment-in-flipkart/articleshow/78140794.cms">Amid India-China standoff, Tencent is back with an investment in Flipkart</a>

Bangladesh requests India to withdraw ban on onion export

<ul><li>In a significant move, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the main political rival to the ruling Awami League, has started the process of nominating candidates for next month’s national elections. </li><li>The BNP will be joined by an alliance of around 20 other opposition parties, the Jatiya Oikyafront. </li><li>The Awami League, which is seeking a re-election for the third time under current Prime Minister <keyword id="66026" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sheikh-Hasina">Sheikh Hasina</keyword>, did not face an opposition in the last general elections in 2014 as the BNP and other parties had boycotted the elections. </li></ul> On November 12th, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), one of two major political parties in the country, started the process <a href="https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/election/2018/11/12/bnp-starts-selling-nomination-forms">of nominating candidates</a> for next month’s national elections. The move is significant as it is an important precursor to what is likely to be a meaningfully contested national election scheduled on 23 December with a potentially formidable opposition. The BNP will be joined by an alliance of <a href="http://www.ptinews.com/news/10169084_Bangladesh-opposition-BNP-says-will-take-part-in-polls">other opposition parties</a> to contest the rule of the current party in power, Awami League, according to the Press Trust of India. The 20-party alliance, which has been named the Jatiya Oikyafront, is being led by <keyword id="749538" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kamal-Hossain">Kamal Hossain</keyword>, an 81-year lawyer and head of the Jatiya Oikya Prokriya (JOP), a smaller opposition outfit. The BNP and JOP announced <a href="https://bdnews24.com/politics/2018/10/13/kamal-hossain-forges-alliance-with-bnp-leaving-out-badruddoza-chowdhury">a partnership</a> last month. However, the going will not be easy for the opposition alliance. The head of the BNP, former prime Minister <keyword id="108177" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Khaleda-Zia">Khaleda Zia</keyword>, has been languishing in prison <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/02/khaleda-zia-jailed-years-corruption-case-180208083811505.html">since February</a> on corruption charges. In addition, the opposition alliance has already faced a preliminary setback as the Awami League has refused its proposal to install an interim government in the build-up to the polls. That was also an issue of contention in the 2014 general elections. A law mandating the installation of an interim government during the poll period was <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-13973576">abolished</a> by the Awami League in 2011. The Awami League, which is seeking a re-election for the third time under current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, did not face an opposition in the last general elections as the BNP and other parties boycotted the elections after this demand wasn’t met. As a result, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2014/01/bangladesh-vote-201416229528440.html">153</a> of the 300 seats in Bangladesh’s Parliament went uncontested. While the participation of an opposition alliance in Bangladesh’s general elections is a step forward for democracy, the Awami League’s reluctance to install a caretaker government is bound to lead to allegations of rigging as voting gets underway. That was the case in the previous general elections as well. Hence, the stage is set for a heated contest, and possibly, a violent election process. Power has oscillated between the BNP and Awami League since the country’s first general elections in 1973. Fearing a united opposition, the Awami League will do what it can to retain a majority in Parliament. The onus will now lie on Bangladesh’s Election Commission to oversee a fair election as the international community watches intently.

After a walkover in 2014, Bangladesh’s ruling party will finally face an opposition in next month’s general elections

<ul class="generic-article__summary--ul content--ul"><li class="generic-article__summary--li content--li">With at least two major regional elections in 2020, all eyes are on how the BJP will arrest the fallout from the citizenship act and local poll defeats.</li><li class="generic-article__summary--li content--li">Analysts say the BJP will concentrate on centralising power and a hardened focus on Hindu nationalism.</li></ul> December was a difficult month for <a href="https://www.scmp.com/topics/india" class="link-text">India</a> Prime Minister <a href="https://www.scmp.com/topics/narendra-modi" class="link-text">Narendra Modi</a> and Amit Shah, his top lieutenant in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).The BJP is facing the biggest challenge of its five-and-a-half-year rule as it scrambles to defuse crises on multiple fronts. How Modi and Shah, the home minister, respond to these problems could determine whether the party maintains its comfortable political edge over rivals, observers say. The current problems – <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3043741/thousands-take-part-rival-protests-over-indias-citizenship-law" class="link-text">mass protests</a> over a controversial <a href="https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3042045/modis-surgical-strike-muslims-puts-india-war-itself" class="link-text">citizenship law</a> and back-to-back state election defeats – are seen in some quarters as an early sign that the public is pushing back against their aggressive advocacy of the Hindu nationalist agenda over broader national interests. Activists wear masks of Home Minister Amit Shah, Indian Prime Minister <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword> and West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh during a protest against the citizenship bill. Photo: AFP The two men are lifelong members of RSS, the hardline Hindu nationalist group that serves as the ideological fountainhead of the BJP. Political researcher Neelanjan Sircar said the state election defeats also happened “due to the BJP’s desire to centralise power in Modi and Shah. It does not want strong regional leaders and units”. At the moment, the biggest headache for the BJP going into 2020 is the mass protest action around the country over the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act, which was passed on December 12. The law paves the way for immigrants from non-Muslim minorities from Afghanistan, Pakistan and <keyword id="6354759" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bangladesh">Bangladesh</keyword> to obtain Indian citizenship. Demonstrators, many of whom are students, say the legislation brings out into the open what they claim is the BJP’s plan to systematically drive out the country’s 200 million Muslims as it seeks to create a Hindu Rashtra, or a Hindu nation. The belief is that the CAA, along with the government’s plan to initiate a National Register of Citizens, will create a scenario wherein Muslims who do not have documents to prove their citizenship will be declared illegal immigrants. Hindus and other minorities will not face such a predicament. Modi and Shah have found themselves in an embarrassing bind over this issue because while Shah had explicitly outlined this plan in multiple speeches – saying it targeted “infiltrators” and not Muslims – Modi came out after the protest to directly contradict this position. The prime minister declared his government had no plans to implement the National Register of Citizens. ELECTION SETBACKS If this was not enough of a quandary, the BJP is also reeling from two setbacks in state elections. Earlier in December, the BJP’s oldest ally, the regional party Shiv Sena – with which it has partnered for 25 years – cut ties with the Modi administration and formed a coalition government with the opposition Congress to govern the state of Maharashtra following state polls there. On Christmas Eve, the BJP lost power in Jharkhand, a small but crucial state which holds 40 per cent of India’s mineral wealth. Despite ruling the state for five years, the BJP could only manage 25 seats in the 81-member assembly, while the Congress and its ally got 46 seats. This was its fifth major loss in regional polls in the last year. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses a rally to launch the BJP campaign for the upcoming Delhi assembly elections. Photo: EPA-EFE With at least two major regional elections in 2020, in the capital New Delhi, and in the eastern state of Bihar, all eyes are on how Modi and Shah arrest the fallout from the citizenship act saga and the poll defeats. Also weighing on their popularity is the slowing economy, which grew at its lowest rate since 2013 in the July-September quarter. Sircar, an assistant professor at the Ashoka University in the state of Haryana, cautioned against using state poll results as a crystal ball into Modi and Shah’s longer term fate as the ruling party had been struggling to win state elections even before it cruised to a general election victory in May. The Congress, which held power for decades and which continues to be led by the country’s influential Nehru-Gandhi clan, swept regional polls in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan months before the general election. But what the results do reveal is that local elections are no longer swayed by Modi’s popularity alone, said Sircar, whose research interests include studying election data. After 2014, when Modi first came to power, his party won state elections in most major states and governed over 70 per cent of India’s land mass until March 2018. This has now come down to half, partly due to the BJP’s efforts to centralise power in the two leaders, said Sircar. Meanwhile, continuing confusion in the opposition ranks is harming efforts to build an anti-BJP front. The Congress, for instance, still has a temporary party chief in <keyword id="689" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sonia-Gandhi">Sonia Gandhi</keyword> after her son and former party chief Rahul Gandhi quit, taking blame for its election defeat. The fragmentation of opposition unity is likely to rear its head during the upcoming Delhi elections, in which the Congress might not want to ally with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to defeat the BJP. Congress president Sonia Gandhi and ex-party president Rahul Gandhi (L) attend a sit-in protest. Photo: AFP HONEYMOON PERIOD Another crucial reason why the current situation might not affect the BJP’s long-term standing is timing. There is an important reason it introduced the legislation in the first six months of its five-year term. “The BJP has been very effective in setting its own narratives and winning elections. Hence, while it does seem like the BJP is floundering, it is too early in its term for it be considered a threat to their popularity,” said Sudha Pai, a retired professor in political science from New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University. Pai points to the 2019 elections, when Modi managed to divert attention away from issues such as development, infrastructure, a slump in the economy and the highest unemployment rate in 45 years, to rake up nationalism against Pakistan and come back to power with an enhanced margin. The BJP has probably learned this from experience. In 2016, India’s campuses were rocked with student protests against the government but this did not feature in the discourse during the general elections. The face of the protests, youth activist Kanhaiya Kumar, lost by over 400,000 votes to a controversial BJP leader, Giriraj Singh. A man wearing a mask of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves the BJP flag during a rally in New Delhi. Photo: AP COURSE CORRECTION? Since Modi’s re-election in May, his government’s two major moves – the decision to revoke <a href="https://www.scmp.com/topics/kashmir" class="link-text">Jammu &amp; Kashmir’s special status</a> and bifurcate the state, and the citizenship law amendment – have seen a similar approach being employed. Both were passed in Parliament without much debate, despite acrimonious opposition.Even in the face of the protests, Modi and Shah have remained defiantly supportive of the police action, which has so far resulted in 23 deaths. Most of these occurred in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, where the BJP’s controversial chief minister <keyword id="43254" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Yogi-Adityanath">Yogi Adityanath</keyword> hailed the police crackdown. But both Pai and Sircar believe the protests and Jharkhand defeat will come as a rude shock to the BJP. “No matter what the final outcome is, there is a sense that the mood in the country is changing, that nationalism might not be enough to win elections any more and that the BJP is not invincible,” said Pai. Such widespread protests have not occurred in the last few decades. “Somewhere, this is affecting Modi’s popularity, bit by bit,” Pai said. Indian Prime Minister and BJP leader Narendra Modi. Photo: DPA Opinions are mixed on whether these issues will result in a course correction in the next four years of the BJP’s term. Sircar does not see a shift by the BJP any time soon. “I don’t see the BJP’s model changing. Centralising power in their own hands is a very important project for both Modi and Shah. Taking decisions without consultation is also integral to it; to consult means to slow down the process,” said Sircar. Pai, however, is slightly more optimistic, but also believes the next four years will see a hardened focus on Hindu nationalism. “It depends on what happens with the protests and how long they sustain. But I think the BJP will realise that nationalism and warmongering have diminishing returns. It will have to deliver.”

After a torrid December, how will India’s Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and the BJP fare in 2020?

<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image">REUTERS/Andrew Biraj </div></div>DHAKA, <keyword id="6354759" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Bangladesh">Bangladesh</keyword> (AP) - Garment workers demanding higher pay clashed with police and attacked factories on Monday in an industrial belt on the outskirts of Bangladesh's capital.
The workers have rejected a proposed 5,300 takas ($66.25) monthly minimum wage, a raise by 77 percent. They demand 8,114 takas ($100) instead in place of 3,000 takas ($38) they currently get.
A government-appointed panel voted last week to raise the minimum wage for millions of garment workers to about $66 a month - still the lowest in the world. But factory owners have not endorsed it and urged the government to revise the proposed amount. They argue that the proposed amount for an unskilled newcomer would destroy the industry amid fiercely competitive global market. They say, if effective, their production cost would increase significantly while global brands bargain hard amid a protracted economic crisis in the West.
The Ministry of Labor would still have to approve the proposed amount to make it a law.
Bangladesh's burgeoning garment industry has come under global scrutiny for its often harsh and unsafe conditions after the collapse of an eight-story factory building killed more than 1,100 people in April. In another horrific case, a fire last November killed 112 workers.
Mustafizur Rahman, director of the Industrial Police, said at least 100 factories were closed Monday in Ashulia and Savar areas to avoid further violence after the clash started in the morning.
Rahman would not say if there were any injuries, but Somoy TV station says up to 30 people were injured.
"The situation is under control now, but there is no chance to resume work in factories today (Monday)," he said. "We have remained alert."
Another top police official of Dhaka district told The Associated Press by phone that they called in paramilitary border guards to aid police in the troubled areas as part of heightening security. The official spoke on condition of anonymity for safety reasons.
Monday's chaos came amid a nationwide general strike enforced by the country's main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its 17 other allies to demand a caretaker government with people from outside political parties to oversee national elections due by early January.
Monday was the second day of an 84-hour general strike that ends Wednesday.
Despite disruptions during such strikes, authorities usually keep garment factories open to confirm shipment.
At least 19 people have died and hundreds have been injured in similar opposition protests since Oct. 26.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina wants to form an all-party caretaker government to hold the eelctions, but Zia has refused the proposal and asked Hasina to resign to pave the way for forming a government in line with her formula. Hasina says she would go ahead with the plan to hold the elections by January taking other parties even if Zia does not come forward.
Bangladesh, the world's second-largest garment manufacturing country after China, earns more than $20 billion a year from garment exports, mainly to the United States and Europe. The sector employs about 4 million workers, mostly women.
<div class="nc_footer">
Copyright (2013) Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
</div>

100 Factories Close, As Garment Worker Protests In Bangladesh Turn Violent

<ul class="generic-article__summary--ul content--ul"><li class="generic-article__summary--li content--li">The BJP’s Narendra Modi swept to power on a wave of optimism and a catchy slogan.</li><li class="generic-article__summary--li content--li">Five years on, an economic slowdown, agrarian distress and rising intolerance have soured the mood</li></ul> India has been holding its general elections in stages since April 11. The seventh and final phase will take place on Sunday. The primary contest is for the 543 seats in India’s lower house of parliament, the Lok Sabha. This is one of the largest democratic exercises in the world, with 900 million voters deciding on a new central government for the 1.3 billion-strong South Asian giant. The results are expected on Thursday. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shows his ink-marked finger after casting his vote. Photo: AFP WHAT IS AT STAKE? Prime Minister <a href="https://www.scmp.com/topics/narendra-modi" class="link-text">Narendra Modi</a> of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is running for a second term.A former chief minister of Gujarat, he came to power in 2014 with the simple but powerful slogan “ache din aayega” (good days will come). This resonated with voters – especially in the impoverished northern regions – who were angry at the previous administration of the Congress party that had been dogged by scandal. <h3 style="margin-bottom: 2.35714rem; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 300; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.71429rem; line-height: 2.42857rem; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; display: inherit;"><a href="https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3010707/india-elections-bjp-may-need-allies-narendra-modi-drove-away" class="link-text">BJP may need the allies Modi drove away </a></h3>As a result, Modi swept to power: the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance coalition won 336 of the Lok Sabha’s 543 seats. The BJP itself won 282 seats – the first time since 1989 that one of India’s political parties had won an outright majority. The other main national political party is Congress, led by Rahul Gandhi, grandson of former prime minister Indira Gandhi. This grand old party of India has been progressively weakening across the country and now stands as only one of the many opposition parties, jockeying for power against resurgent regional players. In 2014, Congress did not even win enough seats to be chosen as the official opposition and was almost eclipsed by the AIADMK, a regional party from Tamil Nadu. SO MODI’S A SHOO-IN? Not exactly. Modi’s re-election prospects have arguably been dimmed by the triple threat of an economic slowdown, agrarian distress and concerns about rising intolerance and violence against minorities. His promise in 2014 to create 10 million new jobs a year for India’s burgeoning youth population has not been fulfilled. Moreover, a recent study by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy argued that 11 million jobs were lost last year alone. Indian farmers protest in New Delhi in November – their plight has become a major electoral issue. Photo: AP A leaked government survey allegedly showed the unemployment rate to be higher than at any time in the past 45 years. These economic doldrums have largely been blamed on the new Goods and Services Tax imposed by the government and 2016’s botched demonetisation exercise, which took 86.5 per cent of India’s currency out of circulation. The plight of India’s farmers has also become a major electoral issue. Stagnant grain prices, erratic weather and unresolved systemic problems have led to an alarming number of farmer suicides in a country where more than 50 per cent of the population is employed in agriculture. In 2017, the central government told the Supreme Court that 12,000 farmers had committed suicide every year since 2013. The BJP’s use of Hindu nationalist rhetoric, meanwhile, has always been controversial. Its leaders, like the monk-turned-Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, have been accused of using anti-Muslim rhetoric. BATTLEGROUND STATES The outcome of India’s elections often depends on political calculations and issues at the state level. India’s 29 states are highly diverse, both linguistically and ethnically. Five of these states – Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu – each send more than 40 MPs to the Lok Sabha, meaning that winning them is essential for either side. The biggest prize among them is Uttar Pradesh, which is one of India’s largest states and has 80 MPs. In 2014, the BJP was largely able to win nationally because it made huge gains in the massive northern state, taking 71 of the seats that were up for grabs. <h3 style="margin-bottom: 2.35714rem; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 300; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.71429rem; line-height: 2.42857rem; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; display: inherit;"><a href="https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3010546/communism-india-dead-or-just-waiting-young-saviours" class="link-text">Communism in India: dead or just waiting for young saviours? </a></h3>This time, however, two major local players – the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) – are challenging the BJP. Both the SP and BSP – which have formed an alliance – are strong with the crucial Yadav and Dalit (formerly known as untouchable) castes in the state. While both the SP and BSP won more than 40 per cent of the popular vote in Uttar Pradesh in the last elections, the SP won only five seats because of India’s first-past-the-post electoral system and its lack of an alliance. This time, some pundits expect the SP-BSP alliance to win at least half of the 80 seats on offer, if not more. The BJP’s prospects are also being put to the test in the country’s economically dynamic south, where powerful regional parties are challenging its grip on power. In the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the regional YSR Congress Party and the Telangana Rashtriya Samithi are expected to sweep the polls. Both have openly said that they prefer a third option for government that does not involve either the BJP or Congress. In India’s southernmost state and its automotive hub, Tamil Nadu, the socialist, Tamil-nationalist Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam seems to be on the cusp of major gains because of anger at both the BJP central government and its local allies, the AIADMK. The BJP is also at risk of shedding seats in the central and western states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, where Congress made gains during recent state elections. However, Modi’s party is expected to make nominal gains in eastern India, in states such as Orissa, West Bengal and the seven states that make up the country’s northeast. A major concern in those areas has been allegations of illegal migration from Bangladesh, and the BJP is running a racially charged campaign – playing up local fears of Muslim refugees – to capitalise on this. WHAT WILL ALL THIS MEAN? Assuming the BJP loses ground to regional parties, and the Congress retains its meagre base, India might find itself with a virtually hung parliament. For instance, the BJP and its National Democratic Alliance coalition might be the largest bloc in the Lok Sabha, but still fall short of a majority. <h3 style="margin-bottom: 2.35714rem; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 300; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.71429rem; line-height: 2.42857rem; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; display: inherit;"><a href="https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3009682/exploiting-islamophobia-election-winning-tool-india" class="link-text">Exploiting Islamophobia: an election-winning tool in India </a></h3>Regional parties have also been displaying unprecedented acts of solidarity, such as joint rallies featuring all the leaders of large local opposition parties, encouraging the possibility of a non-Congress, non-BJP “third-front” government. So, while the results are far from certain, 2019 might well herald a return to form and the politics India knows best: the proliferation of regional power brokers and complex coalition governments.

The Indian election, explained: how Narendra Modi’s ‘good days’ turned bad

<ul class="summary-list"><li>India's parliament passed a new amendment to its citizenship law earlier this month, providing a pathway to citizenship for Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian religious minorities while singling out its minority Muslim population. </li><li>The amended act has been <a href="https://twitter.com/UNHumanRights/status/1205451656495861761">slammed by critics</a> and has sparked deadly protests around the country.</li><li>The fight that has erupted over the citizenship bill is reflective of the country's <a href="https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/2124474/india-no-country-muslims">rising tide of bigotry</a> directed towards minorities, in particular, its Muslim population, which makes up about 14% of the country's massive 1.3 billion people.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>A controversial amendment to a law was recently passed in India, sparking deadly protests around the country and leading some to question the country's democratic values.On December 11, India's parliament passed an amendment to its Citizenship Act of 1955, which sets out guidelines for becoming a citizen in the country. The 2019 revision added a religious element to the bill, providing a pathway to citizenship for Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian religious minorities who fled neighboring Muslim-majority countries Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. The amended act has been <a href="https://twitter.com/UNHumanRights/status/1205451656495861761">slammed by critics</a> as anti-Islam, and they say it further marginalizes India's sizeable Muslim minority. Violent protests have erupted across the country in response, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/india-burning-protests-new-citizenship-act-2019-12">resulting in the deaths of six people</a>. Dozens more have been arrested or injured in clashes with police.The fight that has erupted over the citizenship bill is reflective of the country's <a href="https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/2124474/india-no-country-muslims">rising tide of bigotry</a> directed towards minorities, in particular, its Muslim population, which makes up about 14% of the country's massive 1.3 billion people.The bill has also handed more power to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu-nationalist government in crafting a country which affords more rights to its Hindu majority and leaves room for further discrimination in the areas of governance and public space. <h2>What exactly does the bill say?</h2>India's Citizenship Act was first established in 1955 and created comprehensive guidelines related to citizenship in the country.It has been amended several times, including at 2003 amendment that authorized the government to keep a national register of all of its citizens (referred to as the NRC). Today, the register has not yet been implemented except in the northeastern state of Assam, which is home to a Muslim-majority population. The most recent changes to the Citizenship Act (often referred to locally as CAB or CAA) were passed by India's lower house of parliament - the Lok Sabha - on December 10, before being cleared by the upper house of parliament - the Rajya Sabha - a day later. The bill was signed into law by President Ram Nath Kovind.The bill was introduced by Indian home affairs minister Amit Shah, a leading member of ‎Modi's right-wing Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, and it promised to provide refuge for persecuted religious minorities from three neighboring Muslim-majority countries who entered India before 2015.Notably, the act excludes Muslim migrants "as they do not face religious persecution in these Islamic countries," India's parliament <a href="https://pib.gov.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=195783">said in a statement</a> after the bill's passage. The bill also leaves out two neighboring Buddhist countries, Myanmar and Sri Lanka, which have experienced major refugee crises in recent years. There are about 59,000 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees residing in over 100 camps in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, according to <a href="https://frontline.thehindu.com/cover-story/article30328790.ece">Indian magazine Frontline</a>, and about 30,000 that live outside these camps.The bill also ignores what the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=22491&amp;LangID=E">UN has deemed the world's most persecuted minority</a>, the Rohingya Muslims, who suffered ethnic and religious cleansing at the hands of the Burmese military in Myanmar. Authorities <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-rohingya-india-idUSKCN1AU0UC">have reportedly pledged</a> to deport the estimated 40,000 Rohingya refugees currently residing in India, despite facing danger in their home state. "The only religion that the Modi government follows is the Constitution of India," the statement added.In the statement, Shah "reiterated that the Bill is not against any Minority in India and the rights of each Indian Citizen will be equally protected."The bill does not apply to Assam and other indigenous areas.A spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25425&amp;LangID=E">called</a> the act "discriminatory in nature" and said it undermines India's democratic framework:"The law isn't truly about protecting the region's religious minorities," <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/12/17/india-citizenship-law-protests-narendra-modi-amit-shah-founding-fathers/">wrote Ravi Agrawal and Kathryn Salam of Foreign Policy</a>. "Instead, it challenges India's secularism by making religion part of the basis for citizenship."The Citizenship Act has spurred thousands of people from human rights groups, universities and religious groups to come out in protest this month. On December 15, clashes between police and students escalated on two Muslim university campuses - Aligarh Muslim University in Uttar Pradesh and of Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi - resulting in police <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/17/india-protests-students-condemn-barbaric-police">using batons and tear gas on students</a>.The unrest has even led authorities to deploy army personnel and <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/curfew-relaxed-few-hours-guwahati-assam-boils-caa-1628386-2019-12-15">impose a curfew in Assam</a>, as protests boil over. <h2>This is not the first time the government has targeted its Muslim population</h2>India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has taken steps to further marginalize the country's Muslim population since coming into power in 2014.The NRC's exclusive use in Assam has been derided by critics as a way to of stoking religious tensions. According to a <a href="http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/C-01/DDW18C-01%20MDDS.XLS">2011 census</a>, Muslims makeup nearly 35% of Assam's population, and are a majority in eight of the state's districts. <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/assam-final-nrc-list-out-over-19-lakh-people-excluded-1593769-2019-08-31">In August</a>, 1.9 million people from the region were excluded from the register, effectively stripping them of citizenship. <a href="https://amnesty.org.in/news-update/uncertain-destiny-for-millions-in-assam-post-nrc/">Amnesty International</a> has criticized the NRC and says it leaves the futures of millions of people in the region uncertain.In September, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/india-building-mass-detention-center-illegal-immigrants-assam-citizenship-2019-9/commerce-on-business-insider">India began construction</a> on a large-scale detention center in the Goalpara district of Assam meant to hold at least 3,000 detainees, according to Reuters. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kashmir-india-revoke-article-370-quasi-independence-internet-tourists-2019-8">And in August</a>, India also revoked part of its constitution which gave the disputed region of Jammu and Kashmir a special status and quasi-independence. Over the past four months, Kashmir, which is home to a significant Muslim population, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/12/kashmiri-artists-resisting-india-months-long-lockdown-191207062705088.html">has been off from communication, held on lockdown</a>, and is now directly under the control of India's federal government in New Delhi. As part of shutting down communication, residents in Kashmir have lost access to phone lines and the internet. According to advocacy groups, the internet shutdown in the region is the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/indias-internet-shutdown-in-kashmir-is-now-the-longest-ever-in-a-democracy/2019/12/15/bb0693ea-1dfc-11ea-977a-15a6710ed6da_story.html">longest-ever crackdown imposed on a democracy</a>. Only authoritarian countries, like China and Myanmar, have experienced longer internet shutdowns.The four-month internet blackout has been so severe that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/whatsapp-kashmir-accounts-removed-internet-blackout-2019-12">WhatsApp is deleting the accounts</a> of residents in the region because they've been inactive for so long. <h2>State-sanctioned discrimination against Muslims has had dire consequences</h2>The Modi government's attitudes and policies towards minority groups has sparked racially motivated clashes, and observers say that the ruling Hindu party has fostered a culture of impunity through its inaction in addressing violence.Shah, who crafted the citizenship bill, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/india-election-speech/amit-shah-vows-to-throw-illegal-immigrants-into-bay-of-bengal-idUSKCN1RO1YD">vowed in April</a> to throw illegal Muslim immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh into the Bay of Bengal. He has also <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/elections/lok-sabha-2019/story/bjp-amit-shah-hindu-refugees-mamata-bannerjee-1499691-2019-04-11">previously referred</a> to illegal immigrants as "termites." India has also seen an increase in attacks against its Muslim minority in recent months. A February 2019 report from <a href="https://www.hrw.org/report/2019/02/18/violent-cow-protection-india/vigilante-groups-attack-minorities">Human Rights Watch</a> found that between May 2015 and December 2018, at least 36 Muslims were killed across 12 Indian states. Roughly 280 people were injured across 20 states during the same period, the rights group added.In a particularly gruesome case last year, an eight-year-old Muslim girl was kidnapped, raped, and killed in Jammu and Kashmir by a group of Hindu men with the intention of committing the crime <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/six-men-convicted-in-rape-of-8-year-old-girl-that-shocked-india/2019/06/10/cde7b17c-8b5f-11e9-b162-8f6f41ec3c04_story.html">in order to drive away Muslim nomads in the area</a>. The country has also seen a <a href="https://www.trtworld.com/asia/in-southern-kashmir-there-s-little-enthusiasm-for-india-s-elections-26253">crackdown on protests</a>, attacks on the <a href="https://thewire.in/politics/narendra-modi-amit-shah-bjp-india-media">free press</a>, and history books <a href="https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/india-modi-culture/">have been rewritten</a> in favor of Hindu achievements.<h2>India is inching towards fascism</h2>Experts have noted that India is straying away from its democratic values under the Bharatiya Janata Party. "There is absolute political consensus within the Bharatiya Janata Party that India is culturally a Hindu country," Milan Vaishnav, director of the South Asia program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2019-12-17/citizenship-law-moves-india-closer-to-being-hindu-country">Los Angeles Times</a>. Harish Pullanoor, an editor at Quartz India, <a href="https://qz.com/india/844672/along-with-narendra-modis-rise-india-has-displayed-classic-signs-that-foreshadow-fascism/">wrote</a> in 2016 that India was "displaying classic signs that foreshadow fascism," including the disenfranchisement of religious minorities. "The first appeal of a fascist or prematurely fascist movement is an appeal against the intruders," wrote Umberto Eco, an Italian philosopher, who wrote of a <a href="http://www.nybooks.com/articles/1995/06/22/ur-fascism/">list of features</a> that define a fascist state.In April, several Muslim merchants in Old Delhi described fears of religiously-motivated violence against them. "I could be lynched right now and nobody would do anything about it," Abdul Adnan, a Muslim businessman, told <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/11/world/asia/modi-india-elections.html">The New York Times</a>. "My government doesn't even consider me Indian. How can that be when my ancestors have lived here hundreds of years?"According to The Times, the consensus among Indian activists and liberal political analysts is that the country, under Modi, has become "more toxically divided between Hindus and Muslims.""In plain language, they are what we now call communal fascists," Aditya Mukherjee, a retired historian told The Times. Historian Ramachandra Guha wrote in an op-ed in <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/08/14/india-was-miracle-democracy-its-time-downgrade-its-credentials/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/08/14/india-was-miracle-democracy-its-time-downgrade-its-credentials/">The Washington Post</a> in August that it was time to downgrade India's status as a world-class democracy. "Given the lack of any sort of credible opposition to the Bharatiya Janata Party, the atmosphere of fear among religious minorities and the attacks on a free press, we are now a 40-60 democracy," he wrote of India.

The world's largest democracy is heading toward modern-day fascism

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">GettyAdam Mosseri.</div></div></div><ul><li>Workers at Facebook reportedly "lose sleep" over the use of their platform to spread hate speech.</li><li>The Facebook executive who oversees the newsfeed algorithm said addressing such content was one of his team's biggest challenges.</li><li>Facebook's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, has expressed reservations about cracking down on speech.</li></ul>Adam Mosseri, Facebook's vice president of product management, said that Facebook's contribution to ongoing violence against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar caused his team distress and was something they struggled to address.Mosseri said the situation in Myanmar, from where more than 650,000 Rohingya Muslims fled since August, was "<a href="https://slate.com/technology/2018/03/facebooks-alleged-role-in-myanmars-violence-is-deeply-concerning-says-facebooks-news-feed-chief.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">deeply concerning in a lot of different ways</a>" during a recent interview on Slate's technology podcast, If Then.Mosseri manages the team that oversees the algorithm that controls what people see in their Facebook <keyword id="6355005" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="news">news</keyword> feeds. He said real-world violence could be one of the "most concerning and severe negative consequences of any platform.""Connecting the world isn't always going to be a good thing," he <a href="https://slate.com/technology/2018/03/facebooks-alleged-role-in-myanmars-violence-is-deeply-concerning-says-facebooks-news-feed-chief.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on the podcast. "We're trying to take the issue seriously, but we lose some sleep over this."<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Thomson ReutersTen Rohingya Muslim men with their hands bound kneel as members of Myanmar security forces stand guard in Inn Din village, September 2, 2017.</div></div></div>"It's important for us to remember that technology isn't naturally a good or a bad thing. It's sort of agnostic and it's how technology's used that can be either good or bad," Mosseri said.Facebook typically works with third-party fact-checkers, but that approach doesn't work in Myanmar because, as far as the company is aware, there are no groups to fill that role in the country, Mosseri <a href="https://slate.com/technology/2018/03/facebooks-alleged-role-in-myanmars-violence-is-deeply-concerning-says-facebooks-news-feed-chief.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. The company has instead focused on identifying "bad actors" and enforcing its community standards and terms of service to "address the proliferation of some problematic content.""Real-world harm and what's happening on the ground in that part of the world is actually one of the most concerning things for us and something that we talk about on a regular basis," Mosseri said.Mosseri's comments came in response to a question about <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-rohingya-facebook/u-n-investigators-cite-facebook-role-in-myanmar-crisis-idUSKCN1GO2PN" target="_blank" rel="noopener">UN investigators saying Facebook played a role</a> in spreading hate speech in Myanmar.Marzuki Darusman, chairman of the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, said social media has "substantively contributed to the level of acrimony and dissension and conflict, if you will, within the public. Hate speech is certainly of course a part of that. As far as the Myanmar situation is concerned, social media is Facebook, and Facebook is social media."<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">REUTERS/Jorge SilvaRohingya refugees who crossed the border from Myanmar into Bangladesh on their way to the refugee camps, October 19, 2017.</div></div></div>Medical charity Medicins Sans Frontieres estimated at the end of last year that <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-14/rohingya-death-toll-in-the-thousands-says-msf/9260552" target="_blank" rel="noopener">at least 9,000</a> Rohingya Muslims had been killed in the Myanmar military's "clearance operations."Many of those who fled Myanmar <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-rohingya-facebook/u-n-investigators-cite-facebook-role-in-myanmar-crisis-idUSKCN1GO2PN" target="_blank" rel="noopener">have reported</a> rapes and executions carried out by Myanmar security forces.The Myanmar government has denied all charges, though in January the military <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/12/asia/myanmar-rohingya-un-violence-genocide-intl/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">admitted</a> involvement in the killing of 10 Rohingya."Everything is done through Facebook in Myanmar," <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-rohingya-facebook/u-n-investigators-cite-facebook-role-in-myanmar-crisis-idUSKCN1GO2PN" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> UN Myanmar investigator Yanghee Lee, adding that while Facebook had helped the impoverished country, it had also been used to spread hate speech."We know that the ultra-nationalist Buddhists have their own Facebooks and are really inciting a lot of violence and a lot of hatred against the Rohingya or other ethnic minorities," she said.The information Facebook gathers on its users and how the company uses that information has garnered increased attention in recent days, in the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cambridge-analytica-mark-zuckerberg-interviews-in-wired-cnn-2018-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wake of revelations</a> that British data company Cambridge Analytica illicitly obtained information from as many as 50 million Facebook profiles by abusing Facebook's data-sharing features.On Wednesday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg <a href="https://www.recode.net/2018/3/22/17150814/transcript-interview-facebook-mark-zuckerberg-cambridge-analytica-controversy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told Recode</a> he felt "fundamentally uncomfortable sitting here in California at an office, making content policy decisions for people around the world.""A lot of the most sensitive issues that we faced today are conflicts between our real values, right? Freedom of speech and hate speech and offensive content," Zuckerberg said. "Where is the line, right? And the reality is that different people are drawn to different places, we serve people in a lot of countries around the world, a lot of different opinions on that." <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/conspiracy-theories-signal-a-big-problem-for-youtube-and-facebook-2018-3">YouTube and Facebook have a serious problem with 'promoted' conspiracies about the Parkland shooting</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

You Searched For "Bangladesh Nationalist Party" and got 8 results

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The world's largest democracy is heading toward modern-day fascism

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