The Capitals: Can Sheikh Hasina sail through stormy season of Dhaka politics?

The death toll due to the raging Israel-Hamas war is nearing 11,000 at the time of filing The Capitals this week, and is set to rise further with no ceasefire in sight. The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is back in West Asia. On Nov 5, Blinken met the Palestine Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah — the de-facto administrative capital of Palestinian territories, and thus a step towards the resumption of US-mediated dialogue towards ceasefire.

The previous such effort failed last time when Blinken was to ensure a four-way summit between the US President Joe Biden and the leaders of Egypt, Jordan, Palestine Authority.

Biden had then returned from West Asia after meeting Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the leaders in Tel Aviv.  

Unlike the war in Ukraine, in Gaza, there is no impasse. Israeli troops know in and out of Gaza Strip, having left it just 18 years ago in 2005. Reports in Israeli media suggest that a forward-plan has been prepared if any attempt for ceasefire fails. Washington wants Gaza in Palestine Authority's control, once — or if (and that is a big if) — Israel manages to dismantle Hamas, as is its stated goal. 

This is all you need to know from the capitals of Israel and the United States. Here's what else you need to know. 

Beijing, China

China's Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia and Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu arrive for the Beijing Xiangshan Forum on October 30 | Reuters

Delegations from more than 100 countries met at a Beijing military forum where Washington was slammed by the host Beijing — apart from Moscow — as a global agent of instability. "The Western policy of steady escalation of the conflict with Russia carries the threat of a direct military clash between nuclear powers, which is fraught with catastrophic consequences," Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu said. The view was echoed by Zhang Youxia, the vice chairman of China’s Central Military Commission, who accused "some countries" of "deliberately creating turbulence and interference in other countries’ internal affairs". 

The Xiangshan Forum is usually hosted by China’s defence minister but occurred without one as, Li Shangfu, was fired last week without explanation following a nearly two-month absence. 

Nairobi, Kenya

Britain's King Charles sits on the beach with community elders during a visit to the Kuruwitu Marine Conservation Reserve as part of his state visit to Kenya | Reuters

The colonial-era abuses committed in the name of Elizabeth II, then the Queen of England, came back to demand their place in history this week. King Charles III faced scrutiny for his reluctance to offer restitution or a comprehensive apology. He met with families and representatives of Kenya's independence movement, attempting to address these concerns in Nairobi. 

Kenyans expressed disappointment in King Charles's "greatest sorrow and deepest regret" statement regarding colonial atrocities committed by British forces, considering it insufficient. President William Ruto described Britain's colonial suppression of Kenya's freedom movement as "monstrous in its cruelty."

The Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) maintains that during the 1952–1960 Mau Mau uprising, also known as "the emergency," approximately 90,000 Kenyans were killed or injured, with 160,000 imprisoned, many enduring torture. UN investigators noted that British colonialists also violated the human rights of hundreds of thousands in western Kenya over decades through actions like homicides, sexual assault, and land theft.

Dhaka, Bangladesh

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina | Reuters

Nineteen. That's the number of reported assassination attempts the world's longest-serving female head of the state, Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has reportedly faced so far. But in the recent past, armed supporters of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) have clashed with the security forces. The BNP has vowed to boycott the election as they had in 2014 and 2018 unless a caretaker government — just like the one which has been formed in Pakistan before scheduled February elections — is formed by Hasina's government. 

But all is not well as Hasina suggests. More than 100,000 people took to the streets in the latest protest against Sheikh Hasina over the weekend.

The western media has reported that the country has taken "an authoritarian turn" under Hasina and her Awami League party; a charge Hasina's party has denied. 

The last two elections were condemned by the United States, European Union and others for irregularities, including stuffed ballot boxes.

She won 84 per cent and 82 per cent of the vote respectively.

Hasina told TIME magazine she is confident that Bangladesh will elect her again in January polls. 

Bangladesh is the largest single contributor to United Nations peacekeepers and regularly joins exercises with the US Indo-Pacific Command.

Under Hasina, Bangladesh has gone from struggling to feed its people to a food exporter with a GDP rising from $71 billion in 2006 to $460 billion in 2022, making it South Asia’s second largest economy after India.

Having already won more elections than Britain's Margaret Thatcher or India's Indira Gandhi, Hasina is determined that she will win again. 

"I am confident that my people are with me."