What to read and watch about Bangladesh

THE OUTCOME of the election due to be held in Bangladesh on January 7th is not uncertain. Sheikh Hasina, who has governed the South Asian country since 2009, has made sure that only she can win. Her government has locked up politicians from the main opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which plans to boycott the election, silenced journalists and curbed the activities of NGOs. Sheikh Hasina, who heads the Awami League, has ruled repressively since she won back power from her nemesis, Khaleda Zia of the BNP, in an election 15 years ago. Some Bangladeshis accept the undermining of democracy as a price worth paying for the development that Sheikh Hasina’s government has brought. Bangladesh, which today has a population of 170m, is doing better on many measures than India, its giant neighbour, and Pakistan, the country from which it broke away in 1971. It has higher literacy and female-employment rates. Since 2016 economic growth has exceeded 7% a year.

As part of Bengal in British-ruled India, then as East Pakistan, the region that is today Bangladesh was one of the poorest corners of the subcontinent. When it gained independence in 1971 the destruction caused by its war with Pakistan was compounded by a cyclone and a famine. Bangladesh is in much better shape today. But covid-19 and the war in Ukraine have slowed economic growth and caused a cost-of-living crisis. Sheikh Hasina’s attempt to make Bangladesh a one-party state has made matters worse. The Awami League’s control of jobs and government contracts has fostered corruption and discouraged foreign investment, threatening economic growth. These five books and a documentary help explain how Bangladesh got here.