Let me make it very clear to you that the state language of Pakistan is going to be Urdu and no other language. Anyone who tries to mislead you is really the enemy of Pakistan– Muhammad Ali Jinnah during his first and only visit to East Pakistan (Now, Bangladesh)With Partition, Pakistan was carved out of India, but its founding father and Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah's insistence that Urdu be the sole national language planted a deep sense of betrayal among the Bengali-speaking majority in the East. More than half the country suddenly felt pushed to the margins.Jinnah could never have foreseen that sidelining the Bengali language, culture and identity would spark a divide that would be powerful enough to undo his dreamland of Pakistan.Muhammad Ali Jinna's declaration of "State language of Pakistan..." in Dhaka.In 1952, police opened fire on student demonstrators in Dhaka, killing several: a theme that would return decades later, leading to the ouster of Sheikh Hasina, the daughter of Bangladesh's founding father, Mujibur Rahman.By 1971, the language fault line and multiple other factors that agitated the Bengali land had split wide open, leading East Pakistan to break away and become Bangladesh, with all due prominence to language, culture, and ethnicity.But the story did not end with Bangladesh’s birth. The nation, forged through a struggle over language and dignity, has often mistaken political upheaval for genuine transformation.Again and again, the fall of a dominant order has been greeted as a historic shift, only for the country to drift back into familiar instability.Osman Hadi's Brother Accuses Yunus Regime Of Murder Plot To Defer Bangladesh Polls Scheduled in FebThis is the paradox at the heart of modern Bangladesh. The country that emerged in December 1971 to escape repression, in December 2025, is confronting familiar dangers: political violence, weakened institutions, silenced voices and minorities being lynched, living in fear.The political landscape is further adrift with both major matriarchs almost out of the picture, Sheikh Hasina in exile and Khaleda Zia critically ill, while the BNP attempts a resurgence with Zia’s son, Tarique Rahman, returning from 17 years of exile in London.How Bangladesh was bornAfter the creation of Pakistan in 1947, Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s assertion that Urdu alone would be the state language crystallised Bengali discontent. Bengali speakers, the vast majority in the east, saw this imposition as an affront to their identity. In February 1952, police killed student protesters in Dhaka demanding official status for Bengali, a moment that became a cornerstone of Bengali nationalism.Beyond language, East Pakistanis felt systematically sidelined. Despite being a larger population, they were under-represented in political power and received a disproportionately smaller share of economic development. The jute-exporting east funded much of Pakistan’s earnings, yet infrastructure and industry favoured the west. By the 1960s, resentment fueled demands for autonomy. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s 'Six Point Movement' called for greater regional control and became widely popular in the east.The turning point came in the 1970 elections when Rahman’s Awami League won a clear majority. Instead of transferring power, West Pakistan’s leadership stalled and then ordered a brutal crackdown in March 1971. Resistance fighters, refugees flooding into India and India’s subsequent military intervention led to a devastating nine-month war. On December 16, 1971, Pakistani forces surrendered in Dhaka, and Bangladesh emerged as an independent nation.Chaos, autocracy and protestsThe new nation’s first few years were hopeful but turbulent. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (“Bangabandhu” - Friend of Bengal) became the founding president and then prime minister under the 1972 constitution. Initially, he led a parliamentary democracy, but by 1974, Bangladesh faced economic crisis and social unrest (including a devastating famine). In 1975, Mujib’s government moved toward one-party socialist rule and civil liberties were curtailed. In the early hours of 15 August 1975, renegade army officers assassinated Mujib and most of his family, abruptly ending “the first spell of democracy”.After Mujib’s death, Bangladesh entered decades of military-backed rule. A series of coups in the late 1970s brought General Ziaur Rahman to power (founder of the BNP party) and later, in 1982, Lt. Gen HM Ershad seized control. Both Zia and Ershad ruled as autocrats, imposing martial law and banning opposition. After the assassination in 1975, Bangladesh experienced two decades of authoritarian rule, including stints of military regimes. Public protests and political unrest were frequent during this period, but competitive elections and democracy were suspended.It was only in 1990 that Bangladesh returned to civilian rule. A mass pro-democracy uprising forced Ershad’s resignation, and elections in 1991 re-established a parliamentary system. The BNP won that election under Khaleda Zia (widow of Ziaur Rahman), pledging to restore democracy.Deja vu for Dhaka?This month, Sharif Osman Hadi, a youth leader who came to the forefront during the 2024 July uprising that toppled former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, was assassinated. Hadi, spokesperson for the Inqilab Mancha and an aspiring candidate for the upcoming elections, was shot in Dhaka on 12 December. He died six days later in hospital, sparking widespread protests and civil unrest across the country.The reaction has been explosive. Demonstrators have vandalised major newspaper offices and cultural centres, and marches toward the Indian High Commission have featured anti-India slogans and demands tied to wider political grievances. Some groups view Hadi as a martyr of the July Uprising, while others accuse rival factions and the interim government of complicity in his death and of undermining the electoral process. The interim administration under Muhammad Yunus has condemned the violence and pledged to pursue justice and maintain order. Yet the unrest has strained diplomatic relations with neighbours and revealed deep fractures within Bangladeshi society. With a national election looming, concerns are growing that the current turbulence could either reshape the country’s political landscape or plunge it into enduring instability, much as historical divisions did more than half a century ago.A familiar sightA grim feature of the recent unrest in Bangladesh has been the targeting of minorities. Two Hindu men were killed in incidents that sparked fear. In Mymensingh district, a 27-year-old garment worker, Dipu Chandra Das, was accused of blasphemy and beaten to death by a crowd on 17 December.Immediately after that, hundreds of Hindu organisations protested in India. Then on December 26, another Hindu man, Amrit Mondal (29), was brutally murdered in Rajbari district, reportedly during an altercation. The government’s line was that Mondal was a criminal seeking extortion, not a communal victim, but the optics were terrifying for Bangladesh’s Hindu minority.Domestically, the lynching in Mymensingh drew condemnation even from Dhaka’s government. Within days, the interim cabinet “condemned the lynching of a Hindu man…beaten and set on fire” and vowed the perpetrators would be brought to justice. But rights groups fear a broader slide towards communal violence.The independent monitoring group 'Ain o Salish Kendra' (AOSK) warned that the “coordinated attacks on media outlets, cultural institutions and historical sites” – including desecration of sculptures and images – signalled an alarming spread of extremist behaviour. By mid-December 2025, AOSK counted over 180 deaths in Bangladesh this year alone from mob violence (a steep rise from 51 in 2023).The Prothom Alo and Daily Star offices were torched by protesters branding them as “pro-India” or corrupt. In a shocking incident, gunmen abducted and then released a prominent left-wing journalist, apparently to intimidate the press. Chhayanaut cultural centre (a respected arts academy) was ransacked, and a portrait of a revered musicologist was slashed by rioters calling her an “atheist”.Regime change, but democracy still distantWhile Sheikh Hasina’s critics in Bangladesh accused her of ruling with an iron fist and silencing dissent, what has followed her ouster has been marked by chaos. The post-Hasina period has seen frequent violence, political unrest and reported attacks on minority communities, raising concerns about security and governance during the transition.At the same time, the interim phase has triggered intense debates over electoral reforms, including proposals to change the voting system. Critics have warned that measures such as proportional representation, if poorly managed, could deepen political fragmentation and fuel further instability rather than strengthen democracy.In short, the fall of autocracy has opened a pathway towards democratic renewal, with elections and reform plans now on the table. However, whether Bangladesh moves towards genuine democracy will depend on how free, inclusive and stable the upcoming political processes prove to beHow India is at the centre, againIndia looms large in this story historically and today. In 1971, India’s decisive military and diplomatic support was pivotal to Bangladesh’s birth. Over the next five decades, New Delhi saw Dhaka as a crucial partner, investing in development and security ties. Hasina dubbed the 2010s a “golden era” of bilateral cooperation. But since her ouster, relations have soured. Bangladesh has demanded that Sheikh Hasina be handed over to Dhaka, while for India, rising violence at the border and against Hindus and other minorities has been a great concern.Tensions were explicitly mentioned during the December unrest. Reuters reports that relations “have been strained since Sheikh Hasina fled to New Delhi” after last year’s protests. Large crowds in Dhaka attacked the Indian diplomatic mission.On the Indian side, outrage over violence against Hindus has triggered protests and diplomatic tussles. Hundreds of activists gathered at the Bangladesh high commission in New Delhi on December 23, angrily denouncing the lynching of a Hindu man in Mymensingh. They clashed with police and demanded justice, chanting that India should give Bangladesh a “befitting answer”. More demonstrations have erupted elsewhere in India (for example, in Kolkata) against the “atrocities being committed against minorities” in Bangladesh. New Delhi has officially described those demonstrations as peaceful but has also raised Bangladesh’s protest of Indian rallies at the Bangladeshi mission. Dhaka, for its part, summoned India’s envoy to complain about these rallies and warned against disrupting diplomatic sites.The ministry of external affairs informed that over 2,900 incidents of violence against minorities were documented in Bangladesh by independent sources during the tenure of the interim government led by Mohammad Yunus. The bilateral relationship is at a crossroads. India remains critical of any deterioration of rights in Bangladesh, but Bangladeshi leaders resent being seen as having outsourced their politics to New Delhi. With Bangladesh holding elections soon, both sides are positioning for influence: India quietly pressed for a “free, fair, inclusive” vote, while Bangladesh’s new rulers castigate “foreign hands” in local affairs.What’s nextThe “two Decembers” 1971 and 2025 bookend Bangladesh’s modern story. December 1971 marked the end of liberation: victory over autocracy and the birth of hope. December 2025 is now marked by violence and uncertainty, as Dhaka grapples with the aftermath of toppling another long-ruling leader.Understanding the path from 1971 to today is crucial. It shows that democratic gains won at great cost can be fragile. Over the past 15 months, Bangladesh has again overturned one political order, but this upheaval has not automatically delivered the peace and pluralism that many expected.