Exporting political animosities: Airing our dirty laundry abroad does Bangladesh no favours

When Bangladeshi politicians landed at John F Kennedy International Airport in New York as part of Chief Adviser Yunus's delegation on 22 September, they should have been welcomed with official protocol. 

Instead, they were met with hostility, jeers and profanities by Awami League activists based in the US, and even two eggs were hurled at National Citizens' Party (NCP) Member Secretary Akhtar Hossain. The party's Senior Joint Member Secretary Tasnim Jara, on the other hand, was slut-shamed. Even Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, the secretary general of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), was verbally abused. 

The incident was not just embarrassing for the administration, but also symptomatic of a deeper malaise within Bangladesh's political culture that continues to spill beyond its borders. 

Moreover, this was not an isolated episode. It followed a disturbing trend of political violence exported abroad: attacks on Information Adviser Mahfuz Alam in New York, the harassment of Law Adviser Dr Asif Nazrul in Switzerland, and earlier attempts to target Professor Yunus himself during events in London. 

It also highlights how Bangladesh's toxic political culture has been exported overseas through foreign party chapters, operating in a legal grey area under Bangladeshi law. This trend not only endangers political leaders but also tarnishes the nation's image and undermines the interests of migrant communities.

Mismanagement and security failures

The immediate question raised is whether the Interim Government and its diplomatic missions were competent enough to protect political delegates abroad. 

According to several sources, confusion over visa categories meant that Akhtar Hossain and four other political leaders were separated from Yunus at immigration. Lacking protocol privileges, they had to proceed like ordinary passengers. This delay left them vulnerable. And the Bangladeshi officials were unable to inform the political activists gathered there to greet their leaders about the change in their exit plan.  

NCP's Chief Coordinator Nasiruddin Patwary said at a procession at Shahbagh bluntly, "Leaving Akhtar Hossain and Tasnim Jara in front of Awami League activists was a humiliation for Professor Yunus and a shame for Bangladesh as a state. In this incident, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs must immediately come before the people of Bangladesh, take responsibility for its failure and apologise."  

NCP's joint convener Samanta Sharmin echoed similar frustrations while talking to TBS, "As a political party, if we had been informed that proper protocol would not be extended to our representatives and that ensuring their safety was not the government's responsibility, we could have taken measures to arrange our own security." 

She added, "We also noticed today that Md Showeb Abdullah — currently Deputy Chief of Mission at the Nepal Embassy and formerly a Dhaka University Statistics student and Vice-President of Fazlul Haq Muslim Hall's Chhatra League unit — was present. This reflects a long-standing practice where Awami League loyalists were deliberately placed in institutions, both to keep them under control and to act as informants. They were also used to manage situations that might otherwise slip out of the party's grasp. We have seen this repeatedly in the past." 

Dr Saimum Parvez, a political analyst, described it as sheer mismanagement. 

"State visits, whether the delegates are political or governmental, must guarantee security. In New York, the consulate and the government failed to coordinate. Hiring private security in Europe or America is not complex. This was a straightforward failure."

Exporting local politics abroad

Now, let us address the elephant in the room — spreading our local political animosity abroad. 

The New York incident highlighted a long-standing but rarely addressed phenomenon: Bangladesh's political rivalries being exported to foreign soil. 

Parties maintain overseas branches across at least 30 countries, from the US to Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, the UK, and Germany, often with formal approval from central authorities in Dhaka.

These overseas branches exist in a legal grey area. According to the 1972 Representation of the People Order (RPO), if a party's constitution provides for the formation and operation of any office, branch or committee outside the geographical boundaries of the country, then the registration of that political party will be cancelled. 

"But since the constitutions of the parties do not mention the foreign chapters, they can circumvent the RPO," said Dr Borhan Uddin Khan, professor at the Department of Law, University of Dhaka. 

Photo: Screengrab

Among the registered political parties, the banned Awami League and the BNP have the most activities abroad. To circumvent the RPO, the parties claim that their overseas chapters are not their official branch. The parties form these committees in secret. In some cases, representatives of the political parties also form committees abroad. 

Dr Saimum Parvez said, "Foreigners view these incidents very negatively because such toxic political culture does not align with their societies. It is nationally humiliating."

In fact, the Electoral Reforms Commission has recommended that political parties not have any foreign chapters at all. 

Tarnishing Bangladesh's image on the global stage

The consequences of these practices go far beyond petty quarrels; attacks on Bangladeshi political leaders abroad damage the country's international standing. 

As Interim Government Foreign Affairs Adviser Touhid Hossain admitted at a press conference, "Awami League, BNP, Jamaat, and Jatiya Party are perhaps the only political parties in the world with so many branches abroad. Their hostility tarnishes the image of Bangladeshis abroad. It affects our branding."

And the banned Awami League can stage protests and conduct political acts using the democratic freedom in the foreign countries. They even staged a large rally in London in support of ousted Sheikh Hasina as well. 

This could affect visa regimes, social trust and even business opportunities. 

Moreover, with the forthcoming national election, the enfranchisement of Bangladesh's diaspora through postal ballots under Article 27(1) of RPO is likely to intensify existing divisions among expatriates. Although this right was legally granted in 2008, it has never been practically implemented, leaving millions of overseas voters disenfranchised. 

Now, as the issue gains renewed attention, rival party branches abroad may mobilise their supporters aggressively, not only to influence registration and turnout but also to demonstrate political clout. Given that Bangladeshi migrants in the UK, US, Middle East and Europe already replicate domestic rivalries, the extension of voting rights without a robust, neutral mechanism could lead to further conflict. 

These committees are also often hubs of corruption for the central leaders. 

Samanta Sharmin said, "When a new party formed, a portion of the activists who took part in the July Uprising felt compelled to attach themselves to it, believing that association was necessary for their future prospects. Now that they are politically embedded, there is little scope to disentangle them or reverse the process; instead they sustain their links with the party and keep the machinery running." 

Bangladeshis abroad have created what Dr Saimum Parvez calls another Bangladesh in their host countries. Far from uniting for mutual support, they often replicate bitter divides at home. 

While Indian, Pakistani, or Sri Lankan diasporas may hold political views, they rarely establish formal overseas branches of their parties. Bangladeshis, by contrast, set up committees, elect presidents and secretaries, and often clash violently. 

So, there is a chance that instead of uniting around shared migrant concerns, expatriates may once again split into hostile camps, with the upcoming election serving as a flashpoint for disputes that mirror the toxic patterns of politics at home.

The fear may not be overblown, as in Portugal, a 2020 clash between Awami League and BNP activists over a leadership dispute left one dead and six injured. 

Dr Saimum Parvez said, "We must therefore tackle the problem at its root. By the root I mean a fundamental shift: Bangladesh's politics must become policy-driven. Competition should centre on ideas and policy, not on personal dominance or the seizure of streets. Voters should choose on the basis of whose policies they prefer, not who can command the most MPs or control the pavement. If we can cultivate that culture — at home and in our diasporas — the cycle of conflict will diminish and political life will become far less antagonistic."