Dr Sarmila Bose comments on the roots of recent unrest in Bangladesh

Sarmila Bose appeared on the BBC World Service Newshour program (3 March) to discuss the protests and violence which have engulfed Bangladesh over the last week.

The unrest stems from the convictions at a tribunal assessing war crimes during the country’s 1971 war of independence. Last week Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, a top leader in Jamaat-e-Islami, the country’s largest Islamist political party, was sentenced to death by the tribunal.

Criticizing the lack of independence of the trial, Sarmila noted, “I don’t think this is a battle between Islamists and secular people. This is a battle between those who believe there should be a rule of law and those who believe they can get away without a rule of law … The current government has brought about a situation where you don’t have rule of law, because you’re not according rule of law to the Jamaat.”

The interview can be streamed or downloaded here, as part of the episode titled “03 Mar 13 Karachi Explosions” (the interview begins around the 7.00 mark). Sarmila is the author of Dead Reckoning: Memories of the 1971 Bangladesh War, which is available for purchase from Amazon here.