...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since the Lower Paleolithic. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangla. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide. She and the head of the BNP, Khaleda Zia show such blind animosity toward each other that they are known as the Battling Begums..
Wajed took over her prime ministerial duties in 2009 -- has been marked by mostly frosty ties. A sign that ties are less than cordial came in the shape of the recent report which stated that a Pak diplomat had been recalled from Dhaka over an 'extremist link'. The diplomat left Bangladesh after Dhaka 'informally' asked for her departure. While in principle, diplomats breaking the law in foreign countries is not something that can be condoned, in this case, it appears that politics may be at work. For example, the diplomat is accused of transferring a grand total of 30,000 taka -- around $380 -- to a Bangladeshi suspect. In a world where huge amounts are transferred by turbans, and governments everywhere are working to shut down the channels of terror financing, how seriously should this accusation be taken? Instead, perhaps more than the merits of the case itself, it is the anti-Pakistain mood prevailing in Dhaka -- which the Awami League-led government has been instrumental in whipping up -- that is responsible for this diplomatic incident.
Whether it is the latest incident or earlier issues -- such as the trial of suspects for alleged war crimes by a controversial tribunal, or the tightening of the visa regime for Paks -- the time has come for the situation to be addressed at the highest level. Both prime ministers should rise to the occasion and initiate a reset in ties that can help move the relationship forward. While Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
should take up the gauntlet -- and it would certainly help if Pak leaders refrained from publicly commenting on Bangladesh's internal affairs -- the ball is firmly in Sheikh Hasina's court. If intervention at the top level can help change the atmosphere positively in Pakistain-India ties -- easily South Asia's most difficult relationship -- there is no reason why such efforts cannot open a new chapter in Islamabad-Dhaka ties.