'Repay debt to martyrs': Bangladesh embraces change but fears return to past excesses

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has won a decisive victory in the country's first competitive national election in nearly 18 years. The election followed a 2024 student-led uprising that forced former leader Sheikh Hasina from office and into exile in India. BNP chairman Tarique Rahman, who returned from 17 years in exile, is now poised to become prime minister. While the vote is seen as a restoration of democracy for many, the new government's two-thirds majority has raised concerns about a potential return to centralized power and the sidelining of dissent.