There is much uncertainty among Christians in Bangladesh after Islamic parties secured the highest number of seats in the nation’s history at recent national elections.
Many believers were relieved that violence aimed at minorities was not as prevalent as expected before the election. However, their feeling of “stability” is “fading” less than a month on from the nationwide vote, as anxiety grows over what the future holds.
The centre-right-leaning Bangladesh National Party (BNP) won a landslide victory, defeating a more extreme Islamist coalition of 11 parties. Robi (name changed for security reasons), an Open Doors partner in Bangladesh, told en that the result marks a “major shift” in the political landscape, with 289 of the 300 parliamentary seats up for election (out of a total of 350) won by the two main Muslim factions showing “how visible and accepted Islamic politics have become” in Bangladesh.
While the result leaves the parties with limited national influence, due to many politicians not being in government, Robi revealed that “it’s a very different story” locally, including in areas of existing persecution, where believers who have converted from Islam could face “increased social pressure, discrimination and targeted hostility”, with some local incidents of persecution already reported in the fortnight following the BNP’s win.
Asked how Christians feel about the result, Robi spoke of mixed feelings in the church, with many voting for the BNP as “the lesser of two evils”. He said: “Right now, people are clinging to that temporary stability and hoping the new government will maintain law and order. But the local-level risks can’t be ignored. Because Islamic leaders have won seats in persecution hotspots, we expect them to throw their weight around locally."
