Young men and women in today's Bangladesh are in no way ready to make their choices on February 12 based on how many points parties score by creating a smokescreen of distorted narratives
Over 127 million voters in Bangladesh are looking forward to a true national election early next year after three consecutive sham polls robbed them of their right to franchise. Well over a third of all voters fall within the 18-30 age bracket, many of whom will be voting for the first time in their lives on February 12, 2026.
Some of them have only recently reached voting age, while many others were deprived of exercising their right to vote despite being eligible voters in 2014, 2018, and 2024. Those elections were shams, used by an authoritarian regime as an excuse to cling to power by force.
It is easy to imagine that these young voters aged 18 to 30 will be a decisive factor in this election. For them, the country's glorious past, its struggles, and its heritage are important -- but a vision for a better present and future is equally important, perhaps even more so.
Unfortunately for young voters, they are made to hear far more about the past and very little about the present and the future. This, perhaps, suits politicians better.
They are more comfortable debating the past, taking credit for whatever good happened and blaming opponents for all past ills. There appears to be far less accountability in doing so, and they take advantage of the public's short memory.
Jamaat, for instance, had no acceptance with the Awami League -- understandably so, given the former's role in 1971. Interestingly, that did not prevent them from working shoulder to shoulder when the latter badly needed Jamaat's support to wrest from then prime minister, Begum Khaleda Zia, their common demand for introducing a caretaker government (CTG) system into the constitution.
After coming to power, the Awami League did not hesitate to hang some of the top leaders of its former CTG-movement ally, Jamaat, on charges of committing crimes against humanity in 1971.
BNP, meanwhile, had at least a couple of key Jamaat leaders in its cabinet while it was in government in the past. Now, however, it has arrived at a newfound realization that "the nation saw how the party killed hundreds of thousands and violated countless mothers and sisters during the Liberation War."
Perhaps the most pompous narratives today are coming from statements and speeches of some Jamaat leaders, who appear to be on a mission to rewrite the well-documented history of 1971 and the roles played by the Pakistani military and their local collaborators.
Some Jamaat leaders have recently gone so far as to suggest that the killing of intellectuals during the Liberation War was part of a well-planned conspiracy involving the Indian army and intelligence agencies.
Such narratives on crucial national milestones of the past, along with the mutual bickering politicians offer today, are not palatable to today's youth voters.
They have a far more modern outlook and a vision for a Bangladesh where a better political culture can thrive, not the rotten old one.
Today's young voters detest a form of politics whose founding principle is a "marriage of convenience."
Parties, when in some sort of entente, merrily forget and overlook each other's past misdeeds. When they fall apart, however, they conveniently take shelter in history to undermine one another.
There are also parties that dare to take post-July Revolution Bangladesh for granted in their attempts to rewrite the nation's established history of 1971.
Young men and women in today's Bangladesh are in no way ready to make their choices on February 12 based on how many points parties score by creating a smokescreen of distorted narratives.
Rather, they will base their choices on political parties' and leaders' plans and commitments on public agendas.
These public agendas include creating job opportunities for millions of unemployed youth, fostering a congenial business ecosystem where entrepreneurs can invest and thrive, eradicating all-pervasive corruption in society, and reforming the country's education system, to name a few.
Today's young voters are less bothered about the historical legacies of political parties and their self-contained bubbles of pride, bravado, and prejudice. They are far more concerned about what politicians and parties can offer to help citizens carry Bangladesh forward.
Misreading young minds could prove costly for even the most organized political parties in post-Awami League Bangladesh. A "we're the only option" attitude and taking voters for granted could be disastrous.
Likewise, misreading the July Revolution as a tectonic shift from one regional geopolitical framework to another may create false hope that a nation's history can be rewritten at will.
Reaz Ahmad is Editor, Dhaka Tribune.