What I find truly strange is that East Pakistanis (at that time) had far better political acumen then West Pakistan. But BD's political trajectory after separation from Pakistan has not been as good as it should have been. For example Sheikh Mujeeb declared emergency soon after being elected (1974 in aftermath of famine). BD today is divided in two parties, both being run by women who are not bright and lack any long term vision (where will BD be in 5 or 10 years). Both of them are silent on the direction BD should take be it economic, social or military position). Why time after time only two parties are being elected? why no new alternatives in system?
Same is true for Sindh, on a collective level Sindhis are far more politically sharp and active then Punjabis or Pakhtoons but have been unable to achieve as much as they should. They too are completely swept by PPP which has been in Govt three times doing absolutely nothing for Sindh. There is no development on social or economic activity in Sindh, no major change in infrastructure. For all their political acumen Sindhis are also stuck with a single party knowing well that party has done nothing to merit such a following.
1. Bangladeshi politics since 71 has been somewhat disappointing however it is not bad as you may think.
a: Under the military rule of Zia there was a lot of progress.
b: Under the only other major military leader to rule Bangladesh, Ershad there was some progress.
c: Bangladesh has progressed significantly since 1971 with 1% economic growth accumulating each decade e.g. 3% in 70s, 4% in the 80s, 5% in the 90s, 6% in the 00s and now heading for 7+% in the 2010s.
Bangladesh has had 25% economic growth since 2008, one of the top 5 in the world.
d: We make our own mobile phones, DVD players, refriegerators, televisions, motorbikes and export them.
2. The two parties are both corrupt. The BNP and Awami League are both thieves, but the Awami League is far more violent, brutal and ruthless. However even the Awami League is not as bad as for instance the MQM in Pakistan which until recently ran a reign of terror over Karachi, Pakistan's largest city.* Now they are countered by the gunmen of the ANP and PPP.
3. The Awami League is indeed sponsored by India (but not to the extent the Jamatis/razakars on this forum think it is) which accounts for its deliberate obsession with 71 and mentioning it literally every day in the Bangladeshi media (this is to promote hatred of Pakistan, respect for the supposed "founders" of Bangladesh the Awami League and to promote secularism).
The BNP are a bit more rational and less fanatical in their ideology.
The Awami League are fanatics and fundamentalists with their whole "Joy Bangla", "Joy Bongobondhu", "judor shomoi" (during the war i.e. 71) obsession.
Jamat are traitors and anti-Bangladeshi.
4. Even the Awami League no matter how bad it is did offer a vision for Bangladesh called "digital Bangladesh 2021" and that was to achieve middle-income status by 2021 and working towards becoming a larger version of Singapore with a high-tech society.
The BNP will continue on this path.
5. Though the parties are corrupt the parameters for them to operate in are restricted as there are other entities e.g. the military, civil society, NGOS, America which will prevent them from doing some things they want to.
Bangladesh functions due to technocratic bureaucrats, experts whom they consult etc and beyond the petty politics the country is progressing.
P.S. A caveat, Jamatis/razakars do not wish anyone to think Bangladesh is progressing since a: In their eyes it means that people will not be angry with the Awami League government b: More fundamentally jamatis/razakars wish to potray Bangladesh as a failure so people see 71 as a mistake and then support once again being a colony of Pakistan.
This is the Jamati/razakar agenda and ideology.
