With elections scheduled in less than two weeks, that only 81 women, out of a staggering 1,981 candidates, are contesting in the upcoming national election is nothing if not a betrayal of promises made to half the population of this country and a national embarrassment for a nation that even dares to speak about women empowerment.
This National Parliamentary Election should have been an opportunity to demonstrate genuine progress in gender inclusion and instead, the numbers tell a story of regression. It sends a dangerous signal that gender equality in politics remains nothing but a hollow slogan.
That collectively, the political parties of this country failed to meet the 5% pledge - with some parties even calling for the pledge to be at 10% - for women candidates in the July Charter is, quite frankly, an embarrassment.
This failure is a matter of will, or a lack thereof from the major political parties, with some fielding not a single candidate despite contesting for hundreds of seats.
Bangladesh may have historically been praised internationally for women at the highest levels of leadership, but the lack of representation in parliament exposes the hollowness of that reputation.
Political leaders have long paid lip service to empowering women. Time after time however, we are left disappointed when the time comes to act as they retreat into the same old patterns of exclusion.
The result is a ballot that reflects nothing but entrenched patriarchy rather than the aspirations of half the population. A parliament that excludes women cannot claim to represent the nation fairly.
All this talk of a new and better Bangladesh is meaningless if women remain sidelined in roles that matter most in shaping this nation. Our aspiration for democracy, of equity, of progress -- all of it will be incomplete.
