Nepal, Feb. 16 -- Let's congratulate Muhammad Yunus first. I have been a critic of the interim government and not kind to its missteps. But one thing we knew for certain was that his legacy of presiding over Bangladesh's most consequential election in a generation would change the course of politics in the country.

To aid the election on February 12, General Waker-uz-Zaman's team worked tirelessly to make this extraordinary event happen. The police and bureaucracy followed suit with equal resolve. Nearly one million security personnel were deployed across 42,651 polling centres, not a single lethal bullet was fired, and yet peace prevailed. That is no accident; it is a genuine commitment to the republic. While Yunus took the podium, the ...