Bangladesh, Feb. 17 -- Politics in Bangladesh has rarely been a gentle craft. It has been a battlefield. Victory has meant annihilation. Defeat has meant persecution. For decades, the culture was simple: win at all costs, govern without mercy, and prepare for revenge. The result was predictable — cycles of bitterness, institutional decay, and a democracy that existed more in speeches than in spirit.

But moments arrive in history when a leader is handed not merely power, but an opportunity to redefine a nations political character. Tarique Rahman now stands at such a moment.

The mass uprising of August 5, 2024, which led to the ouster of Sheikh Hasinas government, was not merely a political transition. It was an eruption of public ...