Bangladeshis today are experiencing two conflicting types of nationalism. There are those who support the ideology of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (in alliance with Jamaat-i-Islami) who define Bangladeshi identity based on Islam and those who support the ideology of the Awami League who define Bengali identity on the basis of ethnicity and secularism. Adherence to or rejection of these ideologies has given rise to the secular Shahbag Movement and the Islamist movement of the Hafazote-i-Islam, bringing questions of identity and nationhood in Bangladesh to the forefront. The paper analyses the key pledges made by major political parties during electoral campaigning in order to establish how ‘religion’ and ‘secularism’ has supported the political parties to alternate power. The paper concludes that these two competing nationalisms have very little impact on policy. Rather, collective memory is re-imagined by political parties in order to justify their position, differentiate themselves and mobilize electoral support.
