Around sunset during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, something remarkable happens in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka. The streets in this city of more than 10 million people, known for its hectic bustle and choking traffic, turn quiet and empty.

       But for political parties, which know well the persuasive powers of full bellies, sunset is their high time.

       Iftar parties, where the faithful break their fast, were closely watched through the end of Ramadan last week for what direction Bangladesh could take after the overthrow of its authoritarian leader last summer.

       Who was attending which party? Who was seated next to whom? In Bangladesh’s political vacuum, the answers to those questions offered clues to how new alliances could form and even the direction of changing geopolitical winds.

       To gauge the political temperature, we got ourselves invited to one.

       It was hosted at a rooftop restaurant by Gono Odhikar Parishad, a small party born of an earlier wave of student protests in 2018, before the one last year that toppled Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

       Image

       Protesters using heavy machinery to demolish the residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh’s former leader and the father of the country’s ousted prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, in Dhaka in February.Credit...Mahmud Hossain Opu/Associated Press

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