These are times of trial – literally in the courts – for a growing number of Asia’s democracies. The list of major national political leaders in the region who have faced, or are about to face, criminal charges has grown soextensive that it is plausible to wonder whether democracy itself can survive in a number of these countries.Perhaps the gravest allegations have been leveled at Bangladesh’s opposition leader Khaleda Zia, who has been charged with murder in a case going back many years. India’s former prime minister, Manmohan Singh, who...

Today’s Bangladesh faces political crisis as scores of news-reports and views claim [an end-note to this article cites headings/excerpts of a few of those], and today’s Bangladesh doesn’t face political crisis as one can claim periods of turmoil are not crisis, can cite a few data from economy, and can also refer to a lull within a long period of crisis. Both the statements, one can claim, are correct in relative terms. On the other hand, any of the two cancels the other. Only a scientific approach to the question – crisis – can provide a reliable answer. The approach should look into all related aspects instead of making sweeping remarks based on superficial observations and shallow search that ignores basic elements of crisis.