ISLAMABAD: The majority of Bangladeshis believes that Pakistan prevailed in the recent dispute with India. More interestingly, close to half of the population sees India as an “enemy” as public sentiment is overwhelmingly in favour of Pakistan, reveals Gallup Pakistan’s latest survey.
Gallup Pakistan has released a groundbreaking new report titled “A Study of Political Sentiments in Bangladesh” -- dated June 25th -- highlighting Bangladeshi public opinion on politics, governance, identity, and foreign relations.
One of the report’s most striking findings is the clear tilt in Bangladeshi public sentiment towards Pakistan over India in regional conflicts and diplomacy. According to the survey, 54 percent of Bangladeshis expressed support for Pakistan in the most recent India-Pakistan armed conflict. Whereas 46 percent believe Pakistan won the conflict — an insight that challenges assumptions about regional allegiances and underscores deep public discontent with India’s regional posture. At the same time, 47 percent of Bangladeshis see India as an enemy, marking it the most negatively viewed country in the survey.
Despite a complicated historical relationship, 46 percent of Bangladeshis now identify Pakistan as a friend of Bangladesh — a higher percentage than for major global powers such as the United States which only 24 percent of respondents viewed as a friend, the United Kingdom was seen as friendly by 21 percent while India was viewed as a friend by far fewer than those seeing it as an enemy.
In contrast, China (43 percent), Saudi Arabia (44 percent), and Turkey (32 percent) are also seen positively by a significant portion of the population, while Myanmar is among the most negatively perceived neighbours (26 percent see it as an enemy).
The report also presents a generally positive picture of domestic sentiment in Bangladesh. Up to 70 percent of respondents rate the government’s performance as “good” while 56 percent believe Bangladesh is doing better than last year, with only 23 percent saying the situation has worsened.
Further, 43 percent believe political conditions have improved, versus 16 percent who say they’ve worsened.
However, according to the survey, public opinion on the timing of elections is mixed as 49 percent of Bangladeshis support delaying elections until the political situation improves whereas 39 percent favour holding elections as scheduled. Moreover, 83 percent identify religion as their primary personal identity, followed by national identity (78 percent), and then language and region.
In terms of global issues, over 80 percent of Bangladeshis view the Gaza-Israel conflict as very important, and an overwhelming 95 percent support their government taking steps to assist Muslims in Gaza.
The survey was conducted using Random Digit Dialing (RDD) over the phone with more than 500 adult respondents across both urban (69 percent) and rural (31 percent) areas. The sample was gender-balanced (53 percent male, 47 percent female) and designed to reflect the diverse socio-political landscape of Bangladesh.
