2023 in Bangladesh
It will follow 1429 and 1430 Baṅgābda.
The year 2023 is the 52nd year of the independence of Bangladesh. It is also the fifth and last year of the fourth cabinet of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and last year of the presidency of Mohammad Abdul Hamid.
Incumbents
Judiciary">Judiciary of Bangladesh">Judiciary
Events
January
- 2–5 January – Cold wave starts to sweep Bangladesh, mainly in the northern and western parts of the country. As the average temperature drops more than recent years, sufferings for common people increase.
- 3 January – Md. Mahbub Hossain gets appointed as the 24th Cabinet Secretary of Bangladesh after his predecessor Kabir Bin Anwar went into Post Retirement Leave serving for the shortest period of time as Cabinet Secretary of Bangladesh.
- 4 January – By-election held in Gaibandha-5 parliamentary constituency to elect the MP for the vacant seat after being postponed by the Election Commission (EC) for 'mass irregularities', Awami League (AL)-backed candidate Mahmud Hasan Ripon wins in a landslide margin amid low voter-turnout due to cold wave.
- 6 January – The main stage of Chhatra League (BSL)'s diamond jubilee program collapses due to overcrowding while AL's general-secretary Obaidul Quader was giving his speech, injuring 5. The incident becomes a troll-topic and circulates in social media platforms, while opposition politicians warn the ruling party of 'collapsing from their power', indicating to the incident.
- 14 January – US Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu visits Bangladesh as part of his South Asia trip. In the highest ranking US official visit since the US sanction over Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in 2021, topics like democracy, election, labor and human rights issues is discussed among top officials. Lu expresses his satisfaction over the tremendous progress of RAB in the matter of reducing extrajudicial killings (The Daily Star).
- 15 January – Veteran AL politician Begum Matia Chowdhury gets appointed and welcomed as the Deputy Leader of the House by Members of the Parliament as the post was vacant for months following the death of Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury.
- 19 January – Country's first ever posthumous organ transplantation takes place on BSMMU. Two kidneys and two corneas of 20-year-old Sarah Islam who was declared brain dead, are transplanted to four individual patients.
- 25 January – Pallabi Metro Station under the MRT Line-6 opens for commuters, becoming the third metro station of Dhaka Metro Rail to open.
February
- 1 February – By-elections are held in six constituencies which felt vacant after the resignation of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) lawmakers. AL-backed candidates win in every constituencies except one amid "voter-drought".
- 2 February –
- * Prime Minister inaugurates the construction of the first underground railway project in the country, part of Dhaka Metro Rail.
- * Bangladesh receives the first installment of an IMF loan.
- 9 February – Ishwardi–Rooppur line and Rooppur railway station was established.
- 13 February – 2023 Bangladeshi presidential election: Shahabuddin Chuppu is declared the winner, being the only candidate.
- 14–22 February – Tagore sculpture controversy
- 18 February – Uttara Center metro station opened.
- 19 February – 2023 Gulshan fire.
March
- 1 March – Mirpur 10 metro station opened.
- 4 March – Six people are killed and several others are injured in a fire and subsequent explosion at an oxygen plant in Sitakunda.
- 5 March – 2023 Kutupalong refugee camp fire: More than 2,000 shelters are destroyed in a fire in the world's largest refugee camp.
- 7 March – 2023 Gulistan explosion: At least 18 people are killed and more than 140 others are injured by an explosion at a commercial seven-story building in Gulistan, Dhaka.
- 11 March - March 2023 Rajshahi University unrest: Over 300 people are injured as students protest at Rajshahi University.
- 19 March – At least 19 people are killed and 25 others are injured when their bus falls into a ditch in Madaripur District, Dhaka Division.
- 29 March – White House debate competition hoax
- 31 March – Uttara South metro station and Shewrapara metro station opened.
April
May
- 15 May: Prolific Bangladesh national cricket team win in the One Day International cricket series win against Ireland 2–0.
June
- 7 June: Fifteen people are killed in a crash between a bus and a truck in Dakshin Surma Upazila, Sylhet District.
- 20 June: Construction project for Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport Pedestrian Underpass was approved.
- 29 June: The highest grossing Bangladeshi film of all-time Priyotoma was released.
July
- 16 July: Contractual rail workers cause 4 hour long mass blockade of all rail routes to the capital Dhaka city demanding permanency of their jobs.
- 30 July: Boxer Mohammad Alamin 'The Bull' emerged victorious by Technical Knockout against his Thai counterpart, bringing glory to Bangladesh with his remarkable performance in the ring by completing the 4-round bout within the first round as the Evolution Fight Series concluded.
August
- 17 August: Introduction of the Universal Pension.
September
- 28 September: 2023 dengue outbreak in Bangladesh: Nearly 1,000 people have died of dengue fever in Bangladesh in recent weeks, in the country's most severe outbreak of the disease so far.
October
- 23 October: 2023 Dhaka rail collision - A cargo train hits a passenger train in Bhairab, killing at least 15 people and wounding many more.
- 28 October: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurates the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel.
- 29 October: Bangladesh Nationalist Party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and at least 164 party members are charged with the murder of a police officer during recent election-related demonstrations.
November
- 7 November: Bangladesh increases the minimum wage for garment workers by nearly 56% to ৳12,500 per month, a move trade unions find insufficient against their demand for a ৳23,000 threshold amid rising costs of living and inflation.
- 15 November: The Bangladesh Election Commission announces that parliamentary elections will occur on 7 January next year, following weeks of violent protests by supporters of the opposition.
December
- 17 December: Bangladesh U-19 Cricket Team wins the 2023 ACC Under-19 Asia Cup defeating United Arab Emirates U-19 Cricket Team in the final.
Deaths
January
- 2 January – Mubasshar Hussein, architect, educationist, sports organizer and freedom fighter
- 7 January – Habib Ullah Khan, politician and diplomat, minister of information, minister of jute, member of parliament
- 11 January – Mohammad Enamul Haque Zoj Miah, member of the Jatiya Sangsad .
- 12 January –
- *Muhammad Delwar Hossain, Bargunaiya politician, member of the Jatiya Sangsad
- *Mozammel Haque, BNP politician, member of the Jatiya Sangsad
- 26 January – Mufti Shahidul Islam, Islamist politician, member of the Jatiya Sangsad
- 30 January – Shamsul Alam Pramanik, BNP politician, member of the Jatiya Sangsad
February
- 6 February – Moslem Uddin Ahmad, AL politician, member of the Jatiya Sangsad
- 13 February – Reza Ali, businessman, AL politician, member of the Jatiya Sangsad
- 19 February – Nazmul Huda, barrister and politician, minister of information and communication, member of the Jatiya Sangsad
March
- 21 March – Shamim Sikder, sculptor and professor at Dhaka University
- 29 March – Nur-e-Alam Siddique, AL politician and businessman, war-time student leader known as one of the "Four Caliphs of Bangabandhu"
April
- 5 April – Rokia Afzal Rahman, entrepreneur, first female bank manager in Bangladesh, adviser of the Caretaker Government
- 11 April – Zafrullah Chowdhury, freedom fighter, public health and political activist, founder of Gonoshasthaya Kendra