The widening polarization in Bangladesh threatens to hobble an economy that is now the world’s second-biggest exporter of garments after China. It also may swell the ranks of Islamic militant groups in the predominately Muslim country.

Bangladesh’s political fight largely comes down to two women, Wajed and Zia, who are both family members of former national leaders who were assassinated. The army has seized power at least four times, most recently in 2007, when the generals tried unsuccessfully to oust them both from politics.

Wajed’s father founded the ruling Awami League, which took power after independence and promotes a secular democracy. Zia’s husband, the country’s first military ruler, started the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, or BNP, which has called itself the “Islamic consciousness” of the Muslim majority.