This chapter examines the diverse trajectories of interaction between the state and the civil society organisations in Bangladesh. Drawing upon political transformation of the state of Bangladesh since independence in 1971, we explore how political changes have determined the state–civil society interaction at different historical junctures; such as, collaboration in the 1970s, followed by suppression, adopting a ‘carrot and stick’ policy during the military regime in the 1980s and, finally, confrontation and corporatisation in the 1990s and beyond. It is argued that whilst NGOs and civil society organisations are considered to be independent of the state, market and politics, they are being co-opted, suppressed and intimately drawn into politics and business in Bangladesh.