Bangladesh's next election - electorates at crossroads

Published in http://www.bangladesh-web.com/ on November 28, 2005.

When BNP-Jamaat coalition came to power after Bangladesh's last general elections, I was one of the many who said that JI's student wing Shibir would now feel a degree of impunity to carry out their activities. I was dismissed outright by quite a few in Dhaka. We are now close to another election and a little reflection will show that Shibir was only a small fish in the sea.

We now have JMB (funded from the middle east) under the patronage of the current government! We've had nationwide bombings (as a warning to implement Islamic Sharia law in the country), assassination of opposition leaders (who at least profess to be of a secular constitution), and a general swing towards a more authoritarian interpretation of an Islamic lifestyle (note how more and more women are voluntarily or otherwise wearing variations of the veil; note how certain mobile phone commercials were recently banned by the government for not being Bengali enough - read not being "Islamic" enough!).

It is time Bangladeshis really think about where the country could be heading if BNP-JI coalition is allowed to return to power. Jamaat has gradually developed a powerful influence in the cultural and political life of the country by influencing and manipulating pious people. Many people in powerful positions in the country are sympathizers of JI. Jamaat's policies are increasingly dominating BNP's agenda.

I am not going to profess that BNP will sever it's ties with Jamaat ahead of the next elections (that would require too much political astuteness!). So Bangladeshis must contemplate removing the coalition by granting Awami League another chance. This is where things are complicated. AL's last tenure was hardly exemplary.

As a reader recently pointed out, bombings by religious bigots started in their time - bombers of Ramna Park during Bengali New Year's cultural celebrations have not been caught or tried yet. Their economic management was clumsy and law and order started deteriorating under their regime.

While currently in opposition, AL has been most irresponsible. Their actions ranged from giving ultimatum to the current "democratically elected" government to resign to breaking the promise of never calling Hartal (general strikes) again if returned to opposition. AL and other parties had no right to hold the country's economy hostage to Hartals no matter what their grievances were.

Instead they should have played their part in removing this archaic tradition from Bangladesh's politics. Nevertheless, we are in a situation where the current government has mastered the art of denial of anything and everything that is thrown at them. We are now reading about RAB arresting JMB caders.

However initially the government shamelessly denied their very existence when newspapers started reporting on them. The BNP-JI government had the audacity to dispute Transparency International's evaluation of Bangladesh as the most corrupt country in the world instead of admitting it and addressing the problem head on. Bangladesh's media has shown tremendous courage in recent years to be forthright in their evaluation of the government, opposition and the society in general.

The government has in return labelled the media community as a pack of liars. Instead of dealing with Bangladesh's issues, the government has gone on record to blame fictitious international conspiracies to "malign the image of the country" - a phrase that has been regurgitated to ridiculous heights. Foreign reporters (most of whose reports on the rising tide of militant activity in Bangladesh have now been proven right) have been banned from the country along with the editions of their magazines abroad.

This is the behaviour of a government that is immature at best and dangerous at worst. Whether AL will rise up to the occasion and behave like a more mature political party if returned to power is up to any one's guess. But the statusquo simply cannot continue. Politics is already heating up in the country in the lead up to next year's elections. I hope the electorate will cross the road wisely.