10-28-2006, 01:01 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>On the brink again </b>
Pioneer.com
Gholam Yazdani
Bangladesh has witnessed the twisting of every moral of statecraft for the self-preservation of the ruling coterie. The buzz on the streets and chatter in the drawing rooms of Dhaka concerning the future of Bangladesh has rarely been so pessimistic as it has been in recent weeks. <b>The two main political parties, the Awami League (AL) and the BNP, are on a collision course. </b>
The general election in Bangladesh is scheduled for January 2007. It portends to be the make or break for the two parties. The AL, however, has some resilience and deeper roots, being the oldest political party of the country. The BNP, formed in 1979, was cobbled together from pro-liberation, anti-liberation, Right-wing fundamentalists, whose only objective is to grab power. The stakes for the BNP are, therefore, much higher.
Till about a year earlier, the West lauded Bangladesh's Caretaker Government (CG) system. Constitutionally, the provisions seek a neutral system to take over the running of the Government and conduct election within 90 days. The President exercises enhanced powers with the armed forces under his control. The Chief Advisor to the CG is the last retired Chief Justice of the country. He acts as the Prime Minister, with a selected group of advisors. The Central Election Commission (CEC) plays a critical role by finalising the voters' list and conducting the polls.
In the last five years, the BNP has manipulated the CG system to its advantage to ensure that the Chief Advisor, the Chief Election Commissioner and the Election Commission are all its lackeys. The next Chief Advisor to the CG is Justice KH Hasan, a founder-member of the BNP. Chief Election Commissioner MA Aziz has been close to the BNP from 1979. The members of the EC, including its Secretary ZA Zakaria, are all chosen party acolytes. The EC does not have much independence. Neither Mr Hasan nor Mr Aziz are acceptable to the AL and the 14-party Opposition alliance. The talks between the BNP and the AL on the electoral reform have failed and the latter has taken to street protest to get a fair play.
On October 22, Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and her Ministers bid farewell to their respective Ministries, bringing to a closure the tenure of her Government. <b>As per the Constitution, the present Government was supposed to hand over power to the CG by October 28 or within a period of 15 days. The BNP-led Government, of which the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh (JeI-BD) is the second biggest constituent, had considered handing over power on November 12, after the anniversary of the so-called "Sepoy Mutiny" of November 7, 1975, in which Major General Zia-ur-Rahman was released from military arrest by Colonel Taher</b>. The late Zia, Khaleda's husband, who later became President of Bangladesh, betrayed Taher and had him hanged in a bizarre trial for sedition. The BNP, however, baulked at the last moment since the celebration of the "Sepoy Mutiny" could open up the Col Taher execution Pandora's Box.
The JeI-BD and BNP partnership has lost ground rapidly in the past two years. Bangladeshis has experienced corruption in everyday life, rising prices, shortages of essential commodities and weakening of the basic social infrastructure for the poor and middle classes. The Khaleda Government had faced violent demonstrations of an apolitical nature over its failure to address basic problems. At the same time, Bangladesh has been racked by terrorism.
The common perception holds that the JeI is the chief patron of terror. Arrested Jamatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) leaders like Sheikh Abdur Rahman and Siddiqul Islam (aka Bangla Bhai), who are under the death sentence, implicated the JeI and BNP leaders by naming them in court as their mentors. There has been no denial from either the BNP or JeI.
It is significant that the BNP and the JeI, especially<b> the BNP top leadership from Khaleda Zia's family and her cronies, have decided to ignore the people's opinion and embark on a confrontationist path to win the election. </b>The BNP is neither monolithic nor ideology driven. No wonder it is fragmenting. <b>There has been a mass exodus from the ruling BNP with over 100 MPs, led by senior leader Col (retd) Oli Ahmed, a decorated freedom fighter of 1971, breaking away to form a new party Liberal Democratic Party.</b>
<b>For the central pro-Pakistan coterie in the BNP, led by the mother-brother-son coterie (Khaleda Zia, her brother Major (retd) Iskander, and Tareq Rahman) the last resort is to employ brute force to retain power.</b> The ruling coalition has three streams for power projection. Foremost is the administrative mechanism, including the election machinery and the security forces. International opinion is immaterial at the moment.
The other stream is to arm the BNP and JeI cadres and include assassination as a political tactics. Sheikh Hasina survived at least three assassination attempts in the past three years. According to media reports earlier this year, <b> Tareq Zia, along with the National Security Intelligence (NSI) Chief Rezaqul Haider, travelled to Dubai in March and met Dawood Ibrahim. The Dawood clan's expertise in eliminating targets.</b>
The last stream is the Bangladesh armed forces, especially the Army. <b>Ms Zia has started a new move to politicise the armed forces holding durbars in military cantonments with the three service chiefs in attendance</b>. Her theme has been "redefining the role" of the armed forces in countering not only external but also internal enemies. She emphasised on the role of the Army to "protect democracy", linking the 1975 Army coup that ultimately brought her husband Zia-ur-Rahman to Presidency. It <b>may well be Ms Zia's strategy to bring the Army out on to the streets if the 14-party Opposition combine decide not to participate in the election.</b>
The Zia family, which operates out of the BNP headquarters, <b>Hawa Bhavan, has divided the armed forces along political lines. Even apolitical army officers have been sidelined in favour of pro-BNP and JeI(BD) officers and other ranks. This is a deadly cocktail for any regime in future. Irrespective of whether she wins of loses, Ms Zia will end up a state of "virgin earth upturned". </b>
Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina Wajed, too, must introspect on her policies and actions. <b>There are real fears in Bangladesh today that 1971 may be re-enacted. Civil society fears a 1971-like catharsis</b>.
<i>(The writer is a former CPI(M) Member of Parliament)</i>
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Pioneer.com
Gholam Yazdani
Bangladesh has witnessed the twisting of every moral of statecraft for the self-preservation of the ruling coterie. The buzz on the streets and chatter in the drawing rooms of Dhaka concerning the future of Bangladesh has rarely been so pessimistic as it has been in recent weeks. <b>The two main political parties, the Awami League (AL) and the BNP, are on a collision course. </b>
The general election in Bangladesh is scheduled for January 2007. It portends to be the make or break for the two parties. The AL, however, has some resilience and deeper roots, being the oldest political party of the country. The BNP, formed in 1979, was cobbled together from pro-liberation, anti-liberation, Right-wing fundamentalists, whose only objective is to grab power. The stakes for the BNP are, therefore, much higher.
Till about a year earlier, the West lauded Bangladesh's Caretaker Government (CG) system. Constitutionally, the provisions seek a neutral system to take over the running of the Government and conduct election within 90 days. The President exercises enhanced powers with the armed forces under his control. The Chief Advisor to the CG is the last retired Chief Justice of the country. He acts as the Prime Minister, with a selected group of advisors. The Central Election Commission (CEC) plays a critical role by finalising the voters' list and conducting the polls.
In the last five years, the BNP has manipulated the CG system to its advantage to ensure that the Chief Advisor, the Chief Election Commissioner and the Election Commission are all its lackeys. The next Chief Advisor to the CG is Justice KH Hasan, a founder-member of the BNP. Chief Election Commissioner MA Aziz has been close to the BNP from 1979. The members of the EC, including its Secretary ZA Zakaria, are all chosen party acolytes. The EC does not have much independence. Neither Mr Hasan nor Mr Aziz are acceptable to the AL and the 14-party Opposition alliance. The talks between the BNP and the AL on the electoral reform have failed and the latter has taken to street protest to get a fair play.
On October 22, Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and her Ministers bid farewell to their respective Ministries, bringing to a closure the tenure of her Government. <b>As per the Constitution, the present Government was supposed to hand over power to the CG by October 28 or within a period of 15 days. The BNP-led Government, of which the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh (JeI-BD) is the second biggest constituent, had considered handing over power on November 12, after the anniversary of the so-called "Sepoy Mutiny" of November 7, 1975, in which Major General Zia-ur-Rahman was released from military arrest by Colonel Taher</b>. The late Zia, Khaleda's husband, who later became President of Bangladesh, betrayed Taher and had him hanged in a bizarre trial for sedition. The BNP, however, baulked at the last moment since the celebration of the "Sepoy Mutiny" could open up the Col Taher execution Pandora's Box.
The JeI-BD and BNP partnership has lost ground rapidly in the past two years. Bangladeshis has experienced corruption in everyday life, rising prices, shortages of essential commodities and weakening of the basic social infrastructure for the poor and middle classes. The Khaleda Government had faced violent demonstrations of an apolitical nature over its failure to address basic problems. At the same time, Bangladesh has been racked by terrorism.
The common perception holds that the JeI is the chief patron of terror. Arrested Jamatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) leaders like Sheikh Abdur Rahman and Siddiqul Islam (aka Bangla Bhai), who are under the death sentence, implicated the JeI and BNP leaders by naming them in court as their mentors. There has been no denial from either the BNP or JeI.
It is significant that the BNP and the JeI, especially<b> the BNP top leadership from Khaleda Zia's family and her cronies, have decided to ignore the people's opinion and embark on a confrontationist path to win the election. </b>The BNP is neither monolithic nor ideology driven. No wonder it is fragmenting. <b>There has been a mass exodus from the ruling BNP with over 100 MPs, led by senior leader Col (retd) Oli Ahmed, a decorated freedom fighter of 1971, breaking away to form a new party Liberal Democratic Party.</b>
<b>For the central pro-Pakistan coterie in the BNP, led by the mother-brother-son coterie (Khaleda Zia, her brother Major (retd) Iskander, and Tareq Rahman) the last resort is to employ brute force to retain power.</b> The ruling coalition has three streams for power projection. Foremost is the administrative mechanism, including the election machinery and the security forces. International opinion is immaterial at the moment.
The other stream is to arm the BNP and JeI cadres and include assassination as a political tactics. Sheikh Hasina survived at least three assassination attempts in the past three years. According to media reports earlier this year, <b> Tareq Zia, along with the National Security Intelligence (NSI) Chief Rezaqul Haider, travelled to Dubai in March and met Dawood Ibrahim. The Dawood clan's expertise in eliminating targets.</b>
The last stream is the Bangladesh armed forces, especially the Army. <b>Ms Zia has started a new move to politicise the armed forces holding durbars in military cantonments with the three service chiefs in attendance</b>. Her theme has been "redefining the role" of the armed forces in countering not only external but also internal enemies. She emphasised on the role of the Army to "protect democracy", linking the 1975 Army coup that ultimately brought her husband Zia-ur-Rahman to Presidency. It <b>may well be Ms Zia's strategy to bring the Army out on to the streets if the 14-party Opposition combine decide not to participate in the election.</b>
The Zia family, which operates out of the BNP headquarters, <b>Hawa Bhavan, has divided the armed forces along political lines. Even apolitical army officers have been sidelined in favour of pro-BNP and JeI(BD) officers and other ranks. This is a deadly cocktail for any regime in future. Irrespective of whether she wins of loses, Ms Zia will end up a state of "virgin earth upturned". </b>
Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina Wajed, too, must introspect on her policies and actions. <b>There are real fears in Bangladesh today that 1971 may be re-enacted. Civil society fears a 1971-like catharsis</b>.
<i>(The writer is a former CPI(M) Member of Parliament)</i>
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