Rubicon is crossed: Should the nation rally behind Khaleda?
M. Shahidul Islam
Lost in the desolate desert, T.E. Lawrence and his Bedouin followers clambered ahead to reach Damascus with an irreversible mission to dismantle the Ottoman empire by stirring an Arab Revolt in the wake of the First World War. The young British Lieutenant was tasked to act only as a liaison officer, but his determined push paved ways for ultimate victory of the colonialists who later divided the Arabian Peninsula into their respective spheres of influence.
If the focus on the mission is what matters, BNP leader Khaleda Zia has always had her eyes on the ball, transfixed. Her dogged determination to ouster a regime flanked by myriad of inconsiderate sycophants, pre-dominant state-sponsored fire power, and a deceitful external ally seems like a mission of T.E Lawrence magnitude.
Bring back democracy
Question abounds, however, whether she can do it alone when all her troopers are either in prison, or in hiding. Like T.E Lawrence, Khaleda is marching with her ragtag Bedouin followers only, many of whom love her for the proven uncompromising stances she had demonstrated since the 1980s.
Things today are worse than those in the 1980s, however. Bereft of any viable political leadership, Bangladesh today finds itself lost in a desolate desert. In this desperate state of hopelessness amidst abundance of hypocrisies, bringing back the model of a participatory and pluralistic democracy is the answer.
Alternative is the decomposition of the nation’s polity in the hands of radical and extremist elements and the plunging of the nation into an abyss of darkness being witnessed in many other nations where the so called development anecdotes sprouted leaps and bounds without commensurable socio-political institutional grooming. Once affluent and fabled Libya, Iraq, Syria fall into this category where super highways proved meaningless amidst shackled mind and muffled mouth.
Khaleda Zia is not bestowed by the Biblical ‘Seven Pillars of Wisdom’ as T.E. Lawrence seemed to have possessed. But she does have what one of her former intelligence chiefs (later chief of army staff) had told me the ‘hunch’ to smell from the ambiance what cooks up around.
Aware that she and her party, as well as all other reckonable political outfits of the nation, will be crushed into smithereens to install a one party dictatorial dispensation, Khaleda decided to confront the design head on after waiting for 365 days since the conclusion of the faked and discredited January 5, 2014 elections.
Prior to launching the ongoing indefinite blockade, she once again offered the government an opportunity to begin a dialogue to resolve the crisis; through a seven point charter. The government treated her propositions with more insult, disdain and ridicule and castigated her as the ‘leader of the terrorists.’
Lying & terrorism
Not only that. Conspiracies are afoot to brand her as a liar too, of which there is no track record. This scribe had confirmed from Khaleda Zia’s office that, “Madam has proof of BJP chief Amit Shah calling her to know about her health.” Asked why not release the proof for public consumption, the source said, “We can’t depend on media report that Amit Shah had disputed that fact. It must come as a Press Release from the BJP head office. It’s also diplomatically sensitive and we will release the proof after re-checking with the BJP and when time is permissible.”
The BNP under Khaleda Zia has been in power three times since the early 1990s and, it doesn’t need terrorism or conspiracy to go to power again. What it needs is a fair election, which is what Khaleda’s ultimate game plan is.
As well, the Jamat- I- Islami (JI) was very much alive and kicking around in the political landscape when the AL was in power in 1996-2001. The war crimes occurred during the war in 1971, following which AL and the JI allied themselves at least twice: during anti-Ershad movement in the 1980s and anti-BNP movement in 1995-96.
Finally, BNP had allied itself with the JI because it is a legitimate political force in the country. If the government thinks the JI is a terrorist outfit, why doesn’t it proscribe it instead of playing dirty politics to divide the nation further?
On the ground, the shoe of allegation is on the other foot. Those who shot BNP chairperson’s adviser Riaz Rahman four times on Tuesday night and burnt his car, those who hurled bombs at the residences of eminent lawyers and intellectuals of opposition camps, are they not terrorists? Above all, those who muffle free expression of opinion by using violence, arbitrary confinement and terror tactic should refrain from calling others terrorists.
Daughter of democracy
A peaceful solution of the crisis seems unrealistic now as the Rubicon has been crossed and the mighty Caesar (Khaleda) is in no mood to give up her struggle for the restoration of democracy. In the 1980s, following her unexpected debut into politics, Khaleda had undertaken a similar struggle to oust autocrat Ershad. Today’s struggle for democracy has had its genesis planted in what happened in Bangladesh in the 1970s and 80s and why this thriving nation could not as yet find an acceptable model to conduct fair and inclusive elections to change political regimes.
Khaleda should be treated as the ‘daughter of democracy’ for having accommodated the caretaker model in 1996 through the thirteenth amendment which the AL dismantled with the stroke of a pen through the fifteenth amendment and created what seems like an insurmountable crisis for the nation.
The crisis of today began with the introduction of a one-party rule in 1974 by amending the Constitution (The Fourth Amendment). Due to the people of the nation having fought a war of liberation following the Pakistani regime’s negation to govern democratically, a bunch of freedom fighter military officers gunned down Mujib and most of his family members in August 1975; a new phase of politics began; and, a multi party democratic system returned in the late 1970s under the leadership of Khaleda’s martyred husband, General Ziaur Rahman.
Sheikh Hasina returned to Bangladesh in 1981 just weeks before Zia was killed by another group of officers from the army. The incident seemed well calibrated and synchronized. The mists of conspiracy began to shine when the alleged mastermind of the Zia killing incident, H.M. Ershad (as per ongoing Maj. Gen. Manzur killing case records) took over power in March 1982 and stayed glued with the Awami brand of political current to date.
Where are the conscientious?
In between, the military was misused twice to bring the AL to power (following May 1996 insurrection and January 2007 intervention). Thus the armed forces became a facilitator to do and undo political regimes in moments of crisis, often under mysterious whips of partisanship.
As this piece was being composed, reports poured in how devastating the blockade has proven for the economy, law and order, and the collective national psychology. Bombs, bullets and arsons had already made it impossible for any sane person to venture out while the government is having a virtual feast in arresting all known leaders and activists of the 20 party compact waging the blockade.
The entire nation today is a concentration camp while, like in 1971, peace committees are being formed by the ruling party in every village to identify dissent to the regime and have them arrested. Will history treat the AL as rajakars for such activities?
Where are the conscientious ones? In the talk shows, columns and public discourses, demagogy has replaced dialogue; derogation has supplanted decency; doctrines have been gauged by draconian debauchery. The entire political culture is puffed with caustic irreverence of a kind amidst which no trust prevails to facilitate a dialogue.
Deaths and devastations are revisiting the nation like in 1971. As no one comes forward, one must reflect upon the past and think harder what to do. At the same time, the nation should trace back its footsteps and go backward to where it started due to its loosing of ways in the proverbial desolate desert. Or, it should jump into the Khaleda bandwagon to restore democracy and save 160 million people from the impending scourge of extremism and bigotry that are rearing heads all around.
For the fallen meanwhile, the following rhymes might comfort their departed souls as they did in 1918 for a 19 year old Arab boy whom the Lawrence of Arabia liked the most and who had died in the heat of the journey while Lawrence moved inexorably toward Damascus:
“I loved you, so I drew these tides of
Men into my hands
And wrote my will across the
Sky and stars
To earn you freedom, the seven
Pillared worthy house.”
Holiday
M. Shahidul Islam
Lost in the desolate desert, T.E. Lawrence and his Bedouin followers clambered ahead to reach Damascus with an irreversible mission to dismantle the Ottoman empire by stirring an Arab Revolt in the wake of the First World War. The young British Lieutenant was tasked to act only as a liaison officer, but his determined push paved ways for ultimate victory of the colonialists who later divided the Arabian Peninsula into their respective spheres of influence.
If the focus on the mission is what matters, BNP leader Khaleda Zia has always had her eyes on the ball, transfixed. Her dogged determination to ouster a regime flanked by myriad of inconsiderate sycophants, pre-dominant state-sponsored fire power, and a deceitful external ally seems like a mission of T.E Lawrence magnitude.
Bring back democracy
Question abounds, however, whether she can do it alone when all her troopers are either in prison, or in hiding. Like T.E Lawrence, Khaleda is marching with her ragtag Bedouin followers only, many of whom love her for the proven uncompromising stances she had demonstrated since the 1980s.
Things today are worse than those in the 1980s, however. Bereft of any viable political leadership, Bangladesh today finds itself lost in a desolate desert. In this desperate state of hopelessness amidst abundance of hypocrisies, bringing back the model of a participatory and pluralistic democracy is the answer.
Alternative is the decomposition of the nation’s polity in the hands of radical and extremist elements and the plunging of the nation into an abyss of darkness being witnessed in many other nations where the so called development anecdotes sprouted leaps and bounds without commensurable socio-political institutional grooming. Once affluent and fabled Libya, Iraq, Syria fall into this category where super highways proved meaningless amidst shackled mind and muffled mouth.
Khaleda Zia is not bestowed by the Biblical ‘Seven Pillars of Wisdom’ as T.E. Lawrence seemed to have possessed. But she does have what one of her former intelligence chiefs (later chief of army staff) had told me the ‘hunch’ to smell from the ambiance what cooks up around.
Aware that she and her party, as well as all other reckonable political outfits of the nation, will be crushed into smithereens to install a one party dictatorial dispensation, Khaleda decided to confront the design head on after waiting for 365 days since the conclusion of the faked and discredited January 5, 2014 elections.
Prior to launching the ongoing indefinite blockade, she once again offered the government an opportunity to begin a dialogue to resolve the crisis; through a seven point charter. The government treated her propositions with more insult, disdain and ridicule and castigated her as the ‘leader of the terrorists.’
Lying & terrorism
Not only that. Conspiracies are afoot to brand her as a liar too, of which there is no track record. This scribe had confirmed from Khaleda Zia’s office that, “Madam has proof of BJP chief Amit Shah calling her to know about her health.” Asked why not release the proof for public consumption, the source said, “We can’t depend on media report that Amit Shah had disputed that fact. It must come as a Press Release from the BJP head office. It’s also diplomatically sensitive and we will release the proof after re-checking with the BJP and when time is permissible.”
The BNP under Khaleda Zia has been in power three times since the early 1990s and, it doesn’t need terrorism or conspiracy to go to power again. What it needs is a fair election, which is what Khaleda’s ultimate game plan is.
As well, the Jamat- I- Islami (JI) was very much alive and kicking around in the political landscape when the AL was in power in 1996-2001. The war crimes occurred during the war in 1971, following which AL and the JI allied themselves at least twice: during anti-Ershad movement in the 1980s and anti-BNP movement in 1995-96.
Finally, BNP had allied itself with the JI because it is a legitimate political force in the country. If the government thinks the JI is a terrorist outfit, why doesn’t it proscribe it instead of playing dirty politics to divide the nation further?
On the ground, the shoe of allegation is on the other foot. Those who shot BNP chairperson’s adviser Riaz Rahman four times on Tuesday night and burnt his car, those who hurled bombs at the residences of eminent lawyers and intellectuals of opposition camps, are they not terrorists? Above all, those who muffle free expression of opinion by using violence, arbitrary confinement and terror tactic should refrain from calling others terrorists.
Daughter of democracy
A peaceful solution of the crisis seems unrealistic now as the Rubicon has been crossed and the mighty Caesar (Khaleda) is in no mood to give up her struggle for the restoration of democracy. In the 1980s, following her unexpected debut into politics, Khaleda had undertaken a similar struggle to oust autocrat Ershad. Today’s struggle for democracy has had its genesis planted in what happened in Bangladesh in the 1970s and 80s and why this thriving nation could not as yet find an acceptable model to conduct fair and inclusive elections to change political regimes.
Khaleda should be treated as the ‘daughter of democracy’ for having accommodated the caretaker model in 1996 through the thirteenth amendment which the AL dismantled with the stroke of a pen through the fifteenth amendment and created what seems like an insurmountable crisis for the nation.
The crisis of today began with the introduction of a one-party rule in 1974 by amending the Constitution (The Fourth Amendment). Due to the people of the nation having fought a war of liberation following the Pakistani regime’s negation to govern democratically, a bunch of freedom fighter military officers gunned down Mujib and most of his family members in August 1975; a new phase of politics began; and, a multi party democratic system returned in the late 1970s under the leadership of Khaleda’s martyred husband, General Ziaur Rahman.
Sheikh Hasina returned to Bangladesh in 1981 just weeks before Zia was killed by another group of officers from the army. The incident seemed well calibrated and synchronized. The mists of conspiracy began to shine when the alleged mastermind of the Zia killing incident, H.M. Ershad (as per ongoing Maj. Gen. Manzur killing case records) took over power in March 1982 and stayed glued with the Awami brand of political current to date.
Where are the conscientious?
In between, the military was misused twice to bring the AL to power (following May 1996 insurrection and January 2007 intervention). Thus the armed forces became a facilitator to do and undo political regimes in moments of crisis, often under mysterious whips of partisanship.
As this piece was being composed, reports poured in how devastating the blockade has proven for the economy, law and order, and the collective national psychology. Bombs, bullets and arsons had already made it impossible for any sane person to venture out while the government is having a virtual feast in arresting all known leaders and activists of the 20 party compact waging the blockade.
The entire nation today is a concentration camp while, like in 1971, peace committees are being formed by the ruling party in every village to identify dissent to the regime and have them arrested. Will history treat the AL as rajakars for such activities?
Where are the conscientious ones? In the talk shows, columns and public discourses, demagogy has replaced dialogue; derogation has supplanted decency; doctrines have been gauged by draconian debauchery. The entire political culture is puffed with caustic irreverence of a kind amidst which no trust prevails to facilitate a dialogue.
Deaths and devastations are revisiting the nation like in 1971. As no one comes forward, one must reflect upon the past and think harder what to do. At the same time, the nation should trace back its footsteps and go backward to where it started due to its loosing of ways in the proverbial desolate desert. Or, it should jump into the Khaleda bandwagon to restore democracy and save 160 million people from the impending scourge of extremism and bigotry that are rearing heads all around.
For the fallen meanwhile, the following rhymes might comfort their departed souls as they did in 1918 for a 19 year old Arab boy whom the Lawrence of Arabia liked the most and who had died in the heat of the journey while Lawrence moved inexorably toward Damascus:
“I loved you, so I drew these tides of
Men into my hands
And wrote my will across the
Sky and stars
To earn you freedom, the seven
Pillared worthy house.”
Holiday
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