BANGLADESH SQUEEZED BETWEEN TORMENTING PAST AND UNCERTAIN FUTURE? – ANALYSIS (SOURCE- EURASIA REVIEW, AUTHOR-RUPAK BHATACHARJEE)

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Source- Eurasia Review

Author- Rupak Bhatacharjee

Bangladesh is again at the crossroads. The bitter power rivalry and acrimonious relations between the supreme leaders of the two contending parties — Awami League (AL) and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), have resurfaced in the polity after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s completion of one year in office.

BNP-sponsored indefinite blockades and frequent bomb attacks on public vehicles have made life miserable and people from all walks of life now want to see Bangladesh free from the stranglehold of squabbling politicians. Despite the AL government’s imposition of restrictions on street demonstrations and mass gatherings, violent agitations and blockades have claimed more than 60 lives since Jan 5.

In a significant development on Jan 25, Bangladesh police registered a criminal case against BNP chief Khaleda Zia for instigating a deadly bomb attack on a passenger bus on Jan 23 in the capital city that left 29 people seriously injured. Earlier, Hasina in a televised speech to the nation on Jan 5 accused Khaleda of creating “anarchy” and “instability” in the country and threatened to bring murder charges against her. Khaleda and her eldest son, Tareque Rahman, are already facing trials on graft charges.

The threat of a fresh political turmoil looms large over the country as both the political formations are on a collision course. Denouncing the incumbent government as “illegal” and “dictatorial”, the BNP says Hasina is clinging on to power by force. Khaleda has accused her arch rival of turning Bangladesh into a police state. Khaleda was virtually confined in her Gulshan office for 17 days.

The government is pursuing a relentless crackdown on opposition activists and Prime Minister Hasina has vowed to complete her five-year term, while Khaleda has threatened to continue blockade of highways, railway lines and ports to force Hasina’s resignation and holding of an inclusive and fair election under a non-partisan and neutral caretaker administration. Local reports suggest that about 7,000 opposition activists, including some frontline BNP leaders have been arrested on various charges since the anti-government agitation was launched on Jan 5.

The seemingly irreconcilable positions of the two largest political parties on key issues has made the task of governance more challenging in this South Asian nation. The major opposition party is adamant on the question of restoration of caretaker system to oversee general elections in the country. The AL government on the other hand, abolished the caretaker system during its last term responding to a Supreme Court ruling which had called the system “unconstitutional”.

The Bangladeshi political elites cannot ignore the consequences of continuous bickering. The country’s booming garment industry suffers most from political commotion. The business and industry leaders called upon the wrangling political leaders to search for alternative means of expressing dissent other than violent street demonstrations and blockade of transport system. Meanwhile, the United States, European Union and Britain have expressed concern over the ongoing violence and unrest and urged the Bangladeshi parties to initiate dialogue. On Jan 13, the Hasina government said that it would consider holding talks with the BNP if it makes a formal pledge to shun violence and sever ties with the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami.

It appears difficult for both the parties to reach a consensus on the vexed issue of an election time supervisory administration given the mutual distrust and antagonism between the heads of the two parties. The animosity is so deep rooted that they prefer not to see each other. They have not met since 2009. Prime Mister Hasina’s latest efforts to break the political deadlock and console aggrieved Khaleda, whose younger son Arafat Rahman Koko died recently, did not succeed. It was indeed a rare demonstration of gesture on the part of Hasina.

Today’s Bangladesh politics is to a great extent shaped by the significant developments that took place during the military rule (1975-90). The continued enmity, mutual distrust and suspicion between the two most powerful ladies of the country — Hasina and former premier Khaleda – are rooted in Bangladesh’s politico-military history.

Hasina perceives that Khaleda’s late husband, Ziaur Rahman, then deputy chief of army staff, could have averted the violent political changeover of August 1975 because one of the coup leaders had approached him for support in their endeavours much before the execution of the plot. But Zia neither endorsed the coup plans nor initiated disciplinary measures against the disgruntled junior army officers. Eventually, Zia emerged as a major beneficiary of the assassination of Sheikh Mujib becoming the first military ruler of the country.

Interestingly, another former military dictator who figures prominently in the political equation between the two warring ladies is H.M. Ershad. Here too, suspicion takes precedence over other matters. Hasina considers Ershad a lesser evil than Khaleda and has forged an alliance with his Jatiya Party. On the contrary, Khaleda is vehemently opposed to Ershad, ironically for reasons similar to Zia’s case. She suspects that Ershad, then army chief, imitated his mentor Zia’s pre-August 1975 role in the May 30, 1981 coup to facilitate his usurpation of state power in a bloodless coup eight months later ousting the Abdus Sattar-led BNP government.

All these factors have contributed towards making the polity more volatile. In Bangladesh, the competition among the political parties is not only intense but also fought on a zero-sum game format. Bangladesh politics suffers from “winner takes away everything” syndrome. The country’s ruling elites seldom demonstrate an accommodative sprit to evolve consensus on important national issues.

In multi-party democracy, it is a common practice that the elected representatives raise various issues in the parliament. But the political leaders of Bangladesh hardly adhere to democratic norms and practices. The parliamentary system was restored in 1991 after the civil society’s protracted struggle against military rule. But it is disheartening to note that the Jatiya Sangsad has almost lost its relevance as the country’s political parties have developed a penchant for street politics bypassing the institutional mechanism.

On most occasions, the people’s representatives boycott the parliamentary proceedings. The current parliament does not have any MP from the key opposition BNP, which refused to participate in the controversial Jan 5, 2014 polls fearing large-scale electoral malpractices as it was held under a partisan government.

The Bangladeshi ruling elites cannot deny that if the ongoing political unrest is allowed to precipitate, it would adversely affect the process of democratic institution building and sustainable socio-economic development in the country. Besides, recurrent political violence and uncertainty may add a fillip to the radical Islamic groups which are making concerted efforts to reassert themselves.

About the author- Dr. Rupak Bhattacharjee is an independent analyst based in Delhi. He can be reached at contributions@spsindia.in

Original link to the article- http://www.eurasiareview.com/14022015-bangladesh-squeezed-tormenting-past-uncertain-future-analysis/