Mandate for change in Bangladesh

— Abu Nasar Saied Ahmed
The decisive mandate in Bangladesh for a change after a long gap of seven years bears a volley of implications, which its largest neighbour, India, cannot afford to ignore. The very fact that Bangladesh shares 95.45 per cent of its land border with India is too heavy a factor to be wished away. Other compelling and critical issues of common interests are sharing resources, handling illegal migration, better transnational connectivity, exchange of knowledge and culture, frequent interface of scholars, students, artists and media persons demand an atmosphere conducive for composite dialogue within the framework of mutual understanding and partnership. The stakes are massive for both India and Bangladesh. But the opportunity that has been presented by the resurgence of democracy in Bangladesh is enormous and glittering.Shaikh Hasina Wajed’s return to power after seven years is a matter of captive interest for India. She is a natural friend of India. Her father Bangabandhu Shaikh Mujibur Rehman, the architect of the only independent Bengali nation-state, was also a natural friend of India, who acknowledged eloquently the unparallel contribution of India towards the realisation of the dream of his people to come out of the clutches of the Pakistani rulers and to shape their land as an independent international personality. Shaikh Hasina and her sister Rehana took refuge in India after their entire family was done to death on the early morning of August 15, 1975 by the conspirators who had links with forces inimical to the democratic and secular values of the country. Shaikh Hasina’s safety and security was the responsibility of the Government of India till she found the situation in the country safe enough to return. Her first stint as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh (1996-2001) was marked by several developments that eased the tension between India and Bangladesh built by the military junta and the Bangladesh National Party (BNP) headed by Begum Khaleda Zia. Two most notables were the return and rehabilitation of 60,000 Chakma refugees who had escaped to India in the wake of atrocities committed on them during the regime of Hossain Muhammad Ershad and Begum Khaleda Zia. The other was the conclusion of the treaty of sharing Ganga waters at the Farakka on December 12, 1996 “in accordance with the principles of equity, fair play and no harm to either party”. The process of improving bilateral relations between the two countries received a severe jolt when the BNP-led Government of Begum Zia took over in October 2001. The general elections of 2001 for 300 member Jatiya Sangshad was marked by violence against the minority Hindus and rigging committed by the BNP and the Jamaat-I-Islami supporters. The Jamaat’s joining the coalition government reinforced the anti-India and anti-minority stand of the BNP, which troubled once again the bilateral relationship. Khaleda Zia’s second stint (2001-2006) was a hugely disturbing period. The ugly face of religious fanaticism surfaced. The militant outfits such as Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (HuJI), the Jamaat-ul- Majahideen Bangladesh (JMB), Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB) and host of similar terrorist organisations became active in connivance of the Government of Bangladesh. The specter of terrible consequences loomed large. The Western media brought out the scintilla of evidence to testify to the speedy and alarming emergence of these deadly forces. Bertil Lintner’s Piece in Far Eastern Economic Review (April 4, 2002), Alex Perry’s article “Deadly Cargo” in Time (October 21, 2002), and the news item in Protom Alo (June 23, 2003) provided enormous incontrovertible accounts of religious fanaticism growing in Bangladesh. The Government slept over all these accounts. The result was disastrous. There was terror attack on a meeting of the Awami League on August 21, 2004 to physically exterminate Shaikh Hasina in which more than 22 persons were killed and 338 were injured. Fortunately Shaikh Hasina escaped unhurt. Next year on August 17, 2005 there were serial bomb blasts numbering 459 in 63 out of 64 districts triggered off by the JMB within a span of 30 minutes. All these indicated to which direction the militants tried to move Bangladesh.There were tantalising developments following the end of Begum Khaleda Zia rule in October 2006. I was a witness to those dramatic abarodhs and hartals called by the 14-party opposition led by Awami League in support of their demand to remove MA Aziz, the Chief Election Commissioner, a close associate of Khaleda Zia, to revise the electoral list in view of the allegations that there were fake voters numbering more than a crore, who could be the used to rig the elections scheduled for January, 2007 and to force President Lajuddin Ahmed to relinquish his position as the chief adviser to the President. Eventually all these demands were met, but simultaneously, national emergency was clamped and top leaders of the Awami League and the BNP were arrested and put behind the bars on various criminal charges. Even then, the spirit of democracy could not be cowed down. The people were waiting for a historic moment to demonstrate its collective power once again.There was intense pressure on the caretaker Government of Bangladesh from the international community to hold elections and restore democracy. Bangladesh, a less developed country, could not withstand the pressure. Consequently, the much delayed elections to the Jatiya Sangshad had to be held. A whopping 85 per cent turnout in a widely acknowledged free and fair poll demonstrated how enthusiastic the people were to give a decisive mandate for peace, stability and development in their country, where the Islamists virtually do not have a space. The astounding victory of the 14-party alliance capturing 262 out of 300 seats and the Awami League alone fetching 230 is a magnificent political milestone in the history of Bangladesh. It was almost a repetition of the 1973 elections in which the Awami League captured 273 seats. The BNP and the Jamaat’s poor performance (BNP 29 and Jamaat 2) is a clear indication of the kind of hold the cocoons of terror have among the electorate. The Daily Star (January 1, 2009) attributes Jamaat’s poor performance to its link with militancy in the name of Islam.New Delhi has to carefully monitor and analyse the pre-poll and the post-poll developments. It will be a terribly wrong notion to presume that Bangladesh is a land of religious fanatics. There is an element of Indianness in the mind of the common man. I had occasions to be in Bangladesh and meeting the common man of the street who has a soft corner for India at least for one reason – but for India, Bangladesh would not have been a reality in less than a year. There would have been many more heinous acts of massacre had India not intervened and sheltered more than ten million people. New Delhi has to cultivate and promote the areas of partnership with Bangladesh at least for our own interests. The people of Bangladesh have given a decisive mandate for a change – a change from authoritarian rule to a democratic one, from religious fanaticism to secularism, from an anti-India establishment to an India-friendly one. New Delhi does not need more favourable indices to step up its initiative to cultivate a sustainable and mutually beneficial relationship with this very important neighbour. source: assam tribune