The New Nation - Internet Edition

M.T. Hussain

It is known that forty seven or forty eight percent of votes polled in favor of the winning party in Bangladesh on the 29th December election for the Boat symbol of the Awami that included not only the Awami League candidates but also some other parties combined in the 14 party's alliance. Believing the figure to be near about the truth it can safely be presumed that though they secured over 260 seats in the 300 member 9th parliament have had consent of less than 50% majority people. The rest 53 or 52 percent did not see eye to eye with the programmes and manifesto of the14 party's alliance. However, the 7% of the 53/52% lend support to the Ershad's Jatiya Party (JP) that could be taken not fully with the alliance, or even as distanced from the alliance in case Ershad is not given the position of the President of the country as had been the pre-condition of his support for the alliance that is now almost certain that Awami League's own oldest person Zillur Rahman is almost certain to be the President of Bangladesh. In such certain case they have to remain happy with the 47/48 percent support for the Awami League, and so less than 50% people's support. This is a weakness of the parliamentary democratic election we inherited from the colonial master, and unless and until the system would not be changed, say, likely for proportional representation, Bangladesh would have to bear the weakness and vulnerability of the Parliamentary democracy.

I use the term vulnerability to remind many of us that in the immature culture of political democracy and ignorance of many people about sovereign rights of the people and their duties to perform in exercise of their citizenship rights, some crooks have been telling many of our less prudent people to believe that because the nationalists got only a few seats in the election compared to the 14 party's alliance, they have been totally vanquished and also their ideological stance for nationalist and Islamic values eliminated from the soil of Bangladesh. Is that really so?

Bangladesh has a clear history of landslide victories in elections during the past six decades. One may recall such facts of landslides since the one in 1946 followed by in 1954, then 1970, 2001 and this time in 2008. It was not only the landslides fifth in record in 62 years but what also happened in victory each time due to fall out of the anti- incumbency factor. The 1946 factor was the colonial British and their native lackeys whom the common people wished to eliminate, in 1954 the anti-incumbency factor was the Muslim League, in 1970 the Dictator Ayub Khan, in 2001 the Awami League and this time in 2008 the BNP and to some extent the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh. Unusually raised hopes in all those cases of victories followed despair each time.

In addition, the winners took all each time giving damn to the defeated group. This time things look little different though but not only facing resistance from the day one but also that the majority (53/52%) people was out of the lot. In other words, majority people in the country did not agree with the issues they put up as pre-election promises.

That was quite likely .because, they had put up many issues that either had been settled long ago or of no factual anything but only propaganda rhetoric for advantage of the enemy to exploit.

Let us take the example of the 'war criminal' issue of 1971. Apart from the fact that the listed 195 war criminal, all serving army men, had been set free having had boasted 'we know how to forgive' and so done without any legal prosecution following the 1971 war, how could there be anybody left for prosecution not listed then and then, and not prosecuted during the last 38 years? The witch hunting under the so-called collaborators Act of 1972 had to be shelved after adopting the Constitution of the country in December 1972, because, the basic rights of citizens guaranteed in the Constitution automatically made the law inoperative as that contradicted with the fundamental rights of citizens. The Special tribunal formed for trial of specific cases of arson, looting, rape, murder etc could not be morally pursued. The legal prosecution as well became complicated as in most of the families there were divides, one for Bangladesh and the other for Pakistan even among the Bengali speaking population.

We know that the Awami League has proposed in their manifesto to try the 'war criminals'. That is their commitment. Now they have to look for their mode to do it. As is known war criminals are tried in the International Court of Justice at The Hague. I know a few such cases.

One such case was tried for three years from early 2005 to April 2008 against Ramush Haradijina, former Prime Minister of Kosovo. In the final court verdict he was found not guilty as there was no sufficient evidence and so he was freed on the 4th April 2008, and then returned as hero on the 5th April to his own country. One must wonder if any Bangladesh's attempt to try any would end in a fiasco not without cost to the State not only in terms of money and effort but also of in terms of prestige and image, particularly, in the Muslim countries.

Further, the party has promised to fully secularize Bangladesh politics by reviving the 1972 Constitution and 'banning religion-based politics'. Could this be any simple task?

The first hurdle is in annulment of the 5th Amendment of the Constitution.

Should they attempt to do this by the brute force of majority, it would certainly create emotional outburst with Islamic religious fervor among the people not only among the 53% but may rise to 90% because, Islamic religious sentiment is extremely strong in Bangladesh. Further more, many Muslim countries would take exception to it that may create enormous difficulties of multi-facet nature. What I intend to drive at is that the nationalist and Islamic values remained pre-dominant ethos of the people. The common people have not abandoned this issue by voting the alliance. The common and overwhelmingly poor people who constitute over 50% of the 150 million people voted in the hope that they would get cheaper goods for bare sustenance. Should they fail to deliver this bare minimum expectation, the swing is soon to surface and be repeated as the extreme of pendulum. In other words, it can safely be concluded that the nationalists and the Islamic forces are certainly poised for next and sixth landslide to swing in their favour. The 47% would then reduce to anything for the rest 53% to swell to victor for the nationalist and the Islamic forces. This is what the remote history would also tell for this land has been a land of the forces of values that made its start in the beginning of the thirteenth century with the start of the warrior Ikhtiaruddin Muhammad Bin Bakhtiar Khiljee in 1203 A.D.

I would rather say, cheers for the nationalist and forces adhered to Islamic values for equality of human beings, justice and fair play to put right now all sincere and honest efforts directed to realise the dream our forefathers had for centuries in this land of Bangladesh.