After a bit of prevarication, General Ershad came along and imposed martial law in March 1982. Bangladesh attained an 18-point bouquet to cleanse the society by means of pure democracy and reforms. As part of this, the weekly Bichitra was told to write a report on administrative reforms. And it was to highlight the importance of the armed forces in running the state in the style of Indonesia's Golkar. A colonel was then in charge of reforms (read: 'control').
Shahadat bhai (editor Shahadat Chowdhury) gave me the task of writing this cover story. He told me to visit the Indonesian embassy and gather details of Golkar and the government. I was not too pleased about having to write this tailored article about the "democracy-loving" military junta. So while rebellion brewed in my heart, I set to the task for the sake of Bichitra and my job.
When it comes to reforms, the first task in implementing reforms will be to have a workforce in place, in the administration in all areas, committed to the new government
In 1964, a group of army officers close to Indonesia's first president Sukarno formed the 'party of functional groups' or Golkar as a counter to the Communist Party. And it was based on this that president Suharto took over state power in 1967 and continued his autocratic rule for 30 years.
I went to the Indonesian embassy and picked up a booklet on their government programmes and some scenic pictures of the Bali sea beach. None of this was related to the topic of my cover story. As a student I had an inclination towards left-leaning politics. I had learnt about rural communes at the time. I mixed that with some imagination and wrote about local government at the thana level in a parliamentary system. The significant aspect of this was that there would be an opposition leader in the thana council. If any political activist was to be arrested, that leader's approval would be required. The local government would have authority regarding the jobs of government officials. That would abolish the dominance of bureaucrats over the people's representatives.
The report did not fulfill the wishes of the authorities. The military bosses had wanted one thing and got another. From this experience of mine I want to say, no matter what the interim government wants or what aspirations the people have from the mass uprising, it is the will of those who are to carry out the reforms that is most important.
The interim government has, in the meantime, formed six commissions for reforms. Based on the people's aspirations as expressed in various ways, the commissions will come up with recommendations. The question is, who will implement these recommendations? Basically it will be the civil servants who were appointed and benefitted by the autocratic government. Can we be assured of their allegiance and integrity? How do we know that they won't reform the recommendations and apply them as they please? So when it comes to reforms, the first task in implementing reforms will be to have a workforce in place, in the administration in all areas, committed to the new government.
The government has put their hope in the officers and employees who have been "deprived" over the 16 years of autocracy. But in the meantime we have already got an inkling of their mindsets and behaviour. The deprived persons may include those who were sympathetic towards the autocrat but were not skilled in sycophancy. Political smears do not give deprived officers a clean chit of merit and efficiency.
A certain matter must be made clear concerning people's expectations about placing the autocratic government on trial. There is a question that it was not the individual Hasina that people wanted to be removed, but the party with whose support she managed to become an autocrat. The attorney general had said in parliament that there was no scope to ban the party. The question then is whether only one individual is guilty of autocratic activities? Does the party have no liability? Can a party not be placed on trial? There has been a proposal to amend the law pertaining to crimes against humanity and then to ban the party for 10 years.
In this context, we may recall that after World War II, the Nazi leaders' Reich cabinet, the Gestapo, SA, SS, SD and German armed forces Wehrmacht, etc, were brought to trial. That means a party can be tried too. Awami League was the party in charge during the 15 years of autocratic rule and so it must be tried.
If the party is to be tried, then the question may arise whether it can then be banned. Parties have been banned on past allegations. No one raised questions of trial then. But for the sake of justice, a trial must be held.
I would like to mention two international examples here. In December 1999 the Venice Commission, officially European Commission for Democracy through Law, set guidelines for the prohibition of any political party in Europe. The fifth recommendation mentioned that before approaching the court or relevant agency for the banning of a political party, it must be determined whether the party is actually a threat to free and democratic political system or individual rights.
Germany also has a law that says a political party will be declared unconstitutional if its objective is to spurn or destroy democratic norms and to use its supporters to that end. In 2017 the constitutional court of that country ruled that the political objective of the party NDP was to abolish fundamental democratic rights.
Can a law be formulated on the basis of those two laws and justice be brought about regarding the massacre and autocratic activities that were used to repress the people of this country? If there is such a law in place, perhaps the party's supporters, leaders and workers can obstruct the autocratic ambitions of any individual in fear that their party may be banned. I propose that this trial be carried out not by the International Crimes Tribunal but by a constitutional court formed for the purpose.
Actually the people want justice for all the injustice that has taken place for so long. Implementing their aspirations to this end would be the most important reform.
* Kazi Zawad is a journalist and can be contacted at kzawad@hotmail.com
* This column appeared in the print and online edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten for the English edition by Ayesha Kabir