BNP rally and the mystery behind the govt's 26 conditions

BNP wants to hold its 10 December rally at Naya Paltan. The police, however, have given it permission to hold the rally at Suhrawardy Udyan, that too on 26 conditions. Previously the police had created all sorts of obstacles in the way of rallies and processions of BNP and other opposition parties, but had never imposed any conditions.

The most noticeable feature of these 26 conditions is their unreasonable severity. BNP will have to achieve the impossible if it is to fulfill the conditions. For example, in the shortest possible time BNP will have to create a trained force. Without such a force, it will not be possible to adhere to the police conditions of setting up archways at entry points of the rally venue and check every person with hand metal detectors, use vehicles scanners to search every car, provide security to the huge number of people at the rally and set up high resolution CCTV cameras at the venue.

Massive crowds turn up at BNP rallies now. BNP will have to have supernatural powers to be able to hold such a rally in keeping with the police conditions. The police have said there can in no way be any gatherings outside of the rally venue and the people must arrive at the venue two hours before it begins. Only by magic can such a huge gathering be materialised in such a short time, with persons entering one by one.

The police have even laid down restrictions on what BNP can say at the rally. No statements can be made that are 'anti-state', go against 'law and order', can 'disrupt public safety' or are 'instigative' and no leaflets can be distributed. If these conditions are not followed properly, permission for the rally will be cancelled and BNP will be held responsible if there is any disruption of law and order. So if any such disruption occurs (or the police believe to have occurred), then  BNP leaders and activists will face a barrage of cases.

That is not all. The police have said, their permission is for the rally, not for the 'use of the venue'. For that permission, BNP will have to approach the 'concerned authorities' and the conditions will apply.

It is obvious that the police have carefully chosen conditions that are not possible to be carried out. If these conditions are to be 'duly' carried out, BNP will probably have to hold a roundtable at Suhrawardy Udyan instead of a mass rally. Then too, they will have to submissively murmur a few words of criticism against the government and return home, quaking in fear.

What reaction have these conditions of the police evoked in the public mind? When news of these conditions appeared online in Prothom Alo, 19 comments from the readers popped up, 17 of which were criticism and were sarcastic about the police. Some termed these as 'delirious words of a demented mind', some said they laughed so hard till it hurt. Many asked why these conditions were not imposed for the rallies held by Awami League and its affiliate bodies.

These contentions are justified. I live in the university area. Suhrawardy Udyan is nearby and Awami League often holds programmes there. Hundreds of buses surge into the university roads when these programmes are held, bringing in people from all over the country. Processions stream in, they use the university area pavements as their public toilets -- faeces and urine all over, mikes blast loudly. Vehicles cannot move in the entire university area, creating intolerable traffic jams all over.

All this indicates that no matter what conditions the police come up with for the opposition, Awami League's rallies are given a free rein. The police don't even feel the need to conceal this bias. This is morally unacceptable. The police are a state force, not of any particular party. The taxpayers, not just the ruling party members, pay for the salaries and allowances of the police, their house rent and other facilities. The police force is losing any remaining traces of fairness or consideration.

I know, the government has some readymade explanations for their use of the police for partisan purposes. They say these measures are taken to prevent sabotage and anti-state activities. But a certain degree of credibility is required to make such claims, something that the government lacks.

In the past the government has used the police on such grounds to beat up and file cases against children who had launched the safe road movement and youth who were demonstrating for quota reforms in public service. The peaceful procession against the Rampal project was similarly attacked, elderly freedom fighters were even beaten at the teachers' rally, and women were assaulted at the rally of garment factory workers. Only recently the police shot dead a young BNP activist because he got into a slight altercation with a police OC.

The government uses another argument to justify hampering BNP rallies. They term BNP men as 'arsonists'. During BNP's movement in 2015, buses and other vehicles had been set on fire and lives had been lost. Awami League, the government and Awami League's allies blame BNP for this. But media reports at the time had blamed many such incidents of arson on Awami League men and those of Awami League's front organisations. The police were not seen to carry out any plausible investigations into these incidents.

Till now during the recent BNP's rallies, there have been no allegations of sabotage. Attacks were launched on those coming to the rallies and several BNP men, including a former member of parliament, lost their lives in these attacks. There have been no reports of anyone being killed in attacks by BNP. The style of BNP's movement this time may seem that they are trying to drum up a mass uprising. We are aware that mass uprisings are a part of Bangladesh's political culture and are recognised by the constitution.

Our constitution emerged 50 years ago through discussion and debate in the Constituent Assembly. Awami League leader Asaduzzaman Khan, who later was also Awami League's leader of the opposition in parliament, played an active role in drawing up this parliament.

During the debate in the Constituent Assembly, he had said, "... the constitution which we have drawn up ensures people's fundamental rights, but if a government cannot apply these principles, the people can toss it out and place others in power. We have even made arrangements in case they do not want to step down from power. The people can carry out demonstrations, hold rallies and meetings, processions. If the ruling quarters are unable to implement these fundamental principles, it will not be possible for them to remain in power."

According to Asaduzzaman Khan as well as Bangabandhu and the other leaders of the Constituent Assembly, one of the main fundamental principles was democracy, and free and fair elections to that end. But this realisation has never dawned on the ruling parties and that is why Bangladesh has faced political conflict time and again.

And when the main issue of this conflict is people's right to vote, it is totally unwarranted to use the police to impose 26 conditions.

* Asif Nazrul is a professor of the law department at Dhaka University.

* This column appeared in the print and online editions of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten in English by Ayesha Kabir