Jatiya Party feels it faces a 'complex' and 'dangerous' situation

Jatiya Party is under pressure once again, in the circumstances after the July mass uprising. The party leaders and activists are particularly concerned about the various pressures faced by party chief GM Quader.

According to concerned persons, these pressures have restricted Jatiya Party (JaPa)'s activities. Also the party's future, including participation in the next election, has become uncertain. Jatiya Party leadership, however, maintains that they are prepared for whatever pressure may come their way.

The interim government has been avoiding Jatiya Party ever since after the mass uprising. Jatiya Party was not called to the government's dialogue with political parties. The party has faced all sorts of obstacles and even attacks when it attempted to hold programmes in various places. And on 23 March, the Central Intelligence Cell (CIC) of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) froze the bank accounts of party chairman GM Quader. A day before that, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) had decided to launch an investigation against GM Quader and his wife Sharifa Quader.

Earlier, GM Quader, his wife and many other leaders were accused in murder cases centering the July movement and mass uprising. Later, Jatiya Party's central office in Kakrail of the capital was attacked and damaged and attacks were also launched on two iftar events of the party in Dhaka. In the meantime, a pro-Raushan Ershad leader, Kazi Mamunur Rahman, applied to the election commission on 25 March for Raushan Ershad to be named party chairman and he himself to be named secretary general. Jatiya Party feels all these incidents are connected.

Jatiya Party leaders are not attaching importance to the move made by Kazi Mamunur. They feel some leaders who remain outside of the party are involved in this. This is basically a strategy to keep the Jatiya Party top leaders under pressure by applying to the election commission.

The assessment of the party's top leadership is that Jatiya Party is being sidelined, identified as Awami League's 'collaborators' and as Indian 'agents'. But the main objective is to ensure that Jatiya Party cannot step up to fill the vacuum created in the political and election arena after Awami League fled in face of the mass uprising.

Though Awami League was ousted from the political field post-uprising, Jatiya Party remains active and visible. If things continue in this manner, election equations could see Jatiya Party bagging a large chunk of Awami League's votes in the coming election. It is this apprehension that has led to the pressure being placed in Jatiya Party so that it cannot function normally.

According to Jatiya Party leaders of different levels, the interim government and a section of the student and youth involved in the July uprising are involved in this process. Certain major political parties are also involved, then contend. Jatiya Party leaders feel that they are being kept under pressure so that the party remains inactive and silent up until the election and loses its relevance in politics and the election. The aim is to render the party men all over country inactive and distant from the party.

Jatiya Party chairman GM Quader blames the government for the recent incidents. Speaking to Prothom Alo, he said, "They (the interim government) have divided the country by terming some persons as 'collaborators' and some as 'fascists'. Awami League has gone into a hole and they want to make sure it cannot come out. Now if Jatiya Party contests in the election and if the election is even somewhat neutral, those people may move towards Jatiya Party. They see this as a threat."

The prevailing circumstances are extremely "complex" and "dangerous", feel many Jatiya Party men. If the situation continues in this manner, there are questions as to how far the party leaders and activists will remain united. The party's top leadership, though, is reportedly reassuring the leaders and activists.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, Jatiya Party's central office secretary Mahmud Alam said, "The chairman is not concerned about ACC's investigations or his bank accounts being frozen. He has already told the party men that if he is taken to jail, he will go. But he will continue to speak against discrimination. He also said, 'For six years after 1990, Jatiya Party waged a movement for Ershad's release. Now it will wage a movement for people's freedom."

However, while the top leaders of Jatiya Party may have adopted a firm stance, the party's leaders and activists are scared. They do not feel Jatiya Party will be spared so easily. Given the government's stance, the party's scope is steadily shrinking. The possibility of the party contesting in the coming election is also uncertain. Under such circumstances, many are looking to see what lies ahead for Jatiya Party and what the party's top leadership is thinking.

GM Quader told Prothom Alo, "Jatiya Party's politics is now singularly about working for the people. We will work in the field. We will be obstructed, but we will resist. I have told everyone (in Jatiya Party), if we can do this, the party will survive. Over half the people of Bangladesh are in despair. They want a political platform to retrieve them from this despair. They are looking towards Jatiya Party for this now."

National policymaking leaders of the party feel that the only way to emerge from the current situation is to have an election government at the hold of state. But the government still does not have the capacity to hold such an election. Under influence of the students and by lending patronage to the new party of the youth, this government has lost its neutrality. If there is an election under this government, not all will get equal opportunities and the election will not be internationally recognised.

The Jatiya Party chairman said, "Four parties in Bangladesh have vote banks -- BNP, Awami League, Jamaat and Jatiya Party. If two of these party are kept away from the election, that means half is gone. That is what Sheikh Hasina had done. The similar method is being followed. If that happens, the election will not have international credibility and the country will not be stable."