Eid politics: Free environment with new political rivals

The leaders and activists of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and other political parties are going to celebrate this Eid in a free environment under a different political context after years.   

The fall of the Bangladesh Awami League in the July mass uprising has created a free environment on the one hand while emergence of new rivals in the run up to the upcoming national elections on the other.

There is a concern about the timing of the elections. In such a new political context, political leaders are going to their hometowns for Eid-ul-Fitr.

Several senior leaders of BNP said this Eid is different for them in many respects. They will celebrate the Eid in an unfettered environment free of autocracy this year. Meanwhile they will also run campaigns for the next general election.

With Awami League’s absence, there are indications of new rivalry in politics with Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami on the one side and newly formed National Citizen Party (NCP) on the other.

Considering all such calculations in the political arena, most of the potential BNP candidates are going to their respective areas for Eid this time.

However, some of the senior leaders are staying in Dhaka on Eid. Many of them have decided to go to their village homes after Eid.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir will celebrate Eid in Dhaka. He will join the Eid greeting exchange programme of the Chief Adviser in the afternoon of Eid. He may be accompanied by some members of the Standing Committee. He will pay homage at the grave of Ziaur Rahman in the morning of Eid day.

BNP Media Cell member Sayrul Kabir Khan said that Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam, Standing Committee members Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Zamir Uddin Sircar, Mirza Abbas, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Nazrul Islam Khan, Iqbal Hasan Mahmud, Selima Rahman and Major (retd) Hafizuddin Ahmed (who is currently in Bangkok for medical treatment) will celebrate Eid in Dhaka. They will visit the grave of party founder and former President Ziaur Rahman after Eid prayers.

BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said, “Eid will definitely go well for us this time but it won’t be fully comfortable as the country is not fully stable. Everything is about the country.”

“Our  government is not saying anything clearly. Even then, there will be efforts to spend Eid well. We expect that the people will be able to celebrate Eid in a joyful atmosphere,” he added.

BNP Standing Committee member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury will celebrate Eid in Chattogram and Salahuddin Ahmed in Cox’s Bazar’s Pekua.

Amir Khasru will offer Eid prayers at the family mosque of Kattoli Chowdhury’s house. He has been staying in Chattogram for a few days.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury said, “This year’s Eid will be truly festive and will be celebrated fearlessly. All Eids are the same, but this time it will be a little different in a free environment.”

Salahuddin Ahmed is scheduled to reach Cox’s Bazar on Sunday. He told Prothom Alo, “People will truly celebrate Eid in a free environment, so will we. This is a new experience after 16 long years. We want to take the new political culture and competition on a positive note. “

Speaking about political practice in the country, he said, “There will be competition in politics, but we will not be each other’s opponents. The country is in an election atmosphere. We can clear all doubts about the election through the announcement of the roadmap.”

After a long time, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia will celebrate Eid in London with her son Tarique Rahman and family members.

In the past years, Khaleda Zia has celebrated Eid either in a rented house in Gulshan, or in prison or in a hospital.

Tarique Rahman celebrated Eid abroad with his wife and children, leaving his mother alone in Dhaka. After many years, this Eid will be different for the mother and son.

Standing Committee member AZM Zahid Hossain is already there. Another member of the Standing Committee, Abdul Moyeen Khan, is going to London for Eid. There is a possibility that he will meet party Chairperson Khaleda Zia and acting chairman Tarique Rahman on the day of Eid.

A policymaking level source of BNP said the party organised Iftar mahfils throughout the month of Ramadan to increase engagement with supporters and well-wishers, keeping in mind the possible complex electoral politics ahead.

The party organised iftar in every level up to wards as per the central decision.

Speaking about the situation, Feni district BNP’s Member Secretary Alaluddin Alal told Prothom Alo on Saturday, “Iftar used to be organised at district and thana levels in the past with participation of mainly leaders. General people’s participation was less. But this trend has been stopped this time and instructions were given to organise Iftar parties in union and ward levels. This has increased the party’s contact with people.”

He added that in the ward level iftar parties all but a few were BNP leaders.

Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Shafiqur Rahman will celebrate Eid in Dhaka. He extended Eid greetings and said that the nation is going to celebrate the holy Eid-ul-Fitr at a time when the country has achieved independence for the second time through the mass movement of students and the masses.

The people of the country are free from the hands of the oppressor after more than 15 years and are able to breathe in a free environment, he added.

Jamaat sources said that the party's central Nayeb-e-Ameer Mujibur Rahman is in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Syed Abdullah Md Taher will celebrate Eid at his home in Chauddagram in Cumilla district, Secretary General Mia Golam Parwar at his home in Khulna, Assistant Secretary General ATM Masum at Narayanpur in Laksam, Cumilla, Assistant Secretary General Rafiqul Islam Khan at Ullapara in Sirajganj district, Hamidur Rahman Azad and Abdul Halim will celebrate Eid in Dhaka.

Mia Golam Parwar told Prothom Alo that the political activists are going to celebrate Eid this time in a new environment. This Eid will also bring relief for the people.

“A new force has arrived in politics. We do not consider the new force as an opponent, but as a political competitor and ally. If we have unity of thought in national interest, there will be no problem.”

BNP leaders say that a large portion of the opposition leaders and activists have not been able to celebrate Eid properly for almost a decade after 2013 due to attacks, lawsuits, and harassment centered on the movement against the Sheikh Hasina government and the one-sided election. That is why they have an exceptional feeling this Eid.

Zahir Uddin Swapan, member of BNP Chairperson’s Advisory Council, shared his story of Eid in the last several years. Swapan went to his village home in Barishal’s Gournadi to celebrate Eid for the last time in 2013.

Swapan had just returned home from Eidgah after Eid jamaat and was preparing to sacrifice the animal. His house was suddenly attacked and he had to return to Dhaka without performing Eid rituals. Since then he had not celebrated any Eid in Barishal.

Although he went to his village home secretly on one or two occasions, news of local Awami League leaders and activists surrounding his house and attacking it was often published in newspapers.

However, this time the atmosphere is completely different. 

Zahir Uddin Swapan reached Gournadi early Saturday morning to celebrate Eid. He is a potential BNP candidate for the Barisal-1 (Gournadi-Agailjhara) constituency.

After the fall of the Awami League in the mass uprising, he now regularly visits the area. He participates in party and social programmes without any hindrance.

Zahir Uddin Swapan told Prothom Alo Saturday that this Eid will be an exceptional feeling. BNP leaders and activists across the country are going to celebrate Eid in an open atmosphere.

* This report, originally published in the print and online edition of Prothom Alo, has been rewritten in English by Galib Ashraf