Jatiya Party (JaPa) chairman GM Quader has returned to the country after a four-day trip to India. While he was in Delhi, an unfinished screenplay was scripted within his party back in Dhaka. But that ultimately never reached the movie theatres. Before it could hit the big screen, both sides within Jatiya Party decided to keep things stable.
Political analysts think that GM Quader's visit to India was significant on many levels. A day before his Delhi visit, the JaPa chief patron and leader of the opposition in parliament Raushan Ershad met with prime minister Sheikh Hasina and said that her party would take part in the forthcoming election. Earlier, the speeches and statements made by the party chairman and secretary general seemed to indicate that the party may be shifting away from its previous stance.
In the 2014 election, JaPa emerged as a 'saviour' for Awami League, even though the party's founder Ershad had called upon the party candidates to withdraw their nomination papers. In 2018 too, as allies in the mahajote (grand alliance), they took part in the election and were entrenched as the opposition in parliament. The partners of the Awami League-led 14-party alliance in this parliament were in a rather ambiguous position. They were neither in the ruling party, but then again, they did not accept the position of opposition under JaPa. This certainly is an unprecedented circumstance in parliamentary politics.
GM Quader went on a trip to India on 20 August. He was accompanied by Sharifa Quader and the party's international affairs advisor Mashrur Moula. Prior to that, an Awami League delegation led by agriculture minister Abdur Razzaque had also visited Delhi. It isn't just foreigners that come to Bangladesh before the election, Bangladesh's leaders too are going abroad before the election to discuss various issues.
Speaking about what India's expectation concerning the forthcoming election, GM Quader said, "They want to see a good election in Bangladesh and that the election be held on schedule. They want that there will be no violence before or after the election and that nothing disrupts the life of the common people. They will be happy with this. After all, they have a lot of investments here."
From the words of the JaPa chairman it seems that India wants political stability here because of their investments. They have also mentioned that there shouldn't be violence before or after the election. India was probably referring to the post-election violence in 2001. At the time, the religious minority were subject to much violence and oppression. Such a situation is in no way warranted.
It is very important to establish the right to vote in a democratic society. It must also be ensured that no religious or ethnic minority community is subject to repression or violence because of the election, and that the opposition leaders do not have to flee the country.
Other than India, many countries have investment, trade and commerce in Bangladesh. Surely they too want to see stability in Bangladesh. The US, UK, the European Union, China, Japan and many other countries have investments here. Those countries too will naturally also want political stability in Bangladesh, along with a democratic and peaceful environment. There is nothing wrong with that. But the invaluable voting rights of the common people of Bangladesh must also be kept safe.
Backward thinking can only be defeated by forward thinking. Suppressing differing views by sheer force will yield contrary results.
The government ministers and Awami League leaders are often heard to say that they will not tolerate outside interference in the election. But they will also surely agree that taking about the protection of fair elections, human rights, peaceful assemblies, independence, and media freedom, is not interference in internal affairs.
There is one point, however, on which we cannot agree with the JaPa chairman. He did not reveal with whom he had met and talked during his Delhi visit. He said he had spoken to several important persons during his visit, but would not be able to say specifically with whom he had met and what issues they had discussed. GM Quader explained, "That is how the discussions were. If they want to reveal it, they will. From my side, I cannot say anything without their permission. Also, from my own moral standpoint, I do not want to say anything in details about the meetings."
As far as we know, this was not a secret trip of the Jatiya Party chairman. He went there on invitation of the Indian government. So why can he not reveal with whom he met? The crisis that has emerged over the election at present is actually not an election crisis. It is a crisis of democracy. Democracy means proceeding together, for there to be at least a minimum understanding between all sides. It must be kept in mind that this country belongs to the people. Everyone must work for the development of Bangladesh together. If any one party imagines that they are the only patriots, that there will be development only if they are in power, that the country will be destroyed if anyone else comes to power, then there is no need of any election.
It isn't that a fair election must be held simply because the foreigners want it so. Voting is a fundamental right of the people. Just as it is unconstitutional to deprive anyone of this right, it also goes against fundamental rights. It is not only the foreigners who are talking about fair election, people within the country from various walks of life, from various professions, are talking about fair elections. But even 52 years after the country's independence, the political leadership has failed to reach a consensus about how a fair election can be held.
Awami League leaders have always spoken about fair elections. The parties allied with Awami League are also talking about fair elections. BNP and its like-minded parties are in a one-point movement for fair elections. The US has introduced a new visa policy for fair elections. The European Union has said if the elections are fair, Bangladesh will get GSP plus facilities. They did not clarify what Bangladesh wouldn't receive if the elections were not fair.
The ruling party leaders and ministers often say that it is because Awami League is in power that the country is forging ahead under the spirit of the liberation war, that the fundamentalist school of thought is being uprooted from the society. But what is the actual situation?
Surely the Awami League leadership also noted how the leaders and activists of its affiliated student organisation Chhatra League reacted at the death of Jamaat leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee, who had been convicted for life in war crime charges. The organisation took measures against those who had made statements openly. Already a few hundred activists of Chhatra League have been expelled from the organisations. I saw in the news media that even a member of parliament had praised the scholarly attributes of Jamaat leader Sayedee.
*Sohrab Hassan is joint editor of Prothom Alo and a poet. He can be contacted at sohrabhassan55@gmail.com
* This column appeared in the print an online edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten for the English edition by Ayesha Kabir