During the rule of Mughal emperor Nuruddin Muhammad Jahangir, Subedar Islam Khan shifted the capital of Bengal from Gaur to Dhaka. The Lalbagh Fort was built on the banks of the river Buriganga. A tunnel was constructed from there up till the banks of the river for the purpose of speedy attack or retreat. That means it was back in the 17th century that Bangladesh entered into the 'tunnel age'.
Now, around 400 years on, a tunnel has been created under the river Karnaphuli. But this has not been constructed for military purposes. It is a part of road communications. The British very long ago had created railway tunnels going under the hills in South Asia. But this is the first tunnel crossing under a river in this region. It was financed by the people of Bangladesh, made by Chinese contractors and produced by the roads and bridges ministry.
The prime minister, paid toll, travelled down the tunnel and then addressed a public meeting arranged by Awami League. This was part of her election campaign. For quite some time now she has been inaugurating mega projects here and there at regular intervals. It is thought that she will gain significant mileage from these in the coming election.
The tunnel below the river Karnaphuli is certainly an important achievement for our country. A TV newscaster called it 'conquering the underground'. Previously we had 'conquered the seas'. But there celebrations couldn't be held properly amid the political brouhaha. Everyone was focused on a few political rallies that had been organised in Dhaka.
BNP called for a 'grand rally' on 28 October in Naya Paltan, Dhaka. It was taken for granted that Awami League would not let them have a free run of the streets. It was a battle or prestige, after all! The League is a pro-peace peace-loving party. They called for a peace rally at the south gate of Baitul Mukarram mosque, which had so far been Jamaat-e-Islami's turf. But for the time being it is under Awami League control. Jamaat-e-Islami had been allotted a road in Motijheel.
Jamaat had long been waiting in the wings for a chance to make itself visible. The party failed to get registration in its own name with the election commission. That means they will not be able to contest in the election with any party symbol. But the party is not banned. They can hold party gatherings. The government and Jamaat have been playing a cat-and-mouse game for quite some time now. They got a go-ahead to hold their rally. The rally this times had all indications of behind-the-scene deals. There may be a game at play there, as in the 1992-96 'simultaneous' movement of Awami League and Jamaat. That was the meeting for amending the constitution and establishing a caretaker government.
It is a democratic right to block a road to hold a procession or rally! And the government as well as the anti-government elements did so at the same time. As a result, Dhaka came to a standstill. Traffic movement was abnormally sparse on the streets last night. Many people did not emerge from their homes in fear. It was a Saturday and so government offices were shut, but over 90 per cent of the people in this country are either self-employed or employed in the private sector. For many of them, their means of livelihood was shut for a day. Even so, if the consequences were good, people would happily accept it. But there are no such signs. There was only one time in our history that everyone came together and brought everything to a halt, and that was in March 1971. Everyone had the same objective at that time too. But the battling sides this time have different objectives or motives. However, one thing is clear. BNP's rally yesterday was an 'action'. Awami League's was a reaction.
BNP will once again be smeared with the arsonist and terrorist disrepute. The question is, why would BNP do is with their eyes open? They have been holding large rallies all over the country before this. There was no such disruption of law and order. Why now?
BNP and Awami League are the big players in the field. One side has taken to the street, overcoming all sorts of obstacles and hindrances. The other side is getting all support and indulgence of the government. The people have their eyes and ears open. There may be a wide gap in their politics, but when it comes to political conduct, they have more similarities than dissimilarities. Both parties now hanker for power. One party wants to ascend to power, the other wants to remain in power. The one who has support of the state machinery will win. If the people expect anything more than this, they will be cheated.
What does BNP want? They say they want elections under a non-partisan government. Awami League does not want this. It is as if Awami League never ever amended the constitution. The bottom line is, everyone will do whatever benefits them the most. No one is suicidal. And so there is no possibility of any compromise.
The size of rallies is not always clear due to camera angles. Even so, some sort of idea can be got of how big the rally was or could have been. But the rally couldn't be held as announced earlier. Chaos broke out before that.
The people were on alert. Police in uniform were ready with their batons and shields. Then a point arrived when the fiery eruption could no longer be prevented. There were chases and counter chases, police beatings, tear gas and finally what invariably happens in mob violence -- arson, vehicles being set on fire. The same old script! The rally was dispersed before it could begin. The no-so-diehard activists and supporters of the party who had decided to join the rally, pulled back and so the rally wasn't as BNP had planned. Detailed analysis is being carried out about this.
BNP and the police are blaming each other. BNP will once again be smeared with the arsonist and terrorist disrepute. The question is, why would BNP do is with their eyes open? They have been holding large rallies all over the country before this. There was no such disruption of law and order. Why now? Did they do this intentionally? How would they benefit from this? Or are there other elements involved, reaping benefit from the murky waters?
Peace did not prevail in Awami League's peace rally either. There was a sort of civil war there, among themselves. Who instigates such agitation? And why?
Amidst all this, a member of the police lost his life. Then the Sunday hartal was announced. Once there is a break in the momentum, that stays on for long. So who won?
It is not as if 28 October is the end. Rather, it's the beginning of the end. It is heard that the election will be held in the first week of January. The political arena is heating up and will deteriorate further. Such a situation invariably emerges before an election. Prices of essentials spiral out of the people's reach. The more conflict there is in politics, the more public order is at risk. And the spillover hits the market. The studies of those whose children are still in the country, will be disrupted. People's income will shrink. There will be no end to people's sufferings.
And now a new element has been added to the situation. Is this the end to BNP's 'non-violent' movement? It takes a lot of incidents to make a hartal 'successful'. This will not bode well for BNP. The police will take up a harder line. This is evident from the words of people in the government. The country is hurtling towards a deep crisis. None of us want a catastrophe. But we are just a number. The strings of politics are in someone else's hands!
* Mohiuddin Ahmad is a writer and a researcher
* This column appeared in the print and online edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten for the English edition by Ayesha Kabir