Intensifying power struggle in Bangladesh:  Hasina's cynical exploitation for polls

-DR. ABDUL RUFF COLACHAL 

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The power struggle taking place in Bangladesh between the ruling Awami League party leader Sheik Hasina and opposition BNP leader Khalida Zia has intensified with the Hasina regime now targeting  Zia and other  major leaders of the opposition for their blood. 

World wonders as to why should a poor Muslim country should misbehave with people who vote and give mandate to rule.

The ruling Awami League in Bangladesh led by Madam Sheik Hasina is cynically exploiting the issue to weaken the opposition. On December 12, Abdul Quader Mollah, a leader of the opposition Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), was executed, ostensibly for the crimes he supposedly committed in 1972 during the freedom struggle of  East Pakistan (erstwhile East Bengal  in India) to cede from Pakistan;  but in reality Mollah was killed for fighting for a united Pakistan nation to exist without divisions.

Bangladesh has one of the highest malnutrition rates in the world. According to a UNICEF report, 41 percent of children under the age of five suffer from moderate to severe stunting, an indicator of chronic malnutrition.

The proportion of the population below the poverty line of $US1.25 per day was 43 percent on average between 2006 and 2011. The literacy rate for the age group 11–44 years is just 53.7 percent. Some 60 percent of the country’s urban population and 75 percent of the rural population do not have access to basic healthcare.

There is widespread opposition among ordinary people and the urban and rural poor to the government’s austerity measures and the anti-democratic methods used against protests and strikes.

Crime

The ruling Awami League led by Hasina is eager to return to power at any cost, lest the opponent  BNP leader Khalida Zia would  take revenge on her attacks on BNP supporters.

The execution of Abdul Quader Mollah took place in the midst of political turmoil leading up to the January 5 election. Mollah was initially sentenced to life imprisonment but later made to death. The government used the demonstrations to justify amending the tribunal law to allow the prosecution to appeal the verdict. On appeal, the Supreme Court reversed the life sentence and imposed the death penalty on Mollah. Many, however, fear that the anti-democratic methods by the Hasina government to try and execute Mollah will in the future be used against the other Bangladeshis.

Mollah’s hanging has sparked fresh violence across Bangladesh. The BD security forces used tear gas and rubber bullets against opposition activists who assembled at various points in the capital in preparation to march to the BNP headquarters. At least 21 people were killed during protests and hundreds have been arrested. Hundreds have been thrown to jails.

So, Bangladesh is not preparing for happy days ahead as the Hasina government has deployed in the capital city Dhaka tens of thousands of police and members of the notorious paramilitary Rapid Action Battalions (RAB) to suppress the demonstrations known as March for Democracy called by the opposition Bangladesh National Party (BNP). At the same time, police has set up barricades around the home of BNP leader Begum Khalida Zia and prevented her from leaving to drive to the party headquarters to attend the rally.

The Awami League won a landslide victory in the December 2008 election when the military-backed caretaker government called a poll and released Madam Hasina from jail  where she was undergoing  a term for  c her corrupt crimes. But the new government implemented the directives of big business and foreign investors for austerity measures and the suppression of popular demands for welfare measures, for higher wages and better conditions, particularly in the country’s key garment export industry.

Boycott

The opposition BNP and its allies are boycotting national elections scheduled for January 5 and are demanding that the ruling Awami League-led coalition quit office and appoint a caretaker government to conduct the election. As a result of the boycott, the election commission has already announced that the Awami League has won 127 out of 154 uncontested seats, leaving just 146 seats to be decided at the poll. The result, however, will be widely regarded as illegitimate and will only deepen the country’s political crisis.

The opposition parties led by BNP plan to continue the protests daily up until January 5. There is no doubt that the deeply unpopular Awami League government is using anti-democratic methods to cling to power. Speaking to the media, Zia declared that this is an illegitimate government that operates in autocratic ways. “They have taken away the people’s right to vote and I call on Bangladeshis to rise up and save our democracy.” More than a month of opposition-led demonstrations, general shutdowns and strikes has led to violent confrontations between the opposition and the security forces and pro-government thugs. At least 100 people have been killed.

The government amended the constitution that called for the appointment of a caretaker government during an election period. In doing so, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina exploited the mass resentment towards the previous military-controlled caretaker government that postponed the election for two years.

Speaking at an election rally last week, PM Sheikh Hasina accused the opposition of political violence and declared that she would put BNP leader Khalida Zia on trial for terrorism. The government is campaigning against the BNP on the basis that the opposition is supporting war criminals. In response, Khalida Zia accused the government of “using the trials to weaken the opposition.” In power, Khalida and the BNP were just as ruthless as the Awami League in their abuse of democratic rights and suppression of political opposition.

Illegal Courts

Since independence in 1972, the Awami League and the BNP have held office alternatively, except for 15 years in which the military imposed its rule. Each has used the levers of office to benefit their business cronies and patronage networks. Their record in office is a stark demonstration of the inability of any section of the capitalist class to address the burning social problems and democratic aspirations of the ordinary people and poor.

The court constituted by Hasina and the trials there have been widely criticized by international human rights organizations. The US-based Human Rights Watch commented: “The trials conducted thus far have been replete with irregularities. The defense has alleged intimidation and harassment of their witnesses, including the November 2012 abduction of a witness from the gates of the courthouse.

The Asian Human Rights Commission was even more scathing in its assessment, writing in March: “The tribunal is a political weapon of the incumbent government and its 14-party alliance led by the Bangladesh Awami League. Persons, who are close to the Awami League, are not investigated for war crimes, though there are strong allegations against them. Similar allegations of bias exist concerning investigation and prosecution that naturally is reflected in the adjudication of cases.

 In December 2012, the Economist published a series of intercepted communications between the senior judge and an external adviser, suggesting close and prohibited collaboration between the judge, prosecutors, and the government.

The US and EU have expressed “concerns” over the hanging of the Islamic leader and election violence. The concern of these powers is not for the democratic rights of people but over worsening instability in a country that provides cheap labor especially for the manufacture of garments.

The autocratic government in Dhaka is exploiting the political tensions to ensure the elections are held under conditions of a police clampdown. The election commission has called on the government to deploy 50,000 army personnel from December 26 to January 9 in the name of protecting the electoral process.

However, Hasina’s supporters argue, Zia’s claims to be a champion of democracy are an utter fraud. When in office, Zia and the BNP have been just as ruthless in dealing with any opposition as the present government. The BNP was formed by Zia ur Rehman, the country’s first military ruler. The BNP government was responsible for establishing the RAB in 2004 to suppress protests by workers, students and peasants.

Observation

Hasina's Awami League-led government is cynically exploiting the issue of “war crimes” in the lead up to national elections on January 5 to divert public attention from its record in office. 

Denying permission to the opposition to hold their March for Democracy is a pure dictatorship.  The Hasina government has to postpone the January 5 election in the larger interest of the nation’s future as well as for regional stability. Big business, the main stay of the ruling elites, is concerned about the impact on the economy. As well as concerns about the economic consequences, there are also fears in ruling circles about the eruption of social unrest as the gulf between rich and poor deepens.

Madam Hasina should realize that she has the prime duty towards her country and she need to get people killed just to appease India or annoy Pakistan.

Both India and Pakistan, having got their own issues with the unilateral USA, continue to fight it.

Bangladesh cannot look for any economic support from USA or EU simply by killing Muslims indoors-: they have already killed millions in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq.  

Bangladesh leaders should respect the voters as responsible members of the system while people themselves should attempt to recast their system by choosing new leaders to govern the nation of Bengalis.