Government Must Remain Alert and Vigilant Against Conspiracies

Kamrul Hasan Darpan>

The party that loses in the national elections of Bangladesh cannot accept it easily. It suffers from the agony of losing. Its goal becomes how to remove the government party from power as quickly as possible. Unable to accept defeat, it shouts that it will not let the ruling party rest for even a day. Whether there is an issue or not, it creates an unstable situation by creating movements and struggles.

It keeps the government politically busy. It does not want to accept that losing in the elections is a democratic process. Yet it considers itself a democratic party. For example, after the fall of Ershad in the mass uprising of 1990, the then Awami League (currently banned) was 100% sure that it would come to power in the 1991 elections.

It turned out that the BNP won the victory and formed the government, crushing the hopes and dreams of the Awami League. At that time, the President of the Awami League, Sheikh Hasina, unable to accept defeat, declared in excitement that the BNP government would not be allowed to rest for even a day. She kept her word. The BNP did not let the government rest for a single day by staging a protest. It went on a strike for 173 days.

Similarly, after the fall of fascist Sheikh Hasina in the student-people’s movement on August 5, 2024, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami thought that they were definitely going to power in the changed context. They started making this statement that the people of the country had seen the rule of Awami League and BNP.

The people were fed up with them. So the people would put him in power. The party’s huge army carried out extensive propaganda on social media regarding this. In the meantime, through various manipulations, the absolute victory of Chhatra Shibir in the student parliament elections of various public universities including DUCSU, the party became very self-confident.

To ensure victory in the national elections, an alliance was formed with the new party formed by the coordinators who led the mass uprising. At that time, it was thought that this alliance led by Jamaat would come to power only a matter of time. Their plus point was that they could exert absolute dominance over the interim government. They became the shadow government of the interim government.

The interim government was also seen to be keeping pace with them. Whatever they said, the government did. That time was a very critical period for the BNP. The party patiently continued to move forward with the goal of organizing elections on time. In the end, they were defeated by this strategy of the BNP. The interim government was forced to hold elections. The Jamaat-NCP alliance was defeated.

The fact that they could not accept the consequences of this defeat is being revealed through various threats to topple the government within six months. Some influential leaders of the alliance have said that they will topple the government by December. The Jamaat-NCP alliance has already held a long march in Dhaka-Chittagong on various demands. They have announced a long march towards Rangpur on September 19.

Two.

As soon as BNP is not sitting properly in the chair of power, the opposition alliance is saying, “Get up.” On the other hand, the fallen and fugitive fascist Sheikh Hasina has announced that she will return to the country in December. There is a lot of discussion in the political arena about this.

Various analyses are going on about whether Ms. Hasina will really return, or is this her stunt, or a strategy to energize the leaders and activists who are in the country from afar. The International Tribunal has already sentenced her to death for crimes against humanity. The government has also repeatedly written to India to bring her back to the country.

India is not responding to it. It is not difficult to understand that India is weaving a web of conspiracy against Bangladesh using Ms. Hasina. Because, with the fall of Ms. Hasina in the mass uprising, its dominance in Bangladesh has also fallen. It has become its network. This arrogance is eating away at it. Naturally, it will want to play the Ms. Hasina card as part of the conspiracy to put the BNP government in trouble or overthrow it to restore its dominance.

Besides, Ms. Hasina is continuing to adopt the Chanakya policy of holding a weapon in one hand and making friends in the other. The BNP government understands this double standard of hers very well. Understanding this, it is not moving towards the relationship it expects. Needless to say, Ms. Hasina announced her return to the country in December on the advice of India.

On the other hand, many are doubting whether Ms. Hasina’s return to the country is linked to the announcement made by some in the Jamaat-NCP alliance in December to topple the government. Because, Jamaat-NCP is no longer seen announcing to resist Awami League. Rather, an NCP leader was seen using an Awami League leader’s car during the Long March.

It can be said that they are building friendship with them by taking advantage of opportunities. As a result, even if the Awami League leaders and activists hold a quick procession, they are not seen resisting them, let alone making a statement. This may make anyone politically aware think that the Jamaat-NCP alliance has an underhand understanding or a hidden understanding with the Awami League leaders and activists.

Everyone knows that the Awami League has a historical relationship with Jamaat. The party has been jointly agitating with the Awami League against the BNP government since the Mr. Ershad era in 1996. After the fall of Ms. Hasina in the mass uprising of 1994, the Jamaat Ameer also announced that he would pardon the Awami League. Recently, some leaders of the party have also commented that they have no objection to returning to Awami League politics.

As a result, many are comparing this equation, whether Jamaat-NCP is walking on the path of movement by keeping close ties with the Awami League. Whether BNP is trying to confuse the political situation to put the government in trouble. They know very well what is the root of this crisis that they are doing long marches on gas-power crisis and other issues.

This crisis was not created by the government, but by the Iran war. The government is trying to end the crisis. Their other demands are not impossible to resolve in the National Parliament or through political dialogue. Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, while giving his closing speech on the gas-power crisis in the recently concluded session of the National Parliament, said very reasonably that if this crisis could have been ended by long marches, the government would have been the first to do so.

As a result, the opposition alliance pretends not to understand this simple issue and is holding a long march or movement, which carries a different meaning, which is not left for the conscious community to understand. According to observers, the opposition alliance may have been unable to bear the brunt of defeat like Sheikh Hasina and has taken to the field with the aim of toppling the government within six months.

Three.

Awami League leaders and activists are feeling quite excited following Sheikh Hasina’s announcement of her return to the country in December. This can be understood from the language of their leaders, activists and supporters on social media. They are uploading videos of how many people participated in the Jhatika procession.

Some are even threatening the government. When I talk to Awami League supporters, I understand that they have become quite active now, after they had been silent after August 5. Their speech and body language show freshness. They firmly believe that their leader will return to the country. Then the whole of Bangladesh will wake up and bring down the BNP government.

However, they do not show any remorse for the fact that the Awami League government they supported in the July movement killed 1400 or more people indiscriminately and brutally, and left more than thirty thousand people blind and paralyzed forever. They are forgetting about this crime against humanity and hoping for the return of their leader. They are dreaming of coming to power again. Does a party that shoots and kills the people of the country while in power and has no remorse about it have any right to do politics? No. It should not.

There are many examples in the world of political parties and organizations being banned and dissolved for crimes against humanity. If we take the case of Kampuchea (now Cambodia), then we will see that the Khmer Rouge Party under the leadership of dictator Pol Pot killed about 1.7 to 2 million people in the country from December 1975 to 1978, which is internationally recognized as genocide.

Later, the party was completely banned and dissolved for this crime. Mr. Hitler’s powerful party, the Nazi Party, was also banned forever in post-war Germany for genocide during World War II and the Holocaust. The Fascist Party, the world’s first fascist party founded by Mr. Mussolini of Italy in 1943, was banned for controlling the media and committing genocide.

In 2009, the Communist Party of India (Maoist) was declared an ‘internal enemy’ and banned. So, what right does a fascist genocidal party like the Awami League have to engage in politics in Bangladesh? If the party had apologized for the genocide it committed during the July Movement while in power and for the way it has disappeared, murdered, oppressed and tortured the people of the country for more than a decade and a half, then the people of the country might have considered whether to allow it to engage in politics.

Yet, not even an ordinary supporter of the Awami League is seen expressing any remorse over these things. How can a party that indiscriminately kills the people of the country while in power return to politics?

Four.

Less than six months into its term, there are signs of a four-pronged conspiracy against the BNP government. Recently, some opposition leaders have commented that it will take more than a decade and a half to topple the fascist Ms. Hasina, but it will not take even two days to topple the BNP. When some opposition leaders say such things, it is not difficult to understand that a web of conspiracy is being woven against the BNP government.

On the other hand, the banned Awami League and India are conspiring. It is not unusual for some forces in the Western world to be fueling this. The question is, what will happen to the country if the BNP government leaves? Will the country’s independence and sovereignty remain? It will not. Does the Jamaat-NCP alliance have the courage to protect the country’s independence and sovereignty? Will they be able to protect the country’s independence? Or will they share power with the Awami League. Is this picture very pleasing? And if the Awami League ever comes to power, in whatever format, even if it gives concessions to Jamaat, will it give concessions to the NCP? Is this even conceivable in a dream?

The opposition alliance must understand these issues. Winning and losing elections are part of democracy. Carrying the burden of defeat and carrying out a movement or conspiracy to topple the government means returning to the pre-August 5 context. The new generation has brought about the downfall of the fascist Hasina with their lives, not to return to the pre-August 5 political culture.

They have closed the chapter of that politics and created a context for fair politics. The government and the opposition must practice true democratic politics by adopting this context. There is no place for any fascist party or fascists here. The BNP government must also understand that the people have given it the opportunity to do this kind of politics.

The people have repeatedly given the responsibility of restoring democracy to the country to the BNP. In the post-1975 period, it was martyred President Ziaur Rahman who reintroduced multi-party democracy from Baksal. Begum Khaleda Zia won the movement against the autocratic Ershad by fighting for democracy. Starting from the 11th government and continuing for a decade and a half under the Awami League, numerous leaders and activists of BNP have fought for democracy, disregarding disappearances, murders, attacks, cases and persecution.

The people have given them the responsibility of protecting democracy by making them victorious in the best election in history held on February 12 this year. BNP must fulfill this responsibility given by the people very carefully and consciously. They must also be aware of conspiracies against them.

BNP has fought for democracy by ignoring numerous leaders, disappearances, murders, attacks, cases and persecution. The people have given them the responsibility of protecting democracy by making them victorious in the best election in history held on February 12 this year.

BNP must fulfill this responsibility given by the people very carefully and consciously. It must also be aware of conspiracies against it. It must remember that BNP has been alone, a lone Sherpa in politics since its birth. It had to fight alone and win by fighting alone. It must maintain its victory by fighting.

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