BNP in the era of terrorism and uncertainty

Having said that, let us revisit the BNP's forming coalition with the so-called Islamists under the leadership of both Begum Khaleda Zia and Professor B Chowdhury. It was evident in 2001 that the BNP would have won the election alone with a simple majority, if not with current two-thirds majority in the parliament. Through a four party alliance, the BNP high command wanted to seal the victory in 2001 general election. One may, however, ask now that, was this coalition a 'short term gain, long term pain' for the party? The aim of this writeup is to examine this question under the present day so-called Islamists' political adventurism in Bangladesh.

The way things have been unfolding in the terrorist front in recent years, Islamists have been trying to establish a de facto regime in the north and southwest regions of the country. Recent research suggest that the Islamists have been successful in making a cobweb of NGOs all over Bangladesh and gradually driving out the established secular NGOs through a terror campaign. The NGOs run by the Islamists reassure the general public with establishing law and order (containing sharvahara movement), alleviating poverty, and rooting out corruption from all walks of life through introducing Sharia law and Wahabi ideals. The Islamists appear to be gaining control in social, political, and economic fronts. It is surprising that after the recent political campaign (meetings with union level politicians) of the BNP's first secretary general all over Bangladesh, the millions of partymen failed to uncover the unprecedented bombing campaign of 17 August. It is incomprehensible to think that the BNP was in the dark during such a nationwide operation by the Islamists.

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Suddenly, how have the so-called Islamists become such a powerful force? In our view, this was not sudden at all. This force, in disguise, has been regrouping and reorganising immediately after the overthrow of the Bangabandhu government in 1975. In this regard one can bring a parallel to violent movements seen in other parts of the world. Historically, all the violent revolutions progressed through two fronts: political and armed cadres. In Bangladesh context, Islamists are not social or political revolutionaries. They are so-called Islamic counter-revolutionaries. They are the defeated forces of the war of liberation in 1971. They are the Bengali civilian collaborators of the then Pakistani occupation.

As we all know, one of the major anti-liberation forces is currently in the BNP-led government (Jamaat). This force seems to be playing the role of a political front of the movement and the JMB is acting as armed cadres staging a violent counter-revolution in the name of Islam. Jamaat/IOJ and JMB are two sides of the same coin. These forces are directly or remotely linked to convert Bangladesh into a Talebanised state. It is not difficult to understand the motive of the nationwide bombing campaign orchestrated by the so-called Bangladeshi Jihadies who allegedly took part in Mollah Omar's Taleban movement in Afghanistan in late 1990s. In this regard, despite repeated warnings, the BNP has been ignoring the reality and playing the blame game again and again during all the past bombing and grenade attacks.

Under these circumstances, a secular party such as BNP in alliance with Islamists has been leading the government over the last four years. The time has come for the BNP to find out from its coalition partners (Jamaat and IOJ) their position in the movement of implementing Sharia and Wahabi ideals in Bangladesh. Also, the time has come to attach a condition towards future alliance. The nation would like to see Jamaat and IOJ make unqualified and unequivocal commitment towards their disassociation with the JMB operatives inside Bangladesh. If this condition cannot be met, there is no reason why Jamaat and IOJ would not be considered as the political front of the Wahabi movement.

Coming back to the political skills of Professor B Chowdhury during his long career. The whole political landscape of Bangladesh has changed remarkably after Professor Chowdury formed a new political party called Bikalpa Dhara. Professor Chowdhury's family is not a stranger to politics since the British Raj. His father, Kafiluddin Chowdhury, was an AL person and was a close associate of Bangabandhu.

Professor B Chowdhury broke the family tradition and supported General Zia to establish BNP on September 1, 1978. He has seen all the ups and downs of the party when he was at the helm of the BNP over 25 years. Having said that, one would remember that under the joint leadership of Begum Khaleda Zia and Professor Chowdhury the BNP embraced the so-called Islamists (Jamaat and IOJ) as coalition partners at the end of the last AL regime.

Obviously, Professor Chowdhury's hands on Islamists have been severed after he lost the presidency of the republic in 2002. At this critical juncture, the nation needs to know if there was any hidden agenda of the Islamists in forming coalition with a secular party since this type of peculiar coalition has seldom been seen anywhere else.

Was August 17 a blind date with the Islamists purely for a short-term gain to win elections or something else?

Perhaps Professor Chowdhury would be able to shed some light on this question. From a distance, it appears that the BNP willingly made politics tough for them as well as for the rest of the secular opposition politicians. Unfortunately, politics becomes a life and death issue for not only the opposition, but for all the secular politicians. The BNP, if it still remains a secular party -- that was what its founder late General Ziaur Rahman claimed -- needs genuine soul searching in the era of terrorism and uncertainty.

Dr Moazzem Hossain is a freelance contributor