A sad day for democracy

Nevertheless, we have to say that the crookedness, cunning and ruthlessness marking the government's approach to and handling of the Paltan Maidan grand rally yesterday, easily surpassed even the worst apprehensions held the day before. What might have been at best a huge gathering paying audience to fire eating reiteration of things uttered and resolutions made many times over was virtually fought on a war-footing by the government forces. It turned the groundswell of public sympathy on for the opposition by virtue of the government's wholesale suppression of the programme.

Let's draw a somewhat poor analogy to underline the depth of political immorality to which the ruling party's action sank yesterday centring around the grand rally. When Khaleda Zia as opposition leader had tried to stage a long march, the Awami League then in power placed strings of truck blockades at some entry points to the city. Everybody in the right frame of mind condemned it and, of course, Khaleda Zia did it with greater vehemence being the aggrieved party. But yesterday it turned full circle in the opposite direction, and manifestly in a much uglier form with the obstructionist tradition of the past paling into insignificance before Tuesday's event.

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

The grand rally was a venue-centred event where political programmes were supposed to have been announced, that too under the scowling eyes of security forces of different denominations with its huge regulatory presence. Never before in the political history of Bangladesh has there been such a government sponsored, engineered and orchestrated suppression of opposition dissent, which practically meant bringing normal public life to a standstill. Just to crush the opposition programme, the whole government machinery was shamefully used to disrupt public life and cause incalculable losses to the economy.

All this strong-arm tactic has proved the weakness of a democratic government rather than its strength, more so because it has undermined the mandate of a two-thirds majority by the sheer immorality of the invasive mentality.