Hail the mighty government think-tank!

Our hallowed political institutions are now fertile grounds for charges and recriminations, plots and counter-plots; nothing is considered inviolable. Chaos has become the order of the day. There seems certain disgust among the political elites today to comport to a more civilized and genial manner of conduct. How will such behaviour enrich the lives of our population of a hundred and fifty million plus? Don't we, the people, deserve an explanation? If our representatives fail in fulfilling their obligations then we harbour our hopes on the media as our voice to put them right. This attrition of our democratic rights needs to be protested vehemently by the press and the media. Why are we fighting these vicious games when we are supposed to be living under the aegis of a civil democracy? Was this what the Athenians had in mind?

We are a two party democracy, no matter how you spin it, how many groups and collaborations you bring to the fore, it wont change the fact that come election time we the people have two choices and two choices only, either the AL, or the BNP. And there are few ideological differences between the two parties, they are both pro-democracy, pro-capitalism, and both halfway between liberal and conservative, so why does the party in government harbour such animosity towards the opposition party, grand policies by the mighty think-tank perhaps?

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

In a democracy the opposition party should be able to voice their concerns and raise their demands through the appropriate medium, the parliament. Our parliament these days seem more like a sham. It has become a mouthpiece for the party in power. In session after session the opposition is not allowed access to their rights of free speech; of course the official government line has put the blame squarely on the opposition's shoulders. But let's view this rationally: why would any party or person eschew parliament if they can get their voice heard with due reverence? If nothing else they get free press. BTV is bound to transmit his or her speeches and opinions to every nook and cranny of the nation.

On this 22nd of November, the opposition alliance announced their big meeting in 'Paltan maidan', something that is well within their rights. It wasn't as if they were taking over some busy thoroughfare and restricting the flow of already suffocated traffic of our mega city (not that that does not happen often enough for other rallies). So why did the government think-tank conjure up so many preposterous inventions to foil this rally? If the government deemed it, for some arcane reason, harmful to public interest, then why did they not announce the illegality of the meeting well in advance? We still have courts in this country, at least for now we do, not all justices have been blown up, shut up, or otherwise. So why could they not make it a court battle instead of a malicious and underhanded street battle in which the people at large suffered?

The right to free speech and alliance is well preserved in our constitution, of which our honourable law minister must be acutely aware, even if the honourable home minister is not. If we are supporting a group of people to lead us in every aspect of our lives and giving them the reigns of our government, do we not, and can we not expect them to defend and apply the laws that are sanctified in our constitution? If the constitution is held of any value and the rights assured in it as indissoluble then why were people all over the city stripped of their right to free association? Why were there forces at work to stop them from participating in the rally? Those men and women only wanted to go listen to the speeches of their beloved leaders, is that reason enough to beat, harry, and humiliate? Notwithstanding the official police statement, we have seen enough coverage on private channels and the print media to know the truth. The question stands then, are we living in a constitutional democracy where our rights are enshrined, or are we living in a police state that portrays the guise of a democracy -- a hunter in sheep's clothing? How will the mighty think-tank justify this to the public?

This one really had me stumped; only the mighty think-tank can justify the necessity of playing out the farce of the transportation strike! We are certainly all dullards in comparison but do they really think that the people of the nation are clueless to such tricks? Thousands if not millions of people were left stranded without warning. People with places to go, things to do, and in many cases emergencies to attend to, things they could have managed had they had prior warning of the government's underhanded ploy.

While the rally was being held, and the public was rapt by their leaders loud declarations, the government party was in parliament pulling off another farce. One shudders at the speeches and the liberties taken by the leaders in parliament vilifying the leaders of the alliance, once again I can't hold that against them for such recriminations and crude parlance has become the order of the day. But some of the dialogues were more befitting unwholesome Bengali cinema than the public podium. Such statements and the deplorable obsequiousness is most un-behooving our leaders, or any responsible person.

Will the stalwarts of the think-tank take notice to their loss of legitimacy in the public eye due to the farce of the transport strike? Will they consider the loss to their voter support thanks to the suffering of the hundreds of thousands of people who were left stranded for hours or had to travel by foot for miles due to such insensate policies? How about the businesses: transportation hurts everyone's pocket book? And did they sit late at night contemplating their humiliation when after trying every trick in the book to foil the alliance rally, after pulling off a transportation strike that effected all of Dhaka's inbound traffic, after harassing and beating people up on numerous locations in the city to scare, intimidate, and force people not to travel to the rally, the alliance pulled off the rally with flair and éclat?

What would have been the losses to the government party if they had appealed for a more symbiotic relationship with the opposition? It would be difficult to certify but there is good reason to believe that internal terrorist threats like the JMB and 'Bangla Bhai' would have been dealt with a long time ago, that they would never have achieved the level of carnage that they have. The opposition leaders have been trying to point out such threats to the government for years, but it always fell on deaf years. Did the mighty think-tank overlook such possibilities or is there a deeper meaning to all their actions, something that we ordinary mortals cannot comprehend? Either way, we truly are thankful to you for turning our nascent democracy into a full-fledged burlesque, and we cant applaud enough your talent for doing so.

Bobby Hajjaj studied politics in USA.He is now a local entrepreneur.