AL veterans: Consigned to oblivion?
PRIME Minister Sheikh Hasina has been in power for over six months now, and she has resolved to come out of the shadow of the colleagues and close political companions of her illustrious father. She has chosen to act decisively to create an impression that she is more than equal among them, although none disputed the fact that she was the de facto successor of Bangabandhu.
The first thing she has already initiated in that direction is to clip the wings of the AL veterans thought to be her potential opponents in a power game in future. She had throughout been circumspect about them, and now they are suspected to be in complicity with the authors and planners of her political elimination through the so-called minus-2 theory during the last caretaker dispensation.
As a result, these veterans -- dubbed as reformists -- have been made ineffective in framing policies and taking decisions. Condemned along with them are also some of the promising leaders of the upcoming generation. Flummoxed at the fate of the heroes of yesteryears, political observers as well as umpteen rank and file members of the party appear to be wondering whether it is a step towards consigning them to oblivion.
The ignored lot could have inadvertently put their feet in their mouths when grilled by interrogators after 1/11. Even the AL supreme is not oblivious of their ordeal. Yet, to her, their behaviour in custody smacks of conspiracy. So, why shouldn't she replace the doubtful ones and surround herself with loyalists? Bagabandhu's fate at the hands of some of his close colleagues might have spurred her calculation. The experiences of the past have taught her that there are few places for compassion in power politics, and a smoldering fire left uncared often proves to be fatal. So, she perhaps wisely refuses to entertain dissidence in the party.
Intra-party cold war over who will dominate and the relative positions of the top leaders are unavoidable in all political outfits. It is only apt to think that even Awami League was immune from it -- which is why a compliant Abdul Jalil embellished for long the post of the party's secretary general and not an assertive Tofael Ahmed. Now, by deftly reshuffling the party, the Sheikh Hasina-Ashraf duo will obviously call the shots within the AL from now onward. Even if it looks risky, politics does make strange bedfellows. But Sheikh has adequately consolidated her grip on the party.
However the prime minister's problems emanate from doubtful provenance, i.e. her jumbo-sized cabinet and a feuding bureaucracy -- neither of which has proved to be a doer even in do-able things. As a result, the hiatus between the election promises and the achievements is fast widening, and this is what causes concern.
The remaining incumbency for another 4 ½ years will not, in all probability, deliver; neither can it be peaceful. This is notwithstanding her sincerity to make her dispensation a success and making efforts to that effect. But the government has been jolted by its inexperience and puerile behaviour.
In the meantime, the AL veterans and their admirers ought not to be disappointed for there are ups and downs in politics. They must not give up the truths that they adhered to during their tumultuous political careers.
In spite of their setbacks, they are held in high esteem by anyone conversant with their contributions to the independence war and the politics pursued by Bangabandhu. They can hardly be separated from the glorious history of the nation's milestone events, for which many of them were catalysts. The sighs and tears witnessed at their fate point to the amount of love they still retain among the people.
But then there is no last word in politics; neither can there be any complacency over one's political achievement. Loyalty and compliance are indeed relative and ever-changing. What shape the politics of Awami League will take by the time the present government finishes its tenure is difficult to predict. None has the wherewithal to predict as to whose will be the last laugh in the continuous struggle, apparently by all and sundry, for reaching the apex. This process is not peculiar only to Awami League. As in the Awami League, there are many in the BNP also suffering from similar angst, dejection and even heartbreak.
What is to be carefully watched is whether any of the actions by any political quarter encourages the extra-constitutional forces. We would like to nourish the optimism that the politicians, irrespective of their status, will behave in a manner that will keep any such adventurer at bay and that the civilian-political authority of the country maintains its sway over the entire space of statecraft. There are many doubts, therefore, that the political veterans can really be consigned to oblivion.
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