Editorial
Khaleda's predictable reaction
Her accusation of a secret deal should be substantiated
BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia has made her party's position clear on the prime minister's trip to Delhi by summarily rejecting the India-Bangladesh joint communiqué. Much of what the opposition leader said could be anticipated, but the extent to which she has gone has taken us by surprise.
Given the nature of politics prevalent in our context today, her punching hard at the joint communiqué was perhaps a routine response but a knee-jerk one that should have been avoided. Highly insidious is the charge leveled against the government that it has struck a 'secret security deal' with its Indian counterpart. It is precisely here that the merits or demerits of everything else get overshadowed by a greater concern for wild speculation such an allusion might trigger. If the leader of the opposition is in possession of solid evidence that such a deal was indeed struck, then she should provide evidence for it, then it is also the media's duty to share it with the people. But if she does not have anything to prove her point, it can be harmful to our national interest and might also be interpreted as an irresponsible utterance. Then, it will be the media's duty to condemn it.
In politics, aggressive tactics are often adopted to corner the adversaries, but in a truly democratic set-up the parties cannot or do not make claims that they fail to substantiate. A secret security deal is certainly not something that can be taken lightly or used as a weapon to gain political mileage only. Finally, if Khaleda really believes that such a deal was struck, then it can and should state her case in parliament, where there will be ample scope for discussion on the issue with, as the PM promised, unlimited time for her.
We would like to make the point that the government should have included opposition MPs in the government delegation. Whether such an invitation was actually extended we do not know. At the same time, while the opposition has every right to criticise to bits a joint communiqué; but does it fall within diplomatic norms for the opposition to reject it summarily?
The point made by the opposition leader that a country of 150 million people cannot be run only by renting out roads and ports is surprising too, as there are many instances of countries generating huge revenues through regional interconnectivity.
We would expect that the politicians will raise the level of their debate, instead of hurling accusations at each other with a monotonous and totally ineffectual regularity.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments