Editorial
Theatrics about Hasina-Khaleda talks
Let the two leaders themselves initiate the process
MUCH talk has lately been going on about the projected meeting, or the need for a meeting, between Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia. On the one hand, there is the clear feeling that the chiefs of the Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party should get down to one on one discussions. On the other, much theatrics has come into the entire matter, especially since Barrister Rafiqul Huq in off the cuff remarks said that the two leaders should talk directly to each other and that he was trying to bring them together. Huq's acceptability to both sides attracted public attention and generated a good deal of interest.
But then came the theatrical, or call it farcical, side of the story. Taking advantage of the development, individuals such as the president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry came forward with the offer that the FBCCI would like to facilitate the talks between the two leaders. Soon, Rafiqul Huq acquainted the media with news that he was in telephonic touch with Hasina. Then came Adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman's comment that the government would facilitate such a meeting. Lately, AL acting general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam has dived in, with the suggestion that both the lawyer and the business leader should stay out of what in his view was a political matter. Yesterday Huq claimed that Zillur Rahman had apologised to him on Islam's comment.
Theatrics and gimmicks aside, we at The Daily Star are of the view that Sheikh Hasina and Begum Zia, being the leading national figures they are, should on their own take the initiative to come together for talks. There is hardly any need for third parties to come in when they can themselves instruct their party colleagues to make preparations for such talks. If they do that (and they certainly can), it will surely signal a singular and symbolic departure from the past. Of course, we realise that one meeting will not wipe out the accumulated bitterness of the past seventeen years, but the fact that they can meet and exchange points of view will in itself be a landmark. There are some basic ideas they can agree on. One of them relates to the forthcoming polls. Both leaders must let the nation know that, provided the elections are truly free, fair and transparent, they will accept the outcome without one accusing the other of rigging and similar malpractices. Additionally, they could agree that Parliament will be the focus of politics, that both the ruling party and the opposition will follow the democratic norms, and that neither side will boycott it and liaise with each other. It is a declaration that must come from them in the collective rather than an individual sense. They should remember that the people are keen on seeing representative rather than interventionist politics at work. That acknowledgement on their part will augur a new beginning.
We firmly believe that discussions between Begum Zia and Sheikh Hasina will be as much about substance as they will be about symbolism. They will certainly enthuse the nation into feeling encouraged about the future of its democracy.
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