Editorial
Sheikh Hasina and Begum Zia meet !
Let this be a meaningful beginning for the nation
IT is quite a statement on our political realities when news comes in that Sheikh Hasina and Begum Khaleda Zia have finally met each other and have exchanged pleasantries. But that is what they, as the foremost political personalities of the country, are supposed to be doing anyway. That they have not met or have not talked for a long time in the way modern politicians should is an embarrassment not only for them but for all of us in this country as well. It is only normal practice for politicians of their stature to be in constant contact with each other and keep themselves in touch with the objective realities around them. The fact that screaming newspaper headlines greet readers about their rare meetings only shows the levels of poverty to which politics has sunk in Bangladesh. And poverty is in the way the chiefs of the Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party have effectively transformed adversarial politics into deep personal animosity.
The last time that the two women met in such a seemingly cordial atmosphere was soon after the fall of the Ershad regime in late 1990. Much water has flowed under the bridge since that moment of light eighteen years ago. Both women have served as prime minister and leader of the opposition alternately. The world has moved on. We as citizens of Bangladesh have moved on in our thought processes. But our two pre-eminent women clearly have not. They have not looked at each other, to say nothing of greeting each other in civil manner. At a time when Barack Obama and John McCain meet in Washington despite the recent election results; when the president-elect reaches out to his former Democratic rival Hillary Clinton and she responds in an equally friendly way; when Manmohan Singh and LK Advani sit down to discuss politics, we in Bangladesh are yet to see a time when Begum Zia and Sheikh Hasina will of their own volition get in touch with each other and demonstrate mutual respect for each other.
All said and done, though, we are certainly cheered by their meeting and exchanging pleasantries on Friday. We hope this meeting is but a prelude to more such meetings in the future where they will exchange not just pleasantries but their considered views on national issues as well. We will keep our fingers crossed and hope that this meeting was not a one-off. After the experience of the past two years, the nation cannot any more afford to go through the confrontational politics that has left democracy battered and bruised. Let the meeting between Sheikh Hasina and Begum Zia inaugurate the needed politics of change in our country. And let not years go by, again, before we see them smiling at each other again.
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