Perspectives
Let there be light
Politics is no more the arithmetic that it used to be in olden days. There were then discernible patterns in it, and its trend could be prognosticated. It's no more so. One has to wait like a passionate gambler till the last roll of the dice to understand everything.
It is more so with the ruling dispensation we how have in our country. It has kept us guessing as to what is up its sleeve. There are so many imponderables in its conduct that resort to speculation and conjecture is inevitable. But what it does not hide is its apathetic attitude towards the two largest political parties of the country, particularly their top leaders. There is motivated promotion of the so-called "minus two" formula.
The interim government installed on January 11 with the support of the military claims itself to be the champion of justice and crusader against corruption. It's mission began with a bang, with the apprehending of influential politicians on both sides of the country's political divide.
The public watched with glee the arrest and incarceration of some powerful stalwarts of the immediate past BNP-Jamaat government, including Khaleda Zia's heir apparent Tarique Rahman, on serious graft charges. But the government proceeded carefully with regard to action, either against Mrs. Zia or against Sheikh Hasina. The first to draw flak from the authority's ire was the voluble Hasina, who was taken into custody a month ago. There is speculation that Mrs. Zia may embrace this fate soon.
Mrs. Zia led the immediate past government of the country, and broke all previous records of corruption, inefficiency, and misuse of power. Worse, she conspired to prolong her predatory regime beyond the mandated period through a scripted election. She practically pushed the country to the brink of total ruination. If she had her way, the situation would have been further exacerbated. Despite the perdition she had already caused to the nation, she was left free to carry on with her telephone-politics.
If any drastic step is taken against her at this belated stage, it will be considered as her reaping the whirlwind. But Sheikh Hasina, already battered during Mrs. Zia's five years of imperious rule, did a service to the nation by forestalling the scripted election of January 22 through a vigorous mass movement. Yet, whose penance is she undergoing through her indictment leading to her imprisonment? With her combative politics, she inadvertently created a Frankenstein's monster which is now about to devour her.
That's what the rule of the power game is. Power is a heady brew, intoxicating those who wield it. Power generates its own dynamics, and the people wielding it start seeing things through their own prism. A clash then invariably ensues between their perception of polities and the way it ought to be conducted. The present dispensation is going to stay at least two years in power, a crucial hiatus during which it is likely to develop a stake in the country's power structure. The longer this period is, the greater are the chances of aberration creeping into polities. So, the issues ahead are not simple, and it is going to be a long haul before the contours of a democratic polity can even be visible.
There are ambiguities in the dispensing of justice, and absolute eradication of corruption pre-supposes the dispensation's staying longer in power, a proposition fraught with undesirable consequences. Moreover, the meritocracy now working for the salvation of the country is composed of the same human material, liable to commit similar mistakes, and is handicapped by the same limitations.
Apart from the anti-corruption drive, there is hardly any improvement in either the socio-economic sphere or in restoration of internal order. The present transitory nature of the administration produces the same kind of minions and acolytes around the power centres, who become the beneficiaries of the regime and the poor people's burden.
It is in the interest of the nation that power be handed over to the elected representatives of the people immediately. Before that, even if reforms are necessary, transparency is essential, so that the political hustlers are not in a position to put into effect their mala fide intention of denying politics to any party or politicians.
If this is allowed, the election will straight away lose its credibility. To put an end to the murky game being played now, there are few alternative to full blown political activism -- like the one that led to our independence and all other noble achievements. Let there he searching light piercing through the dark recesses where the mala fide intentions are born.
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