Towards a Point of No-return
In her final delivery in the Businessmen's Conference on January 24, the BNP chairperson had unambiguously declared that there was nothing to discuss with the Awami League government. It must handover power to the caretaker government now or else face ouster, she said categorically. If needed she would have hartal every day because she could no longer afford to see the ruin of the country.
BEGUM Khaleda Zia had expressed her willingness to participate in any discussion with the government on the contentious issues, which, she and others in the opposition believe, have been responsible for the "current miserable plight of the people." But in spite of similar expression from the other side she thinks that the latter lacked sincerity of purpose. This is how she clears her position with the French Ambassador visiting her. She has at least one condition for holding such a discussion. She wants a congenial environment. There is however no elaboration of the 'environment' she desires. Ordinarily this connotation implies a serene atmosphere salubrious to any meaningful pursuit and which would be conducive to those engaged at work. But from political point of view, as in the present case, it has far more greater impact.
Even though she doesn't elaborate we may get a clear understanding if we are able to effect a linkage with the manifold demands of the opposition. Ostensibly they had evolved a 27-point charter in the four-party summit on November 30, 1999 focused on the 1-point demand asking for resignation of the present government or else oust the government programme. Viewed from this premise the proposed dialogue with the government is bound to be confusing and of course contradictory. More so when we treat this aspect with the observation of BNP Secretary General last month asking for a discussion only on one point, that is, when or how soon the government would relinquish power and hold election under a caretaker government.
In the same breath the BNP Chairperson foresees that it may not be possible to overthrow the present Awami League government through movement. She hints on 'some other way' to do that which some of the front ranking leaders of the ruling party interpret as 'grabbing power from the back door.' Though there is no elucidation, it is very much palpable. It is an oblique pointer to the military rulers between November 1975 and October, 1990. Irrespective of the envisioned 'some other way' it is good to see that Begum Zia has been able to measure the innate strength of the ruling party. This, incidentally, coincides with the statement often made by the leaders of Awami League rejecting the opposition threat to oust the government before the end of its 5-year term. Begum Zia's willingness to participate in a discussion with the government, subject to latter's ensuring a 'proper environment' could have been the outcome of such a realisation, though belated.
Sheikh Hasina's innovative "government of consensus" though consistently rejected by her political adversary, chiefly, Begum Khaleda Zia, seems now to have created positive impact on her mind and on the thinking of her party leaders. In this connection, we have at hand a recent observation from BNP Secretary General Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan. He said that if voted back to power BNP would form a "government of consensus". At it quick came a retort from the Awami League Secretary General Zillur Rahman who branded it as the "government of anti-liberation forces". It is regrettable to note that the Awami League leader has missed sight of the moral victory that his leader Sheikh Hasina and her "government of consensus" has won. At least the efficacy of such a government now in vogue has been openly appreciated by the main opposition, though late than never. We recall that when in opposition, before June, 1996 election, Sheikh Hasina led the mass movement on one single point, i.e. election under a Caretaker government. Begum Zia and her party literally jeered at Sheikh Hasina and sarcastically behoved such a demand as a product of a lunatic brain or that of a child. But she couldn't withstand the massive popularity of the demand and eventually had to concede. And now she doesn't foresee any election, be it the national election or the elections different tiers of local government without a caretaker government. She didn't relish 'hartal' and now she finds it just otherwise. By now, we have had enough examples to corroborate.
Notwithstanding the apparently agreeable note on a discussion with the government the concurrent overtures in the opposition movement would offer an altogether different, hostile manifestation. The latest circular on the formation of "Sangram Parishad" would abnegate the prospect of any positive development on a compromise. In this regard, the stand of the government is equally intriguing for the opposition in as much as that its offer for a dialogue with a parallel castigation of the other side remains charged with uncertainty. The need of the hour is to command restraint, till the holding of the proposed discussion, by both the entities. Sheikh Hasina's renewed offer for a dialogue, even on opposition's 1-point demand, in the opening day of the FBCCI convened Businessmen's' Conference on January 22, could only then deserve consideration.
By and large, FBCCI organized 2-day conference deserved to create a new dimension towards solving the current political crisis. The Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was the chief guest on the first day while former Premier Khaleda Zia was the chief guest on the 2nd and concluding day. Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed observed that if the intention of the organisers of the conference was to bring the position and the opposition nearer to each other and eventually to urge upon both for a consensus on major national contentious issues then it would have been rewarding to unite the leaders of both the ruling party and of the opposition together on the opening day. Indeed it was a pertinent point raised by Mr Tofail Ahmed which, too, can be considered as a positive indication of the willingness of the ruling party to forge a settlement with the opposition. The chamber leaders didn't however make any clarification on the point. Maybe, they intend to go by a different strategy. FBCCI President and that of BGMEA Abdul Awal Mintoo and Anisur Rahman Sinha, respectively, had made a dispassionate appeal to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to take a meaningful initiative even if it meant greater sacrifice on her part. Mr Sinha in particular, thought no amount of concession granted by Sheikh Hasina would be dearer than the prices being paid by the business community due to hartal and the concurrent political unrest.
Taking cue from the suggestions made by the two chamber leaders Sheikh Hasina described the numerous efforts she had made so far to talk to Begum Zia and lamented that the leader of the opposition could not show the minimum courtesy to respond. Even her personal call over telephone was neither attended nor she could give a return call to Sheikh Hasina till date. The Prime Minister asked her listeners what else she could do. She exhorted the business leaders to pursue the matter more vigorously adding that she would be ever ready to cooperate. In the course she suggested that the proposed discussion could even be telecast/broadcast directly from the venue for public viewing/listening. Even she was prepared to reply to any question from the viewers.
The intervening day between the first and the second day of the Businessmen's conference was the scene of a mass rally organised by BNP at the Paltan Maidan. As usual the chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia was the principal speaker. The theme of her speech was the proposed dialogue with Sheikh Hasina. Her first reaction was that there was no scope for any discussion with Awami League and she thought it was already too late. She continued that there was little time left for the government to hand over power to a caretaker government and added that only then the people might forgive it. She hinted on a mass upsurge when the Awami Leaguers would have no time 'to flee the country'. The same old threat that she and her party leaders have been fond of, since long. These are the provocative speeches with which we have been familiar. And when the speakers make their deliberation particularly on the alleged corrupt practices of their adversaries they indulge in such rhetorics to convey an impression that they were all celestial bodies having nothing to do with those earthly vices. Cases of corruption, abuse of power and nepotism now sub judice in the courts of law are easily branded as "false cases". Out of sheer jubilation and ecstasy some of the BNP leaders had foreseen that their return to power was a matter of time and that the leaders of the Awami League government would have to face a bigger number of cases on charges of corruption, nepotism, abuse of power etc. Besides, they would be subjected to people's wrath for having "ruined the national economy".
So, in her final delivery in the Businessmen's Conference on January 24, the BNP chairperson had unambiguously declared that there was nothing to discuss with the Awami League government. It must handover power to the caretaker government now or else face ouster, she said categorically. If needed she would have hartal every day because she could no longer afford to see the ruin of the country. Her stubborn overture was utterly disappointing to the business leaders. Their effort, as of now for a rapprochement between the government and the opposition appears to have floundered on the rock of desolation.
Frustration all around shall not be easy to be neutralized unless the leader of the opposition allows herself a second thought. The note of hope I started with taking cue from a statement attributed to Begum Zia appears at the end to be either unfounded or an incongruous contradiction. Whatever it is, the whole nation continues to remain plunged in a terrible uncertainty. May be we are heading to a point of no-return, a veritable nose-dive to the abysmal depth of total destruction.
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