A former journalist and now barrister by profession, Biplab Barua is the special assistant to the prime minister and is the Awami League party office secretary. The former Chattra League leader has served on the ruling party's central executive committee since 2016 in several posts.
Dhaka Tribune: Ahead of the next parliament election, the BNP and other opposition parties are demonstrating on the streets regularly. Sometimes there are clashes between Awami League and BNP activists. The police have also been seen taking strict action. Will the situation worsen in the near future?
Biplab Barua: Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said that opposition parties can perform any kind of political and organizational activities peacefully, and she will even welcome them with a cup of tea if they want to march towards her office. The Awami League wants friendly relations with all political parties, especially with the opposition, but the opposition BNP wants to make the political atmosphere violent in the name of political activities. Their leaders' recent activities and speeches prove that they have become desperate to grab state power without participating in elections.
In addition, they are using vulgar and provocative words. In August, BNP leaders said: “Let the weapons of '75 fire once again.”
"Seventy-five" is a very sensitive term for us, because of the brutal assassination of the Father of the Nation and most of his family members on August 15, 1975.
Besides, when the BNP was in power, they tortured and killed Awami League leaders and activists using state machinery. If I start counting now, I can narrate for a long time about their oppression against us. Now, they are talking about human rights, and have made a list of people who have disappeared. I want to ask them if they have forgotten their past. If we make a balance sheet of those who have been killed, disappeared and lost party men, then people will know Awami League and the Bangabandhu family have suffered the most among political parties of this country.
There were attempts on the life of our party president at least 22 times. We do not want to focus on the past, but who are responsible for all of the killings, torture, and disappearances of Awami League leaders? We have never seen any regret from them.
Now, when they again wish to create a massacre like in 1975, they see reactions from the general public and supporters of the Awami League. Organizationally, the Awami league did not tell anyone to protest BNP's movements in a violent way, but they are instigating violence. If they want to resort to vandalism and want to start arson attacks again, like in 2013-14, law enforcement agencies will perform their duties to stabilize the situation.
Mehedi Hasan/Dhaka TribuneDhaka Tribune: What does the Awami League think about civil society's role in national issues?
Biplab Barua: For the last 10 - 12 years, some prominent personalities of Bangladesh have been giving reactions to each and every issue as representatives of the civil society. Sometimes, their words were more importance than political leaders of the country. They only picked issues which were in favour of the opposition parties. For example, they never praised the achievements of building the Padma Bridge, and never spoke about the development in our economic index. A major portion of civil society criticized the government's limitations, but they never praised the good work of the government. We can raise questions about their impartiality and patriotism.
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir recently delivered a speech promoting Pakistan, but we did not find any reaction from the civil society on this issue. This is very unfortunate for the nation. Those who are giving regular opinions on the electoral system, forced disappearances, and human rights, never uttered any words after the killings of Bangabandhu, other political activists and military officers during the time of Ziaur Rahman and later. Rather, some of them try to justify the malpractices of the BNP and other reactionary political parties.
We want a neutral opinion from civil society members. It is very unfortunate for us that they judge Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's work very narrowly. Sometimes, they admit that we are developing the country, but claim there is a lack of good governance. If good governance is absent, then how are we developing the country? The prime minister announced zero tolerance against corruption. She made the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) stronger and even our party MPs and important leaders are facing trials for graft, but we never get any appreciation from civil society about this.
Dhaka Tribune: Officials of the United Nations and diplomats of many foreign countries, including the US, are meeting with political parties and giving statements in the media frequently regarding national elections and some other issues. Does the government feel any pressure due to such activities?
Biplab Barua: It is the Awami League government who formed the Election Commission as a strong and independent organization by making laws and giving power to the EC. Before 2009, the EC used to operate in a small office inside the Prime Minister's Office. But now, the EC is an autonomous and powerful body.
In the last election of the US, six people died when the Capitol was occupied, and the current envoy of the US has said that the US election system is not perfect. It is a continuous process. We think the Awami League has started this process and we need support from every corner to promote this process.
BNP and some other political parties are suffering from denial syndrome, and they rejected dialogues with the president and the EC, and used unconstitutional language. One thing is loud and clear: there is no way to get in power without participating in the election under the constitution of Bangladesh.
Foreigners also know that there is no other country in the world, except for Pakistan, that has a caretaker government during the time of election. There is a major group in civil society that talks about democracy and the constitution, and at the same time they call for a caretaker government. I think they have a soft corner for unelected governments and military dictators. Currently, they are also trying to create an environment to welcome an unelected government, but the Awami League will not allow any election that bypasses the Constitution and the verdict of the Supreme Court.
Dhaka Tribune: Historically, Bangladesh has very good relations with India but some domestic critics question India's role in fulfilling Bangladesh's requests. What is your opinion on this issue?
Biplab Barua: Right now, Bangladesh-India relations are at a new height. The relationship is mature and trusted. I think we do not have a give-and-take relationship with India. Rather, our relationship is based on respect and cordiality. It is unfortunate that there is an anti-Indian sentiment in Bangladesh that started from the Pakistan regime.
Those who are practicing anti-Indian politics in Bangladesh failed to solve any bilateral issues with India. However, some big achievements like the maritime boundary and land boundary solutions with India, happened during the Awami League regime. Critics are talking about the Teesta water treaty, but it has been deferred due to political conflict between the Indian central government and state government. We are hopeful that, someday, the Teesta issue will be solved in a very respectful manner.
Mehedi Hasan/Dhaka TribuneDhaka Tribune: There is concern that journalists are not getting enough freedom right now. What do you think about this?
Biplab Barua: I think the mass media is free in Bangladesh and no country's media is getting this much freedom. Freedom of media is not limitless freedom, it is subject to laws and regulations. Today, we have almost 2,500 newspapers and 50 television channels; news content is published every day, while opposition party leaders and civil society members are attending TV talk shows every night. We can firmly say that most media outlets are giving priority to criticizing the government and giving little coverage of the development under the current government.
In India, or even in the US and the UK, the media is not getting more freedom than in Bangladesh. For example, at the secretariat every day, around 500 journalists enter without invitations and more than 2,000 journalists have permission to enter the Secretariat. I have learned that, in India, no journalist can enter their Secretariat and other high level government offices without prior appointment.
Besides, our government has taken numerous initiatives to support journalists. I think the claim that Bangladesh media has less freedom is also propaganda. We have seen that, in this country, journalists were arrested for their involvement in the bombing of a cinema hall, while journalists were killed and humiliated in this country during previous governments. I think, before criticizing, we should keep the previous record in mind.