The recent remarks of the most powerful bureaucrat-turned-politician, HT Imam, drew dissatisfaction among the government’s top-brass and ruling party leaders and activists. Imam, who was the co-chairman of the Awami League election steering committee of the January 5 elections, knows better than anyone else how these elections were engineered.
He had remarked: “They [pro-AL officials] stood by us and sacrificed their lives for us. 19 of our policemen were killed brutally by Jamaat-Shibir men. They were all our men.”
The powerful adviser did not really do any wrong, but confessed the truth about the rigged, partial, manipulated elections without any interrogation, perhaps quizzed by his own soul.
In his 50-minute speech at a Chhatra League gathering at the Dhaka University campus last Wednesday, he narrated how the AL used the administration to hold the January 5 polls. To justify his comment, we can look back at the headlines of the major dailies after the January 5 polls.
Some of the newspaper headlines of January 6 were:
AL clinches two-thirds majority in virtually one-party elections: Turnout low in deadliest polls Little effort to better turnout Not a vote in 41 centres Allegation of rigging: 31 candidates withdraw from race Rigged votes, sullied elections EC fails holding accepted polls Ruling party activists occupy polling centres Fake ballots put ruling party in questionNothing is found in these news headlines to counter the recent comments of Imam.
What actually happened during the cooked polls of January 5 is illustrated by the co-chair of the AL election steering committee, HT Imam. With candidates to 154 seats declared elected unopposed, the 10th parliament was composed through a bloodbath of democratic protestors which neither gave mandate, nor an ethical stand, to govern people.
All the major political parties boycotted the pre-ordained polls for not having a level-playing field, which resulted in the poorest turnout in the democratic history of Bangladesh. And still, no foreign country, except India, recognises the elections, and even India now says they wished to see a participatory poll and people’s government in the country. All the accounts just testify to HT Imam’s being true.
Truth never remains in hiding, and this time, the truths about the January 5 polls and recruitment in BCS have been proven by HT Imam. His comments are not wrong to the citizens, although they scare those who occupied power by binning people’s demand for participatory elections.
In the same meeting, he assured BCL cadres that they would get help in their BCS viva voce to secure government jobs in the cadre service of public administration.
The adviser said: “We will see how much we can help you with the viva voce ... whenever I take anyone’s curriculum vitae to the prime minister, or request her to give someone a job, she asks whether the person was involved in BCL politics and also about his or her contribution to politics ... many of you [BCL activists] often request for a job … is there anyone who cares about you more than our leader and I do? We are trying our best to ensure jobs for you … Our leader has told us to arrange jobs for you by any means.”
The politicisation in civil administration is not new, the BCS job aspirants know who gets favour in viva voce. HT Imam just said what is practiced in the Public Service Commission, though the constitution theoretically entertains equal opportunity in public employment.
Practically, however, successive governments have put a 56% quota system in recruitment, where 30% of the jobs are reserved for the wards of freedom fighters and the remaining 28% is appointed on the basis of political affiliation. So, what has he done wrong? He just naively described the procedure.
I think the clarification by the adviser in a press conference on Monday where he blamed a section of the media for broadcasting and publishing distorted and partial comments was to satisfy the government and party high-ups.
All sections of people wish to see a real and liberal democracy through participatory, free, and fair elections. The government must ensure a level playing field for all by strengthening the Election Commission, and reaching a harmonised atmosphere, where people can exercise their constitutional right of electing their rulers.