The political violence that has been taking place in Bangladesh over the last six months has been worse than any unrest since 1971. Both the Awami League and the BNP have adopted a “take no prisoners” attitude.
For the man in the street there is no excuse or rationale for hartals and violence during the Holy Month of Ramadan. It gives rise only to anger and frustration.
The heavy toll of violence and hartals has had a seriously detrimental effect on the country as a whole. Businesses have been unable to function at optimum level, schools, colleges, universities have been diverted from their timetables, and no area of government has remained unaffected. Travel inside the city and elsewhere is a daunting proposition.
In public and in private, the general mood is dour and pessimistic.
The demands and protests of the Hefazat-e-Islam have further aggravated the already highly fractious political situation. The latest reports indicate that it plans to continue with it protests after Eid.
So what will it take to bring the warring factions to the table?
Although neither the Awami League nor the BNP are willing to deviate from their entrenched positions, there is nothing to stop them from sitting across the table and talking. At least it would be the start of a process, which could possibly, in the best scenario, lead to some sort of constructive solution or perhaps point a way forward.
BNP’s return to parliament last month did bring some hope but they decided, for reasons unknown, not to broach the issue of a caretaker government.
The current political situation which has seen Awami League and BNP battling each other since last year was triggered by the fifteenth constitutional amendment adopted in June 2011, which did away with the system of a caretaker government, following the Supreme Court judgment declaring the 13th amendment to the constitution to be illegal.
The thirteenth constitutional amendment adopted in March 1996 provided for the non-partisan caretaker government, which gave the country three free and fair elections in June 1996, October 2001 and December 2008. However, in the case of the last mentioned election, the Caretaker Government remained in office for two years instead of the ninety days stipulated in the Constitution.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has taken the position that the caretaker system was no longer necessary, and that she would give the country a free and fair election while continuing as prime minister.
Evidently, Sheikh Hasina has forgotten her own long and arduous struggle; when, as leader of the opposition, she campaigned relentlessly for a non-partisan caretaker government to oversee free and fair elections. The ruling BNP government, at that time, strongly opposed the idea but caved in to opposition pressure and amended the Constitution to provide for a caretaker government.
Both sides have offered strong arguments on the merits of holding free and fair elections with or without a caretaker government. The prime minister’s concerns are that a caretaker government can exceed the allotted ninety days within which to hold the elections.
At an Awami League meeting in New York last year, the Prime Minister said: “People are the source of power. We all need to be aware that no one can play with the rights of the common people. They don’t want to return to the 1/11 situation again.” The memories of the caretaker government (CTG) during that period clearly troubled the prime minister, even though it was this very CTG that cleaned up the electoral rolls, and introduced for the first time, a photo ID card and gave the country a free and fair elections, which Sheikh Hasina and the Mahajote won by a landslide.
The prime minister is now determined that there be no repeat of a situation where an unelected interim government can remain in power indefinitely.
No doubt to give emphasis to this point, the 15th Amendment stipulates that if any person were to attempt to abrogate or repeal the constitution, the move would be deemed as “sedition” according to Article 7A of “The Constitution (15th Amendment) Bill, 2011.”
It is unfortunate that after 42 years of independence, chaos and mayhem continue to be the order of the day.
As politicians and elected representatives of the people, the very first requirement should always be to place the national interest above everything else.
One possible way of breaking the impasse may be through the “good offices” of a group of eminent persons, who are trusted and deemed neutral by both the BNP and Awami League, to mediate between the two parties.
This raises the key question: who can take the initiative to create such a group? Here the role of the President of Bangladesh may be pertinent. Being the head of our state, he is in an ideal position to take the initiative in forming such a group of eminent persons.
The president may consider inviting four to six persons to undertake this important mission. This group could engage in shuttle diplomacy and help both sides agree on a compromise solution.
The citizens of the country will welcome such an initiative.
Even if nothing emanates from such an exercise, at the very least, it can be argued that an attempt was made to break the deadlock between the two adversaries.
Some recalling that such an initiative was attempted in 1995 without success, might dub such an initiative as “mission impossible,” but the truth is that today the whole country finds itself in a desperate situation. Our extremely fragile economy, made more so by the fallout from the Rana Plaza tragedy, can ill afford further agitation and chaos.
In the final analysis, the onus of bringing peace and stability in the country, leading to greater confidence in our political system, rests with our political leaders.
All too often, there is a general feeling among the people that the politicians have no “maya” or love for their country. Instead, they are quite content with the status-quo, and would rather focus on finding new ways and means of harming the other side.
Mr President, in the interest of safeguarding democracy and stability in the country, please initiate “mission Impossible” without further delay.
