Misplaced patronage
FOLLOWING the Narayanganj-5 by-poll the Daily Star under the caption, “Selim Osman wins, Narayanganj loses” wrote, “The Osman family has won the Narayanganj-5 by-polls amid allegations of widespread intimidation of voters.Selim Osman, the candidate of the main opposition Jatiya Party and brother of ruling Awami League lawmaker Shamim Osman, beat independent candidate SM Akram by 16,742 votes in the battle of ballots that took place about two months after the gruesome seven murders in Narayanganj”.However, in myassessment, there was no winner in the election, there was only loser and it was not (the people) of Narayanganj, but the party, and more specifically its supreme leader, that even did not have the candidate in the fray. The prelude to the defeat, in this round, was set when the PM in no other than in the august legislature hinted at “conspiracies” against the Osman family and its members in Narayanganj, said “conspirators have been trying to destroy the family through repeated attempts”.
While the PM was right in eulogizing the Osman family for their glorious contribution since the inception of the AL, but it does not give any immunity to any individual of the family if the media truthfully reflect his wrong doings. In my personal experience with many members of that family, I was, rather, amazed by their cordiality. However, the person in question has always been a 'newsmaker' especially since his ceremonial homecoming from his exile in Canada. In the past as well, the PM's patronage, for reasons explained by herself, for the person in question did not bode well with the people of Narayanganj when he was confidently defeated in the mayoral election that took place two and half a year ago by a proven clean candidate of her own party.
In the by-election in question, it was neither the result nor the irregularities that caught the attention of the nation; it was the acts of the 'newsmaker' that became the headlines of the media and prompted people to ask how bad is bad enough for the PM. The most dreadful one was to threaten an ASP of Narayanganj when he was bravely fighting the threat of the 'newsmaker' by foiling a bid to capture a polling station by his men. The ASP also called his superior officer to arrest the miscreants, which annoyed the 'newsmaker'. The 'newsmaker' made a phone call to the ASP and asked him to leave the centre to let his men do whatever they want to do. “He verbally abused and threatened me when I refused to oblige,” said the ASP.
“I told Shamim bhai what he was planning to do would harm the party and the government's image. I prevented them as my conscience dictated me to do so” said the ASP. Alas, instead of being rewarded for his courageous act of duty, the ASP is now concerned about the security of his life. He is scared of even carrying out his daily routine duty in Narayanganj as he thinks the AL lawmaker will anyhow avenge his refusal to allow his man to rig votes. The 'newsmaker' further unveiled his absolute arrogance when he uttered, “I do not say the word 'please' to anyone. I am Shamim Osman. Listen to me. Why bother listening to the superintendent? Only I can protect you,” the ASP further claimed that Shamim had said this to him over the phone.
Referring to the incident the CEC Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad said, "the electoral enquiry committee will investigate the matter. We want to wait for the report which may take two or three days."Action will be taken as per investigation," said the CEC. However, in a society where immunity is the name of the game, people know very well that the incident will go under the rug in no time. It is the perception that matters since the reality is never uncovered where immunity prevails forever irrespective of the government in the helm. In the eulogy for her controversial lawmaker the PMpromised, “if anyone commits a crime, that person will have to face trial and the law will take its own course”. But the fact of the matter as revealed in the media,it is the victim (ASP) who is being investigated, not the widely alleged perpetrator.
In the aftermath of the menacing event that caught national headlines, an analysis is due for its direct and indirect stakeholders in order for them to either find solace from the pros or do soul-searching for the cons of their acts of commission or omission. The principal stakeholders of this poll were the government and the EC, although the ruling party did not field a candidate. Since the independence of EC was a big question mark to start with, the ruling AL is the principal loser in the election though the party and the government had everything to gain from the process. The party's principal course of action should have been not to let its controversial lawmaker, who is mentioned in every mishap, from Toki murder to seven gruesome murder cases of Narayanganj, get involved in the election to let the people freely choose between the JP candidate and his populist opponent, once the district convener of AL, who, like many other pro-AL politicians had to abandon the party due to a single individual. The party, in fact, missed a golden opportunity to do at least one right in the midst of many wrongs in recent days. During the previous tenure (1996-2001) of the AL government, it was difficult to defend the moral superiority of AL vis-à-vis its political rival due to the presence of a handful of 'godfathers' in the party folds.
Over the last few months since the January 5 general election, the government had ample avenues to boost its dwindling moral authority through better governance. Quite to the contrary, it has miserably failed to do so even in a lull period of opposition movement. The unprecedented mischiefs of a single individual in a single by-election, where even the party did not have a candidate, has delivered an irreversible blow that has put even the government's staunchest adherent on the defensive.
Mozammel H. Khan is the Convenor of the Canadian Committee for Human Rights and Democracy in Bangladesh.
Comments