BNP-JI entente: Signs of crack emerging?

Like any other military dictator Ziaur Rahman established a political party to meet the challenge of the then most powerful political party the Awami League. At that time it was not political ideology but expediency which was more critical to face AL politically. Such development proved to be a boon for the most organised Islamists' party the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI). Both BNP and the JI needed each other for their growth and development in Bangladesh. JI never believed in independence of Bangladesh with Indian help whereas Zia was a highly valued freedom fighter. JI fights for Islamic rule and Islami brand of democracy. On the other hand, Zia, though a soldier, believed in multi-party democracy. He never thought of making Bangladesh anything beyond a moderate Muslim country. Thus Jamaat remained a strange bed fellow of BNP from the beginning. Despite this anomaly it has to be accepted that systematically and gradually the Jamaat leaders could increase their influence over a substantial part of BNP and an appreciable part of bureaucracy. This was evident in repeated failures to control Islami militants like Bangla Bhai or Sheikh Abdur Rahman till today.

It appears that some of the senior members of BNP overestimated the political strength of AL, though it is a highly accepted truth that an opponent must not be underestimated. It is not clear to our common people as to why AL became so successful in the then national election of 1970. How much the failure of the then federal government of Pakistan to manage the problem of relief and rehabilitation of the cyclone (tidal bore) affected people of the then East Pakistan was responsible for development of hatred toward central government of Pakistan and how much the people of the then East Pakistan really wanted a separate independent state. The fact appears to be a successful exploitation of growing anti-Pakistan sentiment of the common people by AL.

One of the major blunders of the then AL was raising the expectation of the common people who were encouraged to dream about flow of milk and honey on attaining independence. Thus the common men were totally frustrated from the suffering caused by a war destroyed economy and the famine of 1974. Another serious mistake was to claim full credit for themselves on attaining independence. They should have thanked all the people of Bangladesh. Without people's cooperation and sacrifice AL could never achieve anything. Failure to control the greed of some of the AL leaders and activists tarnished the image of the party. Somehow the AL gave impression to the knowledgeable public that the party was more interested in imposing their rule or its ideology than to redress the suffering of the people. In fact what was necessary was all out effort to consolidate the gain i.e. independence. Lack of foresight and overwhelming desire to control everything (press and politics particularly) resulted in almost total loss of sympathy or sense of cooperation among the commonmen. This in fact led to the tragedy of Aug 15, 1975 other way round.

The rise of Jamaat-e-Islami after the assassination of Sheikh Mujib is not surprising because of the following factors:

(a) Majority of the commonmen in Bangladesh believe in separate identity of being Muslims. AL's attempt to narrow down the cultural difference between the Muslims and the Hindus might have been disliked by many. How can they totally forget that they fought for a separate homeland for Muslims in India between 1906 and 1946?

b) Being much older in existence (since 1920) and broader in its area of activity Jamaat is more organised than any other political party (Except ML, 1906) in Bangladesh;

c) The policy of suppression of JI by the AL was perhaps not looked upon by many as desirable;

d) Failure of AL regime to handle the problems arisen immediately after independence confused the people, and

e) The then Pakistan government could convince the Muslim states of the Middle East that the people of Bangladesh were not true Muslims and were influenced by the Hindus. As such it was easy for JI to publicise them as the only true Muslims of Bangladesh. In fact JI is still closer to some Middle Eastern states than any other political party of Bangladesh.

In politics compromise and adjustment may not be considered as much unethical. There is absolutely no doubt about the philosophy of Ziaur Rahman. He firmly believed in the independence of Bangladesh. On the other hand JI never believe in independent and secular Bangladesh. Though JI preach about equality of men and encourage women even in war their definition of democratic order is different from the western concept. Hey do not believe women as equal to men. Even their concept of development is different from western concept.

We do not suggest that those who believe in establishing Islamic rule may be barred from politics. That would be undemocratic. But they must not be allowed to conduct terrorism, intimidation, destruction etc to establish rule or capture power. It is time for BNP to take the misdeeds of Islamic militants very seriously ignoring their importance as BNP's vote bank. As they claim to be the largest party which believes in establishing Bangladesh as a moderate Muslim country, we hope that they do not make a grievous mistake to push the country to a 'failed state'. To improve the image of the country, to attract more foreign investment, to have women into the mainstream of development, to play more important role in international arena and to realise the dream of Zia to make Bangladesh a multi-party democratic state BNP will have to be tough with the fundamentalists. Let BNP be dominated by the democratic forces and true freedom fighters.

Jamaat is trying hard to divert the attention of the investigating force through their repeated denial of involvement in bomb blasts in the country. The senior BNP leaders, we are sure, have taken due note of the warning from Jamaat chief. Without wasting much time in deliberation BNP should consider changing the election strategy if necessary. In the long run the BNP will certainly be benefited. They need not be unduly concerned at the emerging signs of crack in the entente with Jamaat.

ABMS Zahur is a retired Joint Secretary.