Roarings from Shahbagh
It would appear that the young people gathered at Shahbagh have been able create a ground swell of opinion amongst the janata (general public). They have had enough of old style oratory of vengeful, retaliatory bickering. This fossilised version of politics seems to go on and on … unabated and unchallenged. Until now, that is!
Well-informed and well-intentioned new and fresh faces are hacked-off (this is an understatement) and demand changes; the issue of capital punishment for Quader Mollah being a catalyst. There is more to come. They now have a “sure shot Satnav†which works, and has shown them the way to get going. This is an extremely powerful non-violent platform.
Conspiratorial addas are going on throughout the country … “this protestation is stage managed (natak) by the party in power,†“it's the slogan (Joy Bangla) that gives the protesters away.†These gossipmongers seem to have very selective and short memory. The slogan Joy Bangla is symbolic and unifying. In fact, the BNP's founder used the same slogan in 1971, making the pronouncement on behalf of Sheik Mujib.
Assuming that it is “stage managed,†as the detractors say, it would appear publicly that AL has little control over current events and has become somewhat bewildered. Events are dragging AL into knee-jerk reactions. Some of their leaders who tried in vain to score “political brownie points†had been prevented from doing so.
Since the protests began, neither of the two major parties has been making any TV or other media appearances of any substance. Other smaller parties are completely dumbfounded as they have only old fashioned self-promoting, finger-wagging profound urban sermons to deliver. They daren't open their mouths in case their utterances knock them off their perch.
Media, both print and electronic, seem to be playing a reasonable but at times rather emotive role. Some war criminal sympathisers in the media have been very vocal in their condemnation of the Shahbagh youngsters. Others are showing maturity on their part by feeling the pulse of the young protesters. A majority of the people in Shahbagh are educationally capable and politically aware.
Since coming to power (having failed on previous occasions) AL's repetitive promise and pronouncement s of trying the war criminals have created a charged atmosphere. Religious parties reacted with extreme violence and unleashed wanton destruction of property and killing. This was unfortunate and unnecessary. The government would have been better off leaving the whole matter to the ICT and keeping a low profile. AL leaders mentioned external and internal conspiracy of coercion and influence. To deal with this, one needs a leadership with cool nerves, and incisive and inclusive intelligence. In addition, this also requires logical and fact-rich international lobbying.
It is conceivable that attempts to disengage these youngsters may be made in some way, resulting in them losing the way and their cause. Their determination, tenacity, organisational skills and, on the whole, objective media coverage thus far would indicate that this eventuality is unlikely. Where Dr. Younus, BIkalpa Dhara, Dr. Kamal Hussein and others have been unsuccessful, these youngsters have certainly made an auspicious start.
As far as the main opposition party goes, AL's record of poor handling of Padma Bridge, Destiny, Sonali Bank, Sagar-Runi murder, share market scam, railwaygate, Hall-Mark and power generation subsidy scam (just to name a few), helped it gain gained an enormous amount of political points, a war-chest which it has managed to squander in one fell swoop. Silence, lack of leadership depth and old guards simply sold their distinct advantage down the river.
The underwhelming unceremonious release of Mirza Fakhrul was very noticeable. This was swept away by the events in Shahbag. Some of their old guards had nothing constructive to say or do. Self-importance and out of date conventional political wisdom have stopped them being forthright and decisive. Their worn-out gramophone record of conspiracy theory was played yet again! They forgot that these very pronouncements had driven the younger generation to utter despair and become fed up to the back teeth.
The opposition party should have had the gumption of showing their support to the Shahbagh protesters in demanding severest punishment under the law for the culprits, recognising the sacrifices made by the victims and the martyrs of the 1971 war. Their unwillingness to disown their alliance with a religion based party simply shows their true colour, hunger for power. One could argue AL had also done that in the past, but that was then and it is now! It does not make their wrong right but the janata expect BNP to do the right thing now.
Those who don't want to change will need to step aside, remembering that the genie is out of the bottle, no one can put it back in again!
Comments