No scope for delaying polls
Celebrated author and scientist Prof Muhammad Zafar Iqbal finds no logic for delaying the December 18 parliamentary election.
"There is no scope for delaying the election anymore, it must be held on schedule and if the government fails, it will be held responsible," he said in an interview with The Daily Star on Friday.
He also said the military backed caretaker government 'might have reasons for wanting to hold the poll under the state of emergency', but it should lift the emergency completely because, "If a major irregularity occurs during the election with the emergency in place, there will be no chance of protesting that."
The noted writer believes 'nothing worth the effort' will come out of a talk between Awami League (AL) President Sheikh Hasina and BNP Chairperson Khaleda, because 'if they sit together that will be something imposed on them against their will'.
"The two leaders are not sitting willingly, and you can't get anything good out of an imposed dialogue. It will be better if the two political parties sit and talk," he said.
He also said the changeover of 1/11 and its aftermath 'surely brought some changes among politicians and in the political culture'.
"People will now think of the consequences of misdeeds. They will think twice before getting involved in any irregularity."
The science fiction writer hoped, although many arrested in the caretaker governments' anti-corruption drive could not be tried yet and are being released instead, they will nonetheless retain some lessons from the experience.
"They should know, we the people are aware of what they did," he said.
One of the big parties has started choosing its electoral candidates with inputs from its grassroots level units, he said hoping that other parties will also follow suit.
"If the process is followed, many of our political problems will be resolved."
Zafar is vehemently opposed to allowing businessmen, former bureaucrats, and ex-army officers to contest in elections.
He also believes many problems will be solved if the Election Commission (EC) is made more powerful and effective.
He said the present caretaker government assumed office with immense public support but it failed to retain that for many reasons.
"Failure to curb the price hike of rice, arresting university teachers, and demolishing slums and bazars are some of the big mistakes the government made."
He however thanked the government for putting in correct information about the history of the country's liberation war in textbooks, but lamented that it did nothing more in the education sector.
He criticised the government for not removing 'politically appointed vice-chancellors' from the universities.
He also criticised the government for starting the election preparations too late.
Dr Zafar Iqbal said he is yet to understand the role of the current caretaker government, 'which sometimes acts like fundamentalists'. "Many of its activities really worry me," he said.
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