Signs of entente between AL and far-Right?

If one were to suggest a signature tune to the Awami League's second term, one would set it to the tiffs the ministers have had from the very word go. It began a little churlishly and then became rueful downstream bringing a new food for thought on the table.
AL General Secretary and LGRD Minister Syed Ashraful Islam took a snipe at Communication Minister Obaidul Quader 'pulling up' officials before the media advising lesser visibility for him. He thought the officials had better be left alone with their given responsibility to discharge. Obaidul's repartee was that it was his style of working and that he couldn't care less about what a colleague thought so long as his method was working and appreciated by public.
Then we have had the planning minister's apparently snide remark on the finance minister that he was failing to get his act together due to age, the difference of opinion centering on the size of development budget. To this, the finance minister merely reacted saying he expected 'courtesy' from a minister and the latter for his part promptly retracted to save further embarrassment.
The third instance is pretty serious involve as it did a matter of principle. And, there has been a seesaw-like pendulous movement from one position of the clock to the other as though by a magic wand!
Planning Minister A.H.M. Mustafa Kamal said he saw no problem in accepting funds worth Tk. 10 billion from Islami Bank towards construction of Padma Bridge and that he expected a total of Tk. 20 billion investment from the Islamic banking sector for the project. His argument is if the IDB could fund for the project what's wrong with an investment from IB, a partner of the IDB.
This stout defense of the bank stands in contrast to the controversies raised over two issues: Acceptance of a cheque for the national anthem celebrations (eventually returned by the culture ministry!) and the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) having tasked Islami Bank with decorating the capital before the ICC World Cup in 2011.
Reportedly sometime ago, PMO wanted Islami Bank's “questionable activities” investigated. The Gonojagaron Mancha, since divided and, therefore, weakened, at one time alleged that “Jamaat-e-Islami, the party that opposed the Liberation War, has control over Islami Bank's ownership.”
So why is this change of heart overall? Is the softening of approach to the bank, or for that matter, Jamaat-e-Islami as a party follows en masse joining of Jamaat members in some parts of the country with the Awami League? Jamaat is gradually morphing into a new mould, so it appears. A realisation may have dawned on them that even after their much-hated terror campaign they have garnered substantial electoral gains in the upazila polls. They carved a big win, some of which through informal liaison with AL followers as against BNP candidates.
The AL, on the other hand, has two concerns to be met: It wants to neutralise Jamaat in a way that the latter keeps from being a party to BNP's threatened launch of a movement against the government to force a mid-term election. Secondly, the AL may like to wean away Jamaat from its alignment with BNP which appears to be happening anyway. AL has also put the heat on Jamaat by insisting that BNP delink from JI for any AL-BNP dialogue to take place at all.
Whether the AL is serious on this point only time can tell.
The prospect, at any rate, for any realignment between AL and Jamaat is easier toyed with than actually accomplished because Awami League will have to make huge concessions to JI for that to happen. It would risk stripping AL of its core values spearheaded by ICT trials.
As if to chime in with AL's flexibility, Hefajat-e-Islam chief Shah Ahmed Shafi was all praise for Awami League on Monday saying that AL had always been with them and donating for their madrassas. Actually, a huge chunk of railway land has been allotted to Hefajat-e-Islam for establishing madrassas. The olive branch is displayed even though contentions namely on reforming Qawmi madrassa curricula and implementing the 13-point demands of Hefajat-e-Islam which would push Bangladesh into medieval age remain squarely unresolved.
Where twists and turns of politics have been interesting, a major distraction has come about through the diabolic seven murders which make public not only demand guarantee for life but also that for return of the dead bodies. The most shocking jolt comes from the fact that this was entirely preventable and yet money, internal feuding and compromised law enforcement unstoppably sabotaged the state authority. The lessons should have been learnt.

The writer is Associate Editor, The Daily Star.
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