Qadir Kallol, Dhaka: The country’s politics has taken a violent turn. BNP continues its blockade in the face of arrest and remands of its leaders. The government is getting stricter in containing the opposition. Both groups have not shown signs of any compromise or dialogue yet although the national election is drawing near. Analysts think violence and uncertainty are increasing in politics.
The political tension had been prevailing centering the polls-time administration. The situation turned more chaotic as violence and deaths marred BNP’s 28 October grand rally. Awami League and BNP are blaming each other for the current situation.
The police arrested BNP chairperson Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir a day after BNP’s grand rally. An arrest spree is continuing against the party’s top to grassroots leaders. Even the senior leaders are being taken to remand.
The opposition has continued its blockade following a countrywide hartal for a day.
Discussion with several ministers and ruling party leaders gave an inkling that the government will continue arrests of BNP leaders and activists till the announcement of the polls schedule. They maintain that the arrests are being made in connection with violence and deaths centering on BNP’s rally on 28 October. AL presidium member and agriculture minister Abdur Razzaque told media that BNP has chosen the way of violence and that’s why the government has to take legal action.
The government would continue its tough stance against any kind of violence till the election, he added.
But some in the ruling quarter said keeping BNP at bay after its foiled grand rally is one of their prime goals. While the government is taking a tough stance, BNP is also maintaining it has no alternative to tougher programmes such as blockade.
BNP’s senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi told Prothom Alo that the government has intensified repression against the opposition men. It is the government who initiated the attack. Now BNP has no alternative but to continue its movement.
Analysts think politics has now taken a violent turn. After the rally, violence is also taking place centering the blockade programme. Vehicles are being torched. But no groups are taking responsibility for these incidents.
Former election commissioner and political analyst M Shakhawat Hossain told the media, “Violence and uncertainty continue to increase. None of the two groups are realizing this.”
No group in mood of compromise
AL, which is in power for three consecutive terms, is going ahead with the target of holding an election with the party in power. Meanwhile, BNP is bent on boycotting the election until prime minister Sheikh Hasina does not resign and the election is held with a neutral polls-time administration in power. Such a rigid stance of both parties dissipates any chance of dialogue and compromise.
Political analysts think the parties do not have any willingness to resolve the crisis if the situation does not compel them to do so. Analysts also apprehend how much the two parties are realizing the gravity of the situation.
Amid the ongoing crises, the western world including the US is active about a free and fair election. The US ambassador Peter Haas following his meeting with the chief election commissioner (CEC) said he believes all parties would hold dialogue unconditionally. Other quarters are also talking about dialogue. But the two parties don’t seem to take the calls for dialogue seriously.
AL has been maintaining that the dialogue can take place only if BNP agrees to take part in the polls under the current government. The ruling quarter is also ruling out the possibility of dialogue citing the violence centering BNP’s grand rally. Prime minister Sheikh Hasina also discarded any possibility of dialogue over the election while addressing the parliament on Thursday.
The BNP leaders said the way the top brass of the government is speaking hints that the government is planning to hold yet another one-sided election. But BNP is also not going to sit with the government unless it concedes to BNP’s demand of election under a neutral government.
Political analysts think the economy and the people will have to bear the brunt of the uncompromising stance of the two parties. Former election commissioner Sakhawat Hossain said the government should become a bit flexible and find a solution to the current crisis. But the government is displaying cruelty, which is further increasing the uncertainty.
