President Zillur Rahman has passed away. He has died in office, from natural causes. He was under treatment from March 11, 2013 for respiratory and aging problems at Mount Elizabeth Hospital, Singapore. He breathed his last at 4.47 p.m. (Bangladesh time), March 20. We grieve his death. We who belong to the community of old students of the Dhaka College particularly mourn the loss of our senior most celebrated alumnus, as do the alumni of Dhaka University. The nation-state is observing seven days of mourning for the deceased President. The death of the President came at a time, when grave unrest and political crises have been rocking Bangladesh.
A commentary in The Economist of London, March 9 issue succinctly summaries the situation in Bangladesh, under the caption ‘A flawed tribunal opens old wounds and threatens Bangladesh’s future’:
“It was supposed to help Bangladesh come to terms with the horrors that accompanied its birth as a nation in 1971. But the ‘International Crimes Tribunal’ has provoked the worst political violence the country has endured in the 42 years since. Actually a domestic court, the tribunal is trying men accused of atrocities in the war that won independence from Pakistan.
“According to Odhikar, a Bangladeshi human-rights watchdog, more than 100 people died between February 5th and March 7th in what it called a “killing spree” by law-enforcement agencies on the pretext of controlling the violence. At least 67 people were killed after the court delivered its third sentence on February 28th. That was death by hanging for Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, one of the leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami, Bangladesh’s biggest Islamic party.
“Mr Sayeedi is a fiery Islamic orator who draws bigger crowds than any other preacher in Bangladesh. Within a day of the verdict police and paramilitary forces had shot dead at least 23 protesters. On March 3rd the government deployed troops in Bogra district, north-west of the capital, Dhaka, after over 10,000 Jamaat supporters armed with sticks and home-made bombs attacked police stations and government offices. (On one side) Jamaat has been behaving more like an insurgency than a political party.
“(On the other side) what began as a peaceful protest by hundreds of thousands of people around an intersection at Shahbag, in central Dhaka, demanding the death penalty for the indicted war criminals, has turned into a political battle that is splitting the country down the middle. The protesters’ initial narrow focus on accountability for war crimes soon gave way to calls for the banning of Jamaat, along with its influential banks, businesses and social institutions. With that shift, the public support the protesters enjoyed from across the political spectrum evaporated. The struggle is now framed by the BNP and its ally as a battle between anti-Islamist forces and the pious. Foreign diplomats in Dhaka have issued polite appeals for due process at the tribunal and restraint on the streets.
“Foreigners now fret that the tribunal’s flaws mean that justice has not been seen to be done.”
A news commentary in The New Indian Express of Chennai, entitled ‘Turmoil in Bangladesh’ in its March 14 issue puts the picture in terms of public perception in the capital city of Bangladesh:
“Shahbagh has been abuzz for over a month now with huge congregations of people from all walks of life calling for hanging of the Razakars charged with war crimes during Bangladesh’s liberation movement. ..... Elsewhere in Dhaka, the streets have turned into battlefields with the Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Chatra Shibir activists on the one hand and the police on the other. Strikes and hartals, announced in a series by Jamaat-Shibir and the opposition Khaleda Zia-led Bangladesh Nationalist Party, have evoked mixed responses, depending on whether or not the Shahbagh activists and the Awami League countered.
“Bangladesh is sharply polarised, across college campuses, business centres, urban localities and villages. Talk of the upcoming elections, and many feel that the recent developments are being directed towards electoral ends. .... Yet others feel that the Shahbagh movement and its confrontation with Jamaat-Shibir have been overtly politicised, and the ruling Awami League has to take part of the blame. The country is at the door of a civil war-type situation, which does not augur well for democracy and the fledgling economy. However, this section also believes that the military establishment in Bangladesh is closely monitoring the situation, and will take effective measures to prevent such a situation, even if it means military takeover of power in Dhaka.”
The domestic media and vocal members of the civil society in Bangladesh have been focussing more on the stalemate over the institutional set-up for transition of power between the two mainstream contenders of power and their electoral alliances, urging dialogue. That stalemate has sharpened into wider confrontation after the table was turned on Shahbag agitators in the capital, Dhaka by a battle cry from the commercial capital, Chittagong against “anti-Islam forces” by “the pious”. In their public harangues to respective audiences, both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition are talking of putting each other on the dock for crimes against humanity. Begum Khaleda Zia and her 18-party alliance including Jamaat have embarked on a continuous agitational course until the “genocidal” government falls. Sehikh Hasina and her 14-party alliance have promised strongest possible police action and party political resistance to foil the Opposition’s violent agitation to “protect war-criminals.”
The Prime Minister made an observation in the Suhrawardy park public meeting on March 18, when the country was undergoing disruptions under a two-day hartal call by the opposition alliance, that she would not hesitate to take “any measure” to save public life and property from vandalisation by the Opposition activists. Some analysts have interpreted her words to mean that she is prepared to declare a state of emergency and call the military to restore law and order. That interpretation drew substance from comments by Sheikh Hasina’s vacillating grand alliance partner and leader of the Jatiyo Party, former military ruler HM Ershad in an interview with Ekushe Television in the small hours of March 17. The JP Chairman said:
“If there is election under the present government, BNP will not participate in it. If I participate in such election how far it will be acceptable to the people at home and abroad remains a question. I have to think over whether I will participate in that election.
“Third party involvement may be needed for transfer of power in the prevailing situation. Unfortunately we will be left with no option but to seek third party involvement for the transfer of power.”
A hartal call by BNP-led alliance in Dhaka district including the capital city on March 21 has been called off as the nation is mourning the President’s demise. While the President was ailing in Singapore, National Assembly Speaker M Abdul Hamid took charge as Acting President on March 14. He will move into Bangobhaban, the President’s official residence after the end of state mourning for the late-lamented President. As per constitution, the next president is to be elected to office by the 330 parliamentarians in an open ballot within 90 days after the date when vacancy occurs in the position.
The new President will be elected for five years by the current National Assembly notwithstanding the expiry of its tenure within ten months by January, 2014. Although the names of the Acting President M. Abdul Hamid and of the Deputy Leader of the House Begum Sajeda Chowdhury have come up as possible nominees of the ruling Awami League for the presidency, there is speculation Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina herself may be aspirant to become the next president (and commander-in-chief of the armed forces), if the “civil war-type situation” in the country persists and military deployment under a state of emergency is called for.