The BNP once held all the aces of Bangladesh politics. In the aftermath of August tragedy in 1975, a motley collection of desperate politicians from background as diverse as far right and extreme left saw their common platform in this party founded by late President Ziaur Rahman. Building upon the mistakes of Awami League that spearheaded the country’s independence struggle but later fell from the grace the BNP soon came off with flying colours and forged ahead triumphantly. To the party’s credit it ruled the country for more period than others could do.

At the peak of its political ascendancy the BNP in 2001 came to power with a spectacular mandate of two-third majority. Belying the notion that such a victory gives one a measure of magnanimity and sobriety it gave the BNP a dose of megalomania, prompting it turn arrogant and imperious.

In a cavalier intolerance the party tended to be dismissive of any opposition to its authority. From the day one of its assumption of power a meticulously planned repression was put in place to clip the wings of Awami League, its principal adversary and cut it down to size once for all. As a result, the ideals the BNP originally propounded were pushed to the back burner. Its election planks of eradicating corruption, poverty and terrorism proved to be empty promises. The party itself indulged in an unprecedented orgy of plunder by fostering a culture of cronyism to the exclusion even of many insiders.

Owing mainly to this and plethora of other grievances there were cracks in the citadel of BNP which then started crumbling, obviously its Maginot Line of defence was breached because what all the BNP was doing in the name of ruling the country was indefensible. So, after a spell of poor governance during its last tenure resulting in indescribable public misery the BNP while handing the power over to an unusual interim dispensation left the country’s body politic mutilated. It will take long for the people to get over the trauma of BNP misrule that continues to haunt them like a nightmare.

The period witnessed the country’s four consecutive world championship in corruption, rise of religious militancy and the gruesome episodes like August 21 grenade attack, countrywide simultaneous bombings and numerous targeted political killings of the leaders, teachers, journalists and intellectuals haring different views.

The BNP legacies could not however damper the party’s fond hope of returning to power again. Even if the public decisively turned its back to BNP for its continued misrule and the party had little bona fides to hold the country’s political space any more, its stalwarts were still hopeful of hoodwinking the simple folk with their cunning and deceit. The BNP’s election winning weapons — those of intrigue, chicanery and trickery were often accurate, if not its rule. They were now on display, one after another.

In the first place it has a very well doctored election mechanism with multiple layers of contingency plans. Apart from a compliant presidency it arbitrarily chose a party man to be the head of the caretaker government planted a CEC loyal to BNP and staffed the EC with their men. But that was not all when it concerned the BNPs alliance stratagem as well as huge stockpiles of other lethal weaponry – the block money, well-armed and trained party cadres, a compliant presidency, politicised bureaucrats et al who were in the party’s thrall. It was really a Byzantine arrangements.

But then, the nemesis also had its turn, Things started falling down like a house of cards with the advent of its Frankenstein, the one-eleven! After a failed attempts of its (one-eleven) heroes to effect a Caesarian rebirth of the country, the same political space of the country remained in the hands of the same political lot with the AL gaining the most for obvious reasons. When the public turns it back to anything and any one, its reaction is always like this. No wonder, the AL in the election for ninth parliament won a landslide — more spectacular than that of BNP, by wining an enviable three-fourth majority. To over ensure the victory, the AL hungering long for power promised anything and everything except the moon of the sky. They soon realised that the fulfillment of even a small fraction of those promises is never practicable.

Like BNP, the AL also staged its comeback on a tit-for-tat mission to perpetuate it rule beyond this tenure on one excuse or other with little or no commitment to the country’s underdogs who were mesmerised by the theme of ‘change’ hawked by the AL. They are simply left to lurch in their miseries while the windfall of the change is shared by a fortunate few — the loyalists, conformists and minions of the regime.

Worse still, the AL has chosen to tread the beaten track of the BNP. Not unexpectedly, the same price hike, the corruption, the plunder, discrimination, injustices and cruelties are the order of the day. Although there are no episode like 21 August grenade attack but the repression have taken other fronts like ‘disappearances’, crossfire and many deaths believed to be the result of secret killings and Sagar-Runi episode which has equally haunting and fearful.

Both BNP and AL have in turn shown their hands. Apparently we by now know their do-ability and desire thereof. A third political force is also a hoax so far. If we have to choose thing either from BNP or AL, the difference, if any, between them is only that of tweedledum and tweedledee.

Brig (retd) M Abdul Hafiz is a former DG of BIISS.
(daily sun, 07/09/2012)