Bangladesh: Tragic Politics, Hostile Environment And Statesmanlike Leadership – OpEd
When a natural or man-made disaster strikes a country, what should be the duties and responsibilities of a statesman? This question applies to all the countries of the world including Bangladesh. Just as the need for statesmanlike leadership was felt and fulfilled during the outbreak of the Covid-19 global pandemic, the need for statesmanlike leadership is also being properly fulfilled by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to overcome the unstable situation caused by the terrorist attacks of the third force from the students' movement against quotas.
However, in politics, there are as many sides as there are interpretations for any occurence, sometimes more. The interpretation of one opposing side is often different from that of the other. This means that it is not possible to present the political situation satisfactorily with a single interpretation. In a democracy, the interaction of such interpretations is peaceful and non-violent. But the people or groups of people unaccustomed to democratic tolerance shun the path of peaceful and non-violent and choose the path of violence. In the political history of Bangladesh, on March 25, 1971, Operation Searchlight was conducted against the Bengalis by the army of the Pakistan government, and in independent Bangladesh on August 15, 1975, the elected head of the government was killed alongwith his family members and on November 3 of that year four veteran leaders of liberation war were killed in the Central jail of Dhaka.
Deep domestic and foreign conspiracies have worked to implement these historical tragic occurences of violent politics. The unsuccessful but tragic implementation of such a conspiracy was again seen in the grenade attacks on a public meeting of the then opposition party Awami League on August 21, 2004. In the same way, on July 18 and July 19 this year (2024), a large number of lives have been lost due to the attacks of the infiltrators, who infiltrated into the peaceful student movement. These intruders destroyed huge state property worth thousands of crores of taka through arson and vandalism.
In such a situation, what steps should be taken to bring back the stability in the country? The government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is duly fulfilling the need. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is doing whatever is necessary to overcome instability and restore stability. By this she is putting the signature of a patriotic statesman. On the contrary, Dr. Yunus and other people are trying to prolong the unstable situation. In an interview with The Hindu (28 July 2024) Dr. Yunus has recommended elections in Bangladesh. At this moment, the entire country is mourning the loss of precious lives. At the same time, the urge to rebuild the destroyed state establishments and bring relief to the public life from the fear of terrorist attacks is everywhere. Moreover, in the political experience of Bangladesh, the election process bears testimony to the deadly attacks of rival parties and candidates against each other and bleeding. So isn't it unwise and immature to want an election process characterized inherently by instability?
The peaceful situation of anti-quota student movement went out of control when the opposition parties—BNP and Jamaat—declared to stage demonstrations aligning with the student movement. Thus, the quota reform movement was hijacked by the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami cadres, who were trying to create chaos. Using the student movement, they wanted to try to blow the wind to the anti-government movement. Due to the infiltration of terrorist Jamaat-Shibir-Chhatra Dal-BNP, which created anarchy in the movement of soft-minded students, it took the form of violence. The analysis of video footages surely tells the story that the vandalism was done by interest-driven groups, not the common students. Thus, the protest movement was not only about quota reform anymore, but it has become a threat to the existence of the current stability of the country.
However, Nobel Laureate Dr. Yunus in the said interview with a noted Indian journalist Suhasini Haider has used several misinformation and rumours. This interview of Dr. Muhammad Yunus was published on 27 July 2024 in India's popular daily The Hindu. Dr. Yunus, who is accused in the case filed by the workers in the court of Bangladesh for corruption, gave this interview sitting in Paris, the capital of France. In this interview he asked the international community to make phone call (informally) and ask Bangladesh (government) “What’s going on there?” He asked India to take steps especially for the current situation in Bangladesh in the name of “natural bond”. It may be mentioned that the Jamaat-Shibir and BNP cadres, who infiltrated the peaceful movement of the students, shouted anti-India slogans from the movement, “Bharat Jader Mamabari, Bangla Charo Taratari” (India whose maternal uncle house, leave Bangla soon}. While anti-Bangladesh elements are raising anti-India slogans, their patrons are talking about India's cooperation, on the other hand.
However, in this interview Dr. Yunus has blamed the Bangladesh government for deploying army to stop the terrorist activities. Here the nobel laureate has ignored the fact of army deployment. Until the state assets were attacked by terrorists and militants, members of police, RAB, BGB and Ansar were responsible for protecting those assets. But when the intensity and spread of the atrocities of the terrorists increased only overnight, the army was deployed under the civil administration to assist the civilian administration in view of the vandalism and arson in BTV, Boishakhi TV, toll plazas of flyover expressways, bridge buildings, disaster management buildings, health department buildings, police outposts, etc. What is the reason for this correct fact not mentioned by nobel laureate Dr. Yunus? Isn't Dr. Yunus spreading misinformation against the patriotic Bangladesh Army at home and abroad? In view of these considerations, it is appropriate to describe this activity of Dr Yunus as motivated. The notice issued by the ISPR also states the purpose of such activities, “the main objective is to undermine the army’s reputation at home and abroad.”
While visiting the victims of violence at Dhaka Medical College Hospital on 26 July 2024 Friday afternoon Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said her government would provide treatment and income to all those injured in the recent violence, irrespective of party affiliation. "The government will do whatever is necessary to provide treatment to those injured in the violence. The government will take responsibility for the treatment of the injured, no matter which party they belong to. ”
It may be mentioned that on 26 July the Prime Minister visited Dhaka Medical College Hospital(DMCH) to see the injured persons of the anti-quota movement. Next day, on Saturday she visited National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopedic Rehabilitation (NITOR) popularly known as pongu hospital. On July 28 she visited Central Police Hospital and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital to see the injured persons under treatment. Furthermore, the government has declared one-day of state mourning on Tuesday (30 July, 2024) to honour the memory of law enforcement personnel and others who lost their lives during the quota reform protests. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has extended her helping hand to the relatives of those killed and injured in terrorist attacks. In the face of the student movement, when the political and organizational weakness of the Awami League was becoming more and more evident, the right and firm leadership of Sheikh Hasina emerged as the last address of the hopes and aspirations of the people of this country.
However, The Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, the platform of students that initiated the movement demanding reformation of the government job quota system, has withdrawn its programme. In a message signed by six top coordinators of the platform on Sunday (28 July 2024) night, they announced the withdrawal of their programme.