[Raynman]

Just some random thoughts on the situation. It seems most everyone comes to the table with a pre determined bias to one side or other. Funny thing is everyone claims to want whats best for Bangladesh but more often than not, it’s a case of wanting their party of preference in power or at least not having the party they hate/oppose be in power or even be regarded in a good light for that matter. I’m sure a lot of you will read into this and accuse me of being one sided as well but I believe this is a fairly honest and balanced analysis of the situation and hopefully, a learning opportunity by researching the accuracy of what I said for those that are fairly young and unaware of the history.

AL vs. BNP

• Both are really two sides of the same coin
• Neither is more EVIL or BETTER than the other but simply massively corrupt and based on fundamentals that are detrimental to the nation
• Both parties and leaders crave power not only for the sake of money, greed and ego but also their past actions and relationships make them vulnerable (to the point of putting their life and family in jeopardy) when they are not in power
• Neither have a solid platform that is based on the current state of the world or economy but based on items that attempt to tug on emotions of the people
• Both align and realign themselves with other parties and more often than not, inherit the detrimental portion of those other parties into their eco-system


Bangladesh History of 1971

Its hard to have a true perspective on the situation without understanding what has led up to this. Below are some thoughts that are the basic truths which should be recognized by all

• Being East Pakistan was not a favorable situation for us politically, economically or humanely
• West Pakistan treated the East as second rate citizens and refused to acknowledge the democratic results of an election won by AL
• Sheikh Mujib’s role as the leader of the nation needs to be admired and preserved for the sake of the nation’s identity in a respectful manner. Everyone is entitled to their personal opinions on him and his aspirations and actions post liberation but that is not the point. Take a look at US history. As human beings (Slave Owners, persecutors of religion) the forefathers were not the most ideal humans but their role as the country’s founding fathers are never tarnished or questioned
• Liberation of Bangladesh would not have been possible without support from India, regardless of their motives
• Regardless of what you believe about West Pakistan in 1971, the following items are irrefutable. General discard of the will of East Pakistan and refusal to hand over power from a democratic election, Open firing on its own people (as it was one nation then), Mass killings of Hindus by doing the ‘short arm’ check, mass killings of intellectuals that had no part in a war strategy as they were about to surrender in 2 days other than to simply cripple the newborn nation. These items alone deserve an official recognition and apology from Pakistan today to Bangladesh. Such an acknowledgement and apology will do a lot to heal a lot of mental wounds that remain for those that witnessed the horror in 1971

Post 1971

• The assassination of Mujib and the fact that the killers were free and put in positions of power set a very negative tone for the country
• Zia’s rule was also marred with taking out anybody that opposed him. There is a reason that Ershad lives today and Zia was killed. Ershad’s was a bloodless coupe and despite his dictatorial rule, he was very cautious in his use of power. In his nearly decade long rule, had he followed the previous model, neither AL or BNP would exist with the personnel it does today
• Hasina has led AL to become the party based on liberation war and unfortunately nothing much more. I personally feel she saw this cycle as her last chance to extract revenge on rajakars and those that were behind the killings of her family and she took full advantage of it. Although I sympathize with her from a psychological point of view (imagine knowing the only reason you are alive instead of being killed with your family is because you were abroad and that those responsible and that gloat in those killings walk around with a strut), she has to see the bigger picture as a leader of a nation. I don’t much disagree with the outcomes of the trials that have been taking place and even though it would have been nice to have it done in a more accurate fashion, we all know that it was highly unlikely to happen given Bangladesh’s history and political nature
• Khaleda has turned BNP into an anti-AL party without really any identity of its own. Instead of putting forth new ideas to move ahead, BNP’s approach has been reactive to oppose anything AL does. Sometimes it’s the right thing to do, sometimes its not but that is of no consequence to them. I fear their tactics and followers have become much like the Tea Party we see in the US

The India Factor

• Every powerful country has its own motive behind supporting another nation. No one does it for the ‘right reasons’. US will support Israel, Russia will support Iran etc. India already has a volatile relationship with Pakistan and they cannot afford animosity with Bangladesh as well. So it should not be any surprise for them to support a party that will move at their whim. The problem is that by relying on the Indian gov’t to barely survive, AL has lost any bargaining power when it comes to India. Now let us also not forget that BNP also uses the anti-India sentiment that exists in nearly half the nation to its advantage as well while being funded by Pakistan and other middle eastern countries
• Just like Mexico and Canada avoid conflict with US and the eastern European block does the same with Russia and the South American countries do with Brazil, being in a good standing with India is imperative to us. I’m not saying we need to do things as they wish but there is no reason why a political party needs to have an anti-India platform

The Jamaat Factor

• Both AL and BNP are to blame for being in bed with this right wing extremist faction in the past. Biggest problem is that BNP has gotten themselves so entangled that they have now unwillingly become the JI mouthpiece. Shahabag was the opportunity for BNP to break this tie with Jamaat but they chose not to do so and ended up digging themselves in deeper. Of course, without Jamaat, BNP can not attain the seats it would require to come into power

Suggestions

• Agree to a term limit retro-actively so we can at least be gone of these two ladies and move on with new leadership. A term limit should somewhere down the line take out the family dynasty and allow for people with ideas within the party to rise up and actually do good for the country
• Agree to let bygones be bygones and agree on events and incidents that will no longer be pursued through the courts. At least this may reduce the fear of losing power for some and start bringing a bit of normalcy. However, any future crimes shall be met with swift hands of non-partisan justice

At the end of the day, it really is up to the people of Bangladesh to push. Currently the country remains divided and in many cases attached more to the party line than the country itself. Choice #1 : Oppose the tyranny of the ruling party and create the cyclical effect we have been seeing since 1991 or Choice #2: Collectively rise up to demand a change in the political system that prevents the current cycle to continue.