The verdict and after

By HAROON HABIB

THE FOUR-PARTY alliance led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chief, Begum Khaleda Zia has got a stunning and unprecedented two-thirds majority in the elections held on October 1. The polling was generally peaceful and the voter turnout massive. The elections for Bangladesh's eighth Parliament virtually wiped out the Awami League, which lead the nation's War for Liberation from Pakistan and was also the guardian of the nation's secular values and religious tolerance.

The BNP-led alliance included the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami and the Islamic Oikya Jote(IOJ), whose ``reserved votes'' may have played a vital role in the unprecedented electoral victory. But the results are contested by the Awami League, which headed the last Government, as ``nakedly manipulated under a blueprint'' by a syndicate of the caretaker Government, the Chief Election Commissioner and the BNP-led alliance.

The Awami League president, Sheikh Hasina, has given an ultimatum to the Election Commission to cancel the results and announce a fresh poll schedule by October 10. Otherwise, her party would launch a ``non-cooperation movement'' from the following day. ``We are not going to accept the results... not going to take oath... what is the justification in accepting some seats allotted to us by the conspirators,'' she declared.

The two-thirds majority for the BNP and the fundamentalists gives them the right to re-shape the polity of the country where the Muslims are an overwhelming majority - the minorities are just a little more than 10 per cent. The BNP-led Government can even change the Constitution.

The BNP can form a Government on its own. But it may be difficult for Begum Khaleda to ignore the radical Islamic partners. Bangladesh could then get a Government which includes the religious fundamentalists who had opposed independence from Pakistan and collaborated with Pakistani troops in committing genocide.

The poll results belied the general expectation that it would be a neck-and-neck race between the Awami League and the BNP-led alliance. Begum Khaleda had claimed from the beginning that her alliance would get two-thirds majority; she has been proved right.

Sheikh Hasina, however, maintains that the results were ``crudely manipulated''. ``The people spontaneously cast their votes, but they stunned to see the results. The caretaker Government has betrayed the nation. It is a destruction of a noble system of conducting a free and fair poll,'' she says. Sheikh Hasina has from the beginning been alleging that the caretaker Government was partisan. She accused Mr. Justice Rahman's administration of implementing a ``blueprint'' by first staging an ``administrative coup'' and finally subverting the popular mandate by a ``media coup''. She said the voting rights of the people, restored after a long-drawn struggle against the military and pseudo-democratic forces, were snatched in a ``very crude way''.

The Awami League's debacle was so complete that at least 20 Ministers and party stalwarts lost, and this seems incredible to many. Most of the major leaders of the fundamentalist parties have won.

Besides allegations of violence and intimidation, the Awami League has raised questions about the fairness of the process of vote counting, compilation and announcement of the results. The allegations of booth-capturing, collaboration of a section of the security forces with the BNP-led alliance, and threats to minority voters cannot be blithely brushed aside. The country's civil society leaders have alleged that 70 lakh people of the minority community could not exercise their franchise. The South Asian Union against Fundamentalism and Communalism has accused the caretaker Government and the ``pro-Taliban'' four- party alliance of compelling the minority voters not to go to the polling centres.

Sheikh Hasina has remarked that ``those who do terrorism in the name of religion, those who do not believe in the very independence of Bangladesh, would now form the Government.''

At her first news conference after the electoral victory, Begum Khaleda, however, appealed for unity, peace and stability. She also urged the Awami League to cooperate with her in combating ``terrorism and corruption''. She said the people had voted against ``divisive politics'' as they did not want to see a ``divided country''.

Begum Khaleda also appealed to her supporters to show tolerance, and not to show disrespect to the portraits of the country's slain founding hero, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, which are displayed in streets and offices. Unless the laws are amended, Mujib, whose killers are condemned to death and their execution is awaiting approval of the highest judiciary, will remain the ``Father of the Nation'' and the day of his assassination will be treated as ``National Mourning Day''.

But the newspapers reported quick re-occupations of all university dormitories, destruction of Mujib's portraits, and driving out of Vice-Chancellors.

Religious fanaticism in the country could rise even if the BNP tries to block it on tactical grounds, say commentators. There are also apprehensions about whether the results have any link to the developments after the September 11 terrorist attacks on America. Osama bin Laden's followers are quite active in Bangladesh .

The concept of having a non-party caretaker Government has also been called into question. Only time will tell what ultimately awaits Bangladesh's democracy. By all indications, Sheikh Hasina, Mujib's daughter, has chosen a path which is thorny.

Asked whether she would ultimately accept the results ``under pressure'', she said: ``I am the daughter of such a person that I'd rather die before I succumb. I have all the right to save my country's image''.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Opinion
Previous : It's the loyalists now