How is reconciliation possible between AL and BNP?

The feud between two major political parties who alternate power in Bangladesh, left-leaning centrist Awami League (AL) and right-wing Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), almost borders on civil war like situation. Both parties are guilty of corruption, gross mismanagement, politicization of administration, and nepotism; but to each other they are nothing but mortal enemy. Recently The Economist published three articles on Bangladesh’s current political situation. It tried to shed some light, but failed to figure out the root causes. The answers to why some of Bangladesh’s problems are unique in nature and why there seem to have no solutions lie in the past brutal events and how each party views them.

Aug 15, 1975 was a turning point for Bangladesh. On that day, the founding father of the country Sheikh Mujib and all his family members but two daughters (who were abroad at the time) were brutally murdered. To outsiders, it would seem like an isolated event executed by few rogue Army officers. The meteoric rise of right-wing communal elements soon after Mujib’s murder points to a much bigger plot. When dictator Zia grabbed power, first thing he did was release all war criminals that committed atrocities against their own people during the war of liberation in 1971 from prison and bring back their top leaders, who went into hiding in the Middle East to escape justice. Next by lifting the ban from religion-based communal politics and removing secularism from constitution, Zia directly planted the seeds of communalism. Today’s bitter political culture in Bangladesh is the product of Zia’s reckless actions (parallel comparison to USA backed Pakistan’s late dictator Ziaul Haq).

Perhaps Bangladesh is the only country that ever sanctioned murders in parliament, and passed an indemnity bill to prevent killers from being prosecuted. Not only Mujib and his family were murdered on Aug 15, many others faced the same fate too. Entire families were executed in pre-planned and cold-blooded murder spree. The killers did not show any mercy to children and pregnant women. And again, on Nov 3, 1975 four top national leaders, who led the interim Bangladesh government during the war in Mujib’s absence, were brutally murdered inside prison by the same killers. In 1979 under the dictatorship of Zia, Bangladesh parliament ratified notorious Indemnity Ordinance that gave immunity from legal action to the persons involved in the murders; it subsequently became part of the country’s constitution. Zia not only tried to make sure life-long immunity for the killers from justice, but also rewarded them with most lucrative Foreign Service jobs. Zia, his family and his party’s firm siding with the cold-blooded murderers is one of the thorniest issues that damages any chance for reconciliation between AL and BNP.

The dirtiest political act in world politics today is the celebration of fake birthday by ex-prime minister Khaleda Zia, wife of dictator Zia. This year one ex-parliament member of Khaleda’s party exposed the dirty truth – Khaleda changed her birthday to Aug 15 in 1991 under the influence of some sycophants of her party only to demean top national leaders. Since 1991 she and her party henchmen have been celebrating it nationally with several huge cakes each weighing her years in pounds, on a tragic day when the country’s founding father was brutally murdered along with his family. He further stressed that today’s politics of vendetta, poisonous and rude political environment in Bangladesh are direct results of that and this lowly act is producing new generation of youths whose hearts and minds are getting filled with hate, intolerance, and vengeance. This one event can summarize the bitter animosities between top two parties. To one, it’s a sad day of mourning; to other, it’s a great day of celebration. The independence of Bangladesh brought Awami League to power, and the brutal killings of Aug 15 and Nov 3, 1975 were needed for the birth of BNP and revival of the extreme and retrogressive right-wing elements in Bangladesh. BNP has to celebrate the brutal killings. Recently their party secretary said it bluntly – this birthday celebration inspires them.

During Bangladesh’s war of independence in 1971, the role played by the extreme right-wing politico–religious circle under the leadership of Jama’ate Islami and Muslim League was nothing less than absolute evil. They and their student organizations formed para-militia groups to kill and rape dissenting Bengali population. They were in charge of leading the Pak Army to houses of Bengalis that they considered enemies. Many of their top leaders were involved in killing and raping, and sending girls and women to rape camps of Pak Army. Their most notorious act was the killings of Bengali intellectuals in dying hours of the war. Sensing imminent defeat of the Pak Army, they thought the new nation would not survive long without its intellectual base. Hundreds were dragged from their homes and slaughtered in various killing fields in less than a week. Soon after the war, the new Bangladeshi government was able to jail approximately 30,000 Bengali war criminals. Most leaders of the war criminals fled the country and took shelter in Saudi Arabia. But the fate of them soon changed after the murder of Mujib. Not only were they released from jail and brought back from abroad by dictator Zia, but also were given special status and power; and utilizing it fully, they have now become all powerful financed by petro dollar from the Middle East and sometimes backed by tacit Western support. Two of the most notorious and well-publicized war criminals served as ministers in previous BNP government.

The war crime issue is one of the bitterest that polarizes the whole nation into two diametrically opposing sides. One party’s political base is uncompromising on war trial issue – war criminals must be tried, the other is allied with the top war criminals and part of their base comprises pro-war-criminal supporters who are leading a strong movement to hide and distort the facts of war crimes committed by Pakistani Army and their local collaborators.

There were many others who contributed in Bangladesh’s struggle for independence, but Sheikh Mujib was the undisputable leader. There was no controversy in this regard before his death. When right-wing BNP was founded in Army cantonment by Dictator Zia, the supporters started portraying him as no less than a founding father. Zia was a mere Army Major, nobody heard about him and he had no contribution to country’s struggle for independence before the war. It was his fate that he was present near a small radio station on Mar 27, 1971. He was requested by the staff to re-announce the declaration of independence on behalf of Mujib. On the same day, a staff had already made one before, but the staffs at the station thought another declaration by a member of Armed forces would send a message to the public that the Bengali officers in Pakistani Army also joined the civilian struggle and it would encourage more people to join the war. When the war officially started, the interim Bangladeshi government formed 12 sectors to fight the invading Pak Army and they appointed mostly Majors in charge of each sector. Zia was just one of the sector commanders. But that did not make him any way the declarer of Independence. The head of the state declares war and the spokespersons deliver the message. A spokesperson cannot declare war on his/her own. If that ever happens, he/she will be arrested and prosecuted for treason.

But it’s shocking to see how relentlessly Zia’s followers have been twisting historical facts to establish a vicious lie. The way they emphasize Zia’s greatness as if nothing happened before Mar 27, 1971, and Zia appeared from nowhere on that day, declared the war of Independence and the whole nation blindly jumped in. Ironically, Zia himself never claimed to be the declarer. In an article in 1973, he unquestionably acknowledged Mujib to be the declarer of Independence. Moreover, it was Zia’s government that constituted an authentication committee on February 13, 1979 for writing and printing history of the Liberation War. The books were published by this committee in November 1982 and later were reprinted in December 2003. Both editions said Sheikh Mujib declared independence on March 26, 1971. It was only after Zia’s death, his fervent followers started to establish him as the ONLY leader the country ever had. To legitimatize their ulterior goal, Zia’s widow Khaleda formed a committee in 2004 with some sold out and blindly partisan intellectuals. The books that the committee published changed some of the facts from the first edition to establish Zia as the first and only declarer. Bangladesh celebrates its Independence Day on Mar 26. Why? Because that’s the day their undisputable leader Sheikh Mujib declared it. If Zia was the first and only declarer of the Independence, shouldn’t Bangladesh celebrate it on Mar 27 instead of Mar 26? Even after twisting so many facts, Zia’s followers still do not deny that Zia made his declaration (on behalf of Sheikh Mujib) on Mar 27.

Something shockingly unbelievable happened on Aug 21, 2004 in a political gathering of the then opposition party. Military grade grenades were thrown targeting the entire top leadership of AL. The goal was to kill the opposition leader Sheikh Hasina (daughter of Sheikh Mujib and current prime minister) and top leaders of her party at the same time. Hasina survived, but 24 people were killed including the wife of current President of Bangladesh and hundreds were severely injured, many became permanently handicapped.

But what followed after was more shocking. Not only the military and civilian security forces arranged safe passages for the Al-Qaeda and Taliban aligned terrorists, but also started beating and throwing tear gas shells at angry opposition supporters who were trying to apprehend the grenade throwers. Khaleda, and her ministers started blaming AL, India and RAW (Indian intelligence service). They said repeatedly - Hasina’s staying alive proved that she herself brought the grenades to kill her own party people so that she could start an uprising to uproot the government. The government and administration led by Khaleda and her son Tareq soon started diverting investigation by destroying hard evidence, arresting workers of AL and members of minority communities. Many completely innocents were brutally tortured in police custody. They were told to testify against some of the leaders of AL. But Khaleda’s government could not make them confess under duress. They then staged a drama by arresting a petty criminal named Joj Miah. The story related to Joj Miah was so ridiculous that even elementary school graders would find it hard to believe. Their cat finally came out of the bag when Joj Miah’s sister told the journalists that Khaleda’s intelligence officers had been paying her family monthly allowance since her brother’s arrest. Almost everyone sensed that Khaleda’s government was trying desperately to protect somebody very BIG in her party.

The chiefs of intelligence agencies with the help of Khaleda’s home minister arranged escape routes for the killers (helped one mastermind flee to Pakistan) and sheltered some after the attack. Today some ministers and parliament members of Khaleda’s party along with the Al-Qaeda and Taliban aligned terrorists are being tried for this heinous terrorist attack. The finger of suspicion for BNP’s desperate attempts to cover up point to once most powerful Tareq Zia, the son of Zia and Khaleda and now fugitive Haris Chowdhury, Khaleda’s right-hand man and political secretary as the main planners.

It all boils down to one hypothesis; Zia’s family is out to wipe out the remaining family members of Sheikh Mujib, and life-threatening violence against them will never stop until the job is completely done. Dictator Zia rewarded and sheltered the cruel cold-blooded murderers of Sheikh Mujib’s family and top Awami League leaders, his wife proudly celebrates her fake birthday on the day Mujib was murdered, Zia rehabilitated the war criminals, and not only Zia and his family developed special close relationship with them, but also shared power, how is reconciliation possible between these two major political parties?