Khaleda Zia’s terror tactics can’t go unchecked
Restraining an Opposition leader in the run-up to a general election looks bad for any democracy. But Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has shown enormous political courage by setting aside those concerns, even though it is sure to elicit criticism both at home and surely abroad, and restraining Ms Khaleda Zia. The two-time former Prime Minister and chief of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party not just lead the political Opposition in Dhaka but she has spearheaded a terror campaign of chaos and anarchy that has caused much damage in the form of arson attacks and bomb explosions. Strikes and blockades have become the norm in Bangladesh causing untold misery for the common man while political rallies held by the BNP-led, 18-party Opposition alliance routinely turn violent. Only earlier this week, the Opposition concluded a month-long hartal that claimed more than a hundred lives across the country. But even this could not bring the regime to its knees and make Prime Minister Hasina concede to the Opposition's unconstitutional demand for a non-political caretaker Government before the election. And so the latter upped the ante. The Opposition has now called upon the entire country to march to Dhaka on December 29, and demand that the general election scheduled for January 5 be cancelled. That this is a law and order nightmare goes without saying. Especially given the Opposition's track record in these matters, it is no surprise that the authorities have refused to give permission for the protest march. And just as unsurprisingly, the Opposition has still threatened to go ahead with the protest march that it estimates will bring more than a million people from across the country to Dhaka — no matter the fact that this could trigger more unrest, in what has already been the deadliest year for political violence in Bangladesh's history. Against this backdrop, the Government has justifiably cracked down on the Opposition, including its top leaders, some of whom have been taken it to custody while security forces have laid siege to Ms Zia's residence and isolated her.
let there be no doubt that if allowed to go unchecked, the disruptive politics practiced by Ms Zia and her allies (who have no qualms in resorting to terror tactics in order to achieve political goals) pose a real and serious threat to the democratic process in Bangladesh. Indeed, it is ironical that the Opposition has sought to present this movement of mayhem as a movement for democracy. Ms Zia has said that the January 5 poll will be “farcical”, when in fact it is the Opposition that has vitiated the political atmosphere to such an extent that a free and fair election is almost impossible. Similarly, Ms Zia has also criticised the Prime Minister for wanting to “consolidate power forever”; yet, by boycotting the polls, it is the Opposition that has effectively cleared the path for the incumbent Awami league Government to rule for another five years.