The government has been claiming, with a lot of arrogance, unprecedented success in all areas and the people are fully with them. They represent the politics of development and politics of democracy. But not ready to accept that the best proof of success and popularity is free election.
It is also not understood by many in our politics that free election is the most important part of the people’s freedom of expression. Yet, elections are seen merely as power struggle among the two major political parties. It is so humiliating that in free Bangladesh outsiders are expressing surprise and dismay for deaths and violence for the cause of free and fair election.
According to a news item published in national dailies yesterday the United States has expressed concern about violence and deaths in Bangladesh as a result of the on going movement for election under a neutral government. It urged all sides to refrain from acts of violence. In the words of the official, Washington regretted the loss of life, injury and damage to property.
Obama administration has also asked the government to guarantee freedom of “peaceful political expression” and like before called for fresh election as soon as possible with a “mutually acceptable poll time dispensation”. A British MP Simon Danczuk has also urged that the only way to resolve the ongoing violence is to hold a fresh, fair and neutral election under a caretaker government.
This is not the first time that our foreign well-wishers supported the need of a fresh election under an impartial government.
The truth is that the election of 5th January last year was planned, engineered and executed for one-party system of government tolerating no opposition to come to power. The composition of the present parliament is evident enough. Like under one-party system the opposition is also part of the government. The planners cannot now give up their long cherished dream of remaining in power forcibly.
The election, as was held last year, was an insult to the people’s liberation war and all their sacrifices for the aspiration to live in a democracy peacefully away from Pakistani occupation politics. Still the men in government are saying they are the freedom fighters and what they are doing is celebrating the victory of democracy.
So there being violence or no violence, the nation has every reason to be fuming and resentful. They cannot be true freedom fighters who can be happy with the thought that another kind of occupational rule is to be established in Bangladesh under some other pretext.
The whole public and not just few unjust beneficiaries are the freedom fighters. In the liberation war India also made it clear that it had helped the people of Bangladesh and not any particular group or class. But the fight that began in free Bangladesh was for a permanent arrangement of rule by a class. The clash for class rule is the crux of our political crisis.
Class struggle for class rule is against the nation’s entire history of democratic struggle. We cannot have class struggle for class rule and peace at the same time, except the peace of a graveyard. Another kind of subjugation under whatever slogan cannot be the realistic way for peace in Bangladesh.
We are reminding everybody that relying wholly on police power is not political leadership.
