Views not objectivity drawn
I wonder what prompted Charles Tannock, Foreign Affairs Coordinator for the European Conservatives and reformists to the European Parliament, to write the article ‘Bangladesh at a crossroads’ published in a local English daily on February 9, 2014.
There are quite a number of points which are questionable. At one place, he wrote “Roughly 300 people – many of them members of religious minorities, who are often scapegoated for supporting the Awami League and the ICT – died last year as a result of the protests.” There are many versions of the killings so one should be 100% sure before commenting on it. It is questionable as no proper investigation was carried out.
Then about the CTG system, maybe Charles Tannock is unaware of the fact that, it was the brain child of Jammat-e Islam. Awami League and Jammat-e Islam jointly staged violent agitation to achieve the caretaker government system and three general elections were held under it.
In 2011, when Awami League-led government realized that if the next general election is held under a CTG, they surely will lose because of all the mismanagement by it. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in one stroke abolished the CTG and thrust the country in a great peril.
In another place, Charles Tannock wrote, “The BNP claimed that there could be no fair elections without a caretaker government, even though they had recently won local municipal elections.” Oh no! How could these elections be compared to the general elections?
He doggedly went on saying that, “The government had no choice but to hold the election as mandated by the constitution.” Is it really so? Constitution is for the people, it has been changed many times before, it could have been changed again to give the people their basic rights. We are feeling betrayed and let down, for not being able to cast our votes.
Nur Jahan
Chittagong
