Awami League’s diversionary tactics

Awami League’s diversionary tactics

Mohammad Jamil

 People of Bangladesh are politically mature, patriotic and hard working, yet the country presents a dismal picture due to incompetence and flawed policies of Awami League (AL) leadership and its government. Hasina Wajid’s government is considered as puppet regime of India, and the party leadership generally known as an Indian stooge. There is a perception that Prime Minister Hasina Wajid is indebted to India for having been instrumental in creation of Bangladesh through an intrigue with her father Sheikh Mujibur Rehman. AL government always tries to appease India and extremist Hindus, and propagates against Pakistan and the ISI. In fact, Awami League is trying to divert the attention from political turmoil and social disorder due to lack of political vision, poor performance and inefficiency of the government. The government has utterly failed in addressing the problems of poor masses; though under previous government the country fared better in social sector development as compared with other countries of the region including India.

The AL government and its ministers have turned the party into a corrupt clique of politicians who are totally insensitive towards real issues faced by the masses and remain focused on promoting their self-interests. In international media, Awami League is often described as a fascist party. Bangladesh Independent News Network (BDINN) carried a detailed article/treatise written by Ahmed Musaffa Zabid captioned ‘Bangladesh Awami League: Blends fascism and terrorism’. The author tried to prove AL’s fascist tendencies by quoting scholars who enumerated the characteristics common to the fascists. To name the few are powerful nationalism, scapegoats as unifying cause, rampant corruption, cronyism and controlling mass media. These characteristics fit in the Awami League, which is overplaying nationalism, making scapegoats out of Jama’at-e-Islami and those who opposed the intrigue to truncate Pakistan, using mass media to slander and disgrace opposition parties; rampant corruption and cronyism. People appear to have lost hope in AL to bring any positive change in their lives.

Mrs. Khalida Zia’s the rival political party Bangladesh National Party (BNP) is likely to challenge the governing AL in the upcoming elections. AL therefore started venomous propaganda against BNP by linking its leaders with the ISI. They indulge in denigrating the ISI to create hatred against Pakistan following the model of Indian BJP who designs its election campaign on hate message instigating violent Hindus to target Muslims in India. The strategy of AL to launch a propaganda campaign against BNP by linking its leadership with ISI appears to have been suggested by Indian experts who have the clout over AL leadership, rather control the top leadership of AL to get the decisions made in BD that suit India. BD print media is propagating that Mr. Tarique Rehman, son of Mrs. Khalida Zia has been linked with ISI for getting financial support. As per details, BD intelligence agency provided data on Mr. Tarique Rehman to India for initiating a slanderous campaign against him, and Indian print media quickly linking him with ISI for maintaining contact and allegedly getting financial support.

Last year, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina once again accused main opposition party BNP chief Khaleda Zia of receiving money from Pakistani spy agency ISI ahead of 1991 general elections in the country. On would not know the reason for the litany of the charge against Khaleda Zia dating back to 1991. “You (Khaleda Zia) sold the country’s interest by taking money from those who resorted to genocide. The people of Bangladesh won’t forgive you. Why did you take money from the defeated forces? Hasina had said at a huge rally organised by her ruling Awami League.

Hasina’s comments had come four days after the UAE-based Khaleej Times reported in March 2012 that “ISI paid Zia Rs. 50 crore ahead of the 1991 elections to help her in polls against Hasina Wajid’s Awami League generally perceived by Pakistan’s security establishment as pro-India”. BNP, however, had rejected the report with its senior standing committee member Rafiqul Islam Mia calling it “absolutely false and ridiculous”. Khaleej Times report seemed to have been prompted by India, as Indians are in top positions in the above daily.

But Hasina alleged that by accepting the money, Khaleda Zia came under obligation to defend the Bengali-speaking perpetrators of 1971 Liberation War time crimes against humanity, and accused her of desperately trying to obstruct their trial process. The fact of the matter is that Pakistan was dismembered in 1971through an international intrigue and pernicious designs of India whose leadership had never accepted the partition of the sub-continent and creation of Pakistan in 1947. India had hoped that Bangladesh would remain grateful to India for its help in creation of Bangladesh and BD’s Muslim identity would be diluted. But people of Bangladesh have maintained their identity as a Muslim nation proving the then Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi wrong who had declared that the two-nation theory had drowned in the Bay of Bengal. People of Bangladesh are not happy over India’s water terrorism. Moreover, the issue of border fences installed by India has in the past been another bone of contention.

Ever since, India decided to fence some locations along Indo-Bangladesh international border in 1987, (at present 2,859 km have been fenced out of the sanctioned 3,783 kms), Bangladesh has been upset. Bangladesh always perceived it to be ‘an unfair’ move reflective of not only India’s lack of trust towards its neighbour but also meant overlooking and disregarding what is largely considered as a historical trend of free movement across the subcontinent. Nevertheless, with the fences that were built on Indian soil with Indian resources, there was very little Bangladesh could do to stop the process. Bangladesh in the past protested vociferously about these fences naming it as defence structures, which are not permitted between the neighbours within 150 yards from the zero line. It is again during the premiership of Hasina Wajid that an agreement has reached over the fence. But the people of Bangladesh are likely to once again oppose the move with the change of guard after the fresh elections.