A raging debate on allowing deposed Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League party to participate in the national elections has split that country in the past weeks.
This comes amid allegations by student leaders that the Bangladesh army was trying to thrust Hasina’s political outfit (by renaming it as the ‘refined Awami League’) on them in collusion with her biggest backer, India.
Mujib’s legacy
It also coincides with the student-dominated interim government’s decision to erase Hasina’s father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s legacy from the country. Most of the students have affiliation with the Islamist parties, though some have now floated their own outfit, the National Citizen’s Party.
Mujib is a widely revered figure in Bangladesh for leading the country during its liberation struggle against Pakistan in 1971.
A new proposal is now being floated to strip Mujib and his other party colleagues in the Awami League of their ‘freedom fighter’ status by downgrading them only as ‘associates’ in the freedom struggle.
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Earlier, Mujib’s house in Dhaka’s Dhanmondi was demolished by Islamists.
Divided opinion
The debate over Awami League has divided opinion among political parties in Bangladesh. Many leaders believe the legitimacy of the election will be questioned if the country’s biggest party is kept out of the polls.
But the Islamists are determined to remove the legacy of Hasina and her father, whom they now refer as ‘fascists’, as well as their party Awami League, from the country.
Hasina was Bangladesh’s longest-serving leader. Her fourth consecutive term as prime minister, however, was cut short after a student protest on government jobs turned into a violent public insurrection overthrowing her government and driving Hasina out of the country.
She fled to India and has been in Delhi since. There are a number of criminal cases pending against her and Dhaka has been demanding that she be handed over to stand trial for the crimes she committed during her rule.
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The Islamists, led by the Jamaat-e-Islami, has been engaged in an ideological battle with Hasina for years. They have made it clear that there should be no attempt to bring the Awami League back to participate in the elections.
Student oppose Awami League’s poll participation
The students, especially those who played a lead role in the protest that drove Hasina out of power in August, are strongly opposed to the idea of allowing the Awami League to participate in elections.
Recently, they organized a protest at night on the Dhaka University campus, raising slogans to ban Hasina and the Awami League to prevent them from participating in any political activities in Bangladesh in future.
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The growing nervousness in the Islamists’ ranks stems from a lack of confidence that they will be able to check Hasina’s participation in politics in the country for long if the Awami League is allowed to participate in elections even by changing its name.
Yunus cautious
Mohammed Yunus, the celebrated economist who heads the interim government that replaced Hasina’s administration, had maintained ambiguity on the subject earlier, as he is indebted to the students who suggested his name as the head of the interim government.
In August, when anti-Hasina sentiments swirled around Bangladesh, Yunus had enjoyed the systematic dismantling of her image in the country’s political theatre. At that juncture, he was not averse to the idea of Hasina and her party colleagues being kept out of the election process.
But after six months, as his government faces growing economic and political crises, Yunus finds himself in a tight spot. There has been additional pressure on him on the international stage, with Donald Trump assuming the president’s office in the United States. Yunus had been a critic of Trump during his first term; his re-entry in the White House has made him more circumspect.
He has now been advocating that for the election to be free and fair, no political party should be kept out of it.
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“Dr Yunus is very conscious of his image to the outside world. He will not do anything that can hurt his global standing,” said Del H Khan, a retired major of the Bangladesh army who recently joined a political party of former army officers called Janotar Dol (People’s Party).
Yunus finessing his stand?
After his meeting with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Yunus made it clear that he had no plans to ban the Awami League though he wants Hasina to come and stand trial for the crimes she committed during her rule.
But observers believe Yunus was finessing his stand on his arch enemy and her party.
Much of the cautious stance could have come from the situation in the country in the past six months that has gone significantly downhill instead of improving, under his interim government.
The other important development could have stemmed from the changes in the global political stage where American President Trump is asserting his policies to break the existing status quo.
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Funds dry up
Bangladesh’s funds have dried up as well, as it has strained ties with India since Hasina’s overthrow and the US developmental grants have also been suspended by the Trump administration.
Yunus will travel to China for a meeting with President Xi Jinping on March 26-28. China is Bangladesh’s development partner and has made significant investments in the country in past years.
The visit and its outcome are likely to be hyped up by Yunus’ team as they desperately need to show some success. But many are still sceptical on how much burden Beijing is willing to take in this time of uncertainty.
Gabbard’s remarks
Another development that has rankled the Bangladesh administration in recent days comes from the remarks of Tulsi Gabbard, director of National Intelligence in the Trump government.
During her visit to India a few days back, she expressed concern on the attacks on Hindus and other religious minorities in Bangladesh and urged Dhaka to take appropriate steps for their safety and security.
Bangladeshi commentators felt her comments were prompted by the Indian establishment and argued that Dhaka was engaged in talks with officials in Washington and had succeeded in allaying their fears.
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In private, however, many observers acknowledge that the deteriorating law-and-order situation in the country needed to improve urgently to restore Bangladesh’s image to the outside world.
Army’s growing disappointment
The comments purportedly made by the army on the necessity of allowing the Awami League’s participation in the election has sparked speculations on what role it may play in the coming days.
Army chief Waker Uz-Zaman has publicly stated that unlike on past occasions, the army had no desire to play a role in politics.
But Dhaka’s political circles have been exceedingly abuzz with the army’s growing disappointment with the Yunus administration’s handling of the country’s ongoing challenges.
This has come amid the launch of the political party by retired army officials in Dhaka last week.
Whether the army will play a bigger role in the coming days will remain a matter of speculation until the year-end parliamentary election in Bangladesh.