The anti-liberation forces are mushrooming again in Bangladesh

Today we are going to celebrate the 40th anniversary of our victory day. It does not matter how much aspiration, hope, expectation of the citizens of the country has been fulfilled in the last 40 years rather its important how much we are successful in reshaping our beloved nation in our own architectural design.

Did we succeed in the war criminal trial? Spirit of the liberation war flares up in three important dates. 16, 21 and 26! People become more patriotic in these three dates. But we wanted a Bangladesh where every people will bring the spirit our heroic history in their minds.

It is very tough to keep the sovereignty than to achieve it. History may repeat itself as a farce. Duty is ours to bring the actual history in front of the new generation. People should learn about the traitors and the political parties who patronized them after 1971.There is a deep conspiracy in turning Bangladesh into a country of fundamentalism, a country of militants, a country of terrorism and hooliganism.

In Bangladesh,the suppressed people went in favor of Bangladesh Awami League, but Rajakars who lost power and money in our liberation war stood iron steel behind Jamat and then BNP. If we analyze the financial and genealogical history of the people who were involved in BNP, Jamat and other culprit parties who lost power, money and status in 1971 joined the anti-liberation spirit under the banner of BNP.

If we analyze from the grass root level to the top level of BNP leaders we find a deep correlation between their predecessors who used to belong to either the Pakistan Muslim League or Jamat-E-Islami before 1971. They got a very long breath of time to re-connect themselves with their Pakistani mentors in the west for about 25 years when the Pakistani bureaucracy , army, ISI and the Pakistani businessmen and the Pakistani political leaders tried to create an environment which is conducive to Pakistan and neglected our spirit of liberation.

Their money,power, muscle all work together to weaken our education system and to influence a new generation who grew up after 71 and were adults kept on thinking in the line they were taught by the leaders of BNP and Jamat; where Pakistani leaders, businessmen,army and intellectuals remain behind the scene to play this game. Their ultimate target was and is to create Bangladesh psyche in the Pakistani model. So that they can create pressure on India from the east and the west.

Now, a group of the growing children of Bangladesh are made to think that Pakistan was our savior and Bangabandhu was a traitor. They pictured him like this. The picture was well sold through modern marketing technology and was well-eaten to the brim of their stomach. So Pakistan conquered the neurons of the first generation of Bangladesh. Now there is a lot of misunderstanding about the rule and the misrule during 72 to 75, which is a negligible period of time to a nation’s life is being highlighted by the anti-generation factors.Thus it has become super difficult to turn around the neurons of the new generation whose neurons are pro-Pakistani.

The anti-liberation culprits are mushrooming again in Bangladesh. They are planning to turn Bangladesh into another Pakistan. Let’s take the oath to erase them right here right now!

Senior Jamaat leaders were also involved in the 21st August grenade attack on Awami League rally, and their role as mentors of militancy in Bangladesh is an open secret. Top Jamaat leader Nijami even supported militancy on camera when he denied the existence of Bangla Bhai and accused the media of creating the boogey of this executed militant. It is also a matter of record that most of high-level militants arrested during operations confessed to their Jamaat links; their confessions offer substantial evidence that almost all banned militant outfits, like Harkatul Jihad BD, Jamayetul Mujahedeen BD and Hizbut Tehrir, were produced from the radical factory of Jamaat-Shibir.

Jamaat-e-Islami is operating on the open agenda that it wants to destroy the secular fabrics of democracy and replace it with Shariah through a militant uprise. The BNP-Jamaat coalition government (2001-06) offered militancy a safe haven in Bangladesh. It even tried to create links between Islamic radicals and separatist groups of North-East India. Some coalition leaders were also allegedly involved in offering a weapons transit to ULFA.

BNP continues its strong support to Jamaat by calling for an unruly strike on Sept 22 against the Awami League which came into power one of the promises of war criminals’ trials. The radical duo also appears quite infuriated at the recent peaceful advances between Dhaka and New Delhi: Harkatul Jihad bombed Delhi High Court when the Indian Prime Minister was visiting Dhaka earlier this month, while ULFA continues to get support from this very outfit in its fight against the Indian government. The doctrine that ‘my enemy’s enemy is my friend’ is apparently the connection between all terror groups of India, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

It is about time that Jamaat be banned as a political party in Bangladesh. Its attempt to hold the capital hostage on Sept 19 should not go unpunished. BNP strikes should also be tackled firmly so that the country does not sink into chaos. Bangladeshis have long been victims of political violence and hartals. The BNP-Jamaat anarchism to obtain power should no longer be allowed to continue. BNP should especially understand that it has lost public faith for its conspiratory marriage with Jamaat and for giving BNP leader Tareq Rahman a free hand to mentor militants in the name of jihad. Also, the party’s stand against war criminal trials rightly raises the question: is BNP against providing justice and closure to the 30 lakh Bengalis killed and 4 lakh women tortured in ’71?

The performance of BNP-Jamaat government during its 2001-06 tenure offers no excuse or reason for the duo to ask Awami League to step down for its failure in running public office. Democracy requires that the mandate of the people of Bangladesh be respected and disagreements be channeled through parliament, media and social platforms. Voters have chosen BNP as the opposition party to keep an eye on government performance and voice concerns in parliamentary sessions. This wild wild east terrorism in the name of politics carries no mass appeal what so ever. Following the letter of law, strikes should be banned to safeguard public security and economy. BNP should wait for next elections.

BNP Chairperson and leader of the opposition Mrs Khaleda Zia, widow of slain President General Ziaur Rahman, addressed a rally at Laldighi maidan on 29th March 2010. This is her first public appearance, after Mahajote Government’s assumption of power, on 39th anniversary of the glorious independence of our country on 26th march, a day which also saw the launch of the process of the much desired trial of war criminals. The meeting was peaceful as state took all required security measures to let the leader of the opposition criticise the government.

We can compare the similar situation on 21 August 2004 at Bangabandhu Avenue. The then leader of the opposition was addressing a similar anti government rally at the heart of the capital Dhaka only 500 meters away from Central secretariat. It is alleged that state sponsored terrorists almost killed Hasina hurling grenade and using snipper bullets. In that carnage a lot of party activists including wife of President Zillur Rahman got killed, hundreds of others including Hasina got injured. This comparison is given here to draw analogy between respective situations.

Madam Zia’s speech can be summarised below
• She termed the present government as lying, aggressive, efficient in signing agreements and prone to lodging cases.
• She alleged that PM during India visit has handed over Chittagong, Mongla Port and Corridor to India.
• She also claimed that some ambitious Army Officers with General Moin grabbed state power.
• She also claimed that Dr Fakhruddin and General Moinuddin set Awami League in state power.
• She also revealed that Care taker government plotted to send her abroad pushing sleeping injections in her veins.
• She also claimed that the government is corrupt from the top to the bottom.
• She also said media at home and abroad have said Zia is the announcer of liberation war.

We know every conscious citizen can make their own analysis of what Khaleda Zia said at a critical stage of national life. She is leader of the opposition in the parliament. The parliament is in session now. She does not attend parliament or attend in any proceedings off parliamentary activities. One must wonder, therefore, if she had credible supporting evidences to substantiate these claims, why she did not take these issues to the parliament!

For the sake of clarity, some parts of her speech demand further analysis. Present government has to deal with priority national issues with controlled aggression to confront crisis triggered from misruling of Khaleda-led-alliance government. This government is pledge-bound to citizens to try War criminals, terrorists and corruption-syndicates and that is why cases are given against them. Some of Khaleda Zia’s associates are making fabricated allegations. As a result, defamatory suits are being tried against them. Over the last few months, Government has signed some milestone agreements and initiated MOUs with two major regional powers India and China. Situation has been created to resolve many long outstanding issues and improve sour relations with neighbours. Bangladesh, a small country, can not keep its doors and windows shut for ever. PM Hsaina has been mandated to take such decisions and is accountable to the nation through sovereign parliament.

PM Hasina has done historic works in offering Chittagong and Mongla to India, Nepal, Bhutan and China. When this materializes, Bangladesh economy will get tremendous boost. PM has also removed bottlenecks to include Bangladesh in Asian Highway Network. It must not be narrowed down to offering transit only to India alone. Connectivity with Bhutan, Nepal and China are also included in PM Hasina vision.

General Moinuddin Ahmed and few Generals who backed care taker Government were beneficiaries of Khaleda-led-alliance-government. Khaleda made Moin Army Chief bypassing many senior quality Army officers. Another main Person General Masududdin Chowdhury is a close relative of Khaleda Zia. However the actions of these favoured generals stopped implementations of election engineering blue print of Alliance Government and saved the country from a possible civil war.

World Community and all conscious citizens know that election 209 was fair and free. No credible clues of election manipulations could be found by any local or foreign observers.

The allegations of Khaleda Zia about plot to send her abroad using sleeping injection must be investigated.

Her allegations against PM Hasina of Corruptions must also be investigated. If not found to have any evidence supporting the speech of Khaleda Zia, she must be asked to beg apology.
Zia is one of the several announcers of the liberation War on behalf of Bangbandhu. This does not make any difference to respective positions of Bangabandhu and one Ziaur Rahman. After historic speech of 7th March 1971 there was nothing left to formally announce commencement of liberation war. Yet the EPR Radio announced Bangabnadhu declaration from mid night of 25th March. Several other persons announced it through out March 26th. President Zia never claimed that he announced it.

What Khaleda did not say was how and why terrorists made Bangladesh a safe heaven during her regime, how so many Pakistani and Indian terrorist organisations could find shelter in Bangladesh to run operations in Bangladesh and neighbouring countries. She also did not mention why her government could not explore and exploit natural resources or set up power plants to meet growing energy crisis. She should have admitted her failures which are the main reasons why the country is facing power, water and gas crisis. She also did not mention why her government could not take required actions to find out the terrorists those killed ASM Kibria, Ahsanullah Master, some noted journalists in Khulna. Why she failed to track down terrorists who carried out operation killing mission to eliminate Hasina and other top Awami League leaders?

Our nation realises why she has started coming out of her nest now. She has to create situation to set barriers against trial process of her long term allies – War Criminals. She has been a long-time political supporter and friend of the noted War criminals. Why the widow of a slain President who was a liberation war commander is conspicuously silent on trails initiative of War Criminals is almost beyond the common men’s grasp.

Nation is not short sighted or the visions of all citizens are not so blurred. We only hope that Khaleda Zia will realise soon that ground is fast moving from her feet. She must re-evaluate her position and stop spreading venom or these will boomerang against her soon.

A senior BNP leader has remarked, Tareque is a diamond, and its brightness could not be shadowed. EmazUddin Ahmed praised Tareque Rahman, and wrote and published a book on Tareque, and Khaleda Zia, chairperson of BNP and also Tareque’s mother. BNP lacks a healthy balanced political culture but this is way off the road, 7th March is a significant day in the history of Bangladesh, and the idea that any political party out of political hatred and rivalry could observe this monumentally important day in the history of Bangladesh as the Jail Day is unbelievably outlandish. Any political party which does not respect the history of struggle for freedom of Bangladesh has no right to claim itself as peoples’ representative. These tendencies are abominable and nauseating.

While in the jail custody, once Tarek Rahman slipped on the wet bathroom floor. After hearing this news, Chatrodol, student wing of BNP and other partisans ran havoc on the streets of Shahbagh and from this outrage and chaos, a life was claimed. Those who lead this heinous disorder, amongst them, were the student leaders of DU, who have enough political capability and credentials to lead BNP in future if our traditional family oriented political hierarchy can be somehow bypassed. Such is the picture of the future leadership!

Our respected intellectuals have sold their souls. They are not intellectual any more, rather they convey the political dogmas of the two main political parties and act as active partisans, raise their voices and polish their visions according to the political propagandas of those political parties they are affiliated with morally or ideologically. This deference has gave them earthly possessions but in that same process they have lost their public acceptance. The intellectuals who are backing the new coinage of 7th March as the ‘Jail Day’ are actually the examples of the celebration of pathetic personality whose vow is to get promotions and plots of land.

Tareque Rahman lacks political visions and he is immoral and unethical. I personally don’t think he is capable of leading Bangladesh; his only plus point is he is the son of Ziaur Rahman, former president of Bangladesh, and Khaleda Zia, former primer of Bangladesh. But he has inherited all the bad qualities of his parents and lacks the good ones. He is not brave, almost always he failed to lead by example but like all cowards, he is shrewd. The way a gutless and dastardly person is corrupt and hypocritical, Tareque is also a person of the similar kind of besmirched political ambitions. His political aims contain horrifying vilification and malevolence and after polluting the politics and political culture colossally, at his own hands, BNP will dwindle away.

It’s a party that bears the spirit of liberation war and secular institutions, a party that considers Bengali culture as the guiding element, supports the campaign for’71 war criminals’ trail and works towards bringing about change in the faulty system. Inspired by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s struggle for independence, the party considers BNP pro-Pakistan or a party with loose cultural-ideological features that do not reflect the wishes of an independent progressive Bangladesh.

BNP as a Political Party

It takes its inspiration from President Ziaur Rahman’s policies in the post ’75 political scenario. A pro-Islamist party, it believes that religion should be the basis of nationalism, sides with war criminals and the killers of Bangabandhu and other national leaders, and considers that the killing of the Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was an army rebel operation backed by pro-Pakistan and leftist forces. BNP claims that Ziaur Rahman, as an army Major, had announced the declaration of Independence, and hence refuses to accept Bangabandhu as the Father of the Nation. It labels Awami League a pro-India party which seems quite unjustified in the sense that Awami League, as government power, have had the most fierce rows with Indian governments. But, ‘pro-India’ is somehow a stigma in the political conscience of Bangladesh.

BNP & Awami League: Similarities when in Power

a) Politicize civil and military administrations

b) Support the illegal activities of their student wings

c) Radically change names of organizations

d) Party workers go on the rampage of extortion, tender terrorism and human rights violations

e) Buy tax-free cars for their solvent members of parliament

f) MPs and Ministers purchase land through proxy means

g) Provide immunity to their cadres to grab plots and riverine areas

h) Want to rule Bangladesh for the rest of the country’s life

BNP & Awami League: Similarities when in Opposition

a) Boycott National Assembly sessions but take salaries without performing and/or delivering

b) Claim conspiracies against the pro-India / pro-Pakistan tendencies of the party in power

c) Look for an excuse to incite movements for change of government

d) Their non-co-operation in National Assembly and their wrath towards the government are not appeased till they win back power

Hence, the row between the government and the opposition remains repetitive and as time-wasting as Samuel Beckett’s stagnant stage of Waiting for Godot. Nothing changes. People don’t get security or health service from the state; education fails to accommodate a wider generation and police continues to humiliate civil citizens. No political party works towards establishing social welfare services in rural areas to discourage urban migration. Election success offers only the mandate to rule, not serve. Political mudslinging doesn’t abate and this wrestling is ceaselessly aired by our electronic media.

People who survive on hand- to-mouth incomes and those who work hard and are capable of entrepreneurship get zero support from the government. They are, on top of this, harassed and hindered by the prevalent political culture.

So unless Awami League and BNP start making and talking sense, curb the tendency of political coquetry and stop issuing misplaced rhetoric, nothing will ever change.

Ignoring education as the accelerator of the country has already impeded the growth of skilled workers, while nepotism & political favoritism in the employment process has weakened talent hunting.

In the absence of a genuine opposition party in the parliament, media in Bangladesh has taken on the role of a shadow government on behalf of the people. Interestingly, the very political leaders who fail to deliver show no qualms in enjoying media publicity. Access to information and social networking sites on the internet have played a key part in making the people of Bangladesh more politically aware and critical than ever before.

The voters, as well as the non-voters, expect the Awami League-led government to ensure affordable food, sound law & order, education without political violence and a society based on secular values. People naturally understand Awami League’s desire to carry out trials of war criminals, provided other mandated issues are pursued with equal passion. (In Germany even casting doubt on the Holocaust is a crime.)

As for BNP, it will have to take lessons in democratic practices. For starters: judicious handling of the whirl castle corruption scandal and taking steps to clear up its image of being pro-fundamentalism. Regional foreign policy needs to be reassessed. Anti-India or anti-Pakistan propaganda has started to sound boring, if nothing else. In an age of information super highway, political rumors or yellow comments don’t sell like before. BNP should rethink its manifesto and plan a constructive political campaign.

While Awami League should not appear arrogant, over confident or vindictive, BNP should not look conspiratory or destructive. Leaders must understand the meaning of ‘change’ before they use it so casually. We still carry hope that these parties and their leaders will respond to a changed info-socio-political reality and say ‘YES’ to good politics only.

Ershad took over power by removing a democratically elected BNP president, Abdus Sattar, after which he went on to shelter war criminals as well as the killers of the Father of the Nation, gifted Bangladesh with a state religion, implemented Ayub Khan-style basic democracy that was nothing but mere eye-wash, and wrote poetry. All this catalyzed the twin processes of criminalization and Islamisation in politics. Then came the mass democratic movement of the ‘90s and Ershad was jailed. It’s easy to assume that he passed his days and nights like Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar by staring at the red bricks. The subsequent 15-year democratic spin ended with the installment of a military supported 1/11 caretaker government in 2007. Khaleda Zia and Shaikh Hasina were in turn relocated to those same red brick premises.

Khaleda Zia was incarcerated for her desire to rule over Bangladesh till her death. She came to power in 1991, and as a means to an end followed in the footsteps of her arch-enemy Ershad by tolerating political criminalization and promoting the killers of Mujibur Rahman. People’s choice ousted her 5 years later but as luck would have it, Shaikh Hasina too failed to hold her party godfathers on a tight leash and had to relinquish power after five years.

BNP won the 2001 polls with a brute majority, and we assumed Khaleda Zia must have learnt from her mistakes. We were again disappointed. This time round her son Tareq Rehman, like Sanjay Gandhi, started a parallel government from his whirl castle. Tareq’s sycophants launched percentage terrorism while simultaneously courting and facilitating the Talibanisation of Bangladesh, and prepared ground for election engineering. Tareq could not play the Nero’s flute as times would not permit him to go that far, so he took to cricket to ridicule an opposition protest. But it had the same effect: Dhaka started burning like Rome. Sadly, Khaleda Zia’s affections for her son turned out to be blinder than that of Indra Gandhi.

Having said that, it’s lamentable the kind of physical abuse Tareq Rehman had to face during the 1/11 administration. Such penance cannot be expected in a modern state. One can simply hope Tareq has realized that no power is absolute. He could have avoided being the target of such harassment had his involvement in politics been fair enough to win the hearts of an apolitical majority. Then there would have been no reason for the masses and the military to support 1/11. If leaders consider relying on political institutions a long winded wait and try to take fate into their own hands, nature inevitably steps in to put things back on course, sometimes rectifying a wrong with another wrong.

One might add that it’s still quite early to judge if lessons have been learnt, but a time-tested maxim does arise: without respect for democracy and people’s will, political ground can overnight turn into ashes.

And what did Shaikh Hasina learn during her confinement within the red bricks of soul? She displayed courage by getting rid of a few party godfathers and power abusers who had made her ’96 government unpopular. She, however, has not been able to stop her party cadres from changing the names of institutions in the BNP fashion, nor restrain their attempts to paint the face of Bangladesh with the colors of Awami League.

Politicians of questionable ethics and pseudo media-intellectuals talk about 1/11 as if they had no contribution to the rise of that undemocratic setup. Such political businessmen and opportunist intellectuals would do better if they learnt to earn their bread and butter just like the hardworking people they claim to represent.

Had there been no Hawa Bhaban (Tareq’s whirl castle), had the BNP not tried to install a favorable caretaker government to engineer elections, had there been an impartial election commission with a fair voters’ list and had the civil bureaucracy not been lego-ised to support election fraud, the political scene today would been much friendlier.

The current Awami League-led grand alliance will have to show conformity with democratic institutions and will have to rely on people’s will alone. It will have to realize that voters are neither supporters of Awami League not of BNP. Voters are only clients of democracy, willing to give mandate to the party that delivers. Neither they nor anyone else wants to see the shadows of 1/11 haunting the collective fate of peace-loving nation.

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Maskawaith Ahsan is a broadcaster, journalist, author, blogger and the editor of  The-Editor.net.

Decades ago, Sylhet municipality (before it became a city corporation) had an admittedly crazy candidate for the position of chairman: A Mr. Saiful. The whole town knew he had mental problems, and he openly discussed it. His campaigning was novel, too: he declared, in open meetings, that he was going to take a total of one crore (10 million) taka in bribes, after which he will do real work.

Would you be surprised to hear that Mr. Saiful, a crazy person with a declared manifesto of taking bribes, defeated major party (AL, BNP, JP) candidates and was elected? The heavily favored AL candidate and the challenger BNP candidate both lost despite rigging the vote in many polling centers.

People were so disgusted, they voted Saiful (also known as Chokka Saiful) as the Chairman.

People have power to vote, and they wield that power thoughtfully. A cartoon published on Nov 5, 2008, after Obama was elected says “the most powerful person in the free world is a voter”. We thought this would be appropriate for Bangladesh as well.

We saw this in 1991–pundits were predicting an AL win, but people remembered that AL formed an alliance with Jatyo Party/Ershad and punished them by voting for BNP. BNP went to power and abused it, so people voted for AL in 1996.

You’d think AL would learn by then. They conducted business as usual, and was kicked out of power in the 2001 election. Which brings us to 2008, and the massive boot given to BNP by the voters in Bangladesh.

Awami League leadership and specially Sheikh Hasina will do well to remember this history. A landslide victory does not mean a license to mess with the constitution or the civil rights of people. It does not mean an unrestricted license to steal for the petty thugs in the party (or the big thugs in the party). It does not mean a massive revenge campaign against BNP rank and file members. Above all, it does not mean the laws of the country won’t apply to Awami Leaguers any more.

May AL and Sheikh Hasina find the wisdom to govern wisely.

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J @ Shada Kalo [http://shadakalo.blogspot.com] writes using a pseudonym and is best known for exposing government, military, corporate foul plays through whistle-blowing investigative reports.

[Read posts by J @ Shada Kalo]

Appointment Letter:

To:
Sheikh Hasina Wazed
C/O AL

Dear Mrs. Wazed:

Congratulations. We are happy to inform you that your employment application for the position of Prime Minister of Bangladesh has been accepted.

You have been accepted to lead the country on a five-year contract employment basis.

During the application review process, we considered your previous employment history from 1996 to 2001, and your performance during that period. Upon review, we found that you did an adequate job.

But don’t get too elated. To be honest, the applicant pool was rather thin this year. Your toughest competition came from your immediate past predecessor, who left such a wide swath of destruction around her that we had no trouble making up our mind and rejecting her; after which there was only you left to be picked.

Given your predecessor’s performance, note that we will keep a very close watch on you and your cohorts, and we will exercise our option to remove you at the expiry of the contract if your job performance is not adequate.

We do sincerely hope that you will not disappoint us. If you do, learn from your rival what fate awaits you.

One suggestion: go easy on trumpeting 1996-2001 as the ‘golden era’. We still remember that Bangladesh landed at the top of the list of corrupt countries during that tenure for the first time.

On election night, there were reports of violence perpetrated by your supporters. This is the time to rein them in, or you will forever lose control of them.

But let us focus on the future and positive outcomes. Know that we wish you well and hope for your success in the future.

Sincerely,

Voters of Bangladesh

Rejection letter:

To:
Mrs. Khaleda Zia
C/O BNP

Dear Mrs. Zia:

We regret to inform you that your employment application for the position of Prime Minister of Bangladesh has been denied.

During the application review process, we considered your previous employment history from 2001 to 2006, and your performance during that period. Upon review, we found that not only you did not do a good job, you brought along relatives who stole from people and profited at the expense of this country.

You also underperformed as manager–you hired people with little skill based on their friendship with your son, and let them flaunt the laws and regulations at will.

Your government landed Bangladesh at the top of the list of corrupt countries four years in a row.

Lastly, you allowed, with your full consent and knowledge, the establishment and growth of a colony of blood-sucking leeches also known as Jamaat, and their even more dangerous cousins, HUJI and JMB. You and your ministers denied the existence of a terrorist named Bangla Bhai, and your ministers directly aided and abetted this extremist.

As such, we are awarding the job to another candidate better suited for the position.

Please note that this denial is not final: you are welcome to apply for the job again in five years when it becomes available again, but you have to prove that you are better than the incumbent if you wish to gain employment.

Until then, we wish you well and hope that you will use this time constructively for the betterment of your governance and managerial skills, and not on destructive practices such as hartals, etc.

Sincerely,

Voters of Bangladesh

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J @ Shada Kalo [http://shadakalo.blogspot.com] writes using a pseudonym and is best known for exposing government, military, corporate foul plays through whistle-blowing investigative reports.

[Read posts by J @ Shada Kalo]

In the past only once had the leaders of the two dominant political parties and rivals Khaleda Zia and Shiekh Hasina cooperated. The heads of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Awami League (AL) have not met or even spoken to each other for more than a decade since 1990 when they had worked unitedly to oust the military autocrat H.M. Ershad. Many believe that for the sake of the country’s future it is high time that they forsake their differences in order to bring in a democracy that they had failed to establish after the ’90s mass upheaval.

by: Azizur Rahim peu, DRIK News
Dhaka, 1990

“AL, BNP and JI have upgraded their websites. BNP projected ads in the TV channels. Till now, I have got no message from any candidate but got a message to my mobile from GP to vote for joggo prarthy.

Thanks GP. We are in favor of honest and competent candidates.”

- An Ordinary Citizen