The scale of corruption and cruelty

The scale of corruption and cruelty

IT had been anticipated for some time that Begum Zia would be freed soon and her eldest son would leave the country for treatment overseas immediately after her release. The pundits were right, and that is what happened.

However, some unanticipated things have been happening in recent days as well. It was extraordinary that the tough and so-called uncompromising Begum Zia would display emotions the way she did at Zia's mazar and at Bangabandhu Medical University immediately after her release. She was crying like child.

No one knows why and how such an emotion overtook her. Perhaps it was due to seeing a frail son who was otherwise a strong man before he was taken into custody, or due to the ordeal she had to go through over the last 18 months. May even be both.

It was doubly extraordinary when the highest body of her party proposed to make Begum Zia the life-long head of the BNP, which, however, she declined the next day. The BNP's all-powerful eight made this gesture without warning.

Indeed, it was defiance, and a challenge to the incumbent government which is striving to bring discipline in the political party system through reforms. Begum Zia wisely put this attempt to rest the next day. What does it mean?

One of my expatriate friends who has been following the events since the last 18 months is of the view that "this is nothing but a gift to the uncompromising madam from her eight supreme followers for the ordeal she and her family has been going through since 1/11." Indeed, the gift had been quite extraordinary.

Having said this, in my view, we have not seen anything, yet. Something more is waiting in the wings. The CTG has a grand plan. As released in the media, according to the CTG's spokesperson, adviser Hossain Zillur, the government would like to see Shiekh Hasina and Khaleda Zia sit face-to-face before the election for the greater interest of the nation.

Face-to-face or not, the proposal certainly started a huge debate nationally and internationally. In this piece, my aim is not to take any side in this debate, but to observe the outcome of such a sitting through the eyes of a person who does not have a short memory.

Needless to say, our two leaders had drifted apart a long time ago. Of course, to bring them closer would need a strong force. One wonders who could have such a force but the CTG. If the memory serves us, the period between 2001 and 2006 had been a nightmare for this nation. Corruption and cruelty by the establishment surpassed all the past records during these years.

There is a belief among the opposition forces that 1/11 was not for punishing the unscrupulous BNP-Jamaat clique which was in power, but to save their skins from the wrath of the people. What one has seen over the last 18 months is that the immediate past opposition forces have been unjustly painted as being as corrupt and cruel as their counterparts in the then government.

On the other hand, it must be emphasised that the CTG deserves to be congratulated by the immediate past opposition forces for bringing back the national mourning day and paying respect to the father of the nation at Tungipara on behalf of the nation.

Setting aside corruption and cruelty over 2001 and 2006, how will the opposition forces forget the way the government bench brought down the portrait of the father of the nation from the House of Parliament and raised the portrait of the then PM. How will the immediate past PM deny all these when her counterpart places them on the table if they meet face-to-face?

One cannot get emotional about all this. They are in the past, let us move forward for the greater interest of the nation. This is the message one gets from a recent piece in a Bangla daily by veteran leader Motia Chowdhury. Certainly, she has a point.

Having said all this, one is not convinced that this is the time for such an event to take place. Let us not get emotional. The ground reality is quite different. If the leaders bump together accidentally during the campaign, that is fine, but certainly it is not for the government to bring them closer. A straw poll by a Bangla daily recently suggests that the nation is divided right down the middle on this subject.

The CTG, of course, can make such a move after holding a free, fair and credible election, which every one is looking forward to. All hangs on an election held on a level playing field. Making the playing field level, indeed, will not be an easy task now for the CTG and the EC since almost all the alleged corrupt politicians are now out of custody.

The CTG must deal with the problems on a case-by-case basis without embroiling themselves in a mending mission between the two leaders. It will be hard to win, if history is a guide. The stakes are too high.

Indeed, all-out efforts should now be directed towards holding a peaceful election in the era of economic and political turmoil, locally and globally.