It was not expected that Begum Khaleda Zia would be in a position to return to normal life, given that she had been seriously ailing of late. Yet the reality of her having been a pre-eminent political figure in Bangladesh was highlighted anew in the aftermath of her demise last Tuesday. Tributes have been pouring in for her.
A remarkable instance of magnanimity was demonstrated by former prime minister Sheikh Hasina when she publicly paid tribute to her arch-rival in a message of condolence.
Her gesture in calling Tareque Rahman over the phone to express her sense of grief at Begum Zia’s passing away has evoked appreciation in wide sections of Bengali society.
Indeed, many have been the comments to the effect that the respect demonstrated for the late BNP leader and former prime minister goes beyond the narrow confines of Bangladesh’s bitter politics and embraces a wider space encompassing human emotions.
But what has also left people a trifle surprised is the statement, on behalf of the BNP, by the senior party leader Nazrul Islam Khan at Begum Zia’s funeral, pinning the blame on the Awami League and especially Sheikh Hasina for the progressive decline in the BNP chairperson’s health.
There are, of course, large sections of citizens who have always felt distressed at the ways in which Begum Zia was subjected to humiliation by the Awami League government, with circumstances leading to the former prime minister spending time in the old Dhaka central jail.
Repeated calls for Khaleda Zia to be permitted to go abroad were ignored by the Awami League government. Such behaviour has rankled with citizens, even those who have traditionally been drawn politically to Sheikh Hasina and her party.
So such realities have been the staple of politics in Bangladesh in recent years. Even so, at a time when the nation is in a clear mood to see the back of Muhammad Yunus’ unconstitutional regime through a credible and therefore inclusive election, Nazrul Islam Khan’s statement naturally did not make people happy.
But why pin the blame on Khan? The statement was drafted and read out on behalf of the BNP.
Why the party chose to bring the old politics of bitterness into a solemn occasion, as Begum Zia’s funeral is somehow inexplicable, particularly when the BNP appears increasingly to be in need of allies as it shapes strategy for the future.
Quite frankly, the BNP at this point is a rather lonely traveller on the national political landscape. Arrayed against it are the Jamaat-e-Islami and a clutch of other Islamist political parties as well as the National Citizens Party.
There is little doubt that Tareque Rahman’s return to Bangladesh after a seventeen-year exile in Britain has not made the Islamist forces happy.
These parties would clearly not wish to see the BNP return to power and have indicated in a number of ways that steps to prevent a BNP victory at the election, whenever it is held, are a priority for them.
It is an issue Tareque Rahman and his colleagues in the BNP will be required to study with grave and serious intent if their long walk in the woods is to be over.
That brings into this discussion the question of when or whether or how the BNP means to reach out to the Awami League and formulate a plan that will neutralise the Islamists’ bid to come by power.
The BNP will need to have a good equation with the Awami League on the election issue. Obviously Tareque Rahman and his party colleagues will not relish the thought of the 35-40 per cent of Awami League voters staying away from the polling booths come February, for the absence of such a huge section of the electorate from the voting process will render the election hollow.
For the BNP leadership, the priority ought to be to adopt all those measures that will not only have it reorganise itself but also convince the country that it is prepared to govern, even as part of a coalition with pro-liberation forces.
An informal alliance between the BNP and the Awami League, in light of recent developments in the country, will be a requirement if the ideal of a return to proper democracy and indeed constitutionally legitimate government is the goal.
The onus for such an alliance to be mulled will lie squarely with the BNP leadership, which, in the absence of the charismatic Khaleda Zia, will be expected to fend for itself in the new situation that has shaped up with the death of the former prime minister.
Interestingly, the visit of Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to Dhaka to convey a message of condolence from the Indian government is being taken as a hint of Delhi’s eagerness to have a constitutional government restored in Bangladesh.
Jaishankar’s meeting with Tareque Rahman is a broad hint that Delhi is keen to have good ties with the BNP. For its part, the BNP has in recent weeks refrained from engaging in anti-India rhetoric, which points to politics developing in a healthy manner in Bangladesh and for the region.
Overall, the BNP will need to tread softly and carefully. The ground is yet slippery for it. If it stumbles, its rightist rivals will move ahead of it. If it remains stymied by a failure to shape a credible election policy, the crisis will only deepen for it.
At a time when the national need today is to hold an inclusive election, it will be the job of Tareque Rahman and his colleagues to add to the growing pressure on the Yunus outfit to acknowledge the paramount necessity of a vote in which all parties, including the Awami League, join the hustings for a new parliament.
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In the 1980s and till the early 1990s, Sheikh Hasina at the head of a fifteen-party alliance and Begum Khaleda Zia as the leader of a seven-party combine relentlessly campaigned for the fall of the autocracy epitomised by the military regime of General Hussein Muhammad Ershad. The struggle paid off.
Perhaps the moment is here for a revival of the old struggle in a new form, this time to free Bangladesh of the anti-liberation and illegitimate regime foisted on it in August 2024.
