Some have asked that why we are discussing so much politics at a human rights org’s blog. Well, firstly as Bangladeshis we are all very political in nature and secondly there is a lot at stake in this election and simply no one can afford to disengage from this process. Rule of law, the essence of human rights, is at stake in this election.

A lot of you are also saying that it doesn’t matter who wins the election. They are all the same. I am alarmed at that line of thinking. I think there is a lot at stake in the upcoming election. I am no fan of AL of today. I was elated when they lost the election. But after the last 5 years, I think it is very important that there is a change of guard in Bangladesh. WHY? Here are the three damages that I am concerned about from the past 5 years. I think it will take a long time to fix this.

1. Institutions: All of our much sacred institutions have been destroyed and politicized. Starting from the judiciary to election commission to the post of presidency to each level of administration, nothing was left untouched.
2. Corruption and thuggary has been encouraged from the very top with complete disregard to the rule of law. Simply put — two words — Hawa Bhaban.
3. Rise of political Islam in Bangladesh and appeasement of extremism have been taken to a new level.

If they come back to power, that will mean that there was no consequence of their misrule in the last 5 years and they will be even more ruthless in their implementation in eradicating the opposition. Disregard to rule of law will become institutionalised. Is there any reason to think that they will change their governing style in the next 5 years? This is a risk that is simply not worth taking.

Now, will anything change if AL comes to power? I don’t know. Some of you think it won’t. I am not a fan of their leaders. In fact, I was elated when they lost in 2001.But I think they deserve another chance. We shouldn’t forget that the AL ruled for 5 years of the last 30 years whereas BNP ruled 15 of those years. I can only predict based on past record on how they would perform in the 3 things mentioned above. If I look at the past record of the ONLY time AL was in power after the fall of autocracy, here’s what I see based on which to judge them.

1. Institutions: An impartial man like Justice Shahabuddin was selected to be the President and a competent man like Mr Abu Sayeed was the head of election commission. The sanctity of the chairs were maintained.

2. Corruption: While there were numerous Godfathers all across the country, there is no reason to believe corruption was encouraged from the very top. Simply put there was no hawa bhaban.

3. Rise of political Islam: Bombings did start during AL regime but there is no reason to be believe that Jamati members and fundamentalists were inside the administration and the extremists were appeased.

But on the contrary, what will happen if the same people who are ruling today come back to power?

Next time you say “it doesn’t matter, both are the same”, really think hard about whether who wins the next election really matters.

Some people said that we should root for the 3rd party and not any of these corrupt parties. To them I say, remember Ralph Nader? The supporters of Nader said Gore and Bush are all the same, vote for Nader - the alternative. Boy, were they in for a surprise. They might comfort themselves thinking they did not compromise with their ideals, but in reality, the damage they did by bringing in Bush to power is irrpairable. I believe that until there is a viable third party, we have to pick between these two parties and try to change the party towards our need. If you want example, look at how they are doing it at dailykos.com. A group of people who are not happy with the direction of the democratic party in the US have taken it upon themselves to make them such a strong voice from the grass root level that their party is forced to listen to them. They did not form a new party. They are working in cleaning the party from inside by building a movement. We can do the same in Bangadesh. But not if we just disengage and complain that “They are all the same”. What happens in our lives is directly related to politics regardless of whether we live in US, UK or Bangladesh or anywhere. The cost of disenagement is just too high. If you don’t trust me, just ask the American voters who are raring to vote the republicans out of power next week to make amends.