Things do seem pretty bleak at first blush. It seems fairly apparent now that nothing is going to retrieve the political situation any time soon. Aziz is gone, but it is clear that free and fair elections are as unlikely as before. The decision to publish the election schedule last Monday signals that the caretaker government continues to do the 4-party alliance’s bidding and also that those calling the shots don’t much care about public opinion.

The game plan is obvious. Full steam to elections. It doesn’t matter if the 14-party alliance contests or not. In fact, if not, all the better. If it does contest, that’s fine, too: without meaningful election reform, the fix is already in. Hurriedly swear in a new cabinet and parliament. Brazen it out.

What is the 14-party alliance to do? It will hit the streets again on Sunday. No surprise there. What it hopes to achieve remains unclear. The erstwhile opposition has shown that it can force the caretaker government to … what exactly? Make meaningless concessions that do not have any impact on the situation on the ground, if the evidence available so far is any guide.


We seem to be running out of options as the country braces itself for more unrest. Once again, the very real spectre of army intervention in some form or other cannot be totally ruled out.

Fortunately for the country, the armed forces have thus far shown admirable restraint and indicated that they are extremely reluctant to step in. This is as it should be and the army’s evident reluctance to enter the fray is possibly one of the better pieces of news these days.

But if things continue to deteriorate, we will be all out of options. It is not a comforting thought.

Prof Yunus has once again stepped up to the plate with his new formula. As far as formulas go, it is not a bad one. In theory. However, the plan calls for a level of cooperation and compromise that has not been in evidence so far on the part of the two main political parties.

One is tempted to think that if they could cooperate and compromise in such a comprehensive manner, they would have been able to find common ground on the far smaller issues that divide them today, and we wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place.

After all, if BNP and AL can agree to clean up the Election Commission as part of a one-year coalition government, there is no reason that they couldn’t achieve the same thing right now. In fact, to call a spade a spade, it is only the intransigence of the 4-party alliance right now that stands in the way of necessary reform, but this fact went unmentioned by the good professor.

Perhaps what the country needs to do is go even further. There are many reforms that need to be put in place for democracy to function better. Certainly, reform of the EC and the presidency are key. But while we are on the subject, what about parliamentary reform, public procurement reform, and a right to information act? What about proportional representation? If we are talking comprehensive reform, let’s put it all on the table.

Last year I wrote about the need for a constitutional convention to hash all this out. I anticipated the coming impasse and thought that if we were truly unable to find a path forward, then let us use the opportunity to take stock and really clean house.

So, in theory, I am all for these kinds of measures. They would be a good start. But in practice, I do not see how we could make it work, and that’s always the problem in Bangladesh, isn’t it? Putting good ideas into practice.

The question is how will the new formula be received, and whether it will gain traction, among the international community. This might be a something for them to latch on to. Let us see their response. It will be instructive. If the Yunus formula starts to show up as a viable talking point in the regular meetings between Ms Butenis and the two ex-prime ministers, then it might have some legs.

Meanwhile, despite the apparent bleakness, there are promising signs on the horizon. Young people, especially, are fed up with the current stalemate. They want nothing more than a free and fair election. For now, the idea is that this is the bare minimum that they need and demand. It won’t solve all their problems, but it is a start.

To this end, the general public wants reconstitution of the EC and a genuine voter roll. The current situation is unacceptable. By the same token, your average citizen disagrees with the politics of “oborodh.”

Take Back Bangladesh would like to provide a platform for the millions of people in the country who are caught up in this no man’s land, who can see clearly that the election is being set to be rigged, and are disgusted by this, but who are equally turned off by the blockade programs as well.

The idea behind Take Back Bangladesh is to reconnect the people, especially the younger generation, who are turned off by politics as usual and feel that their voices are never heard by the political parties.

The first step in this direction is a free concert today at 2:30. It may not be much more than a pleasant few hours in the sun, but I can’t think of a better way to spend a Friday afternoon than listening to good music in a good cause and meeting other people who are thinking along the same lines.

It is interesting that in a country of 140 million plus, the nation essentially seems unable to break its way out of an impasse that is in fact the preference of only a handful of people.

So this is a good first step: a show of solidarity. It is to show that we are fed up with the status quo, to show that we, too, have a voice, and want that voice to be heard. All people of good will who care about the future of Bangladesh and are frustrated by the current situation are invited to come. It promises to be an enjoyable and inspiring afternoon If nothing else, listening to artists such as Black or Bappa Majumdar or any of the rest of the star-studded line-up is always worthwhile.

Where will the movement go? It is too soon to tell. But the main thing is that Bangladeshis need to get up off the side-lines and insist on making themselves heard. Things may look dire right now, but there is hope on the horizon.

That hope is the long-suffering people of Bangladesh who have worked so hard and achieved so much in the face of so much hardship. There is so much promise and potential in this country, if only we could unite and harness that great reservoir of talent and ability, rather than continue to stifle it or ignore it or suppress it.

That’s what the concert is all about. Rekindling that hope. Because the first step is that we need to believe that we can make a difference. Only once we believe this can we actually take that next step and do so. One step at a time.

[Full disclosure: I am involved with Take Back Bangladesh and one of the organizers of the event.]

Zafar Sobhan is Assistant Editor, The Daily Star.

The concert is today, from 2:30 to sundown at the Robindro Shorobor open air amphitheatre, Road no. 7, Dhanmondi (close to the bridge).