The road to democracy is in a mess just like the picture above from today’s Daily Star.

Before we get into it, like Shadakalo, let me first acknowledge that I am no fan of the current BNP and the legacy of Khaleda Zia. Neither do I wish to get back to the era of of Tareq Rahman and his gang. Also I believe the folks at the helm are well intentioned people who want to make a change. Having said that someone please tell me how do we get out of this mess that is currently being created in the name of “functional democracy”. The process they are going about making democracy happen through command politics is not only wrong but also is creating far longer term potential danger of unstability in our country. To most of the people who are paying cursory glance to what’s going on centering the BNP break up in Bangladesh lately, you are making mistake if you think this is unimportant. What is being done to BNP is going to be defining the rest of the term for this caretaker government. Make no mistake about it. They are fooling no one.

Here is what we are hearing in the daily speeches — all wonderful things undoubtedly.

“We want the honest candidates to come to power”

“We want the judiciary to be free from any interference”

“We want the election commission to be independent”

“We want the cycle of corruption to end”

All good things. There is hardly anything that you can question in the above statements. Talk to Dr. Yunus. He will have you believe that this is what is happening in the country. Look at the newspapers, it will seem like that is what is happening. But in reality what is happening? Have your read the Tagore poem about a learned man bragging about his knowledge to a boatman. No? Here is how it goes. A pundit gets on a boat and seeing the wonders of nature asks the boatman, “Majhi, have you studied philosophy?”. The illiterate majhi (boatman) stares at him blankly. Pandit says quarter of your life is a waste then (tomar jiboner char anai britha). He asks then if the majhi has traveled abroad. The poor majhi never got out of his village. “Alas!! One more quarter of your life is a waste then, majhi”, the pundit repeats. Do you know any science, he asks? Seeing majhi shaking his head, panditbabu says there goes another quarter of your life to waste. At this time, a violent storm approaches and the boat is about to sink. The majhi asks the terrified pundit, “Do you know how to swim?” The pundit replies in the negative and starts crying and the majhi says “Babu, then all four quarters of your life is a waste. (”Apnar jiboner sholo anai britha”). Pardon my miserable attempt at the translation. But the reality in Bangladesh is very similar to this where all the talks of institution building and “functional democracy” are wastes when the institutions are getting violated repeatedly.

We will take a look at three pillars of democracy in today’s Bangladesh on a sample case of what happened within BNP this week. First casuality of last few month’s proactive “election preparation” is the media. The media is being blatantly used by this regime to fulfill its need. News was planted on all the major newspapers to show horrible the Khondokar Delwar Hossain and his family is and how the reformist faction of the party is going to get the blessings of the party head Khaleda. When Delawar’s son got arrested purely to put pressure on him to quit the post of sec-gen, the media stays mum about it and instead points to what a big Godfather he was to justify the arrest. The loser ? Independent Media, of course, which is considered the biggest institution to put a check to the unlimited power of the government.

At least we have an independent election commission, you say. Really?
On Oct 29th, after the secret meeting attended by BNP standing committee members escorted by special intelligence men at Saifur Rahman’s house manages to pull a coup to usurp the BNP leadership, it gets the nod of the election commission to hold the torch of dhaner sheesh . The election commissioner flip flops and eventually does not even put up much of a fight with the journalists to show that he was acting independently. “Sue us”, he says! Casualty? The independent election commission. Election commission acted as per the wishes of the people who plotted the coup in BNP and let all of us down.

This morning Lt Gen (Rtd) Mahbub, one of the coup plotters inside BNP, gets manhandled by the angry grassroot workers of BNP. In return, the leader of the mainstream BNP Hannan Shah gets arrested under special power rule. Forget the fact that Hannan Shah already accused in various “extortion” charges was on bail. Victim? The independent judiciary. A government giving lip service to rule of law is flouting laws of the land repeatedly promising “functional democracy”. How is that possible?

THis one example is enough to show you how “sholo ana britha” our reform and regeneration that has been promised to us in the last 10 months.

So what is it REALLY about? It is about ensuring a safe exit strategy for the current power brokers and it is about establishing a permanent and lasting influence over Bangladesh’s politics. You don’t have to believe me. Just ask yourself why 5 newspapers simultaneously today are running a two week old interview of Gen Moeen with a NY based paper where he calls for a constitutional amendment by the next elected government to institutionalize army’s current rule role.

At a recent cha session with the shopkeepers at a local deshi store, one of the eloquent ones in his sylheti dialect tells me, “You know bhai, these people who are running the country — they are very smart people. They will not go without making sure that the people they like come to power in the next election.” If this simple shop keeper can understand that, then how are the elites thinking that there is still chance of a meaningful election in Bangladesh?
How are they still thinking independent institution building is possible by those who disregard them at will?
Someone start thinking about an exit strategy for the these civil people, please.

As the gloves and facade come off the current regime this week, the future direction of our country will be determined significantly by the happening in the country where independent judiciary was also promised and when the verdicts in the courts were not to the liking of the general, the supreme court judges got thrown into house arrest. The trouble with democracy and a pluralistic society is that there is always a Noor Hossain who foils the perfect plan. There is always a Khondokar Delwar who comes out of nowhere to take the moral authority and there is always someone like chief justice chaudhri who spoils the party. The sooner they realize it ( before every single institution is broken into pieces again) , the better it is for the whole country. The sooner they stop underestimating the people of Bangladesh, the better it is for all of us. Meanwhile spare a thought for the civilian chief adviser Fakhruddin who seems quiet bored at not having much of a role to play in the power game. Perhaps, one day he will realize how he wasted the leverage he could have had on the power brokers, if he actually showed a bit of spine. To our readers, next time you hear the speeches from our current “leaders”, take it with a grain of salt. Here is a bit of a pointer.

“We want the honest candidates to come to power” [ We want the candidates we like ]

“We want the judiciary to be free from any interference” [ interference from anyone but us]

“We want the election commission to be independent” [ and mindful to our advice]