THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS IN BANGLADESHI POLITICS

ABDUL GAFFAR CHOUDHURY

There is no parallel in recent political history of this hypocrisy and betrayal like that of General Ershad  pulling out of the scheduled election process

In Bangladesh politics has now submerged in terrorism. There was a hope that someone with some sanity will emerge from this calamity as a saviour of the nation. That hope is now dashed out with the rise of a Prince of Darkness, the proverbial arch devil in The Paradise Lost.

This Prince of Darkness in Bangladesh politics is no other than General Hussain Mohammad Ershad. Once he was a military dictator, turned into a political leader. But his volatile character never earned people’s trust and he survived with his Machiavellian tricks. What he says in the morning he himself contradicts in the evening. If he is a friend of Khaleda Zia today, tomorrow he is the staunch supporter of Sheikh Hasina.

Basically, there is no policy difference between BNP and Ershad’s Jatiya Party. He has no commitment, secularism or Bengali nationalism. Once he himself admitted that there is no basic difference between BNP and Jatiya Party so they could work together. He also joined the BNP alliance and just before the last general election he jumped into the Moha Jote Alliance and declared his fraternity with Awami league.

But it was never clear whether General Ershad was in or out of the Moha Jote. Everyday in the morning he threatened to leave Moha Jote and in the evening he assured AL that he will never leave the alliance. With these tricks he came out from a number of cases for his alleged corruption, abuse of power and other crimes during his presidency and tried to exonerate himself from his past misdeeds.

Still a number of cases are hanging on his head and he is trying to manipulate both the big parties to stay out of prison.

In the recent history of the modern world no other fascist or military dictators who abused power and ruled the country without people’s mandate could escape the wrath of the ordinary mass. Either they had to flee the country to avoid harsh punishment or were killed in mass violence or suffered imprisonment. The recent examples are Gaddafi, Mubarak, and even the ex military dictator of Pakistan Pervez Mosharraf. Even with strong western support Pervez could not escape trial or prison but he might be able to save his life. Within the last nearly three decades General Ershad, an ex military dictator and autocrat amazingly escaped people’s wrath and escaped harsh punishment for his past misdeeds. After his fall by countrywide mass upsurge he did not even flee from the country but went to prison with all royal privileges and comfort. Even sitting in the prison he was allowed to participate in the election and managed to win in more than one seat in the parliament.  He also remained in the leadership of his party though it was divided.  If a historian analyses the rise and fall and then again the rise of Ershad in politics perhaps they would say this success was not due to Ershad’s own merit but for the weaknesses of the two main political parties of the country.

The political enmity between AL and BNP has become so continuous that General Ershad took the advantage, very shrewdly played one against another and strengthened his political position and came out of many cases scot free with the help of this government or that government. I would say General Ershad has polluted the Bangladesh politics with his naked opportunism because of the weaknesses of the two big political parties. Awami League is more responsible than BNP. In 1990 when Ershad was toppled by mass uprise BNP’s stand was to force him to flee from the country like some other dictators or debar him from politics and send him to prison for the rest of his life. But AL took a lenient view and was satisfied sending him to prison and put him for trial for his corruption and misdeeds.

He was in prison not for a very long time under trial and by manoeuvring the big parties in their quarrel he contested the election, won several seats and started his dubious political game.

Once I had some soft corner for this erratic fallen autocrat. He is a poet, his disposition is amiable, and he was not as cruel as his predecessor General Ziaur Rahman. He has bad reputation about money and women and it was alleged that he created a mini Mughal harem during his presidency. He is known as more loyal to Delhi but his real loyalty is still unknown.

During the war of liberation he stayed in West Pakistan serving under the Yahia Junta and held the highest Pakistani title Nishan-e-Pakistan. His role was controversial when he was staying in Pakistan during the war of Independence. Many people still suspect and allege about his complicity in the murder of General Ziaur Rahman and General Manzoor. Still like my some other friends I had no great disliking for this many-faced dictator. But recently I realized General Ershad is more of a curse in Bangladesh politics than his military predecessors.

The late Ziaur Rahman was accused by many people for his covert involvement in the murder of national leaders including his dearest friend Colonel Taher. Still nobody says Ziaur Rahman has destroyed the fundamentals of our liberation war and subsequent independence. But General Ershad has destroyed the main character of our independence by introducing the provision of state religion in the constitution and paved the way for the rise of fundamentalism in the country.   Still AL preferred him as their political ally perhaps thinking that he will change his colour and character after entering into the democratic politics of the country. A year ago General Ershad came to my house in London unexpectedly and I welcomed his visit. He told me (this report was published in The Independent at that time) that he will remain in Moha Jote and there was no question about it but if BNP does not participate in the next general election then his Jatiya Party may stand in the election independently and form the main opposition in the new parliament.  Though he did not tell me explicitly but I got a hint that he may take the role of the Liberal Democratic Party of Britain in Bangladesh and if he won sufficient seats in the Parliament then like Liberal Democratic party he will form alliance either with Awami League or BNP to help them to form the government on his own terms.

But what is he doing now especially the last few days? It has surpassed the role of the Prince of Darkness and this example of political betrayal has no precedence in recent political history. It is very uncertain what his ultimate goal is. What is provoking him to adopt this chameleon tricks-money, women or position only he knows. If he was a man of dignity and an honest politician and did not see eye to eye with Moha Jote he could join the 18 Party alliance and boycott the election, or his party could stand in the election separately.

Nobody could accuse him of hypocrisy and betrayal. But after joining the new cabinet under Sheikh Hasina and submitting nomination papers for 299 seats of the parliament suddenly his declaration to leave the cabinet and withdrawal from the election has put the country in a very dangerous position.There is no parallel in recent political history of this hypocrisy and betrayal.  General Ershad is playing with fire and that fire can burn the entire fragile foundation of democracy. He has now started behaving like a political clown. His comic declaration that he will commit suicide if there is an attempt to arrest him is ludicrous. Who will trust him now? If he remains in Moha Jote now or leave and join 18 party alliance it will not repair the damage he has done to the politics of the country. He did not care for the interest of the country and the people, but indulged in selfish gain which would mark him permanently as the Prince of Darkness in the political arena of the country.

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 December 6th, 2013

London, UK