January 10, 2025
Dhaka – Former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia on Tuesday embarked on a long-awaited medical trip abroad. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) president – whose imprisonment, deteriorating health and subsequent treatment became a political issue for years during the Awami League regime – has won huge sympathy for her ordeal. As a result, her trip to London, where she reunited with her eldest son Tariq Rahman after seven long years, became a watershed moment in Bangladesh's modern political history.
Understandably, the BNP, politically suppressed by the Awami League, wanted to take advantage of this moment. However, there was a lack of creativity and freshness in the approach as BNP activists poured into much of northern Dhaka to bid farewell to the chairman on Tuesday night, clogging Dhaka's most important artery – Airport Road – with large numbers of people. The tendency of our country's political parties to create cults of personality is all too familiar, a tendency that much of Bangladesh has recently vehemently rejected and has been desperately trying to shake off.
To outside observers, it is puzzling that the BNP, in just three weeks this summer, witnessed the impact of the past 15 years of actions on the Awami League without ever considering the fact that if they did not The contrast between fast and loose action and the precious time Sheikh Hasina used to have will create a stark contrast in the minds of voters and the younger generation.
For the BNP, last Tuesday was an opportunity. If they can get Khaleda Zia on board without seriously disrupting life in the world's densest city, it would be refreshing to have some PR people strategically placed in the mass media to discuss this approach and focus on the former The uncompromising commitment of two Prime Ministers.
In fact, every day since August 5, 2024, the BNP has missed an opportunity. The ouster of the Awami League, the mountain of legal troubles faced by Awami League politicians and the widespread rejection of the Awami League's influence in every aspect of life in the country is an unquestionable victory for the BNP. To cement this victory, however, Bengal's presumed main political force must distance itself from the newly ousted political force.
True believers in the BNP might say this is unnecessary. The BNP will always be the organization furthest away from the Awami League due to decades of hostility between rivals. However, in the minds of those who remember 2001 to 2006 and those who do not remember that period but have heard of the corruption, tyranny and threats of bombings that plagued those days, the BNP is part of the same political culture. gave birth to the authoritarian juggernaut that the Awami League later became.
In fact, history supports this view. The National Party and the Awami League, the two major stakeholders in Ershad's post-democratic reorganization, have been evenly divided in the four elections since, and their credibility has been largely recognized. While the Awami League won by a huge margin in this abhorrent contest that brought misery to the people of Bangladesh, the BNP has also been a player.
There is no doubt that the BNP stands to benefit greatly from the aftermath of August 5, 2024, but if the BNP wants history to see the BNP in a different light than the shadow that casts a shadow over the Awami League, they must shake things up.
A political culture that seeks to elevate a politician or a political family to a higher status than the average citizen of the country is a political culture that must end. There were refreshing calls for greater sanity from some in the BNP leadership on Tuesday night, but the call was not heard. For millions of people in Dhaka, it's like being haunted by a nightmare, with politicians' flights abroad once again taking precedence over every ambulance, emergency vehicle, public bus or employee's journey home after a long day.
All the BNP's achievements on Tuesday night convinced themselves that they too could match the numbers the Awami League boasted in its heyday. But people already know that the BNP is now the largest party in the country. What is not known is the BNP's ability to show a minimum of respect for its potential voters that the Arab League has never shown in its many years in power.
This lack of respect, this disregard for the public welfare over the years, has allowed a popularly elected government to fester into a government that needs to shoot the public to stay in power.
On Tuesday night, the BNP made clear its disrespect for the people whose support they hope will bring them to power. The support of blind loyalists could get the party over the line into parliament (or the presidency, depending on constitutional reform) at the next election, but they also risk being overthrown if their attitude toward the public does not change. A disease that festers into some form becomes fatal before it can be violently cured.
