Untold Facts

Is Hasina turning Bangladesh into a Police State?

Hasina’s ugly teeth
People voted in the 29th December election for democracy meaning pluralism of freedom and liberty of all citizens and not for making it a police state. But unfortunately in less than a period of 12 weeks of the government saddled through popular December election started to show their ugly biting teeth of a police state.

Ominous signals
Though the first requirement of a police state being one party polity and not multi-party one as are there in few remnant of socialist countries in midst of overwhelming majority countries of pluralism and multi-party democracy looks now missing in Bangladesh as of present as ominous signals are being given by the government enjoying brute majority in the Parliament.

Façade of multi-party and yet one party rule
At this stage Sheikh Hasina the P.M., may not venture to go for one party system by applying the brute majority in the parliament as her father did in BAKSALization in January 1975 to end sooner than latter in tragedy in only seven months in mid August 1975. But there is none in the party much less in the ministry who could hold her back going for making the administration wholesale Awamization or full politicization in her own way from the top to the bottom.

Awamization
She has taken on the job of Awamization, one, by arbitrarily removing each and every element apparently not loyal to her in administration - civil, military, educational institutions, etc. Her start was by abandoning old guards in the party and instead bringing in new faces, except a few unavoidable ones.

Taming down the opposition
The second viciously active front she has ventured not only in hoodwinking the opposition parties by misusing her unleashing the well known bully boys and cadres but also in punishing them in all conceivable crude craftiness. The former BNP party Speaker and the Deputy Speaker have already been netted. The former Speaker Zamiruddin Sarker has been indicted in corruption case and the Deputy Speaker in ‘treasonable offence’ by obviously the fully loyal police operatives and put in one month detention under the draconian Special Powers Act of 1974 Hasina’s father enacted to contain and arbitrarily punish all his political opponents even before he promulgated the one party BAKSAL in Bangladesh. As the treason case shall not be sustainable, and he may come out in bail soon, two corruption cases have been framed and registered against former Deputy Speaker Akhtar Hamid Siddiqi. There may be no wonder that similar cases may soon be lodged against many others of various opposition elements. In other words, she has been tightening the noose of all her opponents.

Safe haven
None of Mujib’s and Hasina-Rehana’s immediate progeny live in Bangladesh. Both Rehana and Hasina maintain safe haven in England and America not for themselves alone but their immediate next progeny, as well. The 2008 December election had been a gambling for the two sisters and in line Hasina’s son, Joy, as well. Had Hasina failed in the gambling, she would not live in Bangladesh but out of Bangladesh for good.

Vengeance
That she had gained in the election result, she has her lone deeper motive of vengeance to settle that she has long been holding firm and also did disclose on occasions. I may take this scope to quote her as she spoke to the London based BBC Bengali Service operator Serajur Rahman in early 1980s, ‘Tini rajniti ghrina koren, shudhu pitar hotyar protishodh near jonyae rajnitite eshechen. Recording thamiye diye boktabyer shanbhabya apaprovaber kotha studiote sheikh hasinake bujhiye boli…’ (Daily Noya Diganta, Dhaka, 24 March 2009). The relevant gist of Hasina’s verbatim was that she had come to politics just only to avenge the killing of her father, or else, she would hate to do politics. I for one would in no way believe that she has abandoned the vicious vengeance in her psyche. I clearly recall today that despite her all dirty tricks and evil machinations she could not finish finally hanging the so called killers of her father during her first term of P.M., 1996-2001. She was so desperate in vengeance in the matter that she appealed passionately to the voters in the 2001 election campaign in open to vote for her party for win so that she could once again be the P.M. for the second term and so she could hang those ‘killers with her own hand’ (ODER JENO NIJ HATE FANSITE JHULATE PERI). That she failed then and after seven years got the second term she was deeply passionate for. Could she be different now? She knows the answer better. Could she as well make any reasonable reply to the question as to how the multi-party democracy people has all love and sacrifice for would have been restored had there been no victorious coup made by those whom she condemns viciously as ordinary ‘killers’ and are determined in vengeance to hang them up to death.

Loyal novices
As soon as she got the oath on the 6th January and formed the ministry with almost all novices who have had already marked their gross inefficiency leaving out calculatedly the more capable and experienced ones in the cabinet, it could well be taken not only for settling vengeance of various genre but also for dictatorial running of the government having none to oppose in the open. Her father Mujib not only enjoyed and used the same absolute feudal psyche of typical rural MATABBAR or oppressive headman but also that he liked none to dare oppose him in any manner whatsoever, or else, faced the obvious music. Tajuddin Ahmad (P.M. of the 1971 Govt. in Exile) had been the good example as he being more intelligent, dared, at times, initially to dissent in matters of principles and approach that bore him the obvious result, first, in his removal from the Ministry and then to prison. Though Hasina happened to be nothing more than a housewife for nearly two decades before she took on the political leadership of the Awami League, and had thus little training for such position compared to her father, her natural deep wounds and deeply passionate psyche full of vengeance may have psychologically led her to assume herself as the absolute dictator of the party and of the government she now runs.

The mysterious BDR massacre of 25-26 February
The BDR mayhem of the 25-26 February of Dhaka whoever may have been the actors from behind and the actual perpetrators cannot be seen in isolation of Hasina’s absolute power game. The news that the BDR is going to be disbanded and replaced in a different form can hardly be seen as an honest action program but in a different form of special force known as the RAKKHI BAHINI, her father did have though planned by the Indian R&AW or the central intelligence agency of Delhi in the South Block where Hasina had been accommodated, trained and well looked after by Indian P.M. Indira herself for about six years (August 1975-May 1981).

Hasina’s hatred for the army and passionate love for absolute power
The unprecedented gruesome killing of seventy Bangladesh army officers in the Peelkhana massacre on the two days can not be conceived except in common perception of Hasina’s hatred for army personnel and of the institution, as well, just as her father also did have. India’s threatening posture in open to Bangladesh following the massacre just only for safeguard and absolute security of Hasina and not for Bangladesh much less the army losses should be a serious point to ponder about the whole game Hasina is on to pursue in full connivance of Delhi. I recall that the Indian P.M. Indira in early 1975, being a democrat herself and the country, the ‘largest democracy in the world’, was the only such person of importance in the world sent congratulation message to Mujib on his promulgating the lone party BAKSAL in Bangladesh. It thus could well be rightly presumed that Delhi would lend support to Hasina whatever dictatorial way she would run the country and even if she would go for the BAKSAL, and make her own variety of RAKKHI BAHINI out of the nationally lamented ashes of the BDR.

Viability of Hasina’s impending police state
In sum it is crystal clear that she is going for a police state, even if for the time being she may not go to ban some parties for the constitutional safeguards provided and also for likely outside pressure from the free democratic world, but she could in all likely force ban on all Islamic parties that in free democracy she cannot lawfully and constitutionally do unless and until the constitution would be changed. But once the Awamization of general administration is complete, educational institutions turned into regimented forum for the party of Hasina, parliament made into a rubber stamp having there almost all fully loyal and aggressively sycophants, the police state in practice, if not in facade, is certain to be completed sooner than latter. Whether the people would accept such police state without giving any resistance would remain to be seen for future.

Author: M.T. Hussain