Untold Facts

Pinaki-Hasina-Ashraf: Let them Wait for Level Playing Field

Two private TV channels of Dhaka in their evening news coverage as I had opportunity to watch but nothing of any sound of issues discussed between themselves on the 10th November of exclusive meeting of the trio- Pinaki, Hasina and Ashraf at the Sugdha Sadan (Dhanmondi) for nearly two hours from 11 am to 1 p.m. The meeting would not have been anything unusual between them provided one would not hear anything of Ashraf as he did immediately after the meeting was over in front of the pressmen and that they aired in their individual TV channels. Interestingly, Ashraf, the Awami League acting G.S., sounded clearly to me a sort of threatening posture of dire consequences of the kind of the shameful 28th October 2006, should the 18th December fixed polls for the next parliament election changed and delayed for any reason whatsoever.

It is painfully true that the schedule for the polling date was overdue that the Government and the Election Commission had enough of onus and to blame. Unfortunately, as we heard from the very beginning from the horse’s mouth that LEVEL PLAYING FIELD A MUST for the polls for candidates of all relevant political parties. Now that the 4 party jote have put up their genuine demands for ensuring level playing field that is very much lacking, people, as well, can see clearly that there is no level playing field yet, how could then be a polling done exactly on the 18th December in a hara-kiri in the uneven field so much so that conspicuously the top leader’s bail of the Awami League not allowed even by the Supreme Court Full Bench in a particular case of huge rent seeking was in a few days time afterwards given final police report having had no cognizable offence! The impatience and rather howling of Ashraf seen in the TV screen proves that they want polling right on the 18th December just as Sheikh Hasina had already said even before coming back to Dhaka on the 6th November in conclusion of her trip abroad for five months in ‘parole’ but amazingly, in reality, did enough of hectic political activities in Europe and America at huge cost of whom I am not certain, and yet caring for nothing about the uneven level playing field scenario that very complaint of the Awami League though had annulled the 22 January polling of 2007. How rationale is the hara-kiri? If the country could do without any election for two years now, can’t it bear with for a few more months to level up the field for the game?

His howling following the exclusive meeting could well be construed that the man Pinaki Ranjan Chakravarty, the Indian High Commissioner, had some stimuli given to the guy in having had discussed relevant issues and made their common stand fixed up.

One can at this stage only pray that they would have sense and some patience to accommodate the level playing field to make the election credible and fair for being acceptable to all inside the country and outside.

–Dr. M.T. Hussain