In the last thirty-five years of existence, have I ever seen the political environment of Bangladesh become so rotten? Through an intrigue, Khaleda Zia had engineered a scheme to invite back the army. Please read on to understand why I am saying this. I hope my prediction does not come true. However, the writings are on the wall. The leaders of the civil society should come forward to thwart the evil design of Khaleda Zia and Iajuddin.

It has not escaped the rapt attention of many that Dr. Yunus is presently out of the country. Perhaps he sensed that an anarchic situation would emerge from the stalemate resulting from the appointment of the head of caretaker government.

This is a bad omen for Bangladesh that Iajuddin Ahmad, an ex-partisan educationist who was appointed to be the president of Bangladesh by none other than Khaleda Zia is trying his best to be the chief of the caretaker government in Bangladesh. Before this article is published he probably will be sworn in as the head of Bangladesh’s caretaker government.

Khaleda Zia engineered first to put a partisan ex-judge, Justice Hasan, in that position, which miserably failed. In the constitution it is clearly mentioned that five other criteria should be considered down the line and the president could exhaust other means before appointing a neutral person from the civil society. If all those candidates are not acceptable by the political parties only then he could take the power as the chief of caretaker government on top of his usual duty as the figure head of the country.

Mr. Iajuddin was asked by Khaleda Zia right before she left office on Friday, October 27, 2006 to take the charge of the caretaker government since the candidate, ex-Justice Hasan, voluntarily took his name off from the list. As per the constitution of Bangladesh there are other ex-judges who could be appointed to the position but the president did not even try to offer those judges to serve the nation. Besides the ex-judges the president could offer any member of the civil society such as Bangladesh’s only Nobel laureate, Prof. Yunus, to fill the position. But the “learned” president caved in to the pressure of BNP. The president is thoroughly a BNP person. When he was at Dhaka University his colleagues knew him as a supporter of General Ziaur Rahman. By ousting Badruddozza Chowdhury from the position of the president of the nation Khaleda Zia appointed this timid and loyal person. Now we see that the loyal man had defied the constitution.

I see the following scenarios:

Iajuddin’s appointment to the position of chief of caretaker government will be vociferously opposed by the opposition parties.

Khaleda Zia and BNP know that the chance for them to get back into the catbird seat of power is next to nil. Therefore, they will do everything in their power to see that the main opposition party, Awami League, do not get elected.

The BNP won’t mind if the Army of Bangladesh comes to power under the pretext of unrest and lawlessness in the country.

By allowing himself to assume the power of caretaker government Iajuddin has plunged single-handedly the nation into a state of anarchy. He knew very well that the major opposition parties (14-party coalition) will not agree to this arrangement. Thus more unrest and violence would grip the nation. The army is sitting in the wing and they will use the lawlessness state of the nation as a pretext to take over the charge of the nation.

Today, I read in the newspaper published from Dhaka that the army was alerted by the president and they are making preparation to take charge of the law and order situation allover the nation.

The whole thing is engineered by Khaleda Zia and her lieutenants.

Many BNP street hoodlums, local leaders have left the country fearing reprisals if the opposition comes to power. Even such rogue newsman as Shefik Rahman had tried to leave Bangladesh after closing down his newspaper, Jai Jai Din. This is the prevailing mood amongst BNP party men and their chamchas.

By unilaterally deciding to be the head of the caretaker government, Iajuddin has plunged the nation into a state of disarray. I see the ominous sign of army coming to power. This should be avoided by all means.

I request all the Bangalees to be aware of this dire consequence. The army’s place is cantonment. Khaleda Zia’s vindictive policy has caused this stalemate and the president, Iajuddin, being a party loyal of high caliber has become a pawn in the hand of Khaleda Zia. He by choosing to be the head of the caretaker government of Bangladesh at this trying time is inviting the army to take control of this impoverished nation of 145 million. Resist this evil design by all means.


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A.H. Jaffor Ullah, a researcher and columnist, writes from New Orleans, USA
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