The arrival of Tarique Rahman, son of former prime minister Khaleda Zia and ex-President Ziaur Rahman, from exile on Thursday is significant. Arriving from London after 17 years in self-imposed exile, the surge of his Bangladesh Nationalist Party supporters to welcome their acting chairman reflected the public mood in Bangladesh that’s set for parliament polls in February. His 80-year-old mother who leads the party from the front is ailing. Clearly, Tarique Rahman will have an eminent space in the future political engagements there. Caught in a major political crisis, Bangladesh could see the worst unless the drift that marked the overthrow of the Sheikh Hasina dispensation in August last year is arrested. The interim government headed by a set of apolitical personalities under the guidance of Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus has its limits. With patently inexperienced people running the government for the past 16 months, and Yunus failing to guide them effectively, the scenario has turned from bad to worse. Leading figures who led the attack against Hasina in an abrupt street offensive last year are put on the defensive or even liquidated. An anarchic situation is unfolding there. The 58-year-old Tarique Rahman has invoked Martin Luther King as he stepped down, bowed to mother earth and took steps forward. This is significant in a nation that is sought to be drawn into a fundamentalist grip by Islamist forces with patronage from Pakistan’s notorious military generals and their ISI external intelligence network.
There’s a world of difference between religious fundamentalism and human rights advocacy that sees humanity as one. But, how Rahman courses through hard-edged challenges from multiple fronts remains to be seen. The Awami League of Sheikh Hasina remains a strong political force, pitted against the BNP. Hasina had neutralized her rival’s influence with several strategic steps, helping her and the Awami League run the nation for repeated terms. It is also not clear how Tariq Rahman, who inherits the legacy of BNP, would help readjust the bilateral ties between neighbouring countries, principally India, of which Bangladesh’s landmass was formerly an integral part.
Hints are that Yunus is caught in a fix. After attempting to browbeat India with his occasional loose talk, he might now be in a mood to sing a different tune. For one, he’s seeking urgent help from India for a huge rice shipment to feed hungry mouths there. Bangladesh is also dependent on India for its power supply and much else. The Bangladesh military brass is maintaining a pregnant silence. They may have a card or two up their sleeves, given Bangladesh’s past military involvement in coups and in running governments. In the given scenario, no leader or government with a modicum of sense can afford to confront India. New Delhi is watching the developments in Bangladesh with considerable concern and interest. An early restoration of normalcy in Bangladesh is to India’s interest as well. Continued disruption in social and political life there would be taken advantage of by fundamentalist forces that are getting patronage from Pakistan. This would vitiate regional stability as well.
