By all accounts, the concept of so-called 'Jote Sarker' (coalition government) has come to stay and it is expected that all the future governments in Bangladesh would be formed by one or the other Jote. Successive coalition governments have ruled even our neighbour India with its decades of democratic tradition, Bangladesh's print media has been producing heaps of articles and post editorials cataloguing the possibilities of electoral success of the two major political groupings, albeit with skewed analysis favouring the 'loved' one. Some are hinting at the possibility of the emergence of a third grouping, apparently frustrated with performances of the two major groups. As a what-I-believe conscientious onlooker of the political caricature that has been unleashed by our roller-coaster politicians, I would expect the political analysts or the columnists to go beyond mere arithmetic of the election game and write something on the rationality or irrationality of 'jote' formation. Most of the columnists appear to have accepted the idea of 'jote' or 'mohajote' formation, no matter whether it is rational or irrational. If our experiences since the very birth of Bangladesh were to guide us, it would indeed be very naive on our part to expect even an iota of rationality from our politicians. Irrationality coupled with ideological contradiction has become the mainstay of our politics and as such, either retaining power or grabbing power at any cost has become the motive force behind our political activities. Gone are those days when the ideologically aligned 'progressive' or 'liberal minded' politicians would regard it as a betrayal of their conscience to align with the rightist and communal forces. The same was the case with the ideologically aligned rightist politicians. Consequently, we find our political parties vying with each other to win favour of the fallen dictator Ershad or of the universally branded 'rajakars'. Is it not a direct affront to the democratic minded people of Bangladesh?Over the years, Bangladeshi politics, to put it crudely, has been polarised into either the 'Bangladesh Zindabad' or the 'Joy Bangla' pole and all the political parties more or less belong to either of the poles. While the former pole is aligned with the concept of Bangladeshi nationalism, the latter has the Bengali nationalism. The divide is very deep and aggressively pervasive. The leaders have been playing the game to their utmost satisfaction, keeping at bay the 'poor Banglar janata' on the sidelines. There is nothing wrong in it. Having said that, how one would react if s/he finds the diehard camp followers of one pole inviting the diehards from the other pole to join hand in hand just to add to their tally of MPs on their road-map to the citadels of power? As long as another MP is bagged, who cares for political ideology? The onlooking Banglar janata? Care a hoot for them!
I would like to add a note for our politicians: please take a leaf from the recently concluded West Bengal State election and the implication of what happened there. Didn't the democratic-minded people of West Bengal our erstwhile kith and kin with similar socio-cultural traits and expectations -- give a crippling blow to the political elements known for their ever-shifting political ideology as well as political expediencies? If they could do it, why not us?
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.