Dictatorial democracy

Sadly, we have gone beyond this point. Bengalis are no longer able to decide who rules their country. It doesn't matters who they vote for. Leaders in Bangladesh don't win by votes any longer; they win by force. Saddam's Iraq, Milosovich's Yugoslavia, Mugabe's Zimbabwe, Pol Pot's Cambodia and our Bangladesh have one thing in common; they are/were ruled by one party, one dictatorial leader. The only thing different about Bangladesh is that, currently it is ruled by not one, but two parties and two dictatorial leaders.

However, despite having more than one political party, Bangladesh is just one step behind some of the nastiest one-man dictatorial regimes in the world. But rest assured, both AL and BNP are doing their best to make our country a full-time dictatorial regime. They both want to wipe out the other. That way they can have the whole country for themselves as long as they want and they wouldn't have to face any election. The good news for Bengalis is that we still have two parties. The bad news is that both of these parties are exactly the same. So in essence, we have a one party-two-leader-dictatorial democracy!

For AL and BNP, there is a very simple rule: if you are in the opposition, try your best to undermine the country and the government. That way the public will blame the ruling party. And if you are the ruling party, then do your best to wipe out the opposition. It is obvious that neither of these leaders will step down willingly and they can't be pulled down from their chairs by any court ruling or law since these people are above the law. But this is where the people's power comes in. It is not something totally unknown. People in other countries have risen against brutal leaders and they have successfully brought them to justice. Sadly, with the current rate of literacy in our country, we have a long way to go before our people see the difference in political system of Bangladesh and other countries.

Looks like both Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina have at least another 15 years to settle their scores and to decorate their families.