Emajuddin's letter to Ban Ki-moon

Not for UN to mediate
Prof. Abdul Mannan

Prof. Emajuddin Ahmed, in a letter, has requested Mr. Ban Ki-moon to take an initiative to resolve the political standoff prevailing in the country. I presume it is a personal letter to the secretary general. Such letters do not carry much importance as important personalities like the secretary general receive innumerable letters from different people around the world regularly.
In addition, personally, I do not see any political standoff in Bangladesh. What is going on is inhuman and barbaric terrorism in the name of political movement.
Prof. Ahmed has requested the UN secretary-general to mediate and initiate talks between the two parties. Such mediation took place in 2013 but yielded no result because of the stubbornness of Khaleda Zia. I do not see anything different happening this time as the sole objective of the current nationwide mayhem is to unseat the present government by any means just for personal gains. All the talks of 'saving democracy' are just eyewash. Prof. Ahmed will do a good job if he can go to Khaleda Zia and request her to stop the violence before writing letters. No one is against dialogue amongst political parties but before any meaningful dialogue can happen, all types of terrorism and violence must stop. If Mr. Ban Ki-moon agrees to what Prof. Ahmed is asking for, then the secretary-general can first initiate talks with the Middle Eastern terrorist groups like ISIS or al-Qaeda or the Boko-Haram of Nigeria. Terrorism and dialogue taking place simultaneously may not bring any result.

The commentator is former Vice-chancellor, University of Chittagong.

Political parties should resolve the stand-off
Zonayed Saki

First of all, this is an election-centred political crisis, the root of which lies in the undemocratic or autocratic power structure of the country. Sadly, our constitution could not ensure a democratic power structure. In order to establish a stable democratic system, we need a democratic constitution first.
Secondly, the law enforcing authorities should take measures lawfully to contain the ongoing violence. But that will not solve the present political crisis; this should be solved through a political process and we demand a national initiative for a long term solution. Otherwise, violence will prolong and may take a turn for the worse. More extremist groups may emerge resulting in a rise in militant activities. We want violence to stop and for the political crisis to be resolved.
What we have observed so far is the government's denial that there is any political crisis in the country. On the other hand, the opposition party has resorted to violence to press home its political demands. Since it is the government which is in charge of the country, it must be the one to take the initiative to end the crisis.
Foreign intervention in our internal politics is unwarranted, and we think it is disgraceful for our country. In the present political context, it is the responsibility of the political parties to resolve the political standoff. Foreign involvement will only prove that the warring political parties have failed to play their due role.

The commentator is Chief Coordinator, Ganosamhati Andolon (People's Solidarity Movement).