People have the last say
The hope that was rekindled with the start of the much waited dialogue on October 5 between BNP secretary general Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan and Awami League general secretary Abdul Jalil has got a jolt after the fourth day of their sitting for the simple reason that they could not let the people know anything concrete about the outcome of their talks even at the end of their fourth day of talks.
The only things we could so far hear from the two leaders were that the talks were being held in a most cordial manner, they would sit again on such and such date after consulting with their high command, they were trying their best to overcome the deadlock, and that they were hopeful of a positive result with the support of people.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. While the people are anxiously awaiting a positive outcome from the dialogue so that there will be a free, fair and credible election and they will be able to exercise their right to franchise freely and independently without any fear or obstacle from any quarters, they are also puzzled and to some extent skeptical about the whole issue when they see their negotiators are issuing after each session almost similar statements, i.e. talks were held in a cordial atmosphere and will continue, this time with a gap of nearly a week, without actually telling the people what they have talked about and exactly where they have arrived at.
People's skepticism about the success of the dialogue has further deepened when they see their two great leaders who matter most in the success or failure of the dialogue going abroad, Begum Zia to Saudi Arabia to perform umrah and Sheikh Hasina to the US for medical treatment, at this critical period of the nation. Frankly speaking, the foreign trips of our two topmost leaders at this moment of time have taken the whole nation by shock and surprise. Only God knows what is in their mind.
Having seen the first four episodes of the much talked about serial "Dialogue," one would wonder whether the Awami League-led 14 party combine has knowingly or unknowingly fallen into the trap of the ruling alliance in the name of dialogue at the behest of many a quarters, local as well as foreign, and thereby lost the momentum of their movement to realize their legitimate demand for the much needed reform of electoral process. We have to probably wait until October16 to see how does the serial is likely to draw its final curtain.
What we can learn from the media reports and other sources, the dialogue is stuck up mainly on one issue, and that is about Justice KM Hasan. The BNP- led 4 party alliance continues to maintain its original stand of keeping KM Hasan as the head of the next caretaker government. They are reported to be even ready to accept the opposition's demand for reform of election commission including removal of the existing CEC MA Aziz if the opposition agrees to soften its attitude on KM Hasan.
Whereas the main demand of the 14 party combine is to see both KM Hasan and MA Aziz along with his three other colleagues out of the electoral process. The way the ruling alliance has politicized the police, the administration, and the election commission, the opposition has in all fairness no scope to compromise on these two issues unless they are ready to commit political hara-kiri (suicide).
Our past record of political history does not have much to show in favour of dialogue between the ruling class and the opposition having been met with success. The dialogue between Ayub Khan and Sheikh Mujibar Rahman in the sixties did not succeed, nor did the dialogue between Yahya Khan and Sheikh Mujib in the seventies prove otherwise. Yet the result was the same. Ultimately the people's will triumphed.
In the face of the mass movement launched by the people of the then East Pakistan, Ayub Khan had to exit handing over power to Yahya Khan. The fate of Yahya Khan was even worse. He had to quit power with the ignominy of losing half of the country and surrendering 90,000 of his pride force. Yahya Khan could not help prevent secession or emergence of this land as an independent state named Bangladesh even after waging a war and committing genocide against the people of this country.
Our political leaders, especially the ruling class, will do well if they remember the history of our political struggle and understand the inherent strength of our people. Why go so far back? Why not take a close look at the present? The people of Kansat, Shanir Akhra, Fulpur, or Kaliganj didn't have to wait for the opposition leaders to come forward and help them face the brutality of our rulers in realizing their demands. They did that on their own.
Our rulers will do well if they realize that the political deadlock threatening the already fragile democracy of the country is their own creation. They have to solve it on their own. The people at large want the dialogue to succeed and reform to take place. They want a free and fair election, and they believe that a free and fair election is not possible without complete reform of the electoral process.
If the dialogue succeeds, everybody wins -- the Treasury bench, the opposition, and the people. If it fails, only the political parties lose. People have their own style and mechanism to realize their demands. They know exactly when and how to strike a deal.