Hasina’s victory: Hope in the east

The results of the recently held elections in which Sheikh Hashina-led Awami League thumped the opposition BNP-Jamaat alliance by a huge margin is the victory of millions of Bangladeshis.

Biswajit Jha

Finally, the people of Bangladesh got a democratically elected government after almost two years of military-backed rule. The results of the recently held elections in which Sheikh Hashina-led Awami League thumped the opposition BNP-Jamaat alliance by a huge margin, is not only the victory of millions of Bangladeshis, the result is historic in the sense that the people of the country voted for a secular government. Ever since Bangladesh got its freedom after fighting a bloody war against Pakistan with the help of India in 1971, there has never been an election as significant as this one. In that sense, it was an election which was to determine the future of millions of Bangladeshis and their coming generations. Before the elections, people of Bangladesh, dogged by poverty, illiteracy, lack of development and by the rise of communal forces which are determined to Talibanize the country, had two diametrically opposite choices before it: to elect a secular government that will open for them to the horizons of development, education, economic growth and modernity on the one hand, and on the other, they could choose a government that will lead them to medieval times where Islamic fundamentalists will rule the roost and religious fanaticism will be the guiding word for running the government. Fortunately, the people opted for the former by negating the narrow and bellicose religious and anti-India line of thinking. A country which has got a legacy of being administered from Pakistan had its share of military rules in the past. The democratically elected governments, both under Zia and Hasina, also played a part in de-stabilising the democratic institutions with rampant corruption which has seeped deep into the society. The political instability of early 2000, led the military to take over the country. Though, apparently, they tried to weed out corruption from the political circle, it was never going to be a permanent solution because a country can’t develop under emergency rule and without basic freedom and fundamental rights for the people. The interim government had to lift emergency and arrange general elections after some Western nations, led by USA, pressurised it to do so. Initially, they tried the ‘minus-two’ theory, in which they attempted to send both the Begums into political exile. The ploy ultimately did not work. If we go back to the last civilian rule under Begum Zia-led BNP, one can easily find every effort to destroy the democratic foundations of the country. Bangladesh saw the mushrooming of umpteen number of terrorist camps, which were engaged in anti-Indian activities. The BNP-Jamaat government provided safe havens to organizations like HuJI, Ulfa, Alfa, KLO which are active in the North-eastern region of India. Despite India’s repeated requests, Bangladesh government refused to hand over the terrorists to India. The ISI was reported to be active in Bangladesh on account of utter frustration of Pakistan, which had to let Bangladesh go despite having shared the same religion on the basis of which they came into existence in 1947. The creation of Bangladesh made a mockery of Pakistan’s two nation theory centered on religious lines. Having faced defeat at the hand of India, which resulted in the creation of Bangladesh in 1971, the ISI started their proxy war in India through eastern borders. But since people of Bangladesh have now rejected the anti-India communal forces in the elections, it has opened a window of opportunity for India to salvage good-relations with the neighbour and help Bangladesh root out terrorist camps from the country. It will, ultimately, help India bring back normalcy in the ever problematic North-eastern regions of the country. It’s also a historic moment for the Hasina-led secular government which can save the country from the clutches of communal and separatist forces. Having said that, Sheikh Hasina has a huge task cut out for her. Apart from eliminating the terrorist organizations, her main objective should be to re-establish all the democratic institutions of Bangladesh and engage herself in all-round developmental activities. Here, India, given a chance, can play an important role. India should extend its helping hand in the development of its eastern neighbor. Our ever-obsessive Pakistan centric foreign policy won’t help us in the long run as other neighbouring countries are slowly turning hostile. A democratic and developed Bangladesh, free from communal and terrorist forces, will ultimately help India secure its own democracy in the coming days.