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Author: News
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: December 26, 2006
There is near revolt against Sheikh Hasina Wajed within the Awami League and the 14-party alliance she heads over her signing a deal with Bangladesh Khelafat Majlish, an extremist Islamist organisation, over the weekend.
With 24 hours to go for filing of nomination papers on Tuesday for the January 22 general election, many of her allies have threatened to break ranks with the Awami League if the deal is not annulled.
Sheikh Hasina's supporters are stumped that even as she was seeking the "blessings" of all to win the election and promising to build a "secular democratic" country, her trusted lieutenant and party general secretary Abdul Jalil was secretly negotiating and finalising a deal, sanctioned by her, with Allama Azizul Haque, chairman of Bangladesh Khelafat Majlish (BKM).
Just how sincere Sheikh Hasina is about rolling back the wave of Islamism that has come to dominate Bangladeshi politics under Begum Khaleda Zia's BNP-Jamat Government is reflected in the five-point "Memorandum of Understanding" signed between the Awami League and BKM:
* No law will be enacted by her Government
that contradicts Quranic values, sunnah and shari'ah;
* Steps will be initiated to ensure Government recognition of certificates
issued by qaumi madarsas (run by Islamist groups);
* Laws will be enacted acknowledging Prophet Mohammed as the ultimate and
greatest prophet;
* No criticism of Prophet Mohammed shall be allowed; and,
* Laws will be enacted to allow certified hakkani alem to issue fatwa.
In brief, if the Awami League were to come to power after the January 22 poll, it would hasten Bangladesh's inexorable march on the path to rapid Islamisation. As Prime Minister, she will provide official legitimacy to Islamic fundamentalism much harsher than what Begum Zia allowed surreptitiously to keep her ruling alliance together.
Ever since the BNP-Jamaat came to power in 2001, Sheikh Hasina and her supporters have been at the receiving end of Islamist ire. Many of her senior colleagues were killed when Islamists attacked an Awami League rally in the heart of Dhaka with grenades on August 21, 2004, prompting international condemnation of Begum Zia's regime.
Given the Awami League's stance on Islamists and its active collaboration with secular political forces till now, Sheikh Hasina's supporters say they are shocked by the surprise weekend deal. Bangladeshi newspapers on Monday were near unanimous in condemning the strange alliance.
"Even a large majority of Awami League's central and grassroots members, just as a cross-section of socio-political organisations and people of all spectrum, are deeply shocked by the party's sudden and inexplicable decision. Many of them feel it will prove a hara-kiri for the party in the election," The Daily Star, published from Dhaka, said in a front page report.
That her own party colleagues are upset by her alliance with BKM was highlighted on Sunday night when they led a delegation of angry allies to Sheikh Hasina and demanded that she scrap the deal. Media reports say that the allies have threatened "a split as they feel it will be difficult for them to go along with the AL with such controversial and anti-secular stances". They camped at her house well past midnight to press their point.
If the alliance breaks and the Awami League splits, then Sheikh Hasina will find herself contesting the January election with her back to the wall. Given the fractured nature of the vote, it is unlikely she will win the poll without her allies. In the 2001 election, Begum Zia came to power with 47 per cent of the vote; the Jamaat contributed about 10 per cent to the alliance's vote share, winning 16 seats.
Sheikh Hasina's advisers claim she wants to replicate her adversary's winning formula. Hence, her last minute alliance with BKM, seen by many as far more radical than the Jamaat-e-Islami. They also point out that the "grand alliance" of Opposition parties includes Jatiya Party (Ershad), Islami Oikya Jote and Islamic Front, each one of them with an Islamist agenda.
But her angry allies point out that Sheikh Hasina's pan-Bangladeshi support base will collapse if she persists with her deal with BKM. "We won't accept this five-point MoU under any circumstances," Hasanul Haq Inu, leader of a key secular ally, told The Daily Star.
Faced with near rebellion within the Awami League and among her allies, Sheikh Hasina's advisers, including Jalil, initially claimed that reports of the deal with BKM "were a hoax fanned by some vested quarter with an ulterior motive using the media". When copies of the signed agreement surfaced, Jalil admitted signing "only a MoU and not any agreement".
The Daily Star said in its report, "All the components of Awami League-led 14-party coalition in separate Press releases has condemned the deal... (They have) demanded that Awami League cancels the deal immediately to maintain its conformity to the 23-point common national minimum programme of the coalition, which includes a promise to ban religion based politics."
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