The move of morality or complicit indifference?

Rubana Huq
Published : 30 Oct 2011, 05:27 PM
Updated : 30 Oct 2011, 05:27 PM

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The Narayanganj City Corporation Election appears to have been a fair prelude to the final scene. Read between the lines: an enraged Chief Election Commissioner threatening to confront the government for not having sent the army to the polling scene; a ruling party MP clearly stating that army was not necessary for elections and that fair elections were possible without the presence of an army; an Awami League backed contender almost announcing a landslide victory even before the elections began and then sequentially declaring that God had intended him to win the battle and then stating that he had been thrown into the waters by the 'police' who had apparently sought votes for his contender, Ivy and then sadly concluding by saying that the "massive" rigging could not have taken place without the backing of the government…Oooops! How will the government now build the bridge over the troubled waters?

The talk shows where the BNP candidate Taimur appeared to be already-quasi-defeated, where Ivy came off with a strong voice yet left enough space for doubt to challenge the election results if anything went wrong, and where Shamim Osman, with a slightly sharper coated appearance came off stronger than before…with the new stamp of complicity of the government…These scenes were only marks of a newer re-awakening of the mass conscience and understanding. We, the public understand better than we ever did before; we can sense political moves, assess the chessboard moves with clearer vision and most of all we know that we are right.

By the time this piece is published, the election results will have been announced. Someone will have won. By the reports so far, Ivy is leading with a massive margin. NCC election seems to have surprised many; the government has acted with cautious unpredictability hence convincing people to believe that democracy has been upheld and that NCC was an acid test. Shall we dig a little deeper then?

Every neighbourhood has its face of terror. Occasionally, terror turns away from the streets and goes home to change its robe. The face is painted; the fleshy frame loses a few pounds and is seen preaching word of God.

Every neighbourhood also has its face of the ultra-common which has the popular backing, irrespective of its real achievements. This common face seeks support from the centre and often returns home with disappointment.

Every neighbourhood also has a third entity, which challenges the other two and remains distanced from the final outcome, irrespective of the impartiality attended, if ever.

Narayanganj has seriously come up with a few clear sequences of events:

a)     The unpopularity of the lawmaker Kabori with regard to her violent episode with Shamim Osman which has finally led her to be rebuked by the government for her lack of restraint.

b)     On the other hand, Osman re-emerged with the blessings of the government after having possibly performed a political purification without holy waters.

c)     Ivy, the apparently confident candidate refused to back out has maintained her steady stance.

From a distance, only the brilliant grinned and allowed the entire play to unfold on its own, unscripted and unedited.  Simply brilliant!

The political chessboard has brought to surface a few truths that the nation might as well come to terms with and also stand in comparison with a few international references:

1) Politics and evil are often intertwined. Shakespeare's Richard III was not only malevolent but also had an army to lead:

"For conscience is a word that cowards use,

Devised at first to keep the strong in awe,

Our strong arms be our conscience, swords our law"

Why on earth would our CEC want army to be deployed? If there has ever been one issue that Bangladesh has always battled with…it has always been the army.

Our military rulers who sought to rule the country through ruthless defence of meaning well have never gone down history with grace. So, why are we validating the army's presence to justify our weakness?

2) All of us have monsters within us. Like charity, evil begins at home. Way back in the fourth century, an African religious seeker stole some pears and fed it to the pigs. These fruits, stated Saint Augustine of Hippo in his Confessions, were "neither attractive to look at nor to taste". Yet the Saint went ahead just because…it was the "sin that gave the favor". There is no point in assuming that our political leaders don't sin. They sin and they suffer the penalty. Our disillusionment lies in the fact that we assume that our leaders turn to political evil by their own device. Wrong. They would not be evil if we, the followers did not toe their line.

Therefore, if Osman ever went wrong, a handful of Narayanganj must have supported his stride. The endless stories of his apparent reign of terror must have begun with the support of a few. Then perhaps, the flavour of sin caught on and he continued. Eventually when he came to his senses and attempted ablution (even if as a last resort), it was probably a bit too late.

3) We, as a nation, must remember that there is a huge difference between moral clarity and moral caricature. George Bush sounded upright with his farewell address to his nation in January 2009 when he said: "Freeing people from oppression and despair is eternally right". To Bush's critics, he will always remain a cartoon character in the garb of his attempted morality, disfigured by a naïve idea of ethics. He was not the only Machiavelli. Kissinger is once reported to have told Nixon that it would have been no concern of the United States if the Soviet Union sent Jews to the gas chambers. This is indeed the extent of the ugly face of political realism.

There are times when a nation is tested through its government to uphold the "right" and condemn the "wrong". However, it is entirely up to the government to choose between the "wise state craft" and its electoral pledges. Awami League faces the test this minute. The Narayanganj City Corporation election and its unexpected turn, so far, has overturned a few tables and surprised quite a few. Choosing Kissinger-like realism may not be the right resort for the current ruling party.

4) Taking calculated risks against its own people and appearing to be a democracy to the rest of the world is definitely not the answer. May we never forget that Saddam, while waging war against the Kurds, stopped at nothing? Against the Iranians, he began an aggressive war but for the rest of the world, he was harmless. Do we want to simulate the same in our political scene? Most certainly, not.

5) A nation at some point must realise that the people should not be terrorised by terror. The fact that Ivy had asked the people to go to the polling centres without fear and the fact that Osman tried a bad move by predicting the element of a possible terror attack through "Jamaat", forced of "1/11" was lame indeed. I think that was the final nail in his contesting coffin. Democratic societies cannot be subjected to sociocides, an attempt to wipe out good social practices through terrorism.

We also need to realise that mobilising military might, terrorism cannot be eradicated. When confronted with the possibility of terror, our governments often commit more complex actions than just demanding justice. May we never forget that the most violent terrorists are often prompted by many of our writings, speeches that pledge vengeance? We must lower our glance before we can defeat terrorism and not be intimidated by it.

6) The political parties in Bangladesh must also reckon with the sheer fact that they cannot always attempt a balance. While the United States practiced its own form of realism and sided with Pinochet in Chile, while, till date, the US, in consideration of the vast Chinese market overlooks China's disregard for human rights, we in our little paradise of democracy, must stare political evil down and not look away. Forming alliances with the most unsavoury characters may grant our government temporary victory, but will surely nip the bud of democracy at its outset.

Often, our ruling party has been subjected to aligning with elements bearing with "question marks" and often it has been tested to its hilt. May this never happen again. May governments in our land never opt for suspicious alignments just to continue in order to provide the bloodthirsty what they crave?

The message is clear.

30th of October, through the Narayanganj City Corporation elections, has marked either a beginning or an end of a board game that the nation does not need to be a part of. Either ways, through official controversies and oscillating political positions, the voters of Narayanganj could have been turned into mere pawns…over struck by persuasion leading to immobility and being left to helpless whispers.

Thank God it did not happen. Thank God for small blessings.

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Rubana Huq, Managing Director, Mohammadi Group.